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GeForce 6 series

2025-09-15T06:37:31Z

2001:5A8:601:4003:157:131:224:200: /* Support */This should be 'discontinuation' or 'support' (which then explains that support has been discontinued), not 'discontinued support'.

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Short description|Series of GPUs by Nvidia}}
{{for|GeForce cards with a model number of 6X0|GeForce 600 series}}
{{Infobox GPU
| name = GeForce 6 series
| image = [[Image:NVIDIA GeForce 6 Series logo.png|150px]] [[File:NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra.png|300px]]
| caption = '''Top''': Logo of the series '''Bottom''': A Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra released in 2004, one of the series' highest-end models
| codename = NV4x
| created = {{start date and age|April 14, 2004}}
| model = GeForce nForce series
| model1 = GeForce SE series
| model2 = GeForce LE series
| model3 = GeForce XT series
| model4 = GeForce GTO series
| model5 = GeForce GS series
| model6 = GeForce GT series
| model7 = GeForce Ultra series
| model8 = GeForce Ultra Extreme series
| entry = 6100 6150 6200 6500
| midrange = 6600 6700
| highend = 6800
| enthusiast = 6800 Ultra / Ultra Extreme
| d3dversion = [[Microsoft Direct3D#Direct3D 9.0c|Direct3D 9.0c]] [[High Level Shader Language|Shader Model 3.0]]
| openglversion = [[OpenGL#OpenGL 2.1|OpenGL 2.1]]
|predecessor = [[GeForce FX series|GeForce 5 series]]
|successor = [[GeForce 7 series]]

| support status = Unsupported

|architecture=[[Curie (microarchitecture)|Curie]]}}

The '''GeForce 6 series''' ([[codename]] '''NV40''') is the sixth generation of [[Nvidia]]'s [[GeForce]] line of [[graphics processing unit]]s. Launched on April 14, 2004, the GeForce 6 family introduced [[Nvidia PureVideo|PureVideo]] post-processing for video, [[Scalable Link Interface|SLI]] technology, and [[Shader Model 3.0]] support (compliant with [[Microsoft]] [[DirectX]] 9.0c specification and [[OpenGL]] 2.0).
==GeForce 6 series features==
[[File:NVidia GeForce 6600GT AGP with GPU 2009-01-27.jpg|thumb|GeForce 6600 GT AGP]]

===SLI===
{{Main|Scalable Link Interface}}

The Scalable Link Interface (SLI) allows two GeForce 6 cards of the same type to be connected in tandem. The driver software balances the workload between the cards. SLI-capability is limited to select members of the GeForce 6 family; 6500 and above. SLI is only available for cards utilizing the [[PCI-Express]] bus.

===Nvidia PureVideo Technology===
{{Main|Nvidia PureVideo}}

Nvidia PureVideo technology is the combination of a dedicated video processing core and software which decodes H.264, [[VC-1]], [[Windows Media Video|WMV]], and MPEG-2 videos with reduced CPU utilization.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nvidia.com/object/TB_purevideo.html |title=PureVideo: Digital Home Theater Video Quality for Mainstream PCs with GeForce 6 and 7 GPUs |access-date=2024-08-31 |format=PDF |publisher=NVIDIA |page=9}}</ref>

===Shader Model 3.0===
Nvidia was the first to deliver Shader Model 3.0 (SM3) capability in its GPUs. SM3 extends SM2 in a number of ways: standard [[Single-precision floating-point format|FP32]] (32-bit floating-point) precision, dynamic branching, increased efficiency and longer shader lengths are the main additions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GPU timeline. |url=https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/gpu |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Timetoast timelines |date=October 11, 1999 |language=en}}</ref> Shader Model 3.0 was quickly adopted by game developers because it was quite simple to convert existing shaders coded with SM 2.0/2.0A/2.0B to version 3.0, and it offered noticeable performance improvements across the entire GeForce 6 line.

===Caveats===
PureVideo functionality varies by model, with some models lacking WMV9 and/or H.264 acceleration.<ref>[http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_support.html Nvidia PureVideo – Product Comparison]</ref>

In addition, motherboards with some VIA and SIS chipsets and an AMD Athlon XP processor seemingly have compatibility problems with the GeForce 6600 and 6800 GPUs. Problems that have been known to arise are freezing, artifacts, reboots, and other issues that make gaming and use of 3D applications almost impossible. These problems seem to happen only on [[Direct3D]] based applications and do not affect OpenGL.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

===GeForce 6 series comparison===
[[File:GPU NVidia NV40 6800GT AGP.jpg|thumb|Nvidia NV40 GPU]]
[[File:GPU NVIDIA NV45 ES GPU.jpg|thumb|Nvidia NV45 GPU]]
Here is how the released versions of the "GeForce 6" series family compare to Nvidia's previous flagship GPU, the GeForce FX 5950 Ultra, in addition to the comparable units of ATI's newly released for the time Radeon X800 and X850 series:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! ||GeForce FX 5950 Ultra || GeForce 6200 TC-32 || GeForce 6600 GT || GeForce 6800 Ultra || ATI Radeon X800 XT PE || ATI Radeon X850 XT PE
|-
! [[Transistor count]]
| 135 million || 77 million || 146 million || 222 million || 160 million || 160 million
|-
! Manufacturing process
| 0.13 μm || 0.11 μm || 0.11 μm || 0.13 μm || 0.13 μm low-k || 0.13 μm low-k
|-
! Die Area (mm²)
|~200 || 110 || 156 || 288 || 288 || 297
|-
! Core clock speed (MHz)
| 475 || 350 || 500 || 400 || 520 || 540
|-
! Number of pixel shader processors
| 4 || 4 || 8 || 16 || 16 || 16
|-
! Number of pixel pipes
| 4 || 4 || 8 || 16 || 16 || 16
|-
! Number of texturing units
| 8(16*) || 4 || 8 || 16 || 16 || 16
|-
!Number of vertex pipelines
| 3* || 3 || 3 || 6 || 6 || 6
|-
!Peak pixel fill rate (theoretical)
| 1.9 Gigapixel/s || 700 Megapixel/s || 2.0 Gigapixel/s || 6.4 Gigapixel/s || 8.32 Gigapixel/s || 8.64 Gigapixel/s
|-
!Peak texture fill rate (theoretical)
| 3.8 Gigatexel/s || 1.4 Gigatexel/s || 4.0 Gigatexel/s || 6.4 Gigatexel/s || 8.32 Gigatexel/s || 8.64 Gigatexel/s
|-
!Memory interface
| 256-bit || 64-bit || 128-bit || 256-bit || 256-bit || 256-bit
|-
!Memory clock speed
| 950 MHz [[DDR SDRAM|DDR]] || 700 MHz [[DDR SDRAM|DDR2]] || 1.0 GHz / 950 MHz** [[GDDR3]] || 1.1 GHz [[GDDR3]] || 1.12 GHz [[GDDR3]] || 1.18 GHz [[GDDR3]]
|-
!Peak memory bandwidth (GiB/s)
| 30.4 || 5.6 || 16.0 / 14.4** || 35.2 || 35.84 || 37.76
|}

(*) GeForce FX series has an Array-based Vertex Shader.

(**) AGP 6600 GT variant.

==GeForce 6800 series==
[[File:NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB.jpg|thumb|GeForce 6800 Ultra PCI-e 512MiB GDDR3]]
The first family in the GeForce 6 product-line, the 6800 series catered to the high-performance gaming market. As the very first GeForce 6 model, the 16 [[Vertex and pixel shaders|pixel pipeline]] '''GeForce 6800 Ultra''' (NV40) was 2 to 2.5 times faster than Nvidia's previous top-line product (the GeForce FX 5950 Ultra), packed four times the number of pixel pipelines, twice the number of texture units and added a much improved pixel-shader architecture. Yet, the 6800 Ultra was fabricated on the same ([[IBM]]) 130 [[nanometer]] process node as the FX 5950, and it consumed slightly less power.

Like all of Nvidia's GPUs up until 2004, initial 6800 members were designed for the [[Accelerated Graphics Port|AGP]] bus. Nvidia added support for the [[PCI Express]] (PCIe) bus in later GeForce 6 products, usually by use of an AGP-PCIe bridge chip. In the case of the 6800 GT and 6800 Ultra, Nvidia developed a variant of the NV40 chip called the NV45. The NV45 shares the same die core as the NV40, but embeds an AGP-PCIe bridge on the chip's package. (Internally, the NV45 is an AGP NV40 with added bus-translation logic, to permit interfacing with a PCIe motherboard. Externally, the NV45 is a single package with two separate silicon dies clearly visible on the top.) NV48 is a version of NV45 which supports 512MiB RAM.

The use of an AGP-PCIe bridge chip initially led to fears that natively-AGP GPUs would not be able to take advantage of the additional bandwidth offered by PCIe and would therefore be at a disadvantage relative to native PCIe chips.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} However, benchmarking reveals that even AGP 4× is fast enough that most contemporary games do not improve significantly in performance when switched to AGP 8×, rendering the further bandwidth increase provided by PCIe largely superfluous.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} Additionally, Nvidia's on-board implementations of AGP are clocked at AGP 12× or 16×, providing bandwidth comparable to PCIe for the rare situations when this bandwidth is actually necessary.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

The use of a bridge chip allowed Nvidia to release a full complement of PCIe graphics cards without having to redesign them for the PCIe interface. Later, when Nvidia's GPUs were designed to use PCIe natively, the bidirectional bridge chip allowed them to be used in AGP cards.
ATI, initially a critic of the bridge chip, eventually designed a similar solution (known as Rialto<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theregister.com/2004/10/06/ati_rialto|author=Smith, Tony|title=ATI readies 'Rialto' PCIE-to-AGP bridge chip|website=The Register.com|date=October 6, 2004|access-date=June 20, 2021}}</ref>) for their own cards.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

Nvidia's professional ''[[Quadro]]'' line contains members drawn from the 6800 series: Quadro FX 4000 (AGP) and the Quadro FX 3400, 4400 and 4400g (both PCI Express). The 6800 series was also incorporated into laptops with the GeForce Go 6800 and Go 6800 Ultra GPUs.

===PureVideo and the AGP GeForce 6800===
PureVideo expanded the level of multimedia-video support from decoding of [[MPEG-2]] video to decoding of more advanced codecs ([[MPEG-4]], [[WMV9]]), enhanced post-processing (advanced de-[[Interlaced video|interlacing]]), and limited acceleration for encoding. But perhaps ironically, the first GeForce product(s) to offer PureVideo, the AGP GeForce 6800/GT/Ultra, failed to support all of PureVideo's advertised features.

Media player software (WMP9) with support for WMV-acceleration did not become available until several months after the 6800's introduction. User and web reports showed little if any difference between PureVideo enabled GeForces and non-Purevideo cards. The prolonged public silence of Nvidia, after promising updated drivers, and test benchmarks gathered by users led the user community to conclude that the WMV9 decoder component of the AGP 6800's PureVideo unit is either non-functional or intentionally disabled. {{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

In late 2005, an update to Nvidia's website finally confirmed what had long been suspected by the user community: WMV-acceleration is not available on the AGP 6800.

Of course, today's computers are fast enough to play and decode [[WMV9]] video and other sophisticated codecs like [[MPEG-4]], [[H.264]] or [[VP8]] without hardware acceleration, thus negating the need for something like PureVideo.

