Quadro NVS 280 SD vs FirePro V3900
Aggregate performance score
We've compared FirePro V3900 and Quadro NVS 280 SD, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
V3900 outperforms NVS 280 SD by a whopping 16500% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 944 | 1529 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | 2.32 | 0.07 |
| Architecture | TeraScale 2 (2009−2015) | Celsius (1999−2005) |
| GPU code name | Turks | NV18 C1 |
| Market segment | Workstation | Workstation |
| Release date | 7 February 2012 (12 years ago) | 31 May 2005 (19 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 480 | no data |
| Core clock speed | 650 MHz | 250 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 716 million | 29 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 150 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 199 Watt | 10 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 15.60 | 1.000 |
| Floating-point processing power | 0.624 TFLOPS | no data |
| ROPs | 8 | 2 |
| TMUs | 24 | 4 |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Bus support | PCIe 2.1 x16 | no data |
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | AGP 8x |
| Length | 168 mm | 168 mm |
| Width | 1-slot | 1-slot |
| Form factor | half height / half length | no data |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | None |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | GDDR3 | DDR |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 64 MB |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 64 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 900 MHz | 200 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 28 GB/s | 3.2 GB/s |
Connectivity and outputs
Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.
| Display Connectors | 1x DVI, 1x DisplayPort | 1x DMS-59 |
| DisplayPort count | 1 | no data |
| Dual-link DVI support | + | - |
| HD сomponent video output | + | - |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.2 (11_0) | 8.0 |
| Shader Model | 5.0 | no data |
| OpenGL | 4.4 | 1.3 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | N/A |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 1.66 | 0.01 |
| Recency | 7 February 2012 | 31 May 2005 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 64 MB |
| Chip lithography | 40 nm | 150 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 199 Watt | 10 Watt |
FirePro V3900 has a 16500% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 1500% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 275% more advanced lithography process.
NVS 280 SD, on the other hand, has 1890% lower power consumption.
The FirePro V3900 is our recommended choice as it beats the Quadro NVS 280 SD in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
