ATI Radeon 9500 PRO vs GeForce FX 5950 Ultra

Place in the ranking	1417	1447
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	0.14	no data
Architecture	Rankine (2003−2005)	Rage 8 (2002−2007)
GPU code name	NV38	R300
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	23 October 2003 (21 year ago)	1 October 2002 (22 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$499	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 speed	475 MHz	275 MHz
Number of transistors	135 million	110 million
Manufacturing process technology	130 nm	150 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	74 Watt	no data
Texture fill rate	3.800	2.200
ROPs	4	8
TMUs	8	8

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	229 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	1-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x Molex	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	DDR	DDR
Maximum RAM amount	256 MB	128 MB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	475 MHz	270 MHz
Memory bandwidth	30.4 GB/s	8.64 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

API compatibility

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

DirectX	9.0a	9.0 (9_0)
OpenGL	2.1	2.0
OpenCL	N/A	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.

FX 5950 Ultra 0.15
+36.4%

ATI 9500 PRO 0.11

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.

FX 5950 Ultra 59
+43.9%

ATI 9500 PRO 41

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	0.15	0.11
Recency	23 October 2003	1 October 2002
Maximum RAM amount	256 MB	128 MB
Chip lithography	130 nm	150 nm

FX 5950 Ultra has a 36.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 15.4% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce FX 5950 Ultra is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon 9500 PRO in performance tests.

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