NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 Ultra

The NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 Ultra is a Rankine-architecture GPU manufactured by TSMC on a 130 nm process. It contains 82 million transistors on a 133 mm² die, for a transistor density of 616.5K per mm². Released on 2003-10-22 within the GeForce FX (5700) generation, it occupies the product line between the GeForce 4 Ti predecessor and GeForce 6 AGP successor. Its production status is end-of-life, and the launch MSRP was 199 USD. The database lists no benchmark entries and an average benchmark score of 0, while the percentileVsAllGpus field places the card at the 50th percentile of all tracked GPUs.

Benchmark Performance

The most important data point in this section is not a score but an absence. The benchmarks array is empty, so there are no game or synthetic results for the FX 5700 Ultra. The average benchmark score of 0 reinforces this: no performance average has been accumulated. The only performance-derived ranking comes from percentileVsAllGpus, which is 50. That is a perfectly median placement among all GPUs in the database. A 50th-percentile card is neither a standout nor a sluggard; it sits at the exact midpoint of the tracked performance distribution.

No rival entries are recorded for this GPU, so exact percentage deltas against named competitors cannot be produced. However, the card's internal specification allows for a structural interpretation of what that median position means. The graphics pipeline has 4 texture mapping units and 4 raster operation units. Driven by those units, the pixel rate is 1.900 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 1.900 GTexel/s. The equality of these two rates indicates that the card is balanced between the pixel fill stage and the texture fill stage. In workloads that stress both equally, neither stage creates a disproportionate constraint.

The memory clock is listed at 453 MHz, with an effective data rate of 906 Mbps because of the double-data-rate signaling. A core clock is not provided, so the pixel and texture rates are the definitive throughput measurements. With four TMUs and four ROPs, the card can issue one texture operation and one pixel write per clock cycle at those rates. The 130 nm process and 133 mm² die size are the physical context for that median ranking: 82 million transistors at a density of 616.5K per mm² is a moderate transistor budget for the node, appropriate for a mid-range part. This architectural balance is a plausible explanation for the 50th-percentile outcome: the card delivers consistent, predictable throughput rather than excelling in one particular workload category.

Memory Subsystem

The memory subsystem pairs 128 MB of GDDR2 with a 128-bit bus and a bandwidth of 14.50 GB/s. The memory clock of 453 MHz, combined with the effective 906 Mbps data rate per pin, produces that 14.50 GB/s when summed across the 128-bit bus. The bus width is the structural determinant here: a 128-bit interface with 453 MHz memory yields exactly the listed bandwidth. This is a coherent, middle-of-the-road configuration matching the card's 50th-percentile position.

For high-resolution operation, the 128 MB capacity is the tightest constraint. Framebuffer sizes and texture sets from the card's era could rapidly fill 128 MB, forcing the rendering engine to evict textures or reduce color depth. The bandwidth is the second constraint. At 14.50 GB/s, the memory pipeline can sustain the 1.900 GPixel/s fill rate, but high-resolution rendering increases both the per-pixel data and the texture fetch pressure. The effective 906 Mbps rate shows the GDDR2 memory is running at a moderate clock rather than at an extreme. The end-of-life production status means this memory configuration is fixed; no further variants are expected.

In practice, the FX 5700 Ultra is best matched to resolutions and settings that do not exceed its memory budget. The 128-bit bus prevents the kind of bandwidth headroom found in the upper tier of the database, but the 14.50 GB/s figure is sufficient for the balanced pixel and texture throughput the card offers. Users who try to drive higher resolutions with maximum texture quality will encounter the memory capacity limit first.

Who Should Consider It

The FX 5700 Ultra is an AGP 8x card, so the target audience is anyone maintaining an AGP-equipped motherboard from the period. It is not suitable for PCI Express systems. The display outputs are 1x DVI, 1x VGA, and 1x S-Video, which covers a digital monitor, an analog monitor, and a television through S-Video output. With only one DVI connector, a dual-monitor digital setup is not supported. That connectivity makes the card a reasonable choice for a desktop machine of the period, and for a retro build it provides the same options.

Software support is fixed at DirectX 9.0a and OpenGL 1.5 in full, with partial OpenGL 2.0. The DirectX 9.0a support places it at that specific API version, and the partial OpenGL 2.0 figure is an explicit limitation: OpenGL 2.0 applications that need the incomplete portions will fail or render incorrectly. The 50th-percentile standing suggests a card that handles mainstream titles of its generation at moderate quality settings, but not a card that can be pushed with maximum detail. The AGP 8x interface is the listed bus connection, and the 229 mm (9 inches) length is the installation constraint.

Given the 128 MB memory capacity and 14.50 GB/s bandwidth, the recommended usage is lower resolutions with moderate texture settings, where the memory subsystem is not overwhelmed. The 1.900 GPixel/s and 1.900 GTexel/s rates provide the fill-rate ceiling, but specific resolution and quality guidance cannot be drawn from the data because there are no benchmark scores. The single-slot design means the card occupies one expansion slot, and the end-of-life production status means it is a legacy purchase.

How It Compares

The nearestRivals field is empty for this GPU, which is a significant fact in itself. There are no named rivals with recorded scores or delta percentages. This removes the usual comparative apparatus from the analysis. The only global comparison available is the 50th percentile: half of all GPUs in the database are faster, half are slower. That is a useful but broad statement, and it cannot be refined to specific competitor deltas.

Against its predecessor, GeForce 4 Ti, the FX 5700 Ultra advances the architecture to Rankine and brings DirectX 9.0a support. Against its successor, GeForce 6 AGP, the FX 5700 Ultra is the earlier part. These are generational facts without numeric scores, so they cannot quantify the performance step between them. The generation name GeForce FX (5700) situates the card as a distinct family between those two product lines. The 50th percentile is the only concrete number, and it suggests a card that is representative of the middle of the GPU market at the time of its release. An empty nearestRivals list removes direct head-to-head comparisons from the analysis, so readers must rely on the percentile figure alone.

Power and Cooling

The FX 5700 Ultra has a TDP of 46 W, which is a low figure for a graphics card. That modest power draw allows the card to use a single-slot cooler, occupying one expansion slot. The recommended system PSU is 200 W, meaning the entire machine, not just the graphics card, is expected to stay within a 200 W budget. The card draws supplementary power through a 1x Molex connector, which is a standard peripheral power connection of the AGP era.

Physical installation requires 229 mm (9 inches) of clearance in the case. The single-slot cooler does not block the adjacent slot, preserving expansion options. The 46 W TDP is the sole heat output figure in the data, and the single-slot cooler is the matching cooling solution. The combination of a 46 W TDP and a 200 W PSU recommendation makes the FX 5700 Ultra easy to power in a period-appropriate system, provided the power supply has a Molex cable available. The end-of-life status does not alter the power or cooling requirements, but it does mean replacement cooling solutions are not widely manufactured.