===GeForce 6 series general features===
[[File:NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Personal Cinema.jpg|thumb|GeForce 6800 Personal Cinema]]
*4, 8, 12, or 16 pixel-pipeline GPU architecture
*Up to 8x more shading performance compared to the previous generation
*CineFX 3.0 engine - DirectX 9 Shader Model 3.0 support
*On Chip Video processor (PureVideo)
*Full MPEG-2 encoding and decoding at GPU level (PureVideo)
*Advanced Adaptive De-Interlacing (PureVideo)
*[[DDR SDRAM|DDR]] and [[GDDR-3]] memory on a 256-bit wide Memory interface
*UltraShadow II technology - 3x to 4x faster than NV35 (GeForce FX 5900)
*High Precision Dynamic Range (HPDR) technology
*128-bit studio precision through the entire pipeline - Floating-point 32-bit color precision
*IntelliSample 4.0 Technology - 16x Anisotropic Filtering, Rotating Grid Antialiasing and Transparency Antialiasing (see [[GeForce 6 series#IntelliSample 4.0 and the GeForce 6 GPUs|here]])
*Maximum display resolution of 2048x1536@85 Hz
*Video Scaling and Filtering - HQ filtering techniques up to HDTV resolutions
*Integrated TV Encoder - TV-output up to 1024x768 resolutions
*OpenGL 2.0 Optimizations and support
*DVC 3.0 (Digital Vibrance Control)
*Dual 400 MHz RAMDACs which support QXGA displays up to 2048x1536 @ 85 Hz
*Dual DVI outputs on select members (implementation depends on the card manufacturer)

===6800 chipset table===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Board Name || Core Type || Core (MHz) || Memory (MHz) || Pipeline Config || Vertex Processors || Memory Interface
|-
| '''6800 Ultra'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV40/NV45/NV48
| style="text-align:center;"| 400
| style="text-align:center;"| 550
| style="text-align:center;"| 16
| style="text-align:center;"| 6
| style="text-align:center;"| 256-bit
|-
| '''6800 GT'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV40/NV45/NV48
| style="text-align:center;"| 350
| style="text-align:center;"| 500
| style="text-align:center;"| 16
| style="text-align:center;"| 6
| style="text-align:center;"| 256-bit
|-
| '''6800 XT'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV42
| style="text-align:center;"| 450
| style="text-align:center;"| 600
| style="text-align:center;"| 12
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| style="text-align:center;"| 256-bit
|-
| '''6800 GTS'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV42
| style="text-align:center;"| 425
| style="text-align:center;"| 500
| style="text-align:center;"| 12
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| style="text-align:center;"| 256-bit
|-
| '''6800 GS'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV40
| style="text-align:center;"| 350
| style="text-align:center;"| 500
| style="text-align:center;"| 12
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| style="text-align:center;"| 256-bit
|-
| '''6800 GTO'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV40/NV45
| style="text-align:center;"| 350
| style="text-align:center;"| 450
| style="text-align:center;"| 12
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| style="text-align:center;"| 256-bit
|-
| '''6800'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV40/NV41/NV42
| style="text-align:center;"| 325
| style="text-align:center;"| 300/350
| style="text-align:center;"| 12
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| style="text-align:center;"| 256-bit
|-
| '''6800 Go'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV41M
| style="text-align:center;"| 300
| style="text-align:center;"| 300
| style="text-align:center;"| 12
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| style="text-align:center;"| 256-bit
|-
| '''6800 Go Ultra'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV41M(0.13u)/NV42M(0.11u)
| style="text-align:center;"| 450
| style="text-align:center;"| 600
| style="text-align:center;"| 12
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| style="text-align:center;"| 256-bit
|-
| '''6800 XE'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV40
| style="text-align:center;"| 275/300/325
| style="text-align:center;"| 266/350
| style="text-align:center;"| 8
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 128-bit
|-
| '''6800 LE'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV40
| style="text-align:center;"| 300
| style="text-align:center;"| 350
| style="text-align:center;"| 8
| style="text-align:center;"| 4
| style="text-align:center;"| 256-bit
|}

===Notes===
*The limited-supply GeForce 6800 Ultra ''Extreme Edition''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evga.com/articles/public.asp?aid=188|title=GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme Edition|website=EVGA.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329031717/http://www.evga.com/articles/public.asp?aid=188|archive-date=March 29, 2008|access-date=October 7, 2012}}</ref> was shipped with a 450 MHz core clock and (usually) a 1200 MHz memory clock,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hothardware.com/printarticle.aspx?articleid=568|title=eVGA GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme Edition|website=HotHardware|first=Marco|last=Chiappetta|date=August 11, 2004|access-date=October 7, 2012}} The eVGA contest page still says 1100 MHz, but the cards shipped by eVGA were in fact 1200 MHz.</ref> but was otherwise identical to a common 6800 Ultra.
*The GeForce 6800 GS is cheaper to manufacture and has a lower MSRP than the GeForce 6800 GT because it has fewer pipelines and is fabricated on a smaller process (110 vs 130 nm), but performance is similar because it has a faster core clock. The AGP version, however, uses the original NV40 chip and 6800 GT circuit board and the inactive pixel and vertex pipelines may potentially be unlockable. However, the PCI Express version lacks them entirely, preventing such modifications.
*The 6800 GTO (which was produced only as an OEM card) contains four masked pixel pipelines and one masked vertex shader, which are potentially unlockable.
*The GeForce 6800 is often unofficially called the "GeForce 6800 [[Vanilla (computing)|Vanilla]]" or the "GeForce 6800 NU" (for Non-Ultra) to distinguish it from the other models. Recent PCIe variants have the NV41 (IBM 0.13 micrometre) or NV42 ([[TSMC]] 0.11 micrometer) cores, which are native PCIe implementations and do not have an integrated AGP bridge chip. The AGP version of the video card contains four masked pixel pipelines and one masked vertex shader, which are potentially unlockable through software mods. PCI-Express 6800 cards are incapable of such modifications, because the masked pixel pipelines and vertex buffers are nonexistent.
*The 6800 XT varies greatly depending on manufacturer. It is produced using three cores (NV40/NV41/NV42), four memory configurations (128 MiB [[DDR SDRAM|DDR]], 256 MiB [[DDR SDRAM|DDR]], 128 MiB GDDR3, 256 MiB GDDR3, and 512 MiB GDDR2), and has clock speeds ranging from 300 to 425 MHz (core) and 600-1000 MHz (memory). 6800 XT cards based on the NV40 core contain eight masked pixel pipelines and two masked vertex shaders, and those based on the NV42 core contain four masked pipelines and one masked shader (for some reason, the NV42 cards are almost never unlockable. It is speculated that the pipelines are being laser-cut).
*The 6800 LE contains eight masked pixel pipelines and two masked vertex shaders, which are potentially unlockable.
*The AGP version of the 6800 series does not have support for 2D acceleration in Adobe Reader/Acrobat 9.0 even though the GeForce AGP 6600, and PCI-e 6800 versions do.<ref name="Adobe Knowledge Base">[http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/405/kb405218.html Adobe Knowledge Base - 2D Graphics Acceleration (GPU) support in Acrobat and Adobe Reader (9.0 on Windows)]</ref>

==GeForce 6600 series==
[[File:Gigabyte GV-NX66T128VP.jpg|thumb|right|A Gigabyte 6600 GT PCI Express card]]
[[File:NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT Personal Cinema.jpg|thumb|GeForce 6600 GT Personal Cinema]]

The GeForce 6600 (NV43) was officially launched on August 12, 2004, several months after the launch of the 6800 Ultra. With half the pixel pipelines and vertex shaders of the 6800 GT, and a smaller 128-bit memory bus, the lower-performance and lower-cost 6600 is the mainstream product of the GeForce 6 series. The 6600 series retains the core rendering features of the 6800 series, including SLI. Equipped with fewer rendering units, the 6600 series processes pixel data at a slower rate than the more powerful 6800 series. However, the reduction in hardware resources, and migration to TSMC's 110 nm manufacturing process (versus the 6800's 130 nm process), make the 6600 both less expensive for Nvidia to manufacture and less expensive for customers to purchase.

Their 6600 series currently has three variants: the GeForce 6600LE, the 6600, and the 6600GT (in order from slowest to fastest.) The 6600 GT performs quite a bit better than the GeForce FX 5950 Ultra or [[Radeon#Models 3|Radeon 9800 XT]], with the 6600 GT scoring around 8000 in 3DMark03, while the GeForce FX 5950 Ultra scored around 6000, and it is also much cheaper. Notably, the 6600 GT offered identical performance to ATI's high-end X800 PRO graphics card with drivers previous December 2004, when running the popular game ''[[Doom 3]]''. It was also about as fast as the higher-end GeForce 6800 when running games without anti-aliasing in most scenarios.

At introduction, the 6600 family was only available in PCI Express form. AGP models became available roughly a month later, through the use of Nvidia's AGP-PCIe bridge chip. A majority of the AGP GeForce 6600GTs have their memory clocked at 900 MHz, which is 100 MHz slower than the PCI-e cards, on which the memory operates at 1000 MHz. This can contribute to a performance decline when playing certain games. However, it was often possible to "overclock" the memory to its nominal frequency of 1000 MHz and there are AGP cards (for example from [[XFX]]) that use 1000 MHz by default.

===6600 chipset table===
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! Board Name || Core Type || Core (MHz) || Memory (MHz) || Pipeline Config || Vertex Processors || Memory Interface
|-
| '''6700 XL'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV43
| style="text-align:center;"| 525
| style="text-align:center;"| 1100
| style="text-align:center;"| 8
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 128-bit
|-
| '''6600 GT GDDR3 '''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV43
| style="text-align:center;"| 500
| style="text-align:center;"| 900/1000
| style="text-align:center;"| 8
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 128-bit
|-
| '''6600 XL'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV43
| style="text-align:center;"| 400
| style="text-align:center;"| 800
| style="text-align:center;"| 8
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 128-bit
|-
| '''6600 DDR2'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV43
| style="text-align:center;"| 350
| style="text-align:center;"| 800
| style="text-align:center;"| 8
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 128-bit
|-
| '''6600'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV43
| style="text-align:center;"| 300
| style="text-align:center;"| 500/550
| style="text-align:center;"| 8
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 128-bit
|-
| '''6600 LE'''
| style="text-align:center;"| NV43
| style="text-align:center;"| 300
| style="text-align:center;"| 500
| style="text-align:center;"| 4
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 128-bit
|}
[[File:6600GT GPU.jpg|thumb|Nvidia NV43 GPU]]
Other data for '''PCI Express''' based cards:

* Memory Interface: 128-bit
* Memory Bandwidth: 16.0 GiB/s.
* Fill Rate (pixels/s.): 4.0 billion
* Vertices per Second: 375 million
* Memory Data Rate: 1000 MHz
* Pixels per Clock (peak): 8
* RAMDACs: 400 MHz

Other data for '''AGP''' based cards:

* Memory Interface: 128-bit
* Memory Bandwidth: 14.4 GiB/s.
* Fill Rate (pixels/s.): 4.0 billion
* Vertices per Second: 375 million
* Memory Data Rate: 900 MHz
* Pixels per Clock (peak): 8
* RAMDACs 400 MHz

==GeForce 6500==
The GeForce 6500 was released in October 2005 and is based on the same NV44 core as the value/budget (low-end or entry level) GeForce 6200TC, but with a higher GPU clock speed and more memory. The GeForce 6500 also supports SLI.

===GeForce 6500===
* Core Clock: 450 MHz
* Memory Clock: 700 MHz
* Pixel Pipelines: 4
* Number of ROPs: 2
* Vertex Processors: 3
* Memory: 128/256 MiB [[DDR SDRAM|DDR]] on a 64-bit interface
* Fill Rate (pixels/s): 1.6 billion
* Vertices per Second: 300 million
* Effective Memory Bandwidth (GiB/s): 13.44

==GeForce 6200==
[[File:Sparkle SF-AG44DH.jpg|thumb|GeForce 6200 in a low-profile AGP form factor]]
With just 4 pixel pipelines, the 6200 series forms Nvidia's value/budget (low-end or entry level) product. The 6200 omits memory compression and SLI support, but otherwise offers similar rendering features as the 6600s. The later 6200 boards were based on the NV44 core(s), which is the final production silicon for the 6200 series. The 6200 is the only card in the series to feature keying for 3.3V AGP slots (barring some rare exceptions of higher-end cards from vendors like PNY).

However, at introduction, production silicon was not yet ready. Nvidia fulfilled 6200 orders by shipping binned/rejected 6600 series cores (NV43V). The rejects were factory-modified to disable four  pixel pipelines, thereby converting the native 6600 product into a 6200 product. Some users were able to "unlock" early 6200 boards through a software utility (effectively converting the 6200 back into a 6600 with the complete set of eight pixel pipelines total) if they owned boards with an NV43 A2 or earlier revision of the core. Thus, not all NV43-based 6200 boards could successfully be unlocked (specifically those with a core revision of A4 or higher), and as soon as NV44 production silicon became available, Nvidia discontinued shipments of downgraded NV43V cores.

===GeForce 6200 chip specifications===

====GeForce 6200====
*Core Clock: 300 MHz
*Memory Clock: 550 MHz
*Pixel Pipelines: 4
*Vertex Processors: 3
*Memory: 128/256/512 MiB<ref>[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814145121 Newegg.com - CHAINTECH SA62A-512 GeForce 6200 512 MiB 64-bit DDR2 SDRAM AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail]</ref> [[DDR SDRAM|DDR]] on a 64-bit/128-bit interface

==GeForce 6200 TurboCache / AGP==
The GeForce 6200 [[TurboCache]] / AGP (NV44/NV44a) is a natively four-pipeline version of the NV43. GeForce 6200 TurboCache cards only have a very small (by modern standards) amount of memory, but attempt to make up for this by using system memory accessed through the PCI-Express bus.

===GeForce 6200 TurboCache / AGP chip specifications===

====GeForce 6200 PCI-Express (NV44) TurboCache====
* Core Clock: 350 MHz
* Memory Clock: 700 MHz
* Pixel Pipelines: 4
* Number of ROPs: 2
* Vertex Processors: 3
* Memory: 16/32/64/128 MiB [[DDR SDRAM|DDR]] on a 32-bit/64-bit/128-bit interface
*GeForce 6200 w/ TurboCache supporting 128 [[Mebibyte|MiB]], including 16 MiB of local TurboCache (32-bit)
*GeForce 6200 w/ TurboCache supporting 128 [[Mebibyte|MiB]], including 32 MiB of local TurboCache (64-bit)
*GeForce 6200 w/ TurboCache supporting 256 [[Mebibyte|MiB]], including 64 MiB of local TurboCache (64-bit)
*GeForce 6200 w/ TurboCache supporting 256 [[Mebibyte|MiB]], including 128 MiB of local TurboCache (128-bit)

====GeForce 6200 AGP (NV44a) without TurboCache====
* Core Clock: 350 MHz
* Memory Clock: 500 MHz
* Pixel Pipelines: 4
* Number of ROPs: 2
* Vertex Processors: 3
* Memory: 128/256/512 MiB DDR or DDR2 on a 64-bit interface

====GeForce 6200 AGP (NV44a2) without TurboCache====
* Core Clock: 350 MHz
* Memory Clock: 540 MHz
* Pixel Pipelines: 4
* Number of ROPs: 2
* Vertex Processors: 3
* Memory: 128/256 MiB DDR2 with a 128-bit interface
* Cooling: Passive heatsink

====GeForce 6200 PCI (NV44) without TurboCache====
[[BFG Technologies]] originally introduced a unique PCI variant of the GeForce 6200 via its namesake B.F.G. and 3D Fuzion product lines. Subsequently, [[PNY Technologies|PNY]] (GeForce 6200 256 MiB PCI), [[SPARKLE Computer]] (GeForce 6200 128 MiB PCI and GeForce 6200 256 MiB PCI), and [[EVGA (Company)|eVGA]] (e-GeForce 6200 256 MiB PCI and e-GeForce 6200 512 MiB PCI) released their own PCI versions of the GeForce 6200 featuring higher memory clocks and resultant memory bandwidth.

