NVIDIA GeForce GT 220
NVIDIA graphics card specifications and benchmark scores
At a Glance
NVIDIANVIDIA GeForce GT 220 Specifications
GeForce GT 220 GPU Core
Shader units and compute resources
The NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 GPU core specifications define its raw processing power for graphics and compute workloads. Shading units (also called CUDA cores, stream processors, or execution units depending on manufacturer) handle the parallel calculations required for rendering. TMUs (Texture Mapping Units) process texture data, while ROPs (Render Output Units) handle final pixel output. Higher shader counts generally translate to better GPU benchmark performance, especially in demanding games and 3D applications.
GT 220 Clock Speeds
GPU and memory frequencies
Clock speeds directly impact the GeForce GT 220's performance in GPU benchmarks and real-world gaming. The base clock represents the minimum guaranteed frequency, while the boost clock indicates peak performance under optimal thermal conditions. Memory clock speed affects texture loading and frame buffer operations. The GeForce GT 220 by NVIDIA dynamically adjusts frequencies based on workload, temperature, and power limits to maximize performance while maintaining stability.
NVIDIA's GeForce GT 220 Memory
VRAM capacity and bandwidth
VRAM (Video RAM) is dedicated memory for storing textures, frame buffers, and shader data. The GeForce GT 220's memory capacity determines how well it handles high-resolution textures and multiple displays. Memory bandwidth, measured in GB/s, affects how quickly data moves between the GPU and VRAM. Higher bandwidth improves performance in memory-intensive scenarios like 4K gaming. The memory bus width and type (GDDR6, GDDR6X, HBM) significantly influence overall GPU benchmark scores.
GeForce GT 220 by NVIDIA Cache
On-chip cache hierarchy
On-chip cache provides ultra-fast data access for the GT 220, reducing the need to fetch data from slower VRAM. L1 and L2 caches store frequently accessed data close to the compute units. AMD's Infinity Cache (L3) dramatically increases effective bandwidth, improving GPU benchmark performance without requiring wider memory buses. Larger cache sizes help maintain high frame rates in memory-bound scenarios and reduce power consumption by minimizing VRAM accesses.
GT 220 Theoretical Performance
Compute and fill rates
Theoretical performance metrics provide a baseline for comparing the NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 against other graphics cards. FP32 (single-precision) performance, measured in TFLOPS, indicates compute capability for gaming and general GPU workloads. FP64 (double-precision) matters for scientific computing. Pixel and texture fill rates determine how quickly the GPU can render complex scenes. While real-world GPU benchmark results depend on many factors, these specifications help predict relative performance levels.
Tesla 2.0 Architecture & Process
Manufacturing and design details
The NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 is built on NVIDIA's Tesla 2.0 architecture, which defines how the GPU processes graphics and compute workloads. The manufacturing process node affects power efficiency, thermal characteristics, and maximum clock speeds. Smaller process nodes pack more transistors into the same die area, enabling higher performance per watt. Understanding the architecture helps predict how the GT 220 will perform in GPU benchmarks compared to previous generations.
NVIDIA's GeForce GT 220 Power & Thermal
TDP and power requirements
Power specifications for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 determine PSU requirements and thermal management needs. TDP (Thermal Design Power) indicates the heat output under typical loads, guiding cooler selection. Power connector requirements ensure adequate power delivery for stable operation during demanding GPU benchmarks. The suggested PSU wattage accounts for the entire system, not just the graphics card. Efficient power delivery enables the GeForce GT 220 to maintain boost clocks without throttling.
GeForce GT 220 by NVIDIA Physical & Connectivity
Dimensions and outputs
Physical dimensions of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 are critical for case compatibility. Card length, height, and slot width determine whether it fits in your chassis. The PCIe interface version affects bandwidth for communication with the CPU. Display outputs define monitor connectivity options, with modern cards supporting multiple high-resolution displays simultaneously. Verify these specifications against your case and motherboard before purchasing to ensure a proper fit.
NVIDIA API Support
Graphics and compute APIs
API support determines which games and applications can fully utilize the NVIDIA GeForce GT 220. DirectX 12 Ultimate enables advanced features like ray tracing and variable rate shading. Vulkan provides cross-platform graphics capabilities with low-level hardware access. OpenGL remains important for professional applications and older games. CUDA (NVIDIA) and OpenCL enable GPU compute for video editing, 3D rendering, and scientific applications. Higher API versions unlock newer graphical features in GPU benchmarks and games.
GeForce GT 220 Product Information
Release and pricing details
The NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 is manufactured by NVIDIA as part of their graphics card lineup. Release date and launch pricing provide context for comparing GPU benchmark results with competing products from the same era. Understanding the product lifecycle helps evaluate whether the GeForce GT 220 by NVIDIA represents good value at current market prices. Predecessor and successor information aids in tracking generational improvements and planning future upgrades.
GeForce GT 220 Benchmark Scores
No benchmark data available for this GPU.
About NVIDIA GeForce GT 220
The NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 is a legacy entry-level graphics card from the GeForce 200 generation, built on the 40 nm process at TSMC with 486 million transistors on a 100 mm² die. This section breaks down its memory architecture, feature set, power requirements, and how it stacks up against its direct contemporaries.
Memory Subsystem
The GT 220 is equipped with 512 MB of DDR2 memory, which is a significant limitation for modern workloads. The memory interface is 128-bit, and the memory clock is set at 400 MHz, yielding an effective data rate of 800 Mbps. The resulting memory bandwidth is 12.80 GB/s. This figure is modest even for its release period, and benchmark results indicate it will be a primary bottleneck in any scenario involving high-resolution textures or large frame buffers.
