ATI FireGL X3-256 vs GeForce 6500
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 1450 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Architecture | Curie (2003−2013) | R400 (2004−2008) |
| GPU code name | NV44 A2 | R420 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Workstation |
| Release date | 1 October 2005 (19 years ago) | 3 August 2004 (20 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $1,099 |
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.
| Core clock speed | 400 MHz | 491 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 75 million | 160 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 110 nm | 130 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | no data | 57 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 1.600 | 5.892 |
| ROPs | 2 | 12 |
| TMUs | 4 | 12 |
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).
| Interface | PCIe 1.0 x16 | AGP 8x |
| Width | 1-slot | 1-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | no data | 1x Molex |
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 | DDR2 | GDDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 266 MHz | 454 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 8.512 GB/s | 29.06 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 VGA, 1x S-Video | 2x DVI, 1x S-Video |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 9.0c (9_3) | 9.0b (9_2) |
| Shader Model | 3.0 | no data |
| OpenGL | 2.1 | 2.0 |
| OpenCL | N/A | N/A |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 1 October 2005 | 3 August 2004 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Chip lithography | 110 nm | 130 nm |
GeForce 6500 has an age advantage of 1 year, and a 18.2% more advanced lithography process.
ATI FireGL X3-256, on the other hand, has a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.
We couldn't decide between GeForce 6500 and FireGL X3-256. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that GeForce 6500 is a desktop card while FireGL X3-256 is a workstation one.
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.