Until the release of the [[Radeon X1000 series#X1300–X1550 series|ATI X1300]] PCI, these were the only PCI DirectX 9 capable cards not based on previous generation [[GeForce FX series|GeForce FX]] technology or discontinued [[XGI Technology]] Volari V3XT chipsets.

Excluding [[SPARKLE]]'s [[GeForce 8 series#GeForce 8300 and 8400 series|GeForce 8400]] and [[GeForce 8 series#GeForce 8500 and 8600 series|8500]] series, [[Zotac]] [[GeForce 600 series#GeForce 600 (6xx) series|GT 610]] cards and Club 3D [[Radeon HD 5000 series#Radeon HD 5400|HD 5450]] cards in late 2012, the enhanced 512 MiB GeForce 6200 PCI variants<ref>[http://www.evga.com/products/pdf/512-P1-N402.pdf eVGA NVIDIA GeForce 6200 512-P1-N402 PCI] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412003118/https://www.evga.com/products/pdf/512-P1-N402.pdf |date=April 12, 2022 }}.</ref> remain among the most powerful PCI based systems available, making these cards desired by users lacking the option of upgrading to an AGP or PCI Express based discrete video card.

* Core Clock: 350 MHz
* Memory Clock: 400 MHz (BFG Technologies 6200 OC 410 MHz, PNY and EVGA 533 MHz)
* Pixel Pipelines: 4
* Memory: 512 (EVGA e-GeForce 6200 512 MiB PCI) / 256 (BFG Technologies 6200 OC PCI and EVGA e-Ge-Force 6200 PCI) / 128 (BFG Technologies [http://3dfuzion.com/services/ 3DFuzion] GeForce 6200 PCI) MiB [[DDR SDRAM|DDR]] on a 64-bit interface

==GeForce 6100 and 6150 series==
In late 2005 Nvidia introduced a new member to the GeForce family, the 6100 series, also known as C51. The term GeForce 6100/6150 actually refers to an [[nForce4]]-based motherboard with an integrated NV44 core, as opposed to a standalone graphics card. Nvidia released this product both to follow up its immensely popular GeForce4 MX based nForce and nForce2 boards and to compete with ATI's RS480/482 and Intel's GMA 900/950 in the integrated graphics space. The 6100 series is very competitive, usually tying with or just edging out the ATI products in most benchmarks.

The motherboards use two different types of southbridges - the nForce 410 and the nForce 430. They are fairly similar in features to the nForce4 Ultra motherboards that were on the market before them. Both feature PCI Express and PCI support, eight USB 2.0 ports, integrated sound, two Parallel ATA ports, and [[Serial ATA]] 3.0 Gibit/s with [[Native Command Queuing]] (NCQ) – two SATA ports in the case of the 410, four in the 430. The 430 southbridge also supports Gigabit Ethernet with Nvidia's ActiveArmor hardware firewall, while the 410 supports standard 10/100 Ethernet only.

===GeForce 6100 and 6150 series chip specifications===
Both the 6100 and 6150 support Shader Model 3.0 and DirectX 9.0c. The 6150 also features support for High-Definition video decoding of H.264/VC1/MPEG2, PureVideo Processing, DVI, and video-out. The 6100 only supports SD decoding of MPEG2/WMV9.<ref>[http://www.nvidia.com/docs/CP/11036/PureVideo_Product_Comparison.pdf PureVideo Support Table]</ref> Maximum supported resolution is 1920 × 1440 pixels (@75 Hz) for RGB display and 1600 × 1200 pixels (@65 Hz) for DVI-D display

===GeForce 61XX abnormally high failure rate in notebook computers===
In 2008, Nvidia took a $150 to 250M charge against revenue because the GPUs were failing at "higher than normal rates."<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.nvidia.com/object/io_1215037160521.html|title=NVIDIA Provides Second Quarter Fiscal 2009 Business Update|date=July 2, 2008|publisher=NVIDIA}}</ref> HP provided an extension to their warranty of up to 24 months for notebooks affected by this issue. A class action suit was filed against HP and Nvidia by Whatley Drake & Kallas LLC.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

====GeForce 6100====
* Manufacturing process: 90 nm
* Core Clock: 425 MHz
* Vertex Processors: 1
* Pixel Pipelines: 2
* Shader Model: 3
* DirectX support: v9.0c
* Video playback acceleration: [[SD video]] acceleration of MPEG2/WMV9 ([[High-definition video|HD]] video acceleration not supported)
* Outputs: VGA only
* Memory: Shared DDR/DDR2 (socket 754/939/AM2) system memory (selectable through BIOS - usually 16/32/64/128/256 MiB)

====GeForce 6150====
* Manufacturing process: 90 nm
* Core clock: 475 MHz<ref>[http://www.nvidia.com/page/nb_6100_tech_specs.html Tech Specs]</ref>
* Vertex processors: 1
* Pixel pipelines: 2
* Shader model: 3
* DirectX support: v9.0c
* Video playback acceleration: HD video acceleration of H.264/VC1/MPEG2
* Outputs: VGA, DVI, RCA (Video)
* Memory: Shared DDR2 (socket 939/AM2) system memory (selectable through BIOS - usually 16/32/64/128/256 MiB)
* HT Bus (Bandwidth) = 2000 MT/s max

====GeForce 6150LE====
The GeForce 6150LE was primarily featured in the 2006 lineup of the Nvidia Business Platform.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nvidia.com/page/nbp_certified_mobos.html|title=NVIDIA Business Platform Certified Motherboards|website=NVIDIA.com}}</ref> The chip is used by Fujitsu-Siemens in its Esprimo green desktop, HP in its Pavilion Media Center a1547c Desktop PC and Compaq Presario SR1915 Desktop, and Dell in its Dimension [https://web.archive.org/web/20111120234511/http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dimc521/en/SM_EN/specs.htm C521] and E521 desktop PCs.

====GeForce 6150SE====
GeForce 6150SE (MCP61, also known as C61) is an updated, single-chip version of the Nvidia GeForce 6100. The MCP61 uses less power than the original C51 2-chip version of 6100. Its onboard video outperforms the 6150 in many 3D benchmarks despite its lower core frequency (425 MHz), because of added hardware Z-culling.

MCP61 introduced a bug in the SATA NCQ implementation. As a result, Nvidia employees have contributed code to disable NCQ operations under Linux.<ref>{{cite mailing list|url=http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-ide/msg15779.html|title=Re: [PATCH] ata: sata_nv fix mcp51 timeout with SWNCQ|mailing-list=linux-ide|first=Bartlomiej|last=Zolnierkiewicz|date=October 26, 2007}}</ref>
*Manufacturing process: 90 nm
*Core Clock: 425 MHz
*HT Bus = 2000 MT/s max
*Vertex Processors: 1
*Pixel Pipelines: 2
*Shader Model: 3
*DirectX support: v9.0c
*Outputs: VGA only

==IntelliSample 4.0 and the GeForce 6 GPUs==
Upon launch of the [[GeForce 7]] family of graphics processing units, [[IntelliSample]] 4.0 was considered to be an exclusive feature of the [[GeForce 7]] series of GPUs. However, version 91.47 (and subsequent versions) of the Nvidia ForceWare drivers enable the features of IntelliSample 4.0 on the GeForce 6 GPUs. IntelliSample 4.0 introduces two new [[Spatial anti-aliasing|antialiasing]] modes, known as Transparency [[Supersampling|Supersampling Antialiasing]] and Transparency [[Multisample anti-aliasing|Multisampling Antialiasing]]. These new antialiasing modes enhance the image quality of thin-lined objects such as fences, trees, vegetation and grass in various games.

One possible reason for the enabling of IntelliSample 4.0 for GeForce 6 GPUs might be the fact that the GeForce 7100 GS GPUs are based on NV44 chips, the same as the GeForce 6200 models. Because of this, Nvidia had to backport IntelliSample 4.0 features to the NV4x GPUs, and as a result, the entire GeForce 6 family is able to enjoy the benefits of Transparency Antialiasing.

It was already well known across various communities that Transparency Antialiasing could be used on GeForce 6 GPUs by using some third party tweak tools. As of Nvidia ForceWare drivers 175.16, GeForce 6 IntelliSample 4.0 support has been removed.

==GeForce 6 model information==
{{Further|Curie (microarchitecture)}}

* All models support Transparency [[Spatial anti-aliasing|AA]] (starting with version 91.47 of the ForceWare drivers) and PureVideo

