NVIDIA GeForce 6200 LE AGP 512 MB

Power and Cooling — TDP, PSU recommendation, connector requirements

The NVIDIA GeForce 6200 LE AGP 512 MB is a remarkably undemanding card from a power standpoint. The data shows no TDP figure is listed, which aligns with its position as a low-power entry-level part. The suggested power supply is just 200 W, a figure that places it far below the requirements of almost any modern GPU. This makes it viable for legacy office desktops or compact systems with minimal PSU headroom.

The card draws all its power through the AGP 8x slot, as it requires no auxiliary power connectors. The "None" listing for power connectors confirms that no PCIe or Molex cables are needed. This is a significant practical advantage for users upgrading an older system without a modular PSU. The single-slot design further simplifies installation, taking up minimal space in a chassis.

Thermal management is similarly modest. The 110 nm process node and 75 million transistor count suggest a chip that generates limited heat. The 110 mm² die size is small, and the transistor density of 681.8K / mm² is low by modern standards. There is no data on a dedicated cooler, but the power envelope strongly implies that a basic passive or small active heatsink suffices. Users should still ensure adequate case airflow, but the cooling burden on the system is minimal.

The memory clock is listed at 275 MHz, with 550 Mbps effective data rate. This low clock speed contributes to the card's overall modest power draw. No boost or base clocks are provided for the GPU core, which is consistent with an end-of-life product where such details were not consistently tracked. In practice, the absence of a TDP figure and the 200 W PSU recommendation together paint a clear picture: this is a card that any functional ATX or even SFX power supply from its era can handle without concern.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set — RT/tensor cores, API support from facts

The GeForce 6200 LE AGP 512 MB predates ray tracing and AI-accelerated features by over a decade. The FACT PACK lists no RT cores and no tensor cores, meaning hardware-accelerated ray tracing and DLSS-style upscaling are entirely absent. This is expected for a Curie-architecture part from the GeForce 6 generation.

The API support tells the compatibility story. DirectX support is version 9.0c, specifically the 9_3 feature level. This is a crucial limitation: games requiring DirectX 10 or later will not run. OpenGL support is 2.0 with full compliance, and 2.1 with partial compliance. This means the card can handle early-2000s OpenGL titles and some mid-2000s games, but modern OpenGL 4.x applications are out of reach. No Vulkan support is listed, so any Vulkan-only game is unplayable.

The feature set is therefore defined by its era. It supports the standard DirectX 9.0c shader model, which covers a vast library of games from roughly 2002 to 2006. The partial OpenGL 2.1 support may cause glitches in some titles that rely on newer extensions. The absence of RT and tensor cores is not a flaw but a reflection of its 2004 release date. For retro gaming or basic 2D desktop use, this feature set is sufficient. For anything modern, it is a hard stop.

Memory Subsystem — VRAM size/type, bus width, bandwidth and what it means for high resolutions

The memory configuration is one of the few areas where this card offers a notable specification: 512 MB of DDR2 VRAM. This was generous for its time, as many contemporaries shipped with 128 MB or 256 MB. The 128-bit bus width is respectable, but the memory clock of 275 MHz (550 Mbps effective) severely limits realized performance.

The resulting bandwidth is 8.800 GB/s. This is the critical bottleneck. Modern GPUs offer bandwidth in the hundreds of GB/s, and even mid-range cards from a few years later doubled or tripled this figure. At 8.800 GB/s, the 512 MB frame buffer cannot be fed fast enough to matter at high resolutions. The card's pixel rate is 600.0 MPixel/s and texture rate is 1.200 GTexel/s, which further constrains what the memory can do.

For high resolutions — 1080p or above — the data indicates this card will struggle. The low bandwidth means that texture-heavy scenes will cause frame rate drops, and large frame buffers will not compensate. At 1024x768 or 1280x1024, which were common resolutions in its era, the 512 MB capacity helps with larger textures and more complex scenes than 256 MB cards. But the bandwidth cap means that even with ample VRAM, the card cannot sustain high fill rates. Benchmark results would show that the memory subsystem is balanced for low-resolution gaming, not for high-resolution productivity or modern titles.

How It Compares — position vs each nearest rival

The FACT PACK lists no nearest rivals, and there are no benchmark scores or percentile comparisons for this card. The percentile versus all GPUs is 50, which places it in the exact middle of the database's historical spectrum, but this is a ranking that includes ancient and modern parts alike. Without rival names or delta percentages, direct comparison is limited to what the data provides.

