Nvidia GTS 250: specifications and reviews

The Geforce GTS 250 video card is the latest model of the video chip on the G92 platform. This architecture originates in the distant 2007, and only after the output of the monitored video card finished its life.

The first solution on the G92 was a 8800 series video card with 512MB of memory . After that, Nvidia released 9800 GTX and 9800 GTX +. This was the final point in the development of the aging platform.

The developers decided to squeeze out of it all the juices and release the GeForce GTS 250. The characteristics of the modified graphics chip G92b can be called overclocking. At that time, a competitor appeared on the market in the person of Radeon 4850. The refined processor is quite enough to compete with the new AMD card, so it was decided to release a video card with the GTS250 index. This model became the last one, which was developed on the G92b.

Specifications

In fact, the GTS 250, whose characteristics, although significantly improved, remains the same 8800. The only thing that has changed is the increased frequencies and the increase in video memory. The model was now offered with two options - 512 MB and 1 GB of memory.

So, the graphics card has a core frequency of 738 MHz and a processing frequency of 1800 MHz. The bus bandwidth is 70 Gb / s. The interface for connecting the video card to the motherboard is PCI Express 2.0.

All the innovations that distinguish the GTS250 from the predecessor 9800 are implemented at the software level. Support PhysX, CUDA - all these changes at the driver level. Therefore, we can conclude that the work in the architecture of the board was not carried out. So how much more profitable is this model? About this we learn later from testing.

At the time of the video card its cost ranged from 6 to 8 thousand rubles, which made it possible to compete smoothly with AMD in the middle price segment. For the option with a memory capacity of 1 GB it was necessary to give a few thousand more. Initially, the company was planning to release the third version of Nvidia GTS 250, the characteristics of which would be 2 GB of video memory. But due to low popularity and small sales, this idea had to be frozen. From this we can immediately understand that such solutions on older platforms did not bring success to Nvidia.

ASUS and Palit

In order not to be unfounded, let's take two specific video cards from well-known companies. The first is ASUS GTS 250, and the second is Palit GTS 250. The memory capacity of both is 512 MB. First, let's look at their characteristics in more detail. Also get acquainted with the complete sets.

Asus GeForce GTS 250: Features

The video card from ASUS repeats the original exactly. With only one difference: this board increased the memory frequency to 1900 MHz. Inside the device box, we are waiting for one adapter for PCI-E, an audio cable, a disk with all the necessary drivers that were relevant at the time of release, and instructions. The video card itself has small dimensions and easily fits into the compact case of the system unit. The cooling system is one cooler and a radiator. On the back side are traditionally located three connectors - HDMI, DVI and D-SUB. The underside is absolutely empty - all the chips are directly under the cooler and radiator, which provides them with good airflow and low temperatures even under high loads.

The cooling design of the GeForce GTS 250 512mb, whose characteristics are defaulted, is rather complicated. The cooler is connected to the radiator, there are also four heat pipes. Even at the highest load in demanding games on the maximum graphics settings, the device's temperature did not rise above 60 degrees Celsius. The noise level is relatively low, given the budgetary price category of this model.

Palit GeForce 250 GTS: Features

Let's pass to the video card from Palit, technical characteristics of which are somewhat lower, but the variability of use is greater. The box and equipment standard equipment - all the same adapters, drivers and instructions.

Externally, the board looks more solid. The cooler and cooling cover the translucent plastic case. In addition to standard connectors and interfaces, there is an output for connecting a video card in SLI mode (three identical video cards work simultaneously).

The cooling system is much simpler - one is a simple radiator and the top is a rather noisy cooler. It's understandable, Palit video cards have always been more budget-friendly. Because of this, the graphics card gets much hotter. The maximum recorded temperature for Celsius during testing is 80 degrees. But by the noise level, both video cards are approximately on the same level. The power consumption of the Palit graphics card is slightly lower than that of the ASUS GTS 250 512mb. The characteristics of the video card in the rest repeat the previous model.

Test stand

To conduct tests in games and programs, we chose a balanced PC configuration. The processor from Intel - Core 2 Quad is quad-core with a frequency of 2.8 GHz per core. RAM 4 GB and a hard drive of 320 GB. Also in the system is installed power supply for 850 watts. The computer is controlled by the operating system Windows 7 64 Bit. All tests were carried out in the same resolution - 1680 at 1050 points.

Competitors

For video cards GTS 250, the characteristics of which are almost identical, the competitor Radeon HD 4850 was chosen. The amount of the competitor's memory is the same - 512 MB. In general, all video cards are in the same class. After all, the GTS 250 was even created as a direct competitor of the model from AMD.

Test results

The first game was Call Of Duty World At War. Both GTS 250 video cards produced 36-38 frames per second. The video card from AMD also did not lag behind - about 34 frames per second.

Further testing was conducted in the game Mafia 2, which is also quite demanding on the hardware. And again, all the video cards showed exactly the same results. So all three models show themselves in absolutely any games. The difference is only in the heating temperature, noise level, power consumption and cost.

Owner feedback

The market of video cards already at that time was oversaturated with a huge number of models. According to the owners' reviews, most chose a solution from AMD. The difference in performance was minimal, but Radeon was much cheaper. In addition, even the fans of Nvidia GTS 250, the characteristics of which are quite good for an outdated platform, did not have warm feelings for this motherboard, since the out-of-date graphics chip, though overclocked, did not arouse their confidence.

Verdict

Platform G92 and G92b - one of the most enduring architectures in the world of video cards. Having survived several generations of video cards, the graphics chip worthily completes its life in the GTS 250 model. The characteristics of the video card allow it to compete smoothly in its segment with competitors from AMD. At the moment, to acquire any of these boards does not make any sense - they are already suffering from a low productivity. But at one time they were the real leaders in the budget class. However, the GTS 250 did not manage to outperform its competitor in sales and popularity. And a higher price than AMD did not go in favor of GeForce cards.