Leadtek WinFast GTS 250 Review
May 6, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
If you’re anything like I am, it’s time to upgrade your PC, again. I know this because if you’re anything like me, it’s ALWAYS time to upgrade your computer. The current economic slump has hampered the market somewhat because most of us can’t afford to spend anywhere between $400 and $600 on a new video card these days. Well, Nvidia identified the problem and has presented us with the GTS 250 as the solution.
The GTS 250 is the latest addition to the Performance class of Nvidia GPUs. It is no secret that this particular GPU is a direct descendant of the 9800GTX series of cards. The core is a G92b. The G92 has gone through a die-shrink to 55nm as opposed to the older 65nm, and thereby reduced the energy consumption and cut back on the heat a little.
Nvidia was hammered the last time they offered a rebranded card with a different name, and this time they have avoided that by being completely up-front with their customers. This card was named the GTS 250 in order to help eliminate confusion at the consumer’s end by simply having a higher numbered card perform better.
In addition to making things easier for the consumer, Nvidia offers two versions of the card, a 512MB version which is a rebranded 9800GTX+, and a 1GB version, the one we are testing today. Nvidia has stated that the 512MB version will SLI with a 9800GTX, while the 1GB version will not.
As for price, Nvidia has set the MSRP for the 512MB at $129.99, and the 1GB at $149.99. What this means to you, is that you can get the 512MB for less than a new 9800GTX+ would cost you, and a 1GB version for about the same price.
ASUS GeForce GTS 250 Dark Knight Graphics Card Review
April 22, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
The Dark Knight series of graphics cards have been out for a while now, but this is actually the first time we’ve had a look at any card that’s a part of the series. The particular model we’re looking at today is the GTS 250 which, while being nothing more than a rebranded 9800 GTX+, has gained popularity due to the aggressive pricing structure that NVIDIA has done on it.
While it might not be anything new technically, it hasn’t stopped companies from mixing it up with new coolers, overclocks and different bundles. There are two versions of the GTS 250 under the ASUS Dark Knight series; there’s the model we have today which carries with it the upgraded cooling system and stock clocks. And then there’s another model available which is also a part of the TOP series and offers an overclocked core and memory clock along with the same cooling design we see on the one we have here today.
While we’ll have a closer look at the cooler in just a moment, first we’ll take the time to have a look at the bundle that ASUS has put together and then we’ll check out the card, have a closer look at the specifications before we move on to benchmark it and then wrap it all up. So with that all said and done, let’s get stuck into the box and see what exactly ASUS are offering us here today with the ENGTS250 Dark Knight.
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 1024MB Review
April 21, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Early in spring NVIDIA suddenly decided to make another announcement. According the new policy, this model was named GeForce GTS 250. In this case GTS stands for lower performance level than GTX, and 250 is a model number.
Judging by the graphics card characteristics, this article might have fit into this one picture or a single line: “GeForce GTS 250 = GeForce 9800 GTX+”. Or “GeForce GTS 250 = GeForce 9800 GTX+ + 1GB”, although this amendment changes nothing. However, being model journalists, we have published almost a full article. It’s “almost” because we skipped theoretical data, which haven’t changed for a long time, and synthetic tests, which make no sense in this case.
ASUS ENGTS250 DK Geforce GTS 250 Videocard Review
April 16, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Enter the Asus ENGTS250 DK (for Dark Knight) HTDI/512MD3/AR/A PCI Express 2.0 x16 videocard. ASUS’s ENGTS250 DK videocard should draw less power and produce less heat than the Geforece 9800GTX+, and in this case makes use of a very nice and pretty quiet heatsink. It uses four heatpipes and an open framework to cool without any of those distracting noises that reference nVidia VGA heatsinks can create. This adds up to potential for some serious overclocking, which PCSTATS will get to later on in this review.