{{Row hover highlight}}
{| class="mw-datatable wikitable sortable" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" |Model
! rowspan="2" |Launch
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|[[Code name]]}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|[[Semiconductor device fabrication|Fab]] ([[nanometer|nm]])<ref name="vintage3d">{{cite web |title=3D accelerator database |url=http://vintage3d.org/dbn.php |website=Vintage 3D |access-date=1 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023222614/http://www.vintage3d.org/dbn.php |archive-date=23 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Transistors (million) Die size (mm2)}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|[[Computer bus|Bus]] [[I/O interface|interface]]}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Core clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Memory clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Core config{{efn|name=geforce 6 1|[[Pixel shader]]s: [[vertex shader]]s: [[texture mapping unit]]s: [[render output unit]]s}}}}
! colspan="4" |[[Fillrate]]
! colspan="4" |Memory
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Performance (GFLOPS)}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|TDP (Watts)}}
|-
! {{Vert header|MOperations/s}}
! {{Vert header|MPixels/s}}
! {{Vert header|MTexels/s}}
! {{Vert header|MVertices/s}}
! {{Vert header|Size ([[Megabyte|MB]])}}
! {{Vert header|Bandwidth ([[Gigabyte|GB]]/s)}}
! {{Vert header|Bus type}}
! {{Vert header|Bus width ([[bit]])}}
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6100 + nForce 410
| October 20, 2005
| MCP51
| rowspan="4" |[[TSMC]] [[90 nm]]
|
| rowspan="4" |[[HyperTransport]]
| rowspan="3" |425
| 100–200 (DDR) 200–533 (DDR2)
| rowspan="5" |2:1:2:1
| rowspan="3" |850
| rowspan="3" |425
| rowspan="3" |850
| rowspan="3" |106.25
| rowspan="4" |Up to 256 system RAM
| 1.6–6.4 (DDR) 3.2–17.056 (DDR2)
| DDR DDR2
| rowspan="4" |64 128
| ?
| ?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6150 SE + nForce 430
| rowspan="2" |June 2006
| MCP61
| rowspan="2" |
| 200 400{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}
| 3.2 16.0{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}
| DDR2
| ?
| ?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6150 LE + nForce 430
| MCP61
| rowspan="2" |100–200 (DDR) 200–533 (DDR2)
| 1.6–6.4 (DDR) 3.2–17.056 (DDR2)
| rowspan="2" |DDR DDR2
| ?
| ?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6150 + nForce 430
| October 20, 2005
| MCP51
|
| 475
| 950
| 475
| 950
| 118.75
| 1.6–6.4 (DDR) 3.2–17.056 (DDR2)
| ?
| ?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6200 LE
| April 4, 2005
| NV44
| rowspan="8" |TSMC 110 nm
| 75 110<ref name=":5">{{cite web|title=NVIDIA NV44 GPU Specs|url=https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/nvidia-nv44.g161|access-date=2024-09-01|website=TechPowerUp|language=en}}</ref>
| AGP 8x PCIe x16
| 350
| 266
| 700
| 700
| 700
| 87.5
| 128 256
| 4.256
| DDR
| 64
| ?
| ?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6200A
| April 4, 2005
| NV44A
| 75 110<ref>{{cite web|title=NVIDIA NV44B GPU Specs|url=https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/nvidia-nv44b.g427|access-date=2024-09-01|website=TechPowerUp|language=en}}</ref>
| AGP 8x
PCI
| 300
350<ref name="gf6200xfx" />
| 250 (DDR) 250-333 (DDR2)<ref name="gf6200xfx">{{Cite web|url=http://www.xfxforce.com/en-us/products/graphiccards/6series/6200.aspx#2|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916224908/http://www.xfxforce.com/en-us/products/graphiccards/6series/6200.aspx#2|url-status=dead|title=GeForce 6 Series-6200 - XFXforce.com|archivedate=September 16, 2008}}</ref>
| 4:3:4:2
| 1,400<ref name="gf6200xfx" />
| 700<ref name="gf6200xfx" />
| 1400<ref name="gf6200xfx" />
| 175 225<ref name="gf6200ddr2xfx">{{Cite web|url=http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurationDetails.jspa?series=GeForce%26%238482%3B+6200&productConfigurationId=79772|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080412013852/http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurationDetails.jspa?series=GeForce%26%238482%3B+6200&productConfigurationId=79772|url-status=dead|title=GeForce 6200:Model PV-T44A-WANG - XFXforce.com|archivedate=April 12, 2008}}</ref>
| 128 256<ref name="gf6200xfx" /> 512<ref name="gf6200xfx" />
| 4 4-5.34 (DDR2)<ref name="gf6200specxfx">{{Cite web|url=http://xfxforce.com/web/product/listFeatures.jspa?series=GeForce%26%238482;+6200&seriesId=43|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012114632/http://xfxforce.com/web/product/listSpecifications.jspa?series=GeForce%26%238482;+6200&seriesId=43|url-status=dead|title=Products GeForce 6200:Features - XFXforce.com|archivedate=October 12, 2007}}</ref>
| DDR DDR2<ref name="gf6200ddr2xfx" />
| 64<ref name="gf6200ddr2xfx" />
| ?
| ?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6200
| October 12, 2004 (PCIe) January 17, 2005 (AGP)
| NV43
| 146 154<ref name=":6">{{cite web|title=NVIDIA NV43 GPU Specs|url=https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/nvidia-nv43.g7|access-date=2024-09-01|website=TechPowerUp|language=en}}</ref>
| AGP 8x PCI PCIe x16
| 300
| 275
| 4:3:4:4
| 1,200
| 1,200
| 1,200
| 225
| 128 256
| 8.8
| DDR
| 128
| 1.2
| 20
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6200 TurboCache
| December 15, 2004
| rowspan="2" |NV44
| rowspan="2" |75 110<ref name=":5" />
| rowspan="2" |PCIe x16
| 350
| 200 275 350
| rowspan="2" |4:3:4:2
| 1,400
| 700
| 1,400
| 262.5
| 128–256 System RAM incl.16/32–64/128 onboard
| 3.2 4.4 5.6
| rowspan="3" |DDR
| rowspan="2" |64
| 1.4
| 25
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6500
| October 1, 2005
| 400
| 333
| 1,600
| 800
| 1,600
| 300
| rowspan="4" |128 256
| 5.328
| ?
| ?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6600 LE
| 2005
| rowspan="3" |NV43
| rowspan="3" |146 154<ref name=":6" />
| rowspan="6" |AGP 8x PCIe x16
| rowspan="2" |300
| 200
| 4:3:4:4
| 1,200
| rowspan="2" |1,200
| 1,200
| rowspan="2" |225
| 6.4
| rowspan="3" |128
| 1.3
| ?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6600
| August 12, 2004
| 275 400
| rowspan="2" |8:3:8:4
| 2,400
| 2,400
| 8.8 12.8
| DDR DDR2
| 2.4
| 26
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6600 GT
| August 12, 2004 (PCIe) November 14, 2004 (AGP)
| 500
| 475 (AGP) 500 (PCIe)
| 4,000
| 2,000
| 4,000
| 375
| 15.2 (AGP)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/115/geforce-6600-gt-agp.html |title=Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT AGP |website=Techpowerup.com |access-date=2024-09-01 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150416180159/http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/115/geforce-6600-gt-agp.html |archive-date=2015-04-16 |url-status=live }}</ref> 16 (PCIe)
| GDDR3
| 4.0
| 47
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6800 LE
| July 22, 2004 (AGP) January 16, 2005 (PCIe)
| rowspan="3" |NV40 (AGP) NV41, NV42 (PCIe)
| rowspan="4" |[[IBM]] 130 nm
| rowspan="3" |222 287 (NV40)<ref name=":7">{{cite web|title=NVIDIA NV40 GPU Specs|url=https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/nvidia-nv40.g6|access-date=2024-09-01|website=TechPowerUp|language=en}}</ref> 222 225 (NV41)<ref>{{cite web|title=NVIDIA NV41 GPU Specs|url=https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/nvidia-nv41.g162|access-date=2024-09-01|website=TechPowerUp|language=en}}</ref> 198 222 (NV42)<ref name=":8">{{cite web|title=NVIDIA NV42 GPU Specs|url=https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/nvidia-nv42.g44|access-date=2024-09-01|website=TechPowerUp|language=en}}</ref>
| 320 (AGP) 325 (PCIe)
| 350
| rowspan="2" |8:4:8:8
| 2,560 (AGP) 2,600 (PCIe)
| 2,560 (AGP) 2,600 (PCIe)
| 2,560 (AGP) 2,600 (PCIe)
| 320 (AGP) 325 (PCIe)
| 128
| 22.4
| DDR
| 256
| 2.6
| ?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6800 XT
| September 30, 2005
| 300 (64 Bit) 325
| 266 (64 Bit) 350 500 (GDDR3)
| 2,400 2,600
| 2,400 2,600
| 2,400 2,600
| 300 325
| 256
| 4.256 11.2 22.4 32 (GDDR3)
| DDR DDR2 GDDR3
| 64<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biostar.com.tw/app/cn/vga/content.php?S_ID=40|title=映泰集团 :: V6802XA16 :: 产品规格|website=www.biostar.com.tw|access-date=2024-09-01|archive-date=12 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012210343/https://www.biostar.com.tw/app/cn/vga/content.php?S_ID=40|url-status=live}}</ref> 128<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/vga/introduction.php?S_ID=37|title=VGA/GPU Manufacturer - BIOSTAR Group.|website=www.biostar.com.tw|language=en|access-date=2024-09-01|archive-date=12 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012210234/https://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/vga/introduction.php?S_ID=37|url-status=live}}</ref> 256
| 2.6
| 36
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6800
| April 14, 2004 (AGP) November 8, 2004 (PCIe)
| 325
| 350
| rowspan="3" |12:5:12:12
| 3,900
| 3,900
| 3,900
| 406.25
| 128 256
| 22.4
| DDR
| rowspan="6" |256
| 3.9
| 40
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6800 GTO
| April 14, 2004
| NV45
| 222 287 (NV45)<ref name=":9">{{cite web|title=NVIDIA NV45 GPU Specs|url=https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/nvidia-nv45.g163|access-date=2024-09-01|website=TechPowerUp|language=en}}</ref>
| PCIe x16
|
| 450
| 4,200
| 4,200
| 4,200
| 437.5
| 256
| 28.8
| rowspan="5" |GDDR3
| ?
| ?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6800 GS
| December 8, 2005 (AGP) November 7, 2005 (PCIe)
| NV40 (AGP) NV42 (PCIe)
| TSMC 110 nm
| 222 287 (NV40)<ref name=":7" /> 198 222 (NV42)<ref name=":8" />
| AGP 8x PCIe x16
| 350 (AGP) 425 (PCIe)
| rowspan="2" |500
| 5,100
| 5,100
| 5,100
| 531.25
| rowspan="2" |128 256
| rowspan="2" |32
| 4.2 5.1
| 59
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6800 GT
| May 4, 2004 (AGP) June 28, 2004 (PCIe)
| rowspan="2" |NV40 (AGP) NV45 (PCIe)
| rowspan="3" |IBM 130 nm
| rowspan="2" |222 287 (NV40)<ref name=":7" /> 222 287 (NV45)<ref name=":9" />
| rowspan="2" |AGP 8x PCIe x16
| 350
| rowspan="3" |16:6:16:16
| 5,600
| 5,600
| 5,600
| 525
| 5.6
| 67
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6800 Ultra
| May 4, 2004 (AGP) June 28, 2004 (PCIe) March 14, 2005 (512 MB)
| 400
| 525 (512 MB) 550 (256 MB)
| 6,400
| 6,400
| 6,400
| 600
| 256 512
| 33.6 (512 MB) 35.2 (256 MB)
| 6.4
| 105
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme Edition
| May 4, 2004
| NV40
| 222 287 (NV40)<ref name=":7" />
| AGP 8x
| 450
| 600
| 7,200
| 7,200
| 7,200
| 675
| 256
| 35.2
| ?
| ?
|-
! rowspan="2" |Model
! rowspan="2" |Launch
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|[[Code name]]}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|[[Semiconductor device fabrication|Fab]] ([[nanometer|nm]])<ref name="vintage3d"/>}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Transistors (million) Die size (mm2)}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|[[Computer bus|Bus]] [[I/O interface|interface]]}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Core clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Memory clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Core config{{efn|name=geforce 6 1|[[Pixel shader]]s: [[vertex shader]]s: [[texture mapping unit]]s: [[render output unit]]s}}}}
! colspan="4" |[[Fillrate]]
! colspan="4" |Memory
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Performance (GFLOPS)}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|TDP (Watts)}}
|-
! {{Vert header|MOperations/s}}
! {{Vert header|MPixels/s}}
! {{Vert header|MTexels/s}}
! {{Vert header|MVertices/s}}
! {{Vert header|Size ([[Megabyte|MB]])}}
! {{Vert header|Bandwidth ([[Gigabyte|GB]]/s)}}
! {{Vert header|Bus type}}
! {{Vert header|Bus width ([[bit]])}}
|}
{{notelist}}

===Features===

{{Row hover highlight}}
{| class="mw-datatable wikitable sortable" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" | Model
! colspan="4" | Features
|-
! OpenEXR HDR
! [[Scalable Link Interface]] (SLI)
! [[TurboCache]]
! [[Nvidia PureVideo|PureVideo]] WMV9 Decoding
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6100
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{Partial|Limited}}
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6150 SE
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{Partial|Driver-Side Only}}
| {{Partial|Limited}}
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6150
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6150 LE
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{Partial|Driver-Side Only}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6200
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes2}} Yes (PCIe only)
| {{yes}}
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6500
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6600 LE
| {{yes}}
| {{yes2}} Yes (No SLI Connector)
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6600
| {{yes}}
| {{yes2}} Yes (SLI Connector or PCIe Interface)
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6600 DDR2
| {{yes}}
| {{yes2}} Yes (SLI Connector or PCIe Interface)
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6600 GT
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6800 LE
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6800 XT
| {{yes}}
| {{yes2}} Yes (PCIe only)
| {{no}}
| {{yes2}} Yes (NV42 only)
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6800
| {{yes}}
| {{yes2}} Yes (PCIe only)
| {{no}}
| {{yes2}} Yes (NV41, NV42 only)
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6800 GTO
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6800 GS
| {{yes}}
| {{yes2}} Yes (PCIe only)
| {{no}}
| {{yes2}} Yes (NV42 only)
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6800 GT
| {{yes}}
| {{yes2}} Yes (PCIe only)
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | GeForce 6800 Ultra
| {{yes}}
| {{yes2}} Yes (PCIe only)
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|}

===GeForce Go 6 (Go 6xxx) series===
{{Row hover highlight}}
{| class="mw-datatable wikitable sortable" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center;"
|-
!rowspan=2|Model
!rowspan=2|Launch
!rowspan=2 {{vert header|[[Code name]]}}
!rowspan=2 {{vert header|Fab ([[nanometer|nm]])}}
!rowspan=2 {{vert header|[[Computer bus|Bus]] [[I/O interface|interface]]}}
!rowspan=2 {{vert header|Core clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
!rowspan=2 {{vert header|Memory clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
!rowspan=2 {{vert header|Core config1}}
!colspan=4|[[Fillrate]]
!colspan=4|Memory
|-
!{{vert header|MOperations/s}}
!{{vert header|MPixels/s}}
!{{vert header|MTexels/s}}
!{{vert header|MVertices/s}}
!{{vert header|Size ([[Megabyte|MB]])}}
!{{vert header|Bandwidth ([[Gigabyte|GB]]/s)}}
!{{vert header|Bus type}}
!{{vert header|Bus width ([[bit]])}}
|-
!style="text-align:left"|GeForce Go 6100 + nForce Go 430
|{{unk}}
| rowspan="2" |C51M
| rowspan="5" |110
| rowspan="2" |HyperTransport
| rowspan="2" |425
| rowspan="2" |System memory
| rowspan="2" |2:1:2:1
| rowspan="2" |850
| rowspan="2" |425
| rowspan="2" |850
| rowspan="2" |106.25
| rowspan="2" |Up to 128 MB system
| rowspan="2" |System memory
| rowspan="2" |DDR2
| rowspan="2" |64/128
|-
!style="text-align:left"|GeForce Go 6150 + nForce Go 430
|February 1, 2006
|-
!style="text-align:left"|GeForce Go 6200
|February 1, 2006
| rowspan="2" |NV44M
| rowspan="5" |PCIe x16
|300
|600
| rowspan="2" |4:3:4:2
|1200
|600
|1200
|225
| rowspan="2" |16
|2.4
| rowspan="3" |DDR
|32
|-
!style="text-align:left"|GeForce Go 6400
|February 1, 2006
|400
| rowspan="2" |700
|1600
|800
|1600
|250
|5.6
|64
|-
!style="text-align:left"|GeForce Go 6600
|September 29, 2005
|NV43M
| rowspan="2" |300
|8:3:8:4
| rowspan="2" |3000
| rowspan="2" |1500
| rowspan="2" |3000
|281.25
| rowspan="2" |128
|11.2
|128
|-
!style="text-align:left"|GeForce Go 6800
|November 8, 2004
| rowspan="2" |NV41M
| rowspan="2" |130
| rowspan="2" |700 1100
| rowspan="2" |12:5:12:12
|375
| rowspan="2" |22.4 35.2
| rowspan="2" |DDR, DDR2 DDR3
| rowspan="2" |256
|-
!style="text-align:left"|GeForce Go 6800 Ultra
|February 24, 2005
|450
|5400
|3600
|5400
|562.5
|256
|}

* 1 [[Pixel shader]]s: [[vertex shader]]s: [[texture mapping unit]]s: [[render output unit]]s

== Support ==
Nvidia has ceased driver support for GeForce 6 series. The GeForce 6 series is the last to support the [[Windows 9x]] family of operating systems, as well as [[Windows NT 4.0]]. The successor GeForce 7 series only supports [[Windows 2000]] and later (the Windows 8 drivers also support [[Windows 10]]).

