NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512

The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512 is a G92-based graphics card built on the Tesla architecture and belongs to the GeForce 8 (8800) generation. It was released on December 10, 2007, at a launch MSRP of 349 USD, and it is now End-of-life; its predecessor is GeForce 7 PCIe and its successor is GeForce 9. The chip is manufactured by TSMC on a 65 nm process, with 754 million transistors on a 324 mm² die and a transistor density of 2.3M per mm². The card uses a PCIe 2.0 x16 bus interface, a dual-slot cooler, and a 254 mm (10-inch) length. In the benchmark database, the GPU is rated at the 50th percentile of all GPUs, while the benchmark array is empty and the nearestRivals list is empty; the average benchmark score is recorded as 0.

Who Should Consider It

With 512 MB of GDDR3 memory on a 256-bit bus, the 8800 GTS 512 offers 52.48 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU contains 128 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, producing 416.0 GFLOPS of FP32 compute, 41.60 GTexel/s of texture fill, and 10.40 GPixel/s of pixel fill. Those figures define the card’s envelope: the memory capacity is fixed at 512 MB, the memory clock is 820 MHz with an effective rate of 1640 Mbps, and the supported API profile is DirectX 11.1 with feature level 10_0, OpenGL 3.3, and no Vulkan.

The database’s 50th percentile rank places this GPU at the exact midpoint of all GPUs in the database. Because no benchmark scores are logged, the suitability recommendation is specification-based. The card is best considered for systems running lower-resolution or older API workloads that fit within 512 MB of memory and the feature level 10_0 / OpenGL 3.3 boundary. The 512 MB frame buffer and 52.48 GB/s bandwidth mean conservative texture settings and moderate resolution targets are appropriate; high-detail or high-resolution workloads would strain both the memory capacity and the available bandwidth. The 10.40 GPixel/s pixel rate and 41.60 GTexel/s texture rate further indicate that the card is better matched to lighter rendering loads than to dense, shader-heavy scenes.

The absence of Vulkan support rules out Vulkan-only applications entirely. The DirectX field lists 11.1, but the feature level is 10_0, so software written to higher feature levels is not part of this card’s supported scope. The 2x DVI and 1x S-Video display outputs point to a conventional desktop monitor configuration rather than a high-resolution multi-display setup. With production status listed as End-of-life and a GeForce 7 PCIe predecessor and GeForce 9 successor, this card occupies a distinct point in the GeForce 8 line. It is not a current retail product, so it belongs in legacy builds, secondary systems, or scenarios where the specific API and memory profile are intentional choices.

Power and Cooling

The 8800 GTS 512 has a TDP of 135 W. The suggested PSU is 300 W, and the board requires one 6-pin PCIe power connector. The card is dual-slot, occupying two expansion slots, and its physical length is 254 mm, or 10 inches, so case clearance must account for both slot width and card length. The PCIe 2.0 x16 interface is the listed bus connection, and the power connector requirement is a single 6-pin connector; no other power connectors are listed in the specification. The 300 W PSU figure is the system-level recommendation in the data, while the 135 W TDP is the board-level thermal design power. These two numbers are the only power-related figures provided, and they set the basic requirement: a 300 W PSU with one available 6-pin PCIe power connector and enough internal space for a dual-slot, 10-inch card.

Benchmark Performance

The nearestRivals array is empty for this card, so no rival names, scores, or deltaPct percentages are available to cite. The only aggregate placement is percentileVsAllGpus: 50, which puts the card exactly at the median of the database’s GPU distribution: half of all GPUs sit above it and half sit below it. The benchmark array is empty, and the average benchmark score is listed as 0, so there are no recorded application-level performance totals to analyze. In the absence of rival deltas, the relevant quantitative performance data are the hardware rates: 10.40 GPixel/s pixel fill, 41.60 GTexel/s texture fill, and 416.0 GFLOPS of FP32 compute. These rates are produced by 128 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The FP16 field is null, so 416.0 GFLOPS is the only listed compute throughput figure.

The memory subsystem provides 52.48 GB/s from 512 MB of GDDR3 on a 256-bit bus, running at an 820 MHz memory clock and an effective rate of 1640 Mbps. The 16 ROPs and 256-bit memory path are tied to the 10.40 GPixel/s pixel rate, while the 64 TMUs are the texture-side driver behind 41.60 GTexel/s. Because the nearestRivals data is absent, no exact percentage deltas can be computed; the 50th percentile is the sole comparative score, and it represents a database-wide median position rather than a head-to-head result against any specific competitor.

FAQ

Q: What architecture and process node does the 8800 GTS 512 use?

A: It uses the Tesla architecture with a G92 chip built at TSMC on a 65 nm process. The die contains 754 million transistors on a 324 mm² surface, giving a transistor density of 2.3M per mm².

Q: How much memory and memory bandwidth does it have?

A: It has 512 MB of GDDR3 memory on a 256-bit bus. The memory clock is 820 MHz, with an effective transfer rate of 1640 Mbps and a bandwidth of 52.48 GB/s.

Q: Does the 8800 GTS 512 support ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The RT core and tensor core fields are both null, so no dedicated ray tracing hardware or tensor core hardware is present. The GPU instead has 128 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs.

Q: What APIs are supported?

A: The supported APIs are DirectX 11.1 with feature level 10_0 and OpenGL 3.3. Vulkan is not supported, with the Vulkan field listed as null.

Q: What power supply and connector are required?

A: The TDP is 135 W, and the suggested PSU is 300 W. The card requires one 6-pin PCIe power connector and uses a dual-slot cooler with a length of 254 mm (10 inches).

Q: Is this card still in production?

A: No. The production status is End-of-life. It was released on December 10, 2007, with GeForce 7 PCIe as its predecessor and GeForce 9 as its successor.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The ray tracing and tensor core fields are both null, so the 8800 GTS 512 has no dedicated ray tracing hardware and no tensor core hardware. This is a Tesla-architecture GPU with 128 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, and its fixed-function throughput is 10.40 GPixel/s pixel fill and 41.60 GTexel/s texture fill. The feature set is anchored by the DirectX 11.1 API with a 10_0 feature level, plus OpenGL 3.3. Vulkan is not listed, so there is no Vulkan feature path. The display output configuration consists of 2x DVI and 1x S-Video, which is the complete output set in the specification.

The memory feature set is 512 MB of GDDR3 on a 256-bit bus, with an 820 MHz memory clock and an effective rate of 1640 Mbps, yielding 52.48 GB/s of bandwidth. The bus interface is PCIe 2.0 x16, and the board is dual-slot with a 254 mm (10-inch) length. The FP32 compute figure is 416.0 GFLOPS, while the FP16 field is null. The absence of RT cores and tensor cores means there is no hardware acceleration path for ray-traced effects or tensor-based workloads; the API support ends at DirectX 11.1 with feature level 10_0 and OpenGL 3.3, and Vulkan is absent from the feature set.