NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250: A Rebadged 9800 GTX+
by Derek Wilson on March 3, 2009 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Final Words
If we focus on what is likely to be the target resolution of 1680x1050, the Radeon HD 4850 ties its direct competition, the GTS 250 512MB, the Radeon HD 4850 leads more often than it trails or loses. The 1GB GTS 250 does edge out the 4850 in one more benchmark, but it does cost $20 more and we haven't tested the 1GB 4850 which might make the difference.
We've recommended the 4850 over the 9800 GTX+ in the past, and we'll continue to do so now that it's called the GTS 250. But the extra memory does help out, especially if the card is to be used for 1920x1200 on a budget (or maybe with an HDTV).
Power consumption is an advantage the GTS 250 1GB holds. The new board design is only required on the 1GB model, and board vendors may opt for the new design on their 512MB parts, but they may also stick with their current 9800 GTX+ designs. We expect that at first the 512MB GTS 250 will more closely resemble the 9800 GTX+. This does mean we are left with the oddity of the 1GB part drawing less power than the 512MB part for now. Once we get a 512MB version with the new board revision we'll have to take another look at power draw.
The GTS 250 1GB is a better option than it's 512MB brother, and it's also a better option than the 4850 based on our tests. It isn't a game changing difference, but its an edge nonetheless. Is the added performance worth the extra $20? That has to come down to the individual gamer.
UPDATE: We are hearing rumblings of a price drop for the Radeon HD 4870 512MB to $150, and if this happens, there will be no contest between the two. AMD will handily lead at the $150 price if they can get their partners to adjust the price down this much. But doing this would also eat into the market for the 4850, as the jump in value for the extra money would be way more than worth it. Spending $150 over $130 (for either the 4850 or GTS 250) and getting the performance jump from the 4870 is just a no brainer. With the extra RAM, not even the 1GB GTS 250 can compete with the 4870, so IF we see the price adjustment THEN the GTS 250 1GB will be a non-starter. Without this price adjustment, our conclusion stands as is.
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VooDooAddict - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - link
If trying to decide for purchasing, I would cut that list down to the following:8800GTS 512MB - Good bang for the $ but hotter, power hungry GPU
9800GTX+ 512MB - Die shrink gave more speed and lower temps
GTX250 1GB - New board design gives better power usage
SiliconDoc - Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - link
VooDoo where the heck can you get an 8800gts anymore ? ebay ?The 9800GT ultimate by Asus ? Those are literally gone as well ...
Which brings me to something... I hadn't thought of yet...
A LOT of the core g80/g92/g92b cards are GONERS - they're sold out !
So - nvidia makes a new "flavor".
Golly Wally, I never thought of that before.
" That's why you're the Beave. "
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Oh, THEY SOLD OUT - HOW ABOUT THAT.
erple2 - Wednesday, March 4, 2009 - link
No, I disagree - the OP has a good point. Compare all of the G92 parts together to see just how much real difference there is. Throwing in the G80 part (8800GTX, I suppose) is an interesting twist as well, to show how the G80 evolved over time.nVidia has a crazy number of cards that are all "the same". The evaluation proposed sure would help explain away what was going on.
I'd definitely be interested in seeing what the results of that were!
SiliconDoc - Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - link
Go to techpowerup and see their reviews, for instance on the 4830 - it has LOTS of games and lots of g80/g92/g92b flaovr - including the gtx768 (G80) which YES, pulls out some wins even against the 4870x2....Check it out at techpowerup.
emboss - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - link
I'd also say for the purpose of comparison to throw a G80 in there (ie: a 8800 GTX or Ultra). It'd be interesting if the extra bandwidth and ROPs of the G80s make a difference in any cases.Casper42 - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - link
1) You should have included results for a 9800GTX+ so we could truly see if the results were identical to the "new" card.2) If you can, please stick a 9800GTX+ and a GTS 250 512MB into the same machine and see if you can still enable SLI.
I own a 9800 GTX+ and item #2 is especially interesting to me as it means when I want to go SLI, I may have an easier time finding a GTS 250 rather than hunting on eBay for a 9800 GTX+
Thanks,
Casper42
SiliconDoc - Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - link
Casper as DEREK said in the article > " Anyway, we haven't previously tested a 1GB 9800 GTX+," (until now)THAT'S WHAT THEY USED.
lol
Yes, well you still don't have an answer to your question though...
How about the lower power consumption and better memory and core creation translating into higher overlclocks ?
LOL
No checking that, either...
"A 9800gtx+" will do - "bahhhumbug ! I hate nvidia and it's the same ding dang thing ! Forget that I derek said it's better memory, a better made core itteration, and therefore lower power, a smaller pcb make, SCREW all that I can' overclock I don't have the DAM*! CARD I HATE NVIDIA ANYWAY SO WHO CARES! "
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Sorry for the psychological profile but it's all too obvious - and it's obvious nvidia knows it as well.
Hope the endless red fan ragers save the multiple billion dollar charge off losers, ati. I really do. I really appreciate the constant slant for ati, I think it helps lower the prices on the cards I like to buy.
It's great.
Mr Perfect - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - link
Now that's a good question(number 2 that is). Maybe a 9800GTX+ can be BIOS flashed into a 250 to enable SLI?DerekWilson - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - link
GTS 250 can be SLI'd with 9800 GTX+ -- NVIDIA usually disables SLI with different device IDs, but this is an exception.If you've got a 9800 GTX+ 512MB you can SLI it with a GTS 250. If you have a 9800 GTX+ 1GB you can SLI it with a GTS 250 1GB. You can't mix memory sizes though.
Also, the 9800 GTX+ and the GTS 250 are completely identical and there is no reason to put two in a system and test them because they are the same card with a different name. At least until NVIDIA's partners release GTS 250s based on the updated board, but even then we don't exepct any performance difference whatsoever.
These numbers were run with a 9800 GTX+ and named GTS 250 to help show the current line up.
dgingeri - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - link
I noticed that the 512MB version of te 4870 beats the GTS250 1GB in everything, and yet costs the same. even when the video memory makes a big difference, the 512MB 4870 wins out. Even better is that the 4870 512MB board costs the same, or at least will soon, as the GTS250 1GB board.Doesn't this make the 4870 512MB board a better deal?