ATI FireGL X3-256 vs GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 1444 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | 0.13 | no data |
| Architecture | Rankine (2003−2005) | R400 (2004−2008) |
| GPU code name | NV35 | R420 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Workstation |
| Release date | 23 October 2003 (21 year ago) | 3 August 2004 (20 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $499 | $1,099 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
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 | 450 MHz | 491 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 135 million | 160 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 130 nm | 130 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 59 Watt | 57 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 3.600 | 5.892 |
| ROPs | 4 | 12 |
| TMUs | 8 | 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 | AGP 8x | AGP 8x |
| Length | 218 mm | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | 1-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x Molex | 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 | DDR | GDDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 425 MHz | 454 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 27.2 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 | 9.0a | 9.0b (9_2) |
| OpenGL | 1.5 (2.1) | 2.0 |
| OpenCL | N/A | N/A |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 23 October 2003 | 3 August 2004 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 59 Watt | 57 Watt |
ATI FireGL X3-256 has an age advantage of 9 months, and 3.5% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between GeForce FX 5900 Ultra and FireGL X3-256. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that GeForce FX 5900 Ultra 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.
