Technical data

clock speed, the smaller X800 Pro features only 12
pixel pipes. Basically, the architecture is an evolution
of the Radeon 9600 XT, but with a great number
of improvements added as well as extra features.
These cards are available as AGP products, and, in
some cases, PCI Express parts as well.
Versions:
Radeon X800 Pro - 12PP - 256MB - 256-bit -
475/900 MHz
Radeon X800 XT - 16PP - 256MB - 256-bit -
500/1000 MHz
Radeon X800 XT PE - 16PP - 256MB - 256-
bit - 520/1120 MHz
Article:
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graph-
ic/20040504/index.html
Older NVIDIA Models
GeForce FX 5200
With the chip internally codenamed NV34,
NVIDIA brought DirectX 9 to the low-cost mar-
ket segment, replacing the outdated GeForce 4 MX
line (DirectX 7). Like its bigger siblings, it features
complete DirectX 9 support. However, NVIDIA
reduced the number of pixel pipelines to four and
didn’t give the chip the modern memory interface
of the bigger models. Instead, it uses the time-tested
solution from the GeForce 4 Ti generation.The
vertex shader performance is also reduced relative
to higher-end models.The chip has a transistor
count of about 45 million and is produced on a
0.15µ process.
In light of the very limited performance and the
only moderate clock speeds, DirectX 9 support
seems to be more of a paper feature than a real
boon here. In practice, the chip is simply too slow
for complex DirectX 9 calculations in resolutions
of 1024x768 and above. Despite this, the chip is still
quite a good performer for an entry-level card.This
is due to the memory interface, the multi sampling
FSAA, and the average (trilinear) filtering perform-
ance, inherited from the GeForce 4 TI cards.
Beware of non-Ultra parts, though, as some of
them are only equipped with much slower 64 bit
memory modules.
Versions:
GeForce FX 5200 - 64/128/256 MB 64-/128-
bit - 250/400 MHz
GeForce FX 5200 Ultra - 128 MB - 128-bit -
325/650 MHz
Articles:
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graph-
ic/20030311/index.html
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graph-
ic/200303061/index.html
GeForce FX 5600
This chip carries the internal designation NV31
and is produced on a 0.13µ process. It was meant to
be the successor to the highly successful GeForce 4
Ti 4200 line. Shortly after its introduction near the
beginning of 2003, NVIDIA improved the Ultra
version of the card; thanks to the switch to a flip-
chip design, NVIDIA was able to increase the clock
speed by another 50MHz to 400MHz.The previ-
ous Ultras were then supposed to be sold as stan-
dard chips, but whether or not this was always the
case is hard to tell. By now all of these remnants
should be off the shelves, but there is no guarantee
that the old chips might not still be found on Ultra
cards. Prospective buyers should therefore keep an
eye on the clock speeds. If your card only runs at a
clock speed of 350MHz, it still carries the older
version of the chip.
From a technological perspective, this DirectX 9
card features all the functionality of its bigger
brother, such as Color Compression, fast (adaptive)
anisotropic filtering and multi-sampling FSAA.
Only the number of pixel pipelines fell victim to
the “red pencil,” leaving just four.Also, the card fea-
tures a 128-bit memory interface instead of the
high-frequency 128-bit DDR II memory of the
NV30 (FX 5800) or the 256-bit memory of the
NV35 (FX 5900).
Versions:
GeForceFX 5600 - 128 MB/256MB - 128 Bit -
325/550 MHz
GeForceFX 5600 Ultra - 128 MB/256 MB -
128 Bit - 400/700 MHz
Articles:
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graph-
ic/20030311/index.html
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graph-
ic/200303061/index.html
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