ATI FireGL X3-256 vs ATI Radeon X850 XT Platinum AGP

Primary details

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

Place in the rankingnot ratednot rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
ArchitectureR400 (2004−2008)R400 (2004−2008)
GPU code nameR481R420
Market segmentDesktopWorkstation
Release date28 February 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 speed540 MHz491 MHz
Number of transistors160 million160 million
Manufacturing process technology130 nm130 nm
Power consumption (TDP)67 Watt57 Watt
Texture fill rate8.6405.892
ROPs1612
TMUs1612

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 8xAGP 8x
Width2-slot1-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x Molex1x 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 typeGDDR3GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount256 MB256 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed590 MHz454 MHz
Memory bandwidth37.76 GB/s29.06 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 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.

DirectX9.0b (9_2)9.0b (9_2)
OpenGL2.02.0
OpenCLN/AN/A
VulkanN/AN/A

Pros & cons summary


Recency 28 February 2005 3 August 2004
Power consumption (TDP) 67 Watt 57 Watt

ATI X850 XT Platinum AGP has an age advantage of 6 months.

ATI FireGL X3-256, on the other hand, has 17.5% lower power consumption.

We couldn't decide between Radeon X850 XT Platinum AGP and FireGL X3-256. We've got no test results to judge.

Be aware that Radeon X850 XT Platinum AGP 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.

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ATI Radeon X850 XT Platinum AGP
Radeon X850 XT Platinum AGP
ATI FireGL X3-256
FireGL X3-256

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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Community ratings

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