NVidia GeForce GTS 250 graphics accelerator: specifications, specifications, reviews and tests

The graphic discrete middle-class accelerator of 2009 with good technical specifications and acceptable performance is the NVidia GeForce GTS 250. The characteristics of this adapter, its capabilities, current cost and user feedback about this solution will be discussed in detail.

Niche of the graphics adapter

The predecessors of this video card can rightfully be considered 8800GTX and 9800GTX. Only if these two graphics accelerators belonged to the niche of premium solutions, then the hero of this review was positioned by the manufacturer himself, as an average accelerator. At the same time, the level of performance allowed almost all toys to run on PCs equipped with NVidia GeForce GTS 250. The price was really modest compared to its predecessors.

Hardware characteristics of the graphics chip

The code name in the NVidia GeForce GTS 250 is G92b. This semiconductor solution included 754 million transistor components and was produced at 55nm. The core of the graphics accelerator operated at a frequency of 738 MHz. In this silicon chip, 128 shader processing modules were implemented, which operated at a fixed frequency of 1836 MHz. TMU было выделено в количестве 64 штуки на каждый конвейер. In turn, TMU modules were allocated in the amount of 64 pieces per conveyor. ROP, входило всего 16 штук в состав NVidia GeForce GTS 250. Характеристики But such blocks as ROP included only 16 pieces in the NVidia GeForce GTS 250. Specifications полное соответствие спецификациям DX модификации 10.0 и поддержку технологии Open GL. The software component of this product indicated full compliance with the DX specification of version 10.0 and support for Open GL technology . PCI-E 16Х версии 2.0. The graphics accelerator itself was aimed at installing the PCI-E 16X version 2.0 in the slot . VGA. The video outputs of this adapter were 3. One of them output the signal in analog format - it's VGA. Its maximum resolution was declared at 2048 × X 1536 rx. And the other two are digital. HDMI и, конечно же, DVI. These included HDMI and, of course, DVI. The latter, with a special splitter, allowed to display the image directly on 2 monitors. In turn, the maximum resolution for these outputs was 2560px X 1600px.

Heat sink system, temperature and heat package

The power of this graphics chip was declared at 150 watts. Accordingly, to fully function it was necessary to connect an additional connector from the power supply, which compensated for a shortage of an additional 75 watts. Also, this value led to the fact that such adapters were equipped with powerful active cooling systems that occupied 2 expansion slots inside the system unit. At 105 ⁰ C, the maximum possible temperature was set for the NVidia GeForce GTS 250. The characteristics of the same chip during the acceleration indicate that even after overclocking this value does not rise above 75 ⁰ C. Therefore, the only case where the temperature of the graphic accelerator is possible is to Emergency value, is the failure of the cooling system.

Video buffer

был нацелен NVidia GeForce GTS 250. Отзывы, в первую очередь, выделяют разрядность шины подключения видеобуфера к графическому процессору, которая была равна 256 битам. NVidia GeForce GTS 250 was aimed at the use of GDDR3 chips. The reviews, in the first place, highlight the bit width of the videobuffer connection to the graphics processor, which was 256 bits. Even now, entry-level accelerators in this plan are losing to this "old man" for the reason that they have 128 or 192 bits implemented on the hardware level. The clock frequency of the memory chips was 1100 MHz, and the RAM size in this case could be 512 MB or even 1 GB. As a result, the throughput of the video memory subsystem in this case was 70 Gb / s.

Analogues and comparison with them. Test results

была основным конкурентом Radeon HD4770 от AMD. The video card NVidia GeForce GTS 250 was the main competitor of Radeon HD4770 from AMD. These adapters had a lot in common. But the level of performance was much better with NVidia's products. But energy efficiency is in AMD's solution. The key factor, through which the "red" company's products won in this case, was the technical process. If the GTS 250 chip was produced using 55 nm technology, then the AMD had a 40 nm chip. This made it possible to significantly reduce the size of the crystal and the power consumption of the adapter. But in gaming applications the situation was radically different. In the same Crysis with a resolution of 1280px X 1024px and at high settings the product NVidia could issue 27fps, and AMD - only 24fps. A little better for the AMD solution was the situation in the game Stalker (Clear Sky version). GTS 250 in this case could issue in the resolution 1600rx X 1200rx and, again, with maximum settings from 13-29fps, and HD4770 - 15-28fps. In any case, the preponderance in most of the toys was more on the side of the old NVidia flagship than AMD's budget solution. But this accelerator was also more affordable in terms of price.

Price and reviews of the owners

Due to the complete sale of existing inventories it is already impossible to buy NVidia GeForce GTS 250 in a new state. The price for supported solutions at various online auctions starts from 2000 rubles for a simplified version with 512 MB. Given that this graphics accelerator will pull GTA V, it's really a very modest cost. Also, the buffer width of the video buffer often appears in the reviews, which in this case is equal even to today's standards to a fantastic 256 bits. This is the "zest", which allows even now this accelerator to cope with most of the existing tasks. But the era of this accelerator is coming to an end. Now there are powerful integrated adapters, on equal terms with which the hero of this review will soon not be able to compete.

Results

For its time, a worthy mid-range accelerator was the NVidia GeForce GTS 250. Its characteristics , as well as the test results and owner feedbacks - are superfluous to this confirmation. GTA 5 говорит о том, что это действительно была весьма и весьма успешная видеокарта. And even the fact that this product now, even at the lowest possible parameters, can pull GTA 5 suggests that it really was a very, very successful video card. But not far off is the moment when the speed of this product will start to lose to the integrated accelerators. GTS 250 и его предшественников, но пока они еще актуальны. This moment can be considered to be the end of the era of the GTS 250 and its predecessors, but so far they are still relevant.