* Windows 95: 66.94 released on December 16, 2004; [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/win9x-6694 Download]
* Windows NT 4.0: 77.72 released on June 22, 2005; [https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/13/en-us Download]
* Windows 98 & Me: 81.98 released on December 21, 2005; [http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_81.98.html Download]
* Windows 2000: 94.24 released on May 17, 2006; [http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/60/en-us Download]
* Windows XP 32-bit & Media Center Edition: 307.83 released on February 25, 2013; [https://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/57493/en-us Download]
* Windows XP 64-bit: 307.83 released on February 25, 2013; [https://www.nvidia.com/download/driverresults.aspx/57494/en-us Download]
* Windows Vista, 7 & 8 32-bit: 309.08 released on February 24, 2015; [http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/82701/en-us Download]
* Windows Vista, 7 & 8 64-bit: 309.08 released on February 24, 2015; [http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/82758/en-us Download]

== See also ==
{{Commons category|Nvidia GeForce 6 series video cards|GeForce 6 series}}
* [[Comparison of Nvidia graphics processing units]]
*[[Curie (microarchitecture)]]
* [[GeForce FX series]]
* [[GeForce 7 series]]
* [[Scalable Link Interface]]

== Notes and references ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce6.html Nvidia: GeForce 6 Series Product Overview]
* [http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo.html Nvidia PureVideo Technology page]
* [http://www.3dcenter.org/artikel/nv40_technik/index_e.php Inside nVidia NV40]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311143311/http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/itnews.php?tid=663517&starttime=0&endtime=0 Transparency Antialiasing on GeForce 6 GPUs]
* [http://www.nvidia.com/object/mobo_gpu_tech_specs.html Nvidia: Integrated GPU Technical Specifications]
* [http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb techPowerUp! GPU Database]

===Reviews===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040919233110/http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/inno3d_geforce_6800 nvNews/ a nvnews review of the GeForce 6800]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040918084656/http://www.beyond3d.com/previews/nvidia/nv45 Beyond 3D/ preview of nv45 core architecture]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041010214249/http://www.guru3d.com/index.php?page=Videocards Guru3D Nvidia GeForce 6 Series and ATi X Series/comparison - 6-series v. Radeon X-series]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051102065850/http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/chipsets/display/gf6150-gf6100.html X-bit Labs Second Generation of Integrated Graphics from Nvidia: GeForce 6150 and GeForce 6100/ Page on GeForce 6100, 6150]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070202050701/http://www.gameznstuff.net/nvidia_graphic_card_review.html GeForce 6600GT review/ review- GeForce 6600GT]


{{Nvidia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geforce 6 series}}
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 2004]]
[[Category:GeForce series|6 series]]
[[Category:Graphics cards]]

GeForce 3 series

2025-09-15T06:36:33Z

2001:5A8:601:4003:157:131:224:200: /* Support */This should be 'discontinuation' or 'support' (which then explains that support has been discontinued), not 'discontinued support'.

{{Short description|Series of GPUs by Nvidia}}
{{for|GeForce cards with a model number of 3X0|GeForce 300 series}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox GPU
| name = GeForce 3 series
| image = [[File:Nvidia GeForce 3 Series Logo.png|200px|GeForce 3 series logo]]
| codename = NV20
| created = {{start date and age|February 27, 2001}}
| model1 = GeForce 3 series
| model2 = GeForce 3 Ti series
| midrange = Ti 200
| highend = GeForce 3 (original), Ti 500
| d3dversion = [[Microsoft Direct3D#Direct3D 8.0|Direct3D 8.0]] [[High Level Shader Language|Vertex Shader 1.1]] [[High Level Shader Language|Pixel Shader 1.1]]
| openglversion = [[OpenGL#OpenGL 1.3|OpenGL 1.3]]
|predecessor = [[GeForce 2 series|GeForce 2 (NV15)]]
|successor = [[GeForce 4 series|GeForce 4 Ti (NV25)]]
| support status = Unsupported
|architecture=[[Kelvin (microarchitecture)|Kelvin]]
}}

The '''GeForce 3 series''' (NV20) is the third generation of [[Nvidia]]'s [[GeForce]] line of [[graphics processing unit]]s (GPUs). Introduced in February 2001,<ref name="Nvidia GeForce3 Roundup - July 2001">{{Cite web |last=Witheiler |first=Matthew |date=July 25, 2001 |title=NVIDIA GeForce3 Roundup - July 2001 |url=https://www.anandtech.com/show/802 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914143804/http://www.anandtech.com/show/802 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 14, 2010 |website=Anandtech}}</ref> it advanced the GeForce architecture by adding programmable pixel and vertex shaders, [[multisample anti-aliasing]] and improved the overall efficiency of the rendering process.

The GeForce 3 was unveiled during the 2001 [[Macworld Conference & Expo|Macworld Conference & Expo/Tokyo 2001]] in [[Makuhari Messe]] and powered realtime demos of Pixar's [[Luxo Jr.|Junior Lamp]] and [[id Software]]'s ''[[Doom 3]]''. Apple would later announce launch rights for its new line of computers.

The GeForce 3 family comprises 3 consumer models: the '''GeForce 3''', the '''GeForce 3 Ti200''', and the '''GeForce 3 Ti500'''. A separate professional version, with a feature-set tailored for computer aided design, was sold as the '''Quadro DCC'''. A derivative of the GeForce 3, known as the '''NV2A''', is used in the Microsoft [[Xbox (console)|Xbox]] game console.

==Architecture==
[[Image:Geforce3gpu.jpg|thumb|GeForce3 Ti 200 GPU]]

The GeForce 3 was introduced three months after Nvidia acquired the assets of [[3dfx]]. It was marketed as the ''nFinite FX Engine'', and was the first [[Microsoft Direct3D]] 8.0 compliant 3D-card. Its programmable shader architecture enabled applications to execute custom visual effects programs in Microsoft [[Shader]] language 1.1. It is believed that the fixed-function T&L hardware from GeForce 2 was still included on the chip for use with Direct3D 7.0 applications, as the single vertex shader was not fast enough to emulate it yet.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKesson |first=Jason |title=Programming at Last |url=https://paroj.github.io/gltut/History%20Radeon8500.html}}</ref> With respect to pure pixel and texel throughput, the GeForce 3 has four pixel pipelines which each can sample two textures per clock. This is the same configuration as GeForce 2, excluding the slower GeForce 2 MX line.

To take better advantage of available memory performance, the GeForce 3 has a memory subsystem dubbed ''Lightspeed Memory Architecture'' (LMA). This is composed of several mechanisms that reduce overdraw, conserve memory bandwidth by compressing the [[z-buffering|z-buffer]] (depth buffer) and better manage interaction with the DRAM.

Other architectural changes include EMBM support<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ixbtlabs.com/articles/digest3d/0402/itogi-video-gf3.html|title=April 2002 3Digest - NVIDIA GeForce3|first=iXBT|last=Labs|website=iXBT Labs}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce3_faq.html|title = GeForce RTX 20 Series Graphics Cards and Laptops}}</ref> (first introduced by Matrox in 1999) and improvements to [[Spatial anti-aliasing|anti-aliasing]] functionality. Previous GeForce chips could perform only super-sampled anti-aliasing (SSAA), a demanding process that renders the image at a large size internally and then scales it down to the end output resolution. GeForce 3 adds multi-sampling anti-aliasing (MSAA) and [[Quincunx]] anti-aliasing methods, both of which perform significantly better than super-sampling anti-aliasing at the expense of quality. With multi-sampling, the render output units super-sample only the [[Z-buffering|Z-buffer]]s and [[stencil buffer]]s, and using that information get greater geometry detail needed to determine if a pixel covers more than one polygonal object. This saves the pixel/fragment shader from having to render multiple fragments for pixels where the same object covers all of the same sub-pixels in a pixel. This method fails with texture maps which have varying transparency (e.g. a texture map that represents a chain link fence). Quincunx anti-aliasing is a blur filter that shifts the rendered image a half-pixel up and a half-pixel left in order to create sub-pixels which are then averaged together in a diagonal cross pattern, destroying both jagged edges but also some overall image detail. Finally, the GeForce 3's [[texture sampling unit]]s were upgraded to support 8-tap [[anisotropic filtering]], compared to the previous limit of 2-tap with GeForce 2. With 8-tap anisotropic filtering enabled, distant textures can be noticeably sharper.

A derivative of the GeForce 3, known as the NV2A, is used in the Microsoft [[Xbox (console)|Xbox]] game console. It is clocked the same as the original GeForce 3 but features an additional vertex shader.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Parker |first=Sam |date=May 22, 2001 |title=Inside the Xbox GPU |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/inside-the-xbox-gpu/1100-2764090/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=GameSpot |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/article_30419 |title=Microsoft clarify NV2A |website=Eurogamer.net |date=March 28, 2001 |access-date=October 10, 2024 |archive-date=March 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200320214850/https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/article_30419 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010331050522/http://cube.ign.com/news/32458.html Graphics Processor Specifications], [[IGN]], 2001</ref><ref name="anandtech">{{cite web |url=http://www.anandtech.com/show/853/2 |title=Anandtech Microsoft's Xbox |publisher=Anandtech.com |access-date=2024-10-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104081735/http://www.anandtech.com/show/853/2 |archive-date=2010-11-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Tony |title=TSMC starts fabbing Nvidia Xbox chips |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/02/14/tsmc_starts_fabbing_nvidia_xbox/ |access-date=10 October 2024 |work=[[The Register]] |date=14 February 2001}}</ref>

==Performance==
The GeForce 3 GPU (NV20) has the same theoretical pixel and texel throughput per clock as the GeForce 2 (NV15). The GeForce 2 Ultra is clocked 25% faster than the original GeForce 3 and 43% faster than the Ti200; this means that in select instances, like Direct3D 7 T&L benchmarks, the GeForce 2 Ultra and sometimes even GTS can outperform the GeForce 3 and Ti200, because the newer GPUs use the same fixed-function T&L unit, but are clocked lower.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://techreport.com/review/2515/nvidia-geforce3-graphics-processor/11|title=NVIDIA's GeForce3 graphics processor|website=techreport.com|date=June 26, 2001|access-date=June 25, 2017|archive-date=March 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312041024/http://techreport.com/review/2515/nvidia-geforce3-graphics-processor/11|url-status=dead}}</ref> The GeForce 2 Ultra also has considerable raw memory bandwidth available to it, only matched by the GeForce 3 Ti500. However, when comparing anti-aliasing performance the GeForce 3 is clearly superior because of its MSAA support and memory bandwidth/fillrate management efficiency.

When comparing the shading capabilities to the Radeon 8500, reviewers noted superior precision with the ATi card.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://techreport.com/review/3266/ati-radeon-8500-off-the-beaten-path/5|title=ATI's Radeon 8500: Off the beaten path|website=techreport.com|date=December 31, 2001|access-date=June 25, 2017|archive-date=March 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312051131/http://techreport.com/review/3266/ati-radeon-8500-off-the-beaten-path/5|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Product positioning==
Nvidia refreshed the lineup in October 2001 with the release of the GeForce 3 Ti200 and Ti500. This coincided with ATI's releases of the [[Radeon R100|Radeon 7500]] and [[Radeon R200|Radeon 8500]]. The Ti500 has higher core and memory clocks (240 MHz core/250 MHz RAM) than the original GeForce 3 (200 MHz/230 MHz), and generally matches the Radeon 8500 in performance. The Ti200 is clocked lower (175 MHz/200 MHz) making it the lowest-priced GeForce 3 release, but it still surpasses the Radeon 7500 in speed and feature set although lacking dual-monitor implementation.

The original GeForce3 and Ti500 were only released in 64 MiB configurations, while the Ti200 was also released as 128 MiB versions.

