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NV1 vs GeForce 256

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Key Differences

  • No game was measured on every one of these cards on one shared test system, so there is no speed comparison to make.
  • 256 has the most memory: 32 MB typical; some later board-partner variants used 64 MB against 1 MB, 2 MB, or 4 MB depending on board.
  • 256 has the most memory bandwidth: 2.656 GB/s on SDR boards; 4.8 GB/s on DDR boards against About 0.4 to 0.48 GB/s.
  • NV1 draws the least power: About 2 W class against About 12 to 13 W class, depending on SDR or DDR board design.
Spec NV1 GeForce 256
Overview
Product name NVIDIA NV1 / SGS-Thomson STG2000 NVIDIA GeForce 256
Architecture NV1, quadratic texture mapping multimedia accelerator Celsius / NV10 fixed-function DirectX 7 GPU with hardware transform and lighting
Generation / family NV1 Series GeForce 256
GPU codename NV1 NV10
Launch date 1995-05-22 1999-08-31
Launch MSRP Diamond Edge 3D boards were listed around $259 to $315 depending on model About $249 to $299 for early 32 MB boards, depending on partner and memory type
Market segment Consumer PCI multimedia accelerator, early 3D, audio, video, and controller support High-end desktop gaming and enthusiast 3D graphics
Board type / entry type Reference GPU Reference GPU
GPU
Process node SGS-Thomson 500 nm class TSMC 220 nm
Die size About 90 mm2 About 139 mm2
Transistor count About 1 million About 17 million in GPU database sources; some launch-era coverage quoted nearly 23 million for the broader GeForce 256 chip description
GPU chip NV1 / STG2000 NV10
SM / multiprocessor count 0 0
CUDA Cores 0 0
ROPs 1 Unknown
TMUs 1 Unknown
Clocks
Base / Core clock 75 MHz graphics core class 120 MHz
Boost clock 75 MHz Not applicable
Memory clock 50 to 60 MHz class 166 MHz SDR on SDR boards; 150 MHz DDR clock, 300 MT/s effective, on DDR boards
Memory
Memory size 1 MB, 2 MB, or 4 MB depending on board 32 MB typical; some later board-partner variants used 64 MB
Memory type FPM DRAM, EDO DRAM, or VRAM depending on board SDR SDRAM or SGRAM on early cards; DDR SDRAM or DDR SGRAM on later DDR cards
Memory bus width 64-bit 128-bit
Memory bandwidth About 0.4 to 0.48 GB/s 2.656 GB/s on SDR boards; 4.8 GB/s on DDR boards
Bus / Interface
Bus interface PCI AGP 2x / AGP 4x depending on board and platform
AGP / PCI / PCIe distinction PCI Legacy graphics interface. AGP Legacy graphics interface.
Power
TDP / TBP / board power About 2 W class About 12 to 13 W class, depending on SDR or DDR board design
Recommended PSU 200 W Unknown
Power connectors None None
Slot width Single slot Single slot
Cooling type Passive or bare package on many boards Small active fan cooler on many boards; some partner designs vary
Display / Media
Display outputs 15-pin VGA on Diamond Edge 3D boards.
Some boards also exposed audio jacks and a proprietary game controller port. 		15-pin VGA on typical boards.
Some board-partner designs exposed or provisioned DVI, S-Video or TV-out.
Features
DirectX support Direct3D compatibility was limited because NV1 targeted quadratic primitives rather than the triangle based Direct3D direction DirectX 7.0 with hardware transform and lighting
OpenGL support Not a normal OpenGL accelerator OpenGL 1.2 class in period drivers
Vulkan support Not supported Not supported
CUDA support Not applicable Not applicable. This predates CUDA.
Muted cells indicate unavailable, not applicable, or not directly comparable specifications.

Frame rates compare runs of the same game at the same quality preset on one test system. DLAA counts as native resolution, because it applies anti-aliasing at full render resolution rather than upscaling; DLSS and FSR upscaling are never counted as native. Where a capture named ray tracing without a readable on or off value, it is read as on.