Nvidia GeForce 6 series

NVIDIA NV43 GPU (6600GT)

The GeForce 6 Series is a series of desktop - graphics chip company Nvidia and successor to the GeForce FX series . With the GeForce 6 series, Nvidia is introducing the Shader Model 3.0 (SM 3.0) based on DirectX 9.0c for the first time and the Scalable Link Interface (SLI) in the top versions . The main competitor was the ATI Radeon X series .

Technical

Quads

The graphics chips used consist of so-called "quads". Depending on the version, quads can also be deactivated. In the GeForce 6 series , a quad consists of four graphics pipelines , a texture mapping unit (TMU) and a vertex processing unit (VPU) (4 × 1 × 1). The basic version of each chip, however, consists of four graphics pipelines, a TMU and three VPUs (4 × 1 × 3). Depending on the expansion stage, the equipment increases with z. B. two quads on 8 × 1 × 4 and with three quads on 12 × 1 × 5 etc. This way all desired configurations are achieved.

An exception is the NV43 graphics processor, which in its maximum expansion stage with two activated quads still only has 8 × 1 × 3 instead of 8 × 1 × 4. With a quad, however, he has 4 × 1 × 3 as expected.

Graphics processors

Within the GeForce 6 series, different graphics processors are used, which differ in terms of their manufacturing technology, their native interface and their maximum number of quads.

Graphics chip	production			Render pipelines			API support		Bus interface stelle
	production process	transis- interfere	The surface	Quad number	Pipes × TMU × VPU	Pixel shader	DirectX	OpenGL
NV40	130 nm	222 million	287 mm²	4th	16 × 16 × 6	16	9.0c	2.1	AGP 8x
NV41		222 million	225 mm²	3	12 × 12 × 5	12			PCIe
NV43	110 nm	146 million	150 mm²	2	08 × 08 × 3	08th
NV44		075 million	110 mm²	2	04 × 04 × 3	04th
NV45	130 nm	222 million	287 mm²	4th	16 × 16 × 6	16

Naming

NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra PCI-E (NV48)

GeForce 6600GT with AGP bridge chip

Since the GeForce FX series was only moderately successful on the market and Nvidia wanted to part with this bad image, the previously introduced “FX” was omitted from the GeForce 6 series and the graphics chips generally only have a four-digit number which all start with “6”. Within the family, however, there is still a similar division into segments as in the GeForce FX series. In addition to the discrete graphics chips, Nvidia also integrates graphics cores based on the GeForce 6 series in the chipsets of the nForce4 series , which are marketed under the names GeForce 6100, GeForce 6150 LE and GeForce 6150.

division

• 61xx: integrated graphics units in nForce4 chipsets (see there)
• 62xx / 65xx: low cost
• 66xx: mainstream
• 68xx: high-end

Letter abbreviations

• LE, SE - underperforming version
• XT - underperforming version
• VE, XE - special model (only OEM market), less powerful than the version without a suffix
• no suffix - budget version
• GTO, XL - special model (only OEM market), more powerful than the version without a suffix
• GS - medium-strength version of a series
• GT - powerful version, the most powerful version in the mainstream segment
• Ultra - most powerful model (only in the high-end segment)

The abbreviation TC indicates that the Turbo Cache technology is used.

Model data

model	Official launch	Graphics processor (GPU)				Graphics memory					Others
		Type	Activated quads	Clock rate (MHz)	Fill rate ( MT / s)	Size ( MB )	Clock rate (MHz)	Type	Storage interface	Bandwidth ( GB / s)
GeForce 6200 LE	Apr 4, 2005	NV44	1	350	700	64	266	DDR2	32 bit	2.13
						128			64 bit	4.26	AGP version
GeForce 6200	Oct 11, 2004	NV43	1	300	1200	128	275	GDR	128 bit	8.8
	Apr 4, 2005	NV44	2	350	1400		250		64 bit	4.0	AGP version
GeForce 6200 SE TC	Dec 15, 2004	NV44	2	350	1400	64 128	250	GDR	64 bit	4.0	TurboCache
GeForce 6200 TC							350			5.6	TurboCache AGP version
GeForce 6500	Oct 1, 2005	NV44	2	400	1600	128	333	DDR2	128 bit	10.7
GeForce 6600 LE	Jan. 1, 2005	NV43	1	300	1200	128 256	200	GDR	128 bit	6.4	SLI support
GeForce 6600 VE	Jan. 1, 2005	NV43	1	350	1400	128	350	GDDR3	128 bit	11.2	OEM product SLI support
GeForce 6600	Aug 12, 2004	NV43	2	300	2400	128 256	250	GDR	128 bit	8.0
GeForce 6600 GT	Aug 12, 2004	NV43	2	500	4000	128 256	500	GDDR3	128 bit	16.0	SLI support
GeForce 6610 XL	Nov 14, 2004	NV43	2	400	3200	128	400	GDDR3	128 bit	8.0	OEM product
GeForce 6700 XL	Nov 14, 2004	NV43	2	525	4200	128	550	GDDR3	128 bit	17.6	OEM product
GeForce 6800 XE	Sep 30 2005	NV40	2	275	2200	256	266	DDR2	128 bit	8.51	OEM product AGP version
GeForce 6800 LE	Jul 21, 2004	NV40	2	320	2560	128	350	GDR	256 bit	22.4	AGP version
	Jan 16, 2005	NV41		325	2600	128	300			19.2	SLI support
GeForce 6800 XT	Sep 30 2005	NV40	2	325	2600	256	350	GDR	256 bit	22.4	OEM product AGP version
	Sep 30 2005	NV41		425	3400		500	GDDR3	256 bit	32.0	SLI support
GeForce 6800	Apr 14, 2004	NV40	3	325	3900	128 256	350	GDR	256 bit	22.4	AGP version
	Nov 8, 2004	NV41				256					SLI support
GeForce 6800 GTO	Apr 14, 2004	NV40	3	350	4200	256	450	GDDR3	256 bit	28.8	OEM product SLI support
GeForce 6800 GS	Dec 8, 2005	NV40	3	350	4200	128 256	500	GDDR3	256 bit	32.0	AGP version
	Nov 7, 2005	NV41		425	5100	256					SLI support
GeForce 6800 GT	Apr 14, 2004	NV40	4th	350	5600	128 256	350	GDR	256 bit	22.4	AGP version
	Jun 8, 2004	NV45				256	500	GDDR3		32.0	SLI support
GeForce 6800 Ultra	Apr 14, 2004	NV40	4th	400	6400	256	550	GDDR3	256 bit	35.2	AGP version
	Jul 26, 2004	NV45				256 512					SLI support

Hints

• The specified clock rates are those recommended or specified by Nvidia. However, the final specification of the clock rates is in the hands of the respective graphics card manufacturer. It is therefore entirely possible that there are or will be graphics card models that have different clock rates.
• It is also up to the manufacturers whether the final graphics card has a PCIe or an AGP connection, because GPUs with a native PCIe interface can also be used for AGP graphics cards with the help of a bridge chip.

See also

• List of Nvidia graphics processors

Web links

• GeForce 6 Series Product Overview , Nvidia.