NVIDIA GeForce 6200 TurboCache

The NVIDIA GeForce 6200 TurboCache is an end-of-life AGP 4x card from the GeForce 6 AGP generation, built around the Curie-architecture NV44B chip. TSMC manufactured the chip on a 110 nm process with 75 million transistors inside a 110 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 681.8K / mm². The product lineage is bracketed by the GeForce FX predecessor and the GeForce 7 AGP successor, but the fact pack contains neither a populated benchmark list nor a nearestRivals list, so this analysis has to rely on the memory, feature, and power fields rather than measured scores.

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

The memory subsystem is small by any reading of the data. The card ships with 64 MB of DDR memory, a 64-bit bus, and a memory clock of 250 MHz, with an effective data rate of 500 Mbps. The resulting bandwidth is 4.000 GB/s. Those are the only memory numbers present; there is no additional capacity tier, wider bus mode, or higher speed listing. This matters because memory size and bandwidth must cover multiple competing jobs at once: the color buffer, depth data, texture storage, and anything else the rendering pipeline needs to access quickly.

For high resolutions, that combination is a serious constraint. A larger frame buffer is needed for a higher-resolution display surface, and with only 64 MB, the card has to choose between resolution and texture space. The 4.000 GB/s bandwidth also limits how quickly the GPU can move data into and out of that small frame buffer. Even if the chip’s fill rates were high, the memory pipe would still restrict how many pixels and texels could be written per second. The 64-bit bus makes the datapath narrow, which further limits how much data can be transferred per memory clock. The memory clock itself is 250 MHz, and the effective rate is 500 Mbps, but that effective rate is delivered over a narrow 64-bit interface. The net effect is a card that looks best suited to modest resolutions and simplified textures rather than high-resolution rendering.

The data also means that high-resolution textures will be hard to fit. With 64 MB of memory, a single high-detail texture set can occupy a significant fraction of the frame buffer before the color and depth buffers are even allocated. The 4.000 GB/s bandwidth then becomes the ceiling for texture streaming and buffer updates. The memory subsystem, therefore, is not just a specification footnote; it is the primary reason this card should be considered a low-resolution part. No core clock is listed in the fact pack, so the memory clock of 250 MHz and the effective 500 Mbps rate are the only temporal reference points available.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The feature set is defined by the Curie architecture and the API support list. The chip is NV44B, and the pack specifies 4 texture mapping units and 2 ROPs. No shading-unit count is listed, and no RT cores or tensor cores are present in the data. Without RT cores or tensor cores, there is no dedicated hardware for ray traversal or tensor-style workloads in this GPU. That is an important limit for any modern feature set: ray tracing would have to be handled entirely outside dedicated hardware, and tensor acceleration is not available at all.

The API support is DirectX 9.0c with feature level 9_3, OpenGL 2.0 full, and OpenGL 2.1 partial. Vulkan is not listed, which means no Vulkan support is documented. The DirectX 9.0c (9_3) identifier places the card in the late DirectX 9 feature-level range. The OpenGL 2.1 partial label indicates that not every OpenGL 2.1 feature is present. The 4 TMUs and 2 ROPs give the card a limited fixed-function texture and pixel output stage, independent of whatever shader work may be occurring. The absence of RT and tensor cores means the feature set is purely rasterization-oriented, with only the memory and fill-rate hardware to define its throughput.

Benchmark Performance

The benchmark section of the fact pack is empty. The benchmarks array contains no rows, the average benchmark score is 0, and the percentile against all GPUs is 50. An average of 0 with an empty benchmark array should be read as a lack of measured results, not as a literal performance score. The 50th percentile is a database rank, but with no populated benchmark data it does not indicate how this card performs on any real workload. There are no scores to average and no comparison points to rank against.

The nearestRivals array is also empty, so there are no rival names, no rival scores, and no deltaPct values to report. That makes exact percentage-delta comparisons impossible. The only quantitative performance indicators are the pixel rate and texture rate: 700.0 MPixel/s and 1.400 GTexel/s. These rates are the only throughput figures in the data. They are consistent with a low-complexity rendering load, but they cannot be translated into a percentage lead or deficit relative to any competitor because no competitor entries exist. The lack of a core clock also prevents any clock-based performance calculation, and the absence of FP32 and FP16 throughput values further limits the analysis. In short, the data can support a fill-rate and memory-capacity reading, but it cannot support a score-versus-rival claim.