The [[GeForce 4 series|GeForce 4 Ti]] (NV25), introduced in April 2002, was a revision of the GeForce 3 architecture.<ref name="techreport.com">{{Cite web|url = https://techreport.com/review/3379/a-look-at-nvidia-geforce4-chips/2|title = A look at NVIDIA's GeForce4 chips|work = The Tech Report|date = February 6, 2002|access-date = October 1, 2024|archive-date = March 29, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190329172544/https://techreport.com/review/3379/a-look-at-nvidia-geforce4-chips/2|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.activewin.com/reviews/hardware/graphics/nvidia/gf4ti4600/gf2.shtml|title=ActiveWin.Com: NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti 4600 - Review|website=www.activewin.com}}</ref> The GeForce 4 Ti was very similar to the GeForce 3; the main differences were higher core and memory speeds, a revised memory controller, improved vertex and [[pixel shader]]s, hardware [[anti-aliasing]] and DVD playback. Proper dual-monitor support was also brought over from the GeForce 2 MX. With the GeForce 4 Ti 4600 as the new flagship product, this was the beginning of the end of the GeForce 3 Ti 500 which was already difficult to produce due to poor yields, and it was later completely replaced by the much cheaper but similarly performing GeForce 4 Ti 4200.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pc-graphics-xbox,423-19.html|title=PC Graphics Beyond XBOX - NVIDIA Introduces GeForce4|author1=Thomas Pabst|date=February 6, 2002|website=Tom's Hardware}}</ref> Also announced at the same time was the GeForce 4 MX (NV17), which despite the name was closer in terms of architecture and feature set to the GeForce 2 (NV 11 and NV15).<ref name=AnandGF4>{{cite web |author=Lal Shimpi, Anand |url=http://www.anandtech.com/show/875 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100503034153/http://www.anandtech.com/show/875 |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 3, 2010 |title=Nvidia GeForce4 - NV17 and NV25 Come to Life |publisher=AnandTech |date=February 6, 2002 |access-date=October 1, 2024}}</ref> The GeForce 3 Ti200 was still kept in production for a short while as it occupied a niche spot between the (delayed) GeForce 4 Ti4200 and GeForce 4 MX460, with performance equivalent to the DirectX 7.0 compliant MX460 while also having full DirectX 8.0 support, although lacking the ability to support dual-monitors. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pc-graphics-xbox,423-18.html|title=PC Graphics Beyond XBOX - NVIDIA Introduces GeForce4|author1=Thomas Pabst|date=February 6, 2002|website=Tom's Hardware}}</ref> However, ATI released the Radeon 8500LE (a slower clocked version of the 8500) which outperformed both the Ti200 and MX460. ATI's move in turn compelled Nvidia to roll out the Ti4200 earlier than planned, also at a similar price to the MX 460, and soon afterwards discontinuing the Ti200 by summer 2002 due to naming confusion with the GeForce 4 MX and Ti lines. The GeForce 3 Ti200 still outperforms the Radeon 9000 (RV250) that was introduced around the time of the Ti200's discontinuation; as unlike the 8500LE which was just a slower-clocked 8500, the 9000 was a major redesign to reduce production cost and power usage; the Radeon 9000's performance was equivalent to the GeForce 4 MX440. <ref name=DigitGF4Ti>{{cite web |author=Worobyew, Andrew. |author2=Medvedev, Alexander |url=https://www.pricenfees.com/digit-life-archives/nvidia-geforce4-ti-4400-geforce4-ti-4600-nv25-review |title=Nvidia GeForce4 Ti 4400 and GeForce4 Ti 4600 (NV25) Review |publisher=Pricenfees |access-date=October 1, 2024 |archive-date=October 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012014518/https://extensivelyreviewed.com/nvidia-geforce4-ti-4400-geforce4-ti-4600-nv25-review.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Specifications==
{{main|Comparison of Nvidia graphics processing units}}
{{Further|Kelvin (microarchitecture)}}

* All models are made via [[TSMC]] [[150 nm process|150 nm]] fabrication process
* All models support [[Direct3D]] 8.0 and [[OpenGL]] 1.3
* All models support 3D Textures, Lightspeed Memory Architecture (LMA), nFiniteFX Engine, Shadow Buffers

{{Row hover highlight}}
{| class="mw-datatable wikitable sortable" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: bottom"|Model
! rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: bottom"|Launch
! rowspan="2" {{Vertical header|[[Code name]]}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vertical header|Transistors (million)}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vertical header|Die size (mm2)}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vertical header|[[Computer bus|Bus]] [[I/O interface|interface]]}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vertical header|Core clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vertical header|Memory clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vertical header|Core config{{efn|name=geforce 3 1|[[Pixel shader]]s: [[vertex shader]]s: [[texture mapping unit]]s: [[render output unit]]s}}}}
! colspan="4" |[[Fillrate]]
! colspan="4" |Memory
! rowspan="2" {{Vertical header|Performance ([[FLOPS|GFLOPS]] [[FP32]])}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vertical header|TDP (Watts)}}
|-
!{{Vertical header|MOperations/s}}
!{{Vertical header|MPixels/s}}
!{{Vertical header|MTexels/s}}
!{{Vertical header|MVertices/s}}
!{{Vertical header|Size ([[Megabyte|MB]])}}
!{{Vertical header|Bandwidth ([[Gigabyte|GB]]/s)}}
!{{Vertical header|Bus type}}
!{{Vertical header|Bus width ([[bit]])}}
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce3 Ti200
|October 1, 2001
| rowspan="3" |NV20
| rowspan="3" |57
| rowspan="3" |128
| rowspan="3" |{{nowrap|AGP 4x}}, PCI
|175
|200
| rowspan="3" |4:1:8:4
|700
|700
|1400
|43.75
|64 128
|6.4
|rowspan="3" |DDR
|rowspan="3" |128
|8.750
|?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce3
|February 27, 2001
|200
|230
|800
|800
|1600
|50
|64
|7.36
|10.00
|?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce3 Ti500
|October 1, 2001
|240
|250
|960
|960
|1920
|60
|64 128
|8.0
|12.00
|29
|}
{{notelist}}

== Support ==
Nvidia has ceased driver support for GeForce 3 series.

[[Image:GeForce3 Ti 500.jpg|thumb|Nvidia GeForce3 Ti 500]]

===Final drivers===
* Windows 9x & Windows Me: 81.98 released on December 21, 2005; [http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_81.98.html Download];
:[http://www.nvidia.com/object/81.98_9x_supported.html Product Support List Windows 95/98/Me – 81.98].
:* Driver version 81.98 for Windows 9x/Me was the last driver version ever released by Nvidia for these systems; no new official releases were later made for these systems.
* Windows 2000, 32-bit Windows XP & Media Center Edition: 93.71 released on November 2, 2006; [https://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/5/ Download].
** Also available: 93.81 (beta) released on November 28, 2006; [http://www.nvidia.com/object/nzone_downloads_winxp_2k_32bit_93.81.html Download].
* Linux 32-bit: 96.43.23 released on September 14, 2012; [https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/48996/en-us/ Download].

The drivers for Windows 2000/XP can also be installed on later versions of Windows such as Windows Vista and 7; however, they do not support desktop compositing or the [[Windows Aero|Aero]] effects of these operating systems.

Note: Despite claims in the documentation that 94.24 (released on May 17, 2006) supports the Geforce 3 series, it does not (94.24 actually supports only [[GeForce 6 series|GeForce 6]] and [[GeForce 7 series|GeForce 7]] series).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/details/60/|title=Driver Details|website=NVIDIA}}</ref>

:(Products supported list also on this page)
[http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_archive.html Windows 95/98/Me Driver Archive] 
[http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp-2k_archive.html Windows XP/2000 Driver Archive] 
[http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html Unix Driver Archive]

== See also ==
*[[Graphics card]]
*[[Graphics processing unit]]
*[[Kelvin (microarchitecture)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Nvidia GeForce 3 series video cards|GeForce 3 series}}
* [http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce3.html Nvidia: GeForce3 - The Infinite Effects GPU]
* [http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_81.98.html ForceWare 81.98 drivers, Final Windows 9x/ME driver release]
* [http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_93.71_2.html ForceWare 93.71 drivers, Final Windows XP driver release]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070902063013/http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1442 Anandtech: Nvidia GeForce3]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100106232326/http://anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1539 Anandtech: Nvidia's Fall Product Line: GeForce3 Titanium]
* [http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb techPowerUp! GPU Database]

{{Nvidia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geforce 3 series}}
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 2001]]
[[Category:GeForce series|3 Series]]
[[Category:Graphics cards]]

GeForce 2 series

2025-09-15T06:35:44Z

2001:5A8:601:4003:157:131:224:200: /* Support */This should be 'discontinuation' or 'support' (which then explains that support has been discontinued), not 'discontinued support'.

{{hatnote|For GeForce cards with a model number of 2X0, see [[GeForce 200 series]]. For GeForce cards with a model number of 20X0, see [[GeForce 20 series]].}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Short description|Series of GPUs by Nvidia}}
{{Infobox GPU
| name = GeForce 2 series
| image = [[File:Geforce2logo.png]] [[File:NVIDIA@180nm@Fixed-pipeline@NV15@GeForce2 GTS@F30213.01 0031A3 DSC02339 (26941631266).jpg|300px]]
| caption = '''Top''': Logo of the GeForce 2 series '''Bottom''': Nvidia GeForce 2 GTS ([[Asus]] Branded) with its cooler removed, showing the NV15 die
| codename = NV11, NV15, NV16
| created = mid-May, {{start date and age|2000}}<ref>{{cite web |author=Ross, Alex |url=http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/articles/nvidia_geforce2_gts_guide/26.shtml |title=NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS Guide |publisher=SharkyExtreme |date=April 26, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040823113943/http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/articles/nvidia_geforce2_gts_guide/26.shtml |archive-date=August 23, 2004 }}</ref>
| model1 = GeForce MX series
| model2 = GeForce GTS series
| model3 = GeForce Pro series
| model4 = GeForce Ti series
| model5 = GeForce Ultra series
| entry = MX
| midrange = GTS, Pro
| highend = Ti, Ultra
| openglversion = [[OpenGL#OpenGL 1.2|OpenGL 1.2]] ([[Transform, clipping, and lighting|T&L]])
| d3dversion = [[Microsoft Direct3D#Direct3D 7.0|Direct3D 7.0]]
| predecessor = [[GeForce 256]]
| successor = [[GeForce 3 series]]

| support status = Unsupported

|architecture=[[Celsius (microarchitecture)|Celsius]]}}
The '''GeForce 2 series''' (NV15) is the second generation of [[Nvidia]]'s [[GeForce]] line of [[graphics processing unit]]s (GPUs). Introduced in 2000, it is the successor to the [[GeForce 256]].

The GeForce 2 family comprised a number of models. The ''GeForce 2 GTS'', ''GeForce 2 Ultra'', ''GeForce 2 Pro'', and ''GeForce 2 Ti'' are based upon the original architecture (NV15), varying only by chip and memory clock speeds. For the low-end segment and OEMs, the ''GeForce 2 MX'' series (NV11) was created, from which the ''GeForce 2 Go'' was derived for laptops. In addition, the GeForce 2 architecture is used for the [[Nvidia Quadro|Quadro]] series on the Quadro 2 Pro, 2 MXR, and 2 EX cards with special drivers meant to accelerate [[computer-aided design]] applications.

