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NVIDIA Quadro NVS 440 PCIe x16

NVIDIA Quadro NVS 440 PCIe x16: Overview of an Obsolete Solution for Professional Tasks

Introduction

The NVIDIA Quadro NVS 440 PCIe x16, released in the late 2000s, was originally positioned as a solution for business environments and multi-monitor configurations. Despite its venerable age, this card still finds application in specific scenarios. In this article, we will explore its features, performance, and relevance in 2025.

1. Architecture and Key Features

Tesla (G84) Architecture: The Quadro NVS 440 is based on the Tesla architecture, which debuted in 2006. The G84 chip is manufactured using a 80nm process, which was progressive for its time.

Unique Features:

- Support for Multi-Monitor Configurations — up to 4 displays via DVI and DisplayPort interfaces.

- Optimization for 2D Tasks — rendering text, tables, and graphs.

Lack of Modern Technologies:

- RTX, DLSS, FidelityFX — not supported due to the age of the architecture.

- DirectX 10 — the maximum version of the API, limiting compatibility with modern applications.

2. Memory

Type and Size:

- GDDR3 — an outdated type of memory with low bandwidth.

- 256 MB — a capacity insufficient even for basic tasks in 2025.

Bandwidth:

- 12.8 GB/s — achieved through a 128-bit bus and an 800 MHz clock.

Impact on Performance:

The low bandwidth and memory size make the card unsuitable for use with modern graphic editors or games.

3. Gaming Performance

Real Examples of FPS (in Older Projects):

- Half-Life 2 (2004): ~40 FPS at 1280×1024 (maximum settings).

- World of Warcraft (2004): ~25 FPS at 1440×900 (low settings).

Modern Games:

Most titles from the 2020s, including CS2 or Fortnite, cannot be launched due to lack of support for DirectX 11/12.

Resolutions:

- 1080p and above — not supported due to memory and computational power limitations.

Ray Tracing:

Absent — the technology requires hardware support from RTX cores.

4. Professional Tasks

Video Editing:

- Adobe Premiere Pro CS6: basic editing at resolutions up to 720p. Modern versions are not compatible.

3D Modeling:

- AutoCAD 2010: working with simple 3D objects. Rendering modes are highly limited.

Scientific Calculations:

- Lack of CUDA/OpenCL: the card does not support parallel computations, making it useless for machine learning or simulations.

5. Power Consumption and Heat Dissipation

TDP: 35 W — low power consumption allows the card to be used in compact cases.

Cooling:

- Passive Heatsink — the absence of a fan ensures silent operation.

Case Recommendations:

- Mini-ITX or micro-ATX cases with ventilation openings for passive cooling are suitable.

6. Comparison with Competitors

Analogues from the 2000s:

- AMD FirePro 2450: similar support for multi-monitor configurations, but with weaker 2D performance.

Modern Alternatives:

- NVIDIA T400 (2021): 2 GB GDDR6, support for 4K and DirectX 12 — priced at $120.

- AMD Radeon Pro W2100: 2 GB GDDR5, optimized for CAD applications — priced at $150.

7. Practical Tips

Power Supply:

- A 300W PSU is sufficient — the card does not require additional power.

Compatibility:

- Platforms: compatible with PCIe x16 motherboards (including 3.0 and 4.0 versions with backward compatibility).

- OS: drivers are only available for Windows 7 and older Linux distributions. Issues may arise on Windows 10/11.

Drivers:

- The latest version from NVIDIA is 342.01 (2016).

8. Pros and Cons

Pros:

- Silent operation.

- Support for 4 displays.

- Low power consumption.

Cons:

- Outdated architecture.

- Does not support modern APIs and technologies.

- Limited memory capacity.

9. Final Conclusion

NVIDIA Quadro NVS 440 PCIe x16 in 2025 is suitable for:

- Office PCs — working with documents and spreadsheets on multiple monitors.

- Digital Signage — displaying static content in stores or offices.

