NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti500

The NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti500 is a single-slot AGP 4x graphics card from the GeForce 3 generation, built around the NV20 chip and the Kelvin architecture. TSMC fabricated the chip on a 150 nm process, with 57 million transistors on a 128 mm² die, producing a transistor density of 445.3K / mm². The card was released on September 30, 2001 with a launch MSRP of 349 USD, and its database production status is End-of-life. It carries 64 MB of DDR memory on a 128-bit bus, with a memory clock of 250 MHz and 500 Mbps effective data throughput, resulting in 8.000 GB/s of bandwidth. The rendering configuration includes 8 texture mapping units and 4 ROPs, yielding a texture rate of 1.920 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 960.0 MPixel/s. The database lists no benchmark entries and no nearest rivals, so the only aggregate position available is a percentileVsAllGpus value of 50 with an avgBenchmarkScore of 0.

How It Compares

The nearestRivals list for the GeForce3 Ti500 is empty in the database. Because that field contains no rival names and no deltaPct values, there are no direct percentage comparisons to report against other graphics cards. The only positional reference is percentileVsAllGpus, which sits at 50. That places the GeForce3 Ti500 at the midpoint of all GPUs tracked by the database, meaning half of the tracked devices are above this rank and half below, if the percentile is treated as a strict ordering. However, the avgBenchmarkScore is 0, and the benchmarks array is empty, so no measured score supports that midpoint placement. The percentile is an aggregate position rather than a tested performance result.

The product lineage provides the only relative anchor in the data. The GeForce3 Ti500 is listed with the GeForce 2 as its predecessor and the GeForce 4 MX as its successor. That sequence situates it between two adjacent product families, but the database does not contain performance scores, clock rates, or feature specifications for either of those cards. Consequently, no percentage delta can be computed against the predecessor or successor, and no positional claim stronger than the 50th-percentile rank can be made.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The GeForce3 Ti500 has no recorded RT core count and no recorded tensor core count; both fields are null in the database. The feature data therefore contains no dedicated ray tracing hardware and no tensor processing hardware. The API support is limited to DirectX 8.1 and OpenGL 1.5, with no Vulkan entry listed. This places the card in a DirectX 8.1-class rendering feature set, defined by the generation’s fixed-function and programmable pixel pipeline rather than by ray tracing acceleration.

The rest of the feature profile is built around the NV20 chip’s rendering blocks. There are 8 TMUs and 4 ROPs, with a texture rate of 1.920 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 960.0 MPixel/s. Memory is 64 MB of DDR on a 128-bit bus; the memory clock is 250 MHz, and the effective data rate is 500 Mbps, yielding 8.000 GB/s of bandwidth. The card uses an AGP 4x bus interface. Its display outputs are 1x DVI, 1x VGA, and 1x S-Video. Together, these figures describe a fixed feature set with no tensor core acceleration and no ray tracing capability recorded in the data.

Benchmark Performance

The benchmark section for the GeForce3 Ti500 contains no entries. There are no synthetic scores, no application scores, and no nearestRivals records, so exact percentage deltas versus competitors cannot be derived from the database. The avgBenchmarkScore field is 0, which is consistent with the empty benchmarks array. The percentileVsAllGpus field is 50, so the card’s database position is median even though no measured benchmark numbers back that placement.

The only performance-related metrics in the record are the throughput figures: 960.0 MPixel/s pixel rate, 1.920 GTexel/s texture rate, and 8.000 GB/s memory bandwidth. These values characterize the card’s raw fill and bandwidth envelope, but they do not translate directly into frame rates without benchmark samples. The 64 MB DDR memory capacity also constrains the amount of texture data and geometry that can be resident, independent of the fill rates. Without nearestRivals deltaPct values, no statement such as “ahead of rival X by Y percent” can be made from the data.

Power and Cooling

The database does not list a TDP for the GeForce3 Ti500. The cooling and power profile is defined by other fields: the card is single-slot, it requires no auxiliary power connectors, and the suggested power supply is 200 W. The board length is 183 mm, or 7.2 inches, which is the only physical dimension recorded. The absence of power connectors is notable; the only bus interface listed is AGP 4x, and no additional connector is present in the data. The single-slot width and the 200 W PSU recommendation indicate a modest system power requirement, although the exact thermal design power is not quantified in the database.

Who Should Consider It

The GeForce3 Ti500 is a candidate for an AGP 4x system with a power supply in the 200 W class. The 64 MB DDR frame buffer and 8.000 GB/s memory bandwidth define a tight memory capacity and bandwidth envelope, so workloads need to fit within a relatively small amount of onboard memory. The DirectX 8.1 and OpenGL 1.5 API support means the card is aimed at software from that API generation rather than applications expecting newer feature levels. The lack of Vulkan support further restricts the card to legacy API paths.

The display output configuration of 1x DVI, 1x VGA, and 1x S-Video suits systems with mixed monitor types. The AGP 4x bus interface places it in motherboards of that interface generation. The 8 TMUs, 4 ROPs, 960.0 MPixel/s pixel rate, and 1.920 GTexel/s texture rate provide the rendering throughput for DirectX 8.1-era content, while the 64 MB memory capacity determines asset size limits. Because the production status is End-of-life, the intended context is an existing legacy AGP system rather than a current build. The 50th-percentile rank offers no performance-specific recommendation, so the practical guidance rests on the hardware profile: 150 nm Kelvin-architecture chip, 128-bit DDR memory, AGP 4x connectivity, and a 200 W PSU suggestion.