==Architecture==
[[Image:GeForce2 Ultra GPU.jpg|thumb|GeForce2 Ultra GPU]]
[[File:NVIDIA@180nm@Fixed-pipeline@NV15@GeForce2 GTS@F30213.01 0031A3 Stack-DSC03235-DSC03247 - ZS-DMap (26370843253).jpg|thumb|Die shot of a Geforce 2 GPU]]
The GeForce 2 architecture (NV15) is similar to the previous GeForce 256 line but with various improvements. Compared to the 220 [[nanometre|nm]] GeForce 256, the GeForce 2 is built on a 180 nm manufacturing process, making the silicon more dense and allowing for more transistors and a higher clock speed. The most significant change for 3D acceleration is the addition of a second [[texture mapping unit]] to each of the four [[Graphics pipeline#Scan conversion or rasterization|pixel pipeline]]s. Some say{{who|date=January 2013}} the second TMU was there in the original Geforce NSR (Nvidia Shading Rasterizer) but dual-texturing was disabled due to a hardware bug; NSR's unique ability to do single-cycle trilinear texture filtering supports this suggestion. This doubles the texture [[fillrate]] per clock compared to the previous generation and is the reasoning behind the GeForce 2 GTS's naming suffix: GigaTexel Shader (GTS). The GeForce 2 also formally introduces the NSR (Nvidia Shading Rasterizer), a primitive type of programmable pixel pipeline that is somewhat similar to later pixel [[shader]]s. This functionality is also present in GeForce 256 but was unpublicized. Another hardware enhancement is an upgraded video processing pipeline, called ''HDVP'' (high definition video processor). HDVP supports motion video playback at [[High-definition television|HDTV]]-resolutions (MP@HL).<ref>{{cite web |author=Lal Shimpi, Anand |url=http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1231&p=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040817081525/http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1231&p=2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 17, 2004 |title=NVIDIA GeForce 2 GTS |publisher=Anandtech |date=April 26, 2000 |pages=2 |access-date=July 2, 2009}}</ref>

In 3D benchmarks and gaming applications, the GeForce 2 GTS outperforms its predecessor by up to 40%.<ref>{{cite web |author=Lal Shimpi, Anand |url=http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1231&p=10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041025002154/http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1231&p=10 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 25, 2004 |title=NVIDIA GeForce 2 GTS |publisher=Anandtech |date=April 26, 2000 |access-date=June 14, 2008}}</ref> In [[OpenGL]] games (such as [[Quake III Arena|Quake III]]), the card outperforms the [[Radeon R100|ATI Radeon DDR]] and [[3dfx]] [[Voodoo 5|Voodoo 5 5500]] cards in both 16 [[color depth|bpp]] and 32 bpp display modes. However, in [[Microsoft Direct3D|Direct3D]] games running 32 bpp, the Radeon DDR is sometimes able to take the lead.<ref>{{cite web |author=Witheiler, Matthew |url=http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1281 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728112335/http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1281 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 28, 2012 |title=ATI Radeon 64MB DDR |publisher=Anandtech |date=July 17, 2000 |access-date=June 14, 2008}}</ref>

The GeForce 2 (NV15) architecture is quite memory bandwidth constrained.<ref>{{cite web |author=Lal Shimpi, Anand |url=http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1298&p=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040803060915/http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1298&p=2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 3, 2004 |title=NVIDIA GeForce 2 Ultra |publisher=Anandtech |date=August 14, 2000 |access-date=June 14, 2008}}</ref> The GPU wastes memory bandwidth and pixel fillrate due to unoptimized [[z-buffer]] usage, drawing of [[Hidden surface determination|hidden surfaces]], and a relatively inefficient RAM controller. The main competition for GeForce 2 GTS, the Radeon DDR (R100), has hardware functions (called [[HyperZ]]) that address these issues.<ref>{{cite web |author=Lal Shimpi, Anand |url=http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1230&p=5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041024124215/http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1230&p=5 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 24, 2004 |title=ATI Radeon 256 Preview (HyperZ) |publisher=Anandtech |date=April 25, 2000 |pages=5 |access-date=June 14, 2008}}</ref> Because of the inefficient nature of the GeForce 2 GPUs, they could not approach their theoretical performance potential and the Radeon, even with its significantly less powerful 3D architecture, offered strong competition. The later NV17 revision of the NV11 design used in the [[GeForce 4 series#GeForce4 MX|GeForce4 MX]] was more efficient.

===Releases===
The first models to arrive after the original GeForce 2 GTS was the ''GeForce 2 Ultra'' and ''GeForce2 MX'', launched on September 7, 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_20010618_6038.html|title=Press Release-NVIDIA|website=www.nvidia.com|access-date=April 22, 2018}}</ref> On September 29, 2000 Nvidia started shipping graphics cards which had 16 and 32 MB of video memory size.

Architecturally identical to the GTS, the Ultra simply has higher core and memory clock rates. Meant to be a niche product, it was rumored that GeForce 2 Ultra was intended to prevent 3dfx taking the lead with their [[Voodoo 5]] 6000 that was ending up never released as 3dfx went bankrupt. The Ultra model actually outperforms the first [[GeForce 3]] products in some cases, due to initial GeForce 3 cards having significantly lower fillrate. However, the Ultra loses its lead when anti-aliasing is enabled, because of the GeForce 3's new memory bandwidth/fillrate efficiency mechanisms; plus the GeForce 3 has a superior next-generation feature set with programmable vertex and pixel shaders for DirectX 8.0 games.

The ''GeForce 2 Pro'', introduced shortly after the Ultra, was an alternative to the expensive top-line Ultra and is faster than the GTS.

In October 2001, the ''GeForce 2 Ti'' was positioned as a cheaper and less advanced alternative to the GeForce 3. Faster than the GTS and Pro but slower than the Ultra, the GeForce 2 Ti performed competitively against the [[Radeon R100|Radeon 7500 (RV200)]], although the 7500 had the advantage of dual-display support. This mid-range GeForce 2 release was replaced by the [[GeForce 4 series#GeForce4 MX|GeForce4 MX]] series as the budget/performance choice in January 2002.

On their 2001 product web page, Nvidia initially placed the Ultra as a separate offering from the rest of the GeForce 2 lineup (GTS, Pro, Ti), however by late 2002 with the GeForce 2 considered a discontinued product line (being succeeded by the GeForce 4 MX), the Ultra was included along the GTS, Pro, and Ti in the GeForce 2 information page.

==GeForce 2 MX==
[[Image:GeForce2MX200AGP.JPG|thumb|GeForce 2 MX200 AGP]]
[[File:NVIDIA@180nm@Fixed-pipeline@NV11@GeForce2 MX400@Q26257.1 0315B3 Stack-DSC01049-DSC01078 - ZS-DMap (26336569015).jpg|thumb|Die shot of the MX400 GPU]]
Since the previous GeForce 256 line shipped without a budget variant, the [[RIVA TNT2]] series was left to fill the "low-end" role—albeit with a comparably obsolete feature set. In order to create a better low-end option, Nvidia created the GeForce 2 MX series (NV11), which offered a set of standard features similar to the regular GeForce 2 (NV15), limited only by categorical tier of lower performance. In order to reduce production costs, the GeForce 2 MX cards had two 3D pixel pipelines removed and a reduced available memory bandwidth. The cards utilized either SDR SDRAM or DDR SDRAM with memory bus widths ranging from 32 to 128 bits, allowing circuit board cost to be varied. The MX series also provided dual-display support, something not found in the GeForce 256 and GeForce 2. With performance approaching the GeForce 256 while also being much more economical to produce, the GeForce 2 MX was successful in the OEM and budget market.

The prime competitors in the OEM and budget segment were ATI's [[Radeon R100|Radeon SDR]] (which with all other R100 chip-equipped cards, regardless of clock/memory speed and memory configuration, was later renamed collectively as Radeon 7200), [[Radeon R100|Radeon VE (RV100)]] (later renamed Radeon 7000), and the 3dfx Voodoo4 4500.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.anandtech.com/show/721|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420094936/http://anandtech.com/show/721|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 20, 2010|title=ATI Radeon VE 32MB|first=Matthew|last=Witheiler|website=www.anandtech.com}}</ref> Sharing the same R100 GPU as the higher-end Radeon 32MB DDR (US$230), the Radeon SDR (US$150) was equipped with SDR SDRAM instead of DDR SDRAM found in its more expensive brethren although this did not bring down costs sufficiently to match the GeForce 2 MX.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.anandtech.com/show/635/13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301153007/http://www.anandtech.com/show/635/13|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 1, 2015|title=ATI Radeon 32MB SDR|first=Anand Lal|last=Shimpi|website=www.anandtech.com}}</ref> Released 3 months after the GeForce 2 MX, the Radeon SDR lacked multi-monitor support but exhibited faster 32-bit 3D rendering over the GeForce 2 MX.<ref>{{cite web |author=FastSite |url=http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-radeon-sdr.html |title=ATI RADEON 32MB SDR Review |publisher=X-bit labs |date=December 27, 2000 |access-date=June 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725085837/http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-radeon-sdr.html |archive-date=July 25, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 3dfx's Voodoo4 4500 arrived too late, as well as being too expensive at US$150, but too slow to compete with Nvidia or ATI's offerings, and also lacking multi-monitor support. Next up, the Radeon VE's RV100 GPU was cut down considerably from the R100 to reduce production costs, so it did not offer hardware [[Transform and lighting|T&L]], an emerging 3D rendering feature of the day that was the major attraction of Direct3D 7. Further, the Radeon VE featured only a single rendering pipeline, causing it to produce a substantially lower fillrate than the GeForce 2 MX. However the Radeon VE (US$100) had the advantage of somewhat better dual-monitor display software while matching the GeForce 2 MX on price.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.anandtech.com/show/721/12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820084802/http://www.anandtech.com/show/721/12|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 20, 2017|title=ATI Radeon VE 32MB|first=Matthew|last=Witheiler|website=www.anandtech.com}}</ref>

Members of the series include ''GeForce 2 MX'', ''MX400'', ''MX200'', and ''MX100''. The GPU was also used as an integrated graphics processor in the [[nForce]] chipset line and as a mobile graphics chip for notebooks called ''GeForce 2 Go''.

The NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 400 is often considered underwhelming because of its limited capabilities. With just 32 MB of SDR memory and an outdated architecture based on the Celsius design, it struggles to perform efficiently. Its low GPU clock speed of 200 MHz and support for only DirectX 7.0 further hamper its ability to handle modern games and applications. In the context of today's technology, the GeForce2 MX 400 is seen as outdated and insufficient for most graphic-intensive tasks.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-12 |title=NVIDIA GeForce2 MX Specs |url=https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce2-mx.c792 |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=TechPowerUp |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Witheiler |first=Matthew |title=NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 400 64MB |url=https://www.anandtech.com/show/751/8 |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=www.anandtech.com}}{{dead link|date=August 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author1=Silvino Orozco |date=2000-06-29 |title=Full Review of NVIDIA's GeForce2 MX |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/full-review-nvidia,204.html |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=Tom's Hardware |language=en}}</ref>

==Successor==
The successor to the GeForce 2 (non-MX) line is the [[GeForce 3 series|GeForce 3]]. The non-MX GeForce 2 line was reduced in price and saw the addition of the GeForce 2 Ti, in order to offer a mid-range alternative to the high-end GeForce 3 product.

Later, both the GeForce 2 and GeForce 2 MX lines were replaced with the [[GeForce 4 series#GeForce4 MX|GeForce4 MX]].

== Models ==

{{main|List of Nvidia graphics processing units#GeForce2_series}}

{{Further|Celsius (microarchitecture)}}

* All models support TwinView Dual-Display Architecture, Second Generation Transform and Lighting (T&L)
* GeForce2 MX models support Digital Vibrance Control (DVC)

{{Row hover highlight}}
{| class="mw-datatable wikitable sortable" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: bottom"|Model
! rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: bottom"|Launch
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|[[Code name]]}}
! rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: bottom" {{Vert header|[[Semiconductor device fabrication|Fab]] ([[nanometer|nm]])<ref name="vintage3d">{{cite web |title=3D accelerator database |url=http://vintage3d.org/dbn.php |website=Vintage 3D |access-date=30 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023222614/http://www.vintage3d.org/dbn.php |archive-date=23 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Transistors (million)}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Die size (mm2)}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|[[Computer bus|Bus]] [[I/O interface|interface]]}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Core clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Memory clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Core config{{efn|name=geforce 2 1|[[Pixel pipeline]]s: [[texture mapping unit]]s: [[render output unit]]s}}}}
! colspan="4" |[[Fillrate]]
! colspan="4" |Memory
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Performance ([[FLOPS|GFLOPS]] [[FP32]])}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|TDP (Watts)}}
|-
!{{Vert header|MOperations/s}}
!{{Vert header|MPixels/s}}
!{{Vert header|MTexels/s}}
!{{Vert header|MVertices/s}}
!{{Vert header|Size ([[Megabyte|MB]])}}
!{{Vert header|Bandwidth ([[Gigabyte|GB]]/s)}}
!{{Vert header|Bus type}}
!{{Vert header|Bus width ([[bit]])}}
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce2 MX IGP + nForce 220/420
|June 4, 2001
| rowspan="4" |NV1A (IGP) / NV11 (MX)
| rowspan="6" |[[TSMC]] [[180 nm]]
| rowspan="4" |20<ref>{{cite web|title=NVIDIA GeForce2 MX PCI Specs|url=https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce2-mx-pci.c791|access-date=2024-08-30|website=TechPowerUp|language=en}}</ref>
| rowspan="4" |64
|FSB
| rowspan="3" |175
|133
| rowspan="4" |2:4:2
| rowspan="3" |350
| rowspan="3" |350
| rowspan="3" |700
| rowspan="8" |0
|Up to 32 system RAM
|2.128 4.256
|DDR
|64 128
|rowspan="3"|0.700
|3
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce2 MX200
|March 3, 2001
| rowspan="3" |{{nowrap|AGP 4x}}, PCI
| rowspan="2" |166
| rowspan="6" |32 64
|1.328
| rowspan="2" |SDR
|64
|1
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce2 MX
|June 28, 2000
|2.656
|128
|4
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce2 MX400
|March 3, 2001
| rowspan="3" |200
|166,200 (SDR) 166 (DDR)
|400
|400
|800
|1.328 3.200 2.656
|SDR DDR
|64/128 (SDR) 64 (DDR)
|0.800
|5
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce2 GTS
|April 26, 2000
| rowspan="4" |NV15
| rowspan="4" |25<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/nvidia-nv15.g339|title=NVIDIA NV15 GPU Specs | TechPowerUp GPU Database|accessdate=30 August 2024}}</ref>
| rowspan="4" |88
| rowspan="4" |AGP 4x
|166
| rowspan="4" |4:8:4
| rowspan="2" |800
| rowspan="2" |800
| rowspan="2" |1,600
|5.312
|rowspan="4" |DDR
|rowspan="4" |128
|rowspan="2"|1.600
|6
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce2 Pro
|December 5, 2000
| rowspan="2" |200
| rowspan="2" |6.4
|?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce2 Ti
|October 1, 2001
|TSMC 150 nm
|rowspan="2" |250
|rowspan="2" |1,000
|rowspan="2" |1,000
|rowspan="2" |2,000
|rowspan="2"|2.000
|?
|-
! style="text-align:left" |GeForce2 Ultra
|August 14, 2000
|TSMC 180 nm
|230
|64
|7.36
|?
|}
{{notelist}}