Turn your Geforce 9800 GTX+ into a GTS 250
March 23, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Nvidia didn’t make much friends over their recent launch of the Geforce GTS 250. Not surprising, as many tech sites found out that the GTS 250 is nothing more than a Geforce 9800GTX+ with an updated BIOS. To make matters worse, Nvidia then refused many tech sites for sampling their GTS 250 (knowing they will get slated for it). Having said that, the Geforce GTS 250 is still an OK card in terms of price and perfomance. It competes directly with ATI’s Radeon HD 4850, which have been selling quite well.
If you do feel cheated by Nvidia … don’t worry! CPU3D is here to help. If you got a Geforce 9800GTX+ in your current system … we’ll show you how flash it and turn it into a Geforce GTS 250!
ECS readies GeForce GTS 250 Hydra SLI bundles
March 17, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
ECS has stealthily revealed that it is preparing the launch of two new Hydra SLI packages. Set to be available in limited numbers, the NGTS250-512MX-W and NGTS250-1GMU-W Hydra packs contain a pair (either two 512MB or 1GB GeForce GTS 250s) of graphics cards, a Thermaltake BigWater 760i watercooling system and a “hot game bundle.”
The cards offered in the dual-headed SLI box will likely feature stock clocks – 738 MHz (GPU), 1836 MHz (shaders) and 2200 MHz (memory) but thanks to the special cooling option you’ll surely be able to push frequencies quite a bit higher. The price tags of the two bundles have not been confirmed.
Source: tcmagazine
Sphere: Related ContentNvidia partners say GTS 250 is selling well
March 13, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
The price-performance ratio is what matters and a few Nvidia partners have told us that the GTS 250 rebrand edition is selling better than they had originally anticipated.
The Geforce GTS250 1GB version is selling for €143 and more but some people believe that the GTS250 brand is worth spending money on. ATI has dropped the prices to put more pressure on Nvidia and to get rid of the chips before it launches RV790 55nm and later RV740 40nm chips, and it wants to continue to sell its best selling chip in performance market of all time, the RV770.
Sphere: Related ContentNvidia GeForce GTS 250
March 13, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Lately, Nvidia has developed the rather bad habit of renaming previous generation models and then trying to pass them off as part of the latest generation of graphics cards.
Previous examples include the 8800GS becoming the 9600GSO and the 8800GT being rebranded as the 9800GT, both of which resulted from the G92 chip spanning across the GeForce 8 and GeForce 9 series of cards.
The latest spate of renaming stems largely from Nvidia’s difficulty in getting a scaled down version of the GT200 out the door to cater to the lower segments of the market – where the majority of sales reside. Consequently Nvidia has no choice but to let the G92 (and its derivatives) live on even longer to fill in this part of the market.
We have no issue with allowing an architecture to live longer than would be expected, but Nvidia has plans to rename most of the GeForce 9 series according to their new naming convention (GTx xxx). Nvidia argues that the new names of the cards reflect their positioning in the current lineup of models.
Their argument, however, falls flat when you consider that price already serves as a pretty decent indicator of a model’s positioning in the performance spectrum. Nvidia is just trying to scrape more sales out of the bottom of the (shrinking) barrel, hoping that those who aren’t so deep into computer hardware will equate a newer model number with newer technology and better performance. But now that you’ve read this, that’s not going to happen.
Anyway, back to the GeForce GTS 250. It’s just a renamed 9800GTX+. The only thing that we can expect to change is power consumption, due to a redesigned PCB. Also, 1GB editions now officially exist as well.
Nvidia is launching the GeForce GTS 250 512MB at USD129 and the GeForce GTS 250 1GB at USD149.
The performance results for the 512MB version will be no surprise at all. The only thing of interest here is whether the extra memory actually helps the 1GB version, or is no more than a waste of a perfectly good 20 bucks.
Palit GeForce GTS 250 2GB Graphics Card Review
March 11, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Palit has decided to strap 2GB of memory onto the new GTS 250 to make it stand out from the pack. We see what exactly this does for the model today.