How It Compares

Because nearestRivals is empty, this entry has no direct rival paragraphs. There is no list of competitors against which to quote percentages. The only position markers in the fact pack are the generation label “GeForce 6 AGP (6200)” and the predecessor/successor families: GeForce FX before it and GeForce 7 AGP after it. In that lineage, the 6200 TurboCache sits between two product families, but without scores for those families, no exact delta can be assigned.

The 50th percentile in the global dataset gives a rough midpoint placement, but because the average benchmark score is 0, that midpoint is not corroborated by any workload result. The empty nearestRivals field is best treated as missing-data condition: no comparison is possible, not an implied tie. The card’s own model number is 6200, matching the generation string “GeForce 6 AGP (6200).” The predecessor and successor labels show that this part occupies the transitional space between GeForce FX and GeForce 7 AGP, and the production status is end-of-life. Without populated rival rows, that is the full extent of the positional story.

Power and Cooling

The power section is minimal. No TDP figure is provided, and no power connectors are listed. The suggested PSU is 200 W, which is the only power-system number in the pack. With no separate connector documented, the physical power input appears to be confined to the AGP 4x interface, although the pack does not explicitly state the slot’s power delivery capacity. The cooling profile is described by dimensions and slot width: the card is single-slot and 165 mm long, which is also given as 6.5 inches. That compact length suggests a simple heatsink arrangement, but no cooler type, fan count, or thermal design details are included.

The production status is end-of-life, which matters for anyone considering this card today: the data does not indicate ongoing availability. The 200 W suggested PSU is a system-level recommendation rather than a measured card draw. The absence of a TDP field means no thermal ceiling is recorded, and the absence of power connectors means there is no auxiliary power requirement to plan around. The single-slot form factor and 165 mm length are the mechanical constraints that matter most for fitting the card into an AGP chassis.

Who Should Consider It

Users with an AGP 4x motherboard who need a single-slot card with 1x DVI, 1x VGA, and 1x S-Video output are the obvious audience. The DirectX 9.0c (9_3) and OpenGL 2.0 full/2.1 partial support means this card can run older DirectX 9-era applications, but the memory subsystem sets clear expectations. At higher resolutions, the 64 MB frame buffer and 4.000 GB/s bandwidth become the limiting factors. At lower resolutions and reduced texture detail, the pixel rate of 700.0 MPixel/s and texture rate of 1.400 GTexel/s are less likely to be saturated.

The 200 W suggested PSU fits simpler systems rather than high-wattage builds, and the single-slot 165 mm length makes the card mechanically undemanding. The AGP 4x interface is another limit: host-side data transfers are constrained by that 4x bus, so even the modest memory bandwidth is not the only bottleneck. The end-of-life status means this is a legacy part, best suited to retro-system builders rather than anyone looking for ongoing feature expansion. The lack of benchmark scores means the memory size, fill rates, and API support are the only grounding for a purchasing decision.

FAQ

Q: What is the memory configuration of the NVIDIA GeForce 6200 TurboCache?

A: It has 64 MB of DDR memory on a 64-bit bus. The memory clock is 250 MHz with an effective data rate of 500 Mbps, and the resulting bandwidth is 4.000 GB/s.

Q: Does the GeForce 6200 TurboCache support hardware ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The data lists no RT cores and no tensor cores, so dedicated ray tracing hardware and tensor acceleration are not present. The API support is DirectX 9.0c with feature level 9_3, OpenGL 2.0 full, OpenGL 2.1 partial, and no Vulkan.

Q: What process and die information is recorded for this card?

A: The chip is NV44B, built on the Curie architecture and manufactured by TSMC on a 110 nm process. It contains 75 million transistors on a 110 mm² die, for a transistor density of 681.8K / mm².

Q: What power supply is suggested for this card?

A: The suggested PSU is 200 W. No power connectors are listed, and the card is single-slot with a length of 165 mm, which is 6.5 inches.

Q: What display outputs and bus interface are listed?

A: The card has 1x DVI, 1x VGA, and 1x S-Video outputs, and it uses an AGP 4x interface.

Q: What is the production status and product lineage?

A: The production status is end-of-life. The release date is 2004-12-14, the predecessor family is GeForce FX, and the successor family is GeForce 7 AGP.