===GeForce2 Go mobile GPU series===
* Mobile GPUs are either soldered to the mainboard or to some [[Mobile PCI Express Module]] (MXM).
* All models are manufactured with a 180 nm manufacturing process

{{Row hover highlight}}
{| class="mw-datatable wikitable sortable" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center;"
|-
!rowspan=2|Model
!rowspan=2|Launch
!rowspan=2 {{Vert header|[[Code name]]}}
!rowspan=2 {{Vert header|[[Computer bus|Bus]] [[I/O interface|interface]]}}
!rowspan=2 {{Vert header|Core clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
!rowspan=2 {{Vert header|Memory clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
!rowspan=2 {{Vert header|Core config{{efn|name=GF2GCoreConfig}}}}
!colspan=4|[[Fillrate]]
!colspan=4|Memory
|-
!{{Vert header|MOperations/s}}
!{{Vert header|MPixels/s}}
!{{Vert header|MTexels/s}}
!{{Vert header|MVertices/s}}
!{{Vert header|Size ([[Megabyte|MB]])}}
!{{Vert header|Bandwidth ([[Gigabyte|GB]]/s)}}
!{{Vert header|Bus type}}
!{{Vert header|Bus width ([[bit]])}}
|-
!style="text-align:left"|GeForce2 Go 100
|February 6, 2001
| rowspan="3" |NV11M
| rowspan="3" |AGP 4x
|125
|332
| rowspan="3" |2:0:4:2
|250
|250
|500
| rowspan="3" |0
|8, 16
|1.328
|DDR
|32
|-
!style="text-align:left"|GeForce2 Go
|November 11, 2000
| rowspan="2" |143
|166 332
| rowspan="2" |286
| rowspan="2" |286
| rowspan="2" |572
| rowspan="2" |16, 32
| rowspan="2" |2.656
|SDR DDR
|128 64
|-
!style="text-align:left"|GeForce2 Go 200
|February 6, 2001
|332
|DDR
|64
|}

{{notelist|refs=
{{efn|name=GF2GCoreConfig|[[Pixel shader]]s: [[vertex shader]]s: [[texture mapping unit]]s: [[render output unit]]s}}
}}

== Support ==
[[File:NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra.jpg|thumb|Nvidia GeForce2 Ultra]]
Nvidia has ceased driver support for GeForce 2 series, ending with GTS, Pro, Ti and Ultra models in 2005 and then with MX models in 2007.

===Final drivers===

'''GeForce 2 GTS, GeForce 2 Pro, GeForce 2 Ti and GeForce 2 Ultra:'''
* Windows 9x & Windows Me: 71.84 released on March 11, 2005; [https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/12/en-us/ Download]; [https://web.archive.org/web/20190723034006/http://www.nvidia.com/object/71.84_9x_supported.html Product Support List Windows 95/98/Me – 71.84].
* Windows 2000 & 32-bit Windows XP: 71.89 released on April 14, 2005; [http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_71.89.html Download]; [https://web.archive.org/web/20190722160740/http://www.nvidia.com/object/71.84_geforcetnt2quadro_supported.html Product Support List Windows XP/2000 - 71.84].
* Linux 32-bit: 71.86.15 released on August 17, 2011; [https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/35626/en-us/ Download]

'''GeForce 2 MX & MX x00 Series:'''
* Windows 9x & Windows Me: 81.98 released on December 21, 2005; [http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_81.98.html Download]; [https://web.archive.org/web/20181016125108/http://www.nvidia.com/object/81.98_9x_supported.html Product Support List Windows 95/98/Me – 81.98].
** Driver version 81.98 for Windows 9x/Me was the last driver version ever released by Nvidia for these systems. No new official releases were later made for these systems.
* Windows 2000, 32-bit Windows XP & Media Center Edition: 93.71 released on November 2, 2006; [https://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/5/ Download]. (Products supported list also on this page)
** For Windows 2000, 32-bit Windows XP & Media Center Edition also available beta driver 93.81 released on November 28, 2006; [http://www.geforce.com/Drivers/Results/585 ForceWare Release 90 Version 93.81 - BETA].
* Linux 32-bit: 96.43.23 released on September 14, 2012; [https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/48996/en-us/ Download]

The drivers for Windows 2000/XP can also be installed on later versions of Windows such as Windows Vista and 7; however, they do not support desktop compositing or the [[Windows Aero|Aero]] effects of these operating systems.

Note: Despite claims in the documentation that 94.24 (released on May 17, 2006) supports the Geforce 2 MX series, it does not (94.24 actually supports only [[GeForce 6 series|GeForce 6]] and [[GeForce 7 series|GeForce 7]] series).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/details/60/|title=Driver Details|website=NVIDIA}}</ref>

[http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_archive.html Windows 95/98/Me Driver Archive] 
[http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp-2k_archive.html Windows XP/2000 Driver Archive] 
[http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html Unix Driver Archive]

== Competing chipsets ==
*[[3dfx]] [[Voodoo 5]]
*[[ATI Technologies|ATI]] [[Radeon R100|Radeon]]
*[[PowerVR#Series3 (STMicro)|PowerVR Series 3]] (Kyro)

== See also ==
*[[Graphics card]]
*[[Graphics processing unit]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Nvidia GeForce 2 series video cards|GeForce 2 series}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180808195422/http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce2.html Nvidia: GeForce2 leading-edge technology]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180706023054/http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce2go.html Nvidia: GeForce2 Go]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190808195333/http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_71.84.html ForceWare 71.84 drivers, Final Windows 9x/ME driver release for GeForce 2 GTS/Pro/Ti/Ultra]
* [http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_81.98.html ForceWare 81.98 drivers, Final Windows 9x/ME driver release for GeForce 2 MX series]
* [http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_71.89.html ForceWare 71.89 drivers, Final Windows XP driver release for GeForce 2 GTS/Pro/Ti/Ultra]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20200704183348/http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_94.24_2.html ForceWare 94.24 drivers, Final Windows XP driver release for GeForce 2 MX series]
* [http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/vga-charts-i,453.html Tom's Hardware VGA Charts (w/ GF2)]
* [http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb techPowerUp! GPU Database]

{{Nvidia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geforce 2 series}}
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 2000]]
[[Category:GeForce series|2 series]]
[[Category:Graphics cards]]

William Levy (author)

2025-02-06T20:38:46Z

2001:5A8:601:4003:157:131:224:200: Added links to two physical archives of Levy's works and correspondence

{{short description|American poet (1939–2019)}}
{{infobox writer
|name=William Levy
|birth_date={{birth date|1939|1|10}}
|death_date={{death date and age|2019|4|22|1939|1|10}}
|occupation={{flatlist|
*Writer
*editor
*radio personality
}}
|nationality=American
|alma_mater=[[University of Maryland, College Park]] [[Temple University]]
|spouse=Susan Janssen
}}
'''William Levy''' (January 10, 1939 – April 22, 2019), also known as the Talmudic Wizard of Amsterdam,<ref>{{cite web |title=WILLIAM LEVY – RAPE (WITH DRAWINGS BY SCOTT NEARY) |url=https://www.sea-urchin.net/books/moloko-print/william-levy-rape/ |website=Sea Urchin}}</ref> was an American writer, editor, and former radio personality, plus the author of such works as ''The Virgin Sperm Dancer'', ''Wet Dreams'', ''Certain Radio Speeches of [[Ezra Pound]]'' and ''Natural Jewboy''.

Before leaving the [[United States|U.S.]] in the autumn of 1966 aboard the [[R.M.S Queen Mary]], Levy attended the [[University of Maryland, College Park]] and [[Temple University]], and taught in the literature department at [[Shippensburg State College]], in [[Pennsylvania]].

In the Sixties and Seventies, he was founder and chief editor of many magazines, including the ''[[Insect Trust Gazette]]'', ''[[International Times]]'', ''[[Suck (publication)|Suck]]'', and ''The Fanatic''. Later, he served as European Editor for American glossy magazines ''[[High Times]]'' and ''[[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]'', and as an associate editor of Amsterdam zines ''Het Gewicht'', ''Ins & Outs'', ''La Linea'' and ''Atom Club''. Levy was a regular contributor to [[Andrei Codrescu]]'s ''[[Exquisite Corpse (magazine)|Exquisite Corpse]]'' and ''Libido''. He also published his own Transactions of the Invisible Language Society series. His meditation play ''Europe in Flames'' was also featured at the Festival of New Radio in New York. In 1998, Levy was awarded the [[Erotic Oscar]] for writing at London's Sex Maniac's Ball. For 20 years until his retirement from radio, Levy's alter-ego, Dr. [[Doo Wop]], could be heard weekly spinning groovy music across Amsterdam's airwaves.

Until his death following a long illness, Levy lived in [[Amsterdam]] with his wife, the literary translator Susan Janssen (translator of many works of [[Charles Bukowski]] and of [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]]'s ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'').

==Selected works==
*[http://www.3ammagazine.com/short_stories/fiction/tennis_kafka/page_1.html Playing Tennis with Kafka]
*[http://www.3ammagazine.com/short_stories/fiction/have_rock_will_roll/page_1.html Have Rock Will Roll]
*[http://www.corpse.org/archives/issue_4/secret_agents/levy.htm Confessions of a Failed Dealer]
*[http://www.corpse.org/archives/issue_8/foreign_desk/levy.htm France: Oxygen, a Thirsty (American-in-Paris) Satori]
*[http://www.3ammagazine.com/poetry/oct2001/refugee_tv.html Refugee TV]
*[http://www.milkmag.org/levy.htm A Call for Chaos & Beans On Toast, Please!]
*[http://www.3ammagazine.com/poetry/2004/oct/levy.html Poetry and Pensees]
*[http://www.corpse.org/archives/issue_5/burning_bush/levy.htm Three Poems]
*[http://www.corpse.org/archives/issue_9/poesy/levy.htm Dear George W Bush]
*Virgin Sperm Dancer
*Wet Dreams
*Certain Radio Speeches of Ezra Pound
*Souvenir Programme for the Official Lynching of Michael Abdul Malik (with John Michell)
*Jeremiad Chants
*Natural Jewboy ([[Ins & Outs Press]], Amsterdam, 1981)
*Voicings and Transmissions
*Radio Art
*Blood
*[http://www.molokoplusrecords.de/finder.php?folder=News&content=59 Rape]
*An Introduction to Political Porno in Europe
*A Vilna Legend
*The Night Before Charisma
*Billy's Holiday
*Viagra Blues
*Is There Sex Over Forty?
*Impossible: The Otto Muehl Story (New York: Barany Artists, 2001)
*[http://www.3ammagazine.com/artarchives/2002_sep/harry_hoogstraten.html Never Knew Never From Less: Secondary Raw Materials of Harry Hoogstraten]
*[http://www.corpse.org/archives/issue_11/manifestos/levy.html ZOCK: The Outlaw Manifesto of the Century]
*[http://www.corpse.org/archives/issue_4/burning_bush/dorn.htm Death of a Gunslinger: An Obituary on Ed Dorn for America]
*[https://enjoymutable.com/home/requiemforchristianloidl]
*[http://www.semantikon.com/features/levyHangingOutWithZalman.htm Hanging Out With Zalman Shneour]
*[http://www.semantikon.com/features/levyTwoMorningsInAmsterdam.htm Two Mornings in Amsterdam Pt. 1 Lost Soles]
*[http://www.milkmag.org/poesie1.htm#LEVY Fourth and Fifteen & A Poet's Guide to Fashion]
*[http://www.corpse.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=393&Itemid=40 The Beast of Britain Minstrel Show]
*[http://www.molokoplusrecords.de/finder.php?folder=Print&content=92 The Fortunate Traveller] (2019)

==External links==
*[http://www.john-michell-network.org/index.php/contributors/william-levy Levy on Michell] An interview with William Levy about John Michell
*[http://player.vimeo.com/video/13957242 Dr. Doo-wop] A film by Michiel Brongers
*{{YouTube|z8u6vfBWpKk|William Levy: Beyond Criticism}} Definitive biopic by Malcolm Hart
*[https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/11064306 William Levy collection on Suck magazine and Wet Dream Film Festival] archive at [[Cornell University Library|Cornell University]]
*[https://search.iisg.amsterdam/Record/ARCH00817 Bill Levy. Suck and Wet Dream Film Festivals Collection] at the [[International Institute of Social History]]
*[http://internationaltimes.it/william-levy/ William Levy. RIP] Obituary in ''International Times'' (April 27, 2019)
*[https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/2019/04/william-levy-r-i-p.html William Levy, R.I.P.] Obituary in Straight Up Arts Journal (April 27, 2019)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, William}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:University of Maryland, College Park alumni]]
[[Category:Temple University alumni]]
[[Category:Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania faculty]]
[[Category:American expatriates in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:American male poets]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]