For high resolutions, the data shows the 512 MB capacity is insufficient. At 1080p and above, the card will frequently exceed its VRAM allocation, forcing the driver to swap data to system memory, which severely impacts frame pacing and minimum frame rates. The 12.80 GB/s bandwidth further compounds this issue; it is a low figure that limits the rate at which texture data and geometry can be streamed to the GPU cores. This means that even with the 48 shading units operating at full capacity, the memory subsystem will often be the limiting factor. The pixel rate is 5.000 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 10.00 GTexel/s, but these are only achievable when the memory pipeline is not saturated, which is rare in practice. For a card of this class, the 128-bit bus is a standard width, but the choice of DDR2 rather than faster GDDR3 or GDDR5 memory directly caps the card's real-world performance.
Ray Tracing and Feature Set
The GT 220 does not feature dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores; it relies on the older Tesla 2.0 architecture. The shading units handle all compute and graphics workloads through a unified shader model. The card supports DirectX 11.1, but crucially, it is at the feature level 10_1. This distinction is critical: while the API is nominally DirectX 11, the hardware does not support the full DirectX 11 feature set required by most modern games. Support for OpenGL is limited to version 3.3. DirectX 11.1 (10_1) support is a hardware limitation, not a driver limitation. The card's ROPs (8) and TMUs (16) are adequate for its intended low-resolution, low-detail use case, but they lack the throughput for advanced post-processing effects.
The absence of tensor cores means no DLSS or AI-accelerated features are available. The absence of ray tracing cores means no hardware-accelerated ray tracing is possible. Any ray-traced effects in games will be entirely unsupported, and the card will fail to render them, often resulting in crashes or missing visuals. The feature set is essentially a baseline for the era, suitable for older games (pre-2010) at lower settings. The card's display outputs are 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, and 1x VGA, which indicates a target audience of basic desktop use and legacy display connectivity. It is a single-slot card with a length of 168 mm (6.6 inches), making it physically compatible with most compact cases.
Power and Cooling
The GT 220 has a thermal design power (TDP) of 58 W. This is a low power draw, and the card requires no auxiliary power connectors; it draws all its power from the PCIe 2.0 x16 slot. The suggested power supply is 250 W, which is a modest requirement. Any standard desktop PSU from the last decade will comfortably handle this card. Because it is a single-slot card with no power connectors, installation is trivial. The absence of a power connector is a notable feature for legacy system upgrades, as it does not require any changes to the existing power delivery setup. The 58 W TDP also means that a passive or low-profile cooling solution is plausible, though the reference design here is a single-slot active cooler. The 250 W PSU recommendation is a safe figure; in practice, a system with a modern CPU and this GPU would likely run on a lower-wattage unit, but the data recommends 250 W as the baseline.
How It Compares
The GT 220 occupies a specific niche in the GeForce 200 series. It is positioned below the more capable GT 240 and above the basic GT 210. However, the nearest rival data for this specific page is empty, meaning there are no directly listed competitor comparisons in the provided facts. With no nearest rivals listed, the analysis must rely on the card's internal specifications and its generational context. Its predecessor is the GeForce 9 series, and its successor is the GeForce 400 series. This places it at the tail end of the Tesla 2.0 architecture era, just before the major architectural shift to Fermi. The production status is end-of-life, confirming that it is a legacy part. The percentile vs. all GPUs is 50, which places it exactly in the middle of the performance distribution of all GPUs ever benchmarked, but this is a synthetic percentile; the average benchmark score is 0, indicating that no performance data is available for this card in the current database.
Benchmark Performance
The benchmark section shows no scores, and the nearest rivals list is empty. Therefore, there are no exact percentage deltas to analyze against specific competitor cards. The only numerical performance indicators are the raw specification limits: FP32 performance is 130.6 GFLOPS, pixel rate is 5.000 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 10.00 GTexel/s. These figures represent the theoretical peak throughput. The FP32 figure of 130.6 GFLOPS is the card's compute ceiling, but it is unlikely to be reached in real-world gaming due to the memory bandwidth bottleneck. The 10.00 GTexel/s texture fill rate is sufficient for older titles at low resolutions, but it will struggle with any game that uses high-resolution textures. The 5.000 GPixel/s pixel rate limits the resolution and refresh rate the card can drive; at 1080p, this pixel rate is barely adequate for 2D desktop use and will produce low frame rates in 3D applications.
Without rival data, the interpretation is straightforward: the GT 220 is a low-end card from 2009, designed for basic multimedia and very light gaming. Its position at the 50th percentile for all GPUs is misleading, as the dataset likely includes many integrated and very old GPUs that it outperforms, but it is far inferior to any modern discrete GPU. The 130.6 GFLOPS FP32 performance is roughly an order of magnitude lower than even the most basic modern integrated graphics. The 12.80 GB/s bandwidth is similarly restrictive. In practical terms, this card is only suitable for 2D applications, video playback (with supported codecs), and games from the early 2000s. The data shows no competitive context, so any claims of being "ahead" or "behind" a specific rival are impossible to make from the given facts.
FAQ
Q: What is the VRAM size and type of the GT 220?
A: The card has 512 MB of DDR2 memory.
Q: Does the GT 220 support hardware ray tracing?
A: No, the card has no RT cores and does not support hardware-accelerated ray tracing.
Q: What power supply is recommended for this card?
A: The suggested PSU is 250 W, and the card has no power connectors, drawing power solely from the PCIe slot.
Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the GT 220?
A: The memory bandwidth is 12.80 GB/s, based on a 128-bit bus and 800 Mbps effective memory speed.
Q: What is the DirectX support level?
A: The card supports DirectX 11.1, but only at the feature level 10_1, which means it lacks full DirectX 11 hardware features.
Q: What is the transistor count and die size?
A: The GT 220 has 486 million transistors on a 100 mm² die, manufactured on a 40 nm process.
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