ATI Mobility FireGL V5600

The ATI Mobility FireGL V5600 is a mobile workstation GPU from AMD, built on the TeraScale architecture with the M76 chip. Released in May 2007 on a 65 nm TSMC process, the part is now end-of-life, and the database lists it at the 50th percentile among all GPUs — a true mid-pack position. No benchmark runs are recorded, so the average benchmark score sits at 0; the analysis below interprets the specification sheet rather than measured frame rates. The part carries 390 million transistors on a 153 mm² die, with a transistor density of 2.5M / mm², and connects via PCIe 2.0 x16.

Benchmark Performance

The nearestRivals field for this GPU is empty, and the benchmarks array contains no entries. Consequently, no percentage deltas against competing parts can be computed from the database. The only comparative anchor is the percentileVsAllGpus value of 50, which places the V5600 exactly at the median of the tracked GPU population: half of all GPUs in the database are faster, and half are slower. That is a remarkably neutral position for a mobile workstation part from 2007, reflecting both the modest compute ceiling of the era and the fact that the database includes many weaker integrated parts.

The raw throughput numbers confirm the mid-pack placement. The shading array consists of 120 shading units, backed by 8 texture mapping units and 4 render output units. Peak FP32 compute is 120.0 GFLOPS, which is the absolute ceiling for single-precision arithmetic; real workloads will rarely hit that figure. Pixel throughput is rated at 2.000 GPixel/s, and texture throughput at 4.000 GTexel/s. The 4 ROPs are the most limiting resource — fill-rate-bound scenes will saturate them quickly, while the 8 TMUs provide a slightly higher ceiling for texture fetches. In a DirectX 10.0 workload, the GPU can sustain geometry and shading that matches its 50th-percentile standing, but it will not push past that level.

Because the average benchmark score is recorded as 0, there is no measured performance data to compare against the theoretical rates. The FP32, pixel, and texture figures are the only quantitative performance indicators available. Taken together, they describe a part that is balanced for 2007-era mobile workstation duties but not for high-refresh or high-resolution gaming. The 50th percentile ranking is consistent with a GPU that is neither a flagship nor a low-end part — it sits squarely in the middle of the database's distribution.

Memory Subsystem

The V5600 ships with 256 MB of GDDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus. The memory clock is 400 MHz, which translates to 800 Mbps effective, and the resulting bandwidth is 12.80 GB/s. These figures define the memory ceiling for the entire GPU.

For a 2007 mobile workstation, 256 MB was a reasonable if not generous amount; for high-resolution workloads it is severely restrictive. At high resolutions, frame buffers for geometry, textures, and render targets will exceed 256 MB quickly, forcing the driver to spill to system memory over the PCIe 2.0 x16 bus. That spillover is slow relative to the 12.80 GB/s local bandwidth available to the GPU itself. The 128-bit bus width means each memory transaction carries half the data of a 256-bit part, so efficiency is critical; the 12.80 GB/s figure is the hard limit for texture streaming and buffer updates.

The bandwidth-to-compute relationship matters. With 120.0 GFLOPS of FP32 and 12.80 GB/s of bandwidth, the GPU is compute-light; bandwidth-sensitive workloads will bind on the memory side. In practice, the 256 MB capacity will bind before the 12.80 GB/s bandwidth does, because modern assets exceed the capacity far earlier than they exceed the transfer rate. At lower resolutions — typical for the 2007 laptop generation — the 256 MB frame buffer and 12.80 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for DirectX 10.0 content with reduced texture detail.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The V5600 has no dedicated ray tracing cores and no tensor cores — both fields are null in the fact pack. This is a fixed-function TeraScale GPU from 2007, so there is no hardware acceleration for ray tracing, no deep-learning super-sampling, and no AI-assisted frame generation. Any ray-traced effects would run entirely on the 120 shading units in a software path, which is impractical given the 120.0 GFLOPS FP32 ceiling.