The absence of nearestRivals data means this card occupies a unique position in the database: it has no directly comparable peers listed. This is likely because its performance is so low that few modern or even contemporary GPUs fall within the same percentile band. The 50th percentile is a statistical artifact of the database's inclusion of many low-end and integrated parts, not an indication of competitiveness with mainstream discrete GPUs.

What the data does show is the card's lineage. Its predecessor is the GeForce FX series, and its successor is the GeForce 7 AGP series. This places it squarely in the mid-2000s low-end segment. The chip is NV44, the architecture is Curie, and the generation is listed as "GeForce 6 AGP (6200)." These facts confirm it is an entry-level part designed for OEM systems and budget upgrades, not for gaming enthusiasts.

Benchmark Performance — analyze scores vs rivals with exact % deltas

No benchmark scores are provided for the GeForce 6200 LE AGP 512 MB. The average benchmark score is 0, and the benchmarks array is empty. This means there is no quantitative performance data to analyze. The percentile of 50 is the only statistical anchor, but it is not tied to any specific workload.

Without rival scores or delta percentages, a detailed performance analysis is impossible from the FACT PACK alone. The data indicates that the card's theoretical limits — 600.0 MPixel/s pixel rate and 1.200 GTexel/s texture rate — are low. These figures suggest performance roughly comparable to integrated graphics of the mid-2000s, but no direct comparison numbers exist in the pack.

In practical terms, this means the card is suitable for 2D desktop work, video playback of era-appropriate codecs, and very light 3D gaming at low resolutions. The 50th percentile placement is misleading if interpreted as "average" in a modern context; it simply reflects that many historical GPUs in the database perform at similarly low levels. For any game requiring DirectX 9.0c features, the card can render basic scenes, but frame rates will be low. The data does not support any claim of playable performance at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: Does the GeForce 6200 LE AGP 512 MB support DirectX 10 or 11?

A: No. The card supports DirectX 9.0c (feature level 9_3). DirectX 10 and later are not supported by this architecture.

Q: What power supply is required for this card?

A: The suggested PSU is 200 W. The card requires no auxiliary power connectors and draws power solely from the AGP 8x slot.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of this card?

A: The memory bandwidth is 8.800 GB/s, based on a 128-bit bus and 275 MHz DDR2 memory (550 Mbps effective).

Q: Is the 512 MB VRAM useful at high resolutions?

A: The 512 MB capacity is generous, but the 8.800 GB/s bandwidth limits its usefulness. At resolutions above 1280x1024, the bandwidth becomes a bottleneck.

Q: Does this card support Vulkan or ray tracing?

A: No. No Vulkan support is listed, and the card has no RT cores or tensor cores. It supports DirectX 9.0c and OpenGL 2.0 (full) / 2.1 (partial).

Q: What display outputs are available?

A: The card provides 1x DVI, 1x VGA, and 1x S-Video outputs.

Who Should Consider It

The GeForce 6200 LE AGP 512 MB is a card for a very specific audience: those maintaining or resurrecting an AGP 8x-era system from the mid-2000s. The data supports its use for basic 2D desktop applications, office productivity, and retro gaming at low resolutions. The 512 MB VRAM and 128-bit bus are adequate for 1024x768 or 1280x1024 gaming in DirectX 9.0c titles from roughly 2003-2006.

Users with modern expectations should avoid this card. The lack of DirectX 10+, no Vulkan support, and 8.800 GB/s bandwidth mean it cannot handle any contemporary game or application. The 200 W PSU recommendation and no power connectors make it easy to install in legacy systems, but the performance ceiling is very low.

For those who specifically need an AGP card for an older motherboard, this is a functional choice for non-3D tasks. The 512 MB capacity is a plus for larger textures in era-appropriate games, but the pixel rate of 600.0 MPixel/s and texture rate of 1.200 GTexel/s cap overall performance. The 50th percentile ranking suggests it is not the worst GPU in the database, but it is far from the best of its own generation.

The card is end-of-life, so availability is limited to used markets. It is best suited for retro PC builders who want an authentic mid-2000s experience, or for diagnosing and testing old AGP motherboards. For anything beyond light 3D gaming at low resolutions, the data clearly indicates this card is insufficient.