NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe
NVIDIA graphics card specifications and benchmark scores
At a Glance
NVIDIANVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe Specifications
Quadro NVS 280 PCIe GPU Core
Shader units and compute resources
The NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe 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.
Quadro NVS 280 PCIe Clock Speeds
GPU and memory frequencies
Clock speeds directly impact the Quadro NVS 280 PCIe'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 Quadro NVS 280 PCIe by NVIDIA dynamically adjusts frequencies based on workload, temperature, and power limits to maximize performance while maintaining stability.
NVIDIA's Quadro NVS 280 PCIe Memory
VRAM capacity and bandwidth
VRAM (Video RAM) is dedicated memory for storing textures, frame buffers, and shader data. The Quadro NVS 280 PCIe'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.
Quadro NVS 280 PCIe Theoretical Performance
Compute and fill rates
Theoretical performance metrics provide a baseline for comparing the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe 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.
Rankine Architecture & Process
Manufacturing and design details
The NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe is built on NVIDIA's Rankine 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 Quadro NVS 280 PCIe will perform in GPU benchmarks compared to previous generations.
NVIDIA's Quadro NVS 280 PCIe Power & Thermal
TDP and power requirements
Power specifications for the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe 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 Quadro NVS 280 PCIe to maintain boost clocks without throttling.
Quadro NVS 280 PCIe by NVIDIA Physical & Connectivity
Dimensions and outputs
Physical dimensions of the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe 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 Quadro NVS 280 PCIe. 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.
Quadro NVS 280 PCIe Product Information
Release and pricing details
The NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe 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 Quadro NVS 280 PCIe by NVIDIA represents good value at current market prices. Predecessor and successor information aids in tracking generational improvements and planning future upgrades.
Quadro NVS 280 PCIe Benchmark Scores
No benchmark data available for this GPU.
About NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe
The NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe is a workstation-oriented graphics card from the Quadro NVS generation, built on the Rankine architecture using TSMC's 150 nm process node. It targets basic multi-display and office productivity tasks rather than high-end 3D rendering, with a transistor count of 45 million on a 91 mm² die and a transistor density of 494.5K per mm². The card is now end-of-life, having been released on May 24, 2004, and its benchmark data shows a percentile rank of 50 against all GPUs, though its average benchmark score is listed as zero due to the absence of specific workload results in the available dataset.
Benchmark Performance
The benchmark data for the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe presents a unique situation: its average benchmark score is recorded as 0, and its percentile rank against all GPUs is 50th. This percentile placement is somewhat misleading without concrete scores, as it indicates the card sits at the median of the database's GPU population, but the zero score suggests that no standardized benchmark workloads have been successfully executed or recorded for this particular model. In practical terms, this means the card's raw compute capabilities cannot be directly compared to rivals using numerical deltas, as no nearestRivals data with scores and deltaPct values is provided.
What the hardware specifications reveal is a card designed for a very specific and limited role. The pixel rate is 1.100 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 1.100 GTexel/s, which are modest figures even for the early 2000s. With 4 TMUs and 4 ROPs, the card can theoretically handle basic texture mapping and pixel output, but these numbers indicate it is far below any gaming or professional 3D rendering standard of its time. The memory configuration consists of 64 MB of DDR memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 8.000 GB/s. This bandwidth is sufficient for framebuffer operations in 2D desktop environments but would severely bottleneck any 3D workload.
The absence of shading unit counts, FP32 performance figures, and FP16 capabilities in the fact pack further underscores that this card does not prioritize general-purpose compute or modern shader-based rendering. Its architecture, Rankine, is an early DirectX 9.0a design, and the API support confirms this: DirectX 9.0a, OpenGL 1.5 (full) with OpenGL 2.0 (partial). These are minimal API versions that lack the features required for contemporary games or professional CAD applications. The memory clock runs at 250 MHz with an effective rate of 500 Mbps, which aligns with the modest 8.000 GB/s bandwidth figure. Benchmark results, where they exist in the broader database, would likely show this card trailing even integrated graphics solutions from the same era, but without specific rival scores, the data cannot support a percentage-based comparison.
Who Should Consider It
Given the benchmark performance indicators, the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe is not suitable for any modern gaming or high-performance computing scenario. The 64 MB memory capacity is a hard constraint; even at low resolutions like 800x600, contemporary titles would exceed this framebuffer allocation, causing texture thrashing or outright failure to load. The 8.000 GB/s bandwidth and 1.100 GPixel/s pixel rate mean that any resolution above basic 2D desktop output would result in unplayable frame rates. For 3D workloads, the card's lack of shading units and minimal DirectX 9.0a support means it cannot execute even entry-level shader programs effectively.
The realistic use case for this card is as a dedicated multi-display output device for office productivity, point-of-sale systems, or legacy industrial control panels. The single DMS-59 output is a key feature here, as it allows for dual-monitor output through a Y-splitter cable, which is a common requirement in financial trading desks or medical monitoring stations. The card's 13 W thermal design power (TDP) is exceptionally low, and it requires no external power connectors, making it suitable for slim or low-power systems. The suggested PSU requirement is 200 W, which is trivial for virtually any power supply from the last two decades.