The API support is DirectX 10.0 (10_0) and OpenGL 3.3. Vulkan is not listed, meaning the part predates that API entirely. DirectX 10.0 introduced unified shaders and geometry shaders, which the 120 shading units can execute, but it lacks the later features of DirectX 11 and 12. OpenGL 3.3 is a mature version that covers a wide range of legacy workstation applications, which is relevant for the FireGL branding — this is a mobile workstation part, not a gaming card. The feature set is entirely fixed-function for its era; no programmable RT pipeline exists, and the tensor cores are absent, so the GPU cannot accelerate any machine-learning workloads. The 8 TMUs and 4 ROPs are the only texture and pixel processing resources, and they operate at the 4.000 GTexel/s and 2.000 GPixel/s rates respectively.

Who Should Consider It

The 50th-percentile ranking and the 256 MB GDDR3 frame buffer define the target user. This GPU is for someone running DirectX 10.0-era applications at lower resolutions and moderate settings. The 120.0 GFLOPS FP32 compute, 2.000 GPixel/s pixel rate, and 4.000 GTexel/s texture rate are all mid-pack figures, so the part will handle 2007-era workloads without embarrassment but will not run modern titles at high detail.

For workstation use, the OpenGL 3.3 support is the key feature. Legacy CAD and 3D modeling applications that target OpenGL 3.3 will run on the 120 shading units, and the 256 MB frame buffer is sufficient for the small viewport and wireframe workloads typical of that era. For gaming, the DirectX 10.0 (10_0) support covers the first generation of DirectX 10 games, but the 4 ROPs will cap fill-rate-heavy scenes. Users should stay at lower resolutions and reduce texture quality to stay within the 256 MB memory budget. The 12.80 GB/s bandwidth and 128-bit bus are adequate for that profile.

The absence of any benchmark entries and the empty nearestRivals list mean the 50th percentile is the only comparative signal. It indicates a balanced, middle-of-the-road part. Anyone considering this GPU today is likely maintaining legacy hardware, and the data supports that use case: it is a functional DirectX 10.0 and OpenGL 3.3 part with a modest memory footprint. It is not a candidate for high-resolution or high-refresh workloads; the 256 MB capacity and 12.80 GB/s bandwidth make that clear.

FAQ

Q: How much memory does the Mobility FireGL V5600 have, and what type is it?

A: It has 256 MB of GDDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a memory clock of 400 MHz (800 Mbps effective) and 12.80 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: What DirectX and OpenGL versions does it support?

A: DirectX 10.0 (10_0) and OpenGL 3.3. Vulkan is not listed.

Q: What is the manufacturing process and transistor count?

A: It is built on a 65 nm TSMC process with 390 million transistors on a 153 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 2.5M / mm².

Q: Is this GPU still in production?

A: No, the production status is end-of-life.

Q: What is the successor to the Mobility FireGL V5600?

A: The successor is the FirePro Mobility series.

Q: What is the bus interface?

A: PCIe 2.0 x16.

Power and Cooling

The fact pack lists no TDP, no suggested PSU, and no power connector requirements for the V5600. The slot width, power connectors, and suggested PSU fields are all null. The only power-relevant facts are the 65 nm TSMC process, the 390 million transistor count, the 153 mm² die size, and the 2.5M / mm² transistor density. These indicate a conservative power envelope for a mobile workstation GPU of the 2007 era.

Because no TDP is provided, the analysis cannot state a wattage figure. The PCIe 2.0 x16 bus interface is the documented connection, and it is the only power delivery path listed; no auxiliary connectors are mentioned in the fact pack. For cooling, the part is a mobile GPU, so it relies on the laptop's thermal solution. The 65 nm process is not power-frugal by modern standards, but the 390 million transistor count on a 153 mm² die is modest, so the thermal load should be manageable within a 2007-era mobile chassis. The absence of a suggested PSU rating reflects the fact that this is a notebook component, not a desktop card; system integrators would design the power delivery around the laptop's battery and adapter, not a replaceable PSU. The data offers no further guidance on cooling beyond the process and die characteristics.