NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra

The NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra is a mobile GPU from the GeForce Go 6 (Go 6000) generation. Its chip is the NV41, built on the Curie architecture and fabricated by TSMC on a 130 nm process. The die contains 190 million transistors spread across 225 mm², yielding a transistor density of 844.4K per mm². The bus interface is PCIe 1.0 x16, and the display outputs are listed as portable device dependent. The release date is 2005-02-23, and the production status is end-of-life. In the database, the GPU has no recorded benchmark runs, an average benchmark score of 0, and a 50th percentile placement against all GPUs. It sits between the GeForce FX Go 5 and the GeForce Go 7 in the product line. The architecture field names Curie, and the API fields cap the feature level at DirectX 9.0c (9_3). The hardware table also lists a 256 MB GDDR3 frame buffer and an 89 W TDP, both of which are central to the analysis. Without a single benchmark entry, the percentile and the hardware specification table are the only analytical material; conclusions are therefore limited to what those fields can support.

Who Should Consider It

The 50th percentile placement is the first signal. This GPU is the median of the tracked database, meaning half of all GPUs rank above it and half below. It is not a top-tier mobile part, and it is not an entry-level one either. This is a product from the Go 6000 generation, so the intended software environment is the one that shipped alongside early PCIe 1.0 x16 systems. For someone using software tied to the DirectX 9.0c era, the feature set is a match: DirectX 9.0c (9_3), OpenGL 2.0 full, and OpenGL 2.1 partial. The rendering pipeline is defined by 12 texture mapping units and 8 raster output units, with a texture rate of 5.400 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 3.600 GPixel/s. The pixel rate is the more restrictive number for high resolutions; every pixel drawn passes through the ROPs, and at 3.600 GPixel/s the budget for large frame buffers shrinks quickly. The texture rate is higher, so texture-heavy scenes are comparatively less expensive. That leads to a straightforward settings recommendation: favor moderate resolutions and conservative quality settings, and let the 256-bit memory subsystem do the work.

The 256 MB frame buffer is the second boundary. High-detail textures and high resolution both consume capacity, and once the 256 MB buffer is exceeded, the 38.40 GB/s bus must carry the overflow. A user running old DirectX 9.0c titles at the settings typical of that hardware generation will find a capable, mid-pack experience. A user expecting high resolutions with maximum visual quality will meet the 3.600 GPixel/s pixel-rate ceiling first, then the memory ceiling. There is no benchmark score to refine the recommendation further, so treat this as a moderate-settings part.

Memory Subsystem

The memory subsystem is a point in this GPU's favor. It uses 256 MB of GDDR3 on a 256-bit bus, with a memory clock of 600 MHz and an effective data rate of 1200 Mbps. The resulting bandwidth is 38.40 GB/s. The 256-bit bus is the strongest single memory specification in the entry: it gives the GPU a wide path to the frame buffer, which matters when the memory clock is 600 MHz rather than a higher figure. Bandwidth is still the concrete limit. At high resolutions, the data that must move through the memory bus grows with the number of pixels and the amount of texture data in use. 38.40 GB/s is the ceiling for that movement, and it is shared by everything the GPU needs to read or write. With 256 MB of capacity, any scene that cannot fit entirely in local memory will repeatedly call on that same 38.40 GB/s pipe. The wide bus softens the problem, but it cannot raise the effective data rate beyond 1200 Mbps or add capacity beyond 256 MB. For high-resolution work, the memory subsystem is the constraining resource; for moderate resolutions, it is more than adequate.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

There are no RT cores and no tensor cores in the specification. The API list is equally explicit: DirectX 9.0c (9_3), OpenGL 2.0 full, OpenGL 2.1 partial, and no Vulkan. This is a feature set locked to its release window of 2005-02-23. DirectX 9.0c (9_3) is the highest API level available, so anything built for later DirectX versions is outside the GPU's capabilities. The OpenGL situation is nuanced: 2.0 is fully supported, but 2.1 is only partial, so applications relying on complete OpenGL 2.1 behavior may not run correctly. The absence of Vulkan removes any path to modern low-level API access. Without tensor cores, there is also no hardware support for AI-accelerated features; without RT cores, there is no dedicated ray tracing acceleration. Users should treat the Go 6800 Ultra as a DirectX 9.0c part with partial OpenGL 2.1 support and no path to newer APIs.

FAQ

Q: What is the VRAM capacity and type of the GeForce Go 6800 Ultra?

A: The entry lists 256 MB of GDDR3.

Q: What is the memory bus width and bandwidth?

A: The bus width is 256-bit, the memory clock is 600 MHz with an effective data rate of 1200 Mbps, and the bandwidth is 38.40 GB/s.

Q: Does the GPU support a newer DirectX version or Vulkan?

A: No. The listed APIs are DirectX 9.0c (9_3), OpenGL 2.0 full, and OpenGL 2.1 partial; Vulkan is absent.

Q: Does it have RT cores or tensor cores?

A: No. Both the RT core and tensor core fields are null in the data.

Q: What is the TDP and what power connectors does it require?

A: The TDP is 89 W, and the power connector field is "None."

Q: When was it released, and what are its predecessor and successor?

A: The release date is 2005-02-23. The predecessor is the GeForce FX Go 5 and the successor is the GeForce Go 7. Both belong to the same mobile Go product line.

How It Compares

The nearest-rivals list for the Go 6800 Ultra is empty. There are therefore no rival names, no rival scores, and no deltaPct values to cite. The only comparative numbers in the data are the 50th percentile against all GPUs and the average benchmark score of 0. A 50th percentile standing means it sits exactly in the middle of the database's GPU population. That is a useful anchor: not a high-end part by any measure, but not at the bottom. The average benchmark score of 0 reflects the empty benchmark array, not a measured performance level, so no per-rival percentage deltas can be computed. The percentile value of 50 is the only ranking number present, and it carries no margin information; there is no indication of how close or far other GPUs are. In the product family, the Go 6800 Ultra is bracketed by the GeForce FX Go 5 before it and the GeForce Go 7 after it, but those are lineage reference points rather than benchmark-based comparisons. Without nearest rivals, all comparative analysis ends at the percentile.

Power and Cooling

The power specification centers on a TDP of 89 W. That is the design thermal load that the host portable device must manage. The power connector field is "None," which means the GPU does not take an auxiliary power cable; the host platform supplies power through its own system. The suggested PSU field is empty, so no power supply unit is recommended in the data. This is consistent with a mobile part whose display outputs are also portable device dependent: the device, not the GPU, defines the electrical and thermal envelope. On the process side, the 130 nm node and 190 million transistors in 225 mm² set the context for the 89 W figure. Cooling is not specified by any dimension in the pack — there is no slot width, no cooler length, and no heatsink data. A portable-system designer would have to fit a solution capable of absorbing 89 W, but the database does not state the physical cooler requirements. At end-of-life status, the practical takeaway is that the 89 W TDP is the number to plan around if the GPU is ever used in a custom or refurbished portable system.