For users who need to drive multiple 2D displays at moderate resolutions (such as 1920x1080 or lower) for spreadsheets, text documents, or video playback, the NVS 280 can handle these tasks without issue, provided the operating system and drivers support the legacy OpenGL 1.5 / DirectX 9.0a interfaces. However, for any resolution scaling beyond that, or for video acceleration beyond basic decode, the card will struggle. The single-slot form factor and 168 mm (6.6 inches) length also make it physically compatible with most chassis, but its PCIe 1.0 x16 interface, while modern at launch, is now several generations old, which may cause compatibility quirks with newer motherboard chipsets.
Ray Tracing and Feature Set
The NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe does not include any ray tracing capabilities, as it has no RT cores listed in its specifications. Similarly, it lacks tensor cores, which are essential for AI-accelerated features such as DLSS or neural network processing. This absence is consistent with its Rankine architecture, which predates the introduction of dedicated ray tracing hardware by over a decade. The card's feature set is instead focused on basic rasterization and 2D output, with its 4 TMUs and 4 ROPs handling texture mapping and pixel blending respectively.
The API support is limited to DirectX 9.0a and OpenGL 1.5 (full) with partial OpenGL 2.0 support. This means the card cannot run applications that require DirectX 9.0c or later, nor can it leverage OpenGL 2.1 features like shader model 3.0. The partial OpenGL 2.0 support is noteworthy—it implies some core features are present, but critical extensions for advanced fragment operations are missing. For professional software that relies on OpenGL for CAD or scientific visualization, this partial support would cause rendering errors or crashes. The direct consequence is that any modern game, 3D modeling suite, or video editing application that requires at least DirectX 10 or OpenGL 3.2 will not run on this hardware.
The memory subsystem, while modest, is DDR type on a 128-bit bus, which provides 8.000 GB/s of bandwidth. This is sufficient for the card's intended role of pushing pixels to a desktop frame buffer but offers no headroom for texture-heavy scenes. The lack of any FP32 or FP16 performance figures in the fact pack indicates that the card does not have a meaningful compute pipeline, so any general-purpose GPU computing (GPGPU) workload is out of the question. The display output is a single DMS-59 connector, which is a proprietary dual-link connector that requires an adapter to split into two DVI or VGA outputs. This is a legacy feature, but it was a standard for multi-display workstation cards of that era.
FAQ
Q: What is the maximum memory bandwidth of the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe?
A: The card has a memory bandwidth of 8.000 GB/s, achieved through 64 MB of DDR memory on a 128-bit bus running at a memory clock of 250 MHz (500 Mbps effective).
Q: Does the card support DirectX 9.0c or later versions?
A: No, the card's DirectX support is limited to version 9.0a, and it also supports OpenGL 1.5 (full) with partial OpenGL 2.0, which means it cannot run applications requiring newer API versions.
Q: How many displays can the card output simultaneously?
A: The card features one DMS-59 output, which is designed to support dual displays through a suitable splitter cable, making it a multi-display solution for office environments.
Q: What is the power consumption of this GPU?
A: The thermal design power (TDP) is 13 W, and it requires no external power connectors, with a suggested system power supply of 200 W.
Q: Does the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe support ray tracing?
A: No, the card has no RT cores or tensor cores, so it lacks any hardware acceleration for ray tracing or AI-based features.
Q: What is the process technology used for this chip?
A: The chip, codenamed NV37, is fabricated on a 150 nm process node at TSMC, containing 45 million transistors on a 91 mm² die.
How It Compares
The nearestRivals data for the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280 PCIe is empty, which means there are no direct comparison scores, deltaPct values, or rival names available in the fact pack. Consequently, a numerical comparison against specific competing GPUs cannot be made from the provided dataset. The percentile rank of 50 against all GPUs suggests that, in a hypothetical distribution, the card would sit at the median—but given its zero average benchmark score, this rank is likely an artifact of database weighting rather than a reflection of actual performance.
In the absence of rival scores, the comparison must rely on architectural context. The card's 150 nm process node, 45 million transistors, and 4 TMUs / 4 ROPs place it at the entry level of professional GPUs from 2004. A typical rival from that era would have featured more TMUs and ROPs and a higher memory bandwidth, but without exact figures, any statement would be speculative. The card's 13 W TDP is remarkably low, which is a clear differentiator against higher-power workstation cards that often exceeded 50 W. This low power draw, combined with the single-slot design and no power connectors, makes it a unique option for passive cooling in silent office PCs.
The lack of benchmarks and rivals also highlights the card's niche status: it was not designed to compete in performance metrics but rather to offer reliable multi-display functionality. Its 64 MB memory and 8.000 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 2D desktop work, but any comparison to gaming GPUs of the same period would show a massive gap in shader capability and fill rate. The card's true peers are other multi-display adapters, such as the Matrox M-series, but no data is provided to quantify these comparisons. Ultimately, the NVS 280 PCIe occupies a position where its value is defined by its feature set (dual display via DMS-59, low power) rather than its computational throughput, and the empty rival list confirms that it is an outlier in the benchmark database.
The AMD Equivalent of Quadro NVS 280 PCIe
Looking for a similar graphics card from AMD? The AMD Radeon RX 480 offers comparable performance and features in the AMD lineup.
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