nVidia launched the GeForce FX 5500 in March 2004 as successor to the FX 5200. The name implies that it's somewhat better ( "300 more" ) but in reality this is not always the case. Stock specifications are 270MHz GPU and 200MHz RAM (DDR400, 128-bit bus) whereas the FX 5200 runs at 250MHz GPU and 200MHz (DDR400, 128-bit bus) RAM. However, many different versions exist since manufacturers can choose their own setup. Notably memory is the achilles heel as many cards have slower RAM and a narrow 64-bit memory bus.

In this case the Gainward FX 5500 is clocked at a mere 250MHz GPU with just 133MHz (DDR266) RAM. Compare it to this GeForce FX 5200 and notice that the Gainward FX 5500 is actually slower than the XFX GeForce FX 5200 despite that the product name implies it's better. The difference? The XFX GeForce FX 5200 has RAM running at 166MHz (DDR333) .

Is the memory configuration the only difference? No, the FX 5500 came to life using the NV34B chip. It's basically identical to the NV34 (for the FX 5200) but manufactured at a smaller 140nm process. A smaller process results in a smaller chip which cuts manufacturing costs.

On the plus side the Gainward FX 5500 has been equipped with a fairly big heatsink. I wonder why they just didn't run it at the default 270MHz. Cooling seems adequate enough. > Read more

A PCI version of the GeForce FX 5200. Most models had the standard AGP-port so the PCI version is somewhat uncommon.

This particular card has been running 24/7 in a system that needed an extra monitor output and later moved to a headless system that needed VGA in order to boot up. If I remember correctly it eventually failed due to a fan failure. On the first photo you can see that the fan split in two. By the looks of it, another (imminent) failure point would be the capacitors. > Read more

I have a couple of GeForce FX 5200 and FX 5500 cards. A lot of them have slight differences as mentioned on the page with the Gainward FX5500. This Sweex FX5500 is no exception, however, it does run at higher frequencies than the Gainward. The Sweex is on the 'fast' side (in terms of FX5500) with it's 270MHz core clock and 150MHz (DDR300) 128-bit memory.

But not all is good. Look closer and see that the PCB of this card is dated 32th week (August) of 2008. When the FX5500 hit the market in March 2004 it wasn't a good card and it seems that these cards were still made 4 years after. Cards like the GeForce 8400GS were budget in 2008! Another thing, which is not clearly visible on the photo, is that the caps aren't sitting straight on the card. They leak from underneath and upon closer inspection these solid state capacitors are just regular electrolytic capacitor in disguise. On top of that they are low quality and I had to replace them in order to successfully run the benchmarks. > Read more

. > Read more