- Obsolescent Workstations — supporting legacy applications under Windows XP/7.

Why Not to Buy:

If you need gaming, 3D model rendering, or working with modern software — consider budget models like the NVIDIA T400 or AMD Radeon Pro W2100.

Conclusion

The Quadro NVS 440 is an example of a "workhorse" from the past that has maintained niche relevance. However, in the era of AI, ray tracing, and 4K, this card remains a relic, a reminder of the technological capabilities of the mid-2000s.

Basic

Label Name

NVIDIA

Platform

Professional

Launch Date

April 2023

Model Name

Quadro NVS 440 PCIe x16

Generation

Radeon Pro Navi

Base Clock

1855 MHz

Boost Clock

2495 MHz

Bus Interface

PCIe 4.0 x16

Transistors

57.7 billion

RT Cores

Compute Units

TMUs

Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) serve as components of the GPU, which are capable of rotating, scaling, and distorting binary images, and then placing them as textures onto any plane of a given 3D model. This process is called texture mapping.

384

Foundry

TSMC

Process Size

5 nm

Architecture

RDNA 3.0

Memory Specifications

Memory Size

48GB

Memory Type

GDDR6

Memory Bus

The memory bus width refers to the number of bits of data that the video memory can transfer within a single clock cycle. The larger the bus width, the greater the amount of data that can be transmitted instantaneously, making it one of the crucial parameters of video memory. The memory bandwidth is calculated as: Memory Bandwidth = Memory Frequency x Memory Bus Width / 8. Therefore, when the memory frequencies are similar, the memory bus width will determine the size of the memory bandwidth.

384bit

Memory Clock

2250 MHz

Bandwidth

Memory bandwidth refers to the data transfer rate between the graphics chip and the video memory. It is measured in bytes per second, and the formula to calculate it is: memory bandwidth = working frequency × memory bus width / 8 bits.

864.0GB/s

Theoretical Performance

Pixel Rate

Pixel fill rate refers to the number of pixels a graphics processing unit (GPU) can render per second, measured in MPixels/s (million pixels per second) or GPixels/s (billion pixels per second). It is the most commonly used metric to evaluate the pixel processing performance of a graphics card.

479.0 GPixel/s

Texture Rate

Texture fill rate refers to the number of texture map elements (texels) that a GPU can map to pixels in a single second.

958.1 GTexel/s

FP16 (half)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy.

122.6 TFLOPS

FP64 (double)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy, while single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

1.916 TFLOPS

FP32 (float)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

62.546 TFLOPS

Miscellaneous

Shading Units

The most fundamental processing unit is the Streaming Processor (SP), where specific instructions and tasks are executed. GPUs perform parallel computing, which means multiple SPs work simultaneously to process tasks.

6144

L1 Cache

256 KB per Array

L2 Cache

6 MB

TDP

295W

Vulkan Version

Vulkan is a cross-platform graphics and compute API by Khronos Group, offering high performance and low CPU overhead. It lets developers control the GPU directly, reduces rendering overhead, and supports multi-threading and multi-core processors.

1.3

OpenCL Version

2.2

OpenGL

4.6

DirectX

12 Ultimate (12_2)

Power Connectors

2x 8-pin

Shader Model

6.7

ROPs

The Raster Operations Pipeline (ROPs) is primarily responsible for handling lighting and reflection calculations in games, as well as managing effects like anti-aliasing (AA), high resolution, smoke, and fire. The more demanding the anti-aliasing and lighting effects in a game, the higher the performance requirements for the ROPs; otherwise, it may result in a sharp drop in frame rate.

192

Suggested PSU

600 W

Benchmarks

FP32 (float)

Score

62.546 TFLOPS

Compared to Other GPU

FP32 (float) / TFLOPS

RTX 6000 Ada Generation

89.239 +42.7%

H100 SXM5

68.248 +9.1%

Quadro NVS 440 PCIe x16

62.546

H100 PCIe

52.244 -16.5%

Radeon Instinct MI300

46.913 -25%