GeForce 6800 GT Dual vs FX 5900

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Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking1456not rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
ArchitectureRankine (2003−2005)Curie (2003−2013)
GPU code nameNV35NV45
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date12 May 2003 (21 year ago)8 June 2004 (20 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$399 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 speed400 MHz350 MHz
Number of transistors135 million222 million
Manufacturing process technology130 nm130 nm
Texture fill rate3.2005.600
ROPs416
TMUs816

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).

InterfaceAGP 8xPCIe 1.0 x16
Length218 mmno data
Width1-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x Molex1x 6-pin

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 typeDDRGDDR3
Maximum RAM amount128 MB256 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed425 MHz500 MHz
Memory bandwidth27.2 GB/s32 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 Connectors1x DVI, 1x VGA, 1x S-Video2x DVI, 1x S-Video

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX9.0a9.0c (9_3)
Shader Modelno data3.0
OpenGL1.5 (2.1)2.1
OpenCLN/AN/A
VulkanN/AN/A

Pros & cons summary


Recency 12 May 2003 8 June 2004
Maximum RAM amount 128 MB 256 MB

6800 GT Dual has an age advantage of 1 year, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

We couldn't decide between GeForce FX 5900 and GeForce 6800 GT Dual. We've got no test results to judge.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900
GeForce FX 5900
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT Dual
GeForce 6800 GT Dual

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3.1 43 votes

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3 2 votes

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Questions & comments

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