Comparison of Nvidia Graphics Processing Units - Field Explanations

Field Explanations

The fields in the table listed below describe the following:

• Model - The marketing name for the processor assigned by Nvidia.
• Launch - Date of release for the processor.
• Code name - The internal engineering codename for the processor (typically designated by an NVXY name and later GXY where X is the series number and Y is the schedule of the project for that generation).
• Fab - Fabrication process. Average feature size of components of the processor.
• Bus interface - Bus by which the graphics processor is attached to the system (typically an expansion slot, such as PCI, AGP, or PCI-Express).
• Memory - The amount of graphics memory available to the processor.
• SM Count - Number of streaming multiprocessors.
• Core clock - The factory core clock frequency (while some manufacturers adjust clocks lower and higher, this number will always be the reference clocks used by Nvidia).
• Memory clock - The factory effective memory clock frequency (while some manufacturers adjust clocks lower and higher, this number will always be the reference clocks used by Nvidia). All DDR/GDDR memories operate at half this frequency, except for GDDR5, which operates at one quarter of this frequency.
• Config core - The layout of the graphics pipeline, in terms of functional units. Over time the number, type, and variety of functional units in the GPU core has changed significantly; before each section in the list there is an explanation as to what functional units are present in each generation of processors. In later models, shaders are integrated into a unified shader architecture, where any one shader can perform any of the functions listed.
• Fillrate - Maximum theoretical fillrate in textured pixels per second. This number is generally used as a "maximum throughput number" for the GPU and generally, a higher fillrate corresponds to a more powerful (and faster) GPU.
• Memory subsection
  • Bandwidth - Maximum theoretical bandwidth for the processor at factory clock with factory bus width. GB=10^9 bytes.
  • Bus type - Type of memory bus or buses utilized.
  • Bus width - Maximum bit width of the memory bus or buses utilized. This will always be a factory bus width.
• API support section
  • DirectX - Maximum version of DirectX fully supported.
  • OpenGL - Maximum version of OpenGL fully supported.
• Features - Additional features that are not standard as a part of the two graphics libraries.