thoughts on a GTS 250?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

reviews make it seems like a decent card for the price.
on par with a 4850 (actually slightly faster) , draws less power, only negative is that it's slightly more expensive after ATI price cuts.

but it doesn't seem to be making a lot of noise here. any reason why?

 

[josh6079]

There's been some threads that have generated a lot of discussion concerning it.

Not a bad card for the money. But if performance is just your number one prerequisite, yes, ATi has some good deals with their latest price cuts.

All a matter of what you want out of your gaming experience.

 

[nosfe]

why would it? it's a 9800gtx+ with a different pcb(there have been custom pcb's for this card in the past) and with 1gb of vram(again, it has been done in the past)

 

[Omerta]

At that price point, I'd look into a 4850 instead.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: nosfe
why would it? it's a 9800gtx+ with a different pcb(there have been custom pcb's for this card in the past) and with 1gb of vram(again, it has been done in the past)

die shrink. smaller physical card. lower power consumption?

anyway, i'm still running an 8800gs and considering a 260 so if the street price of a 250 is $50 cheaper, maybe i'll bite.

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: nosfe
why would it? it's a 9800gtx+ with a different pcb(there have been custom pcb's for this card in the past) and with 1gb of vram(again, it has been done in the past)

die shrink. smaller physical card. lower power consumption?

Yeah the GTS250 is easily the best card in the $150 price range. It even tops the 4870 in a few games. (unless of course you can snag a GTX260 in your range)

 

[nosfe]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
die shrink. smaller physical card. lower power consumption?

anyway, i'm still running an 8800gs and considering a 260 so if the street price of a 250 is $50 cheaper, maybe i'll bite.

die shrink has been done while still using it's old name; smaller physical size and lower power consumption are from the nonreference pcb which as i've said, have been done already

 

[MarcVenice]

Depends on which gts250 you get. There will be gts250's with 512mb of vram, and it's just a 9800gtx+, with an identical pcb, clockspeeds, but with a gts250 sticker instead of a 9800gtx+ sticker.

If you can get a HD4850 512mb cheaper then a gts250 512mb, I'd go for the cheaper card. And, depending on your resolution, it would be a waste to spend extra cash on vram you never use. So if you're going to spend $150 on a gts 250 1gb, then might as well buy a faster HD4870 512mb, which only loses to the gts250 1gb in rare occasions and cherrypicked scenes/games at that.

 

[evolucion8]

The GTS 250 could be a great card for PhysX because of it's lower power consumption, but the HD 4870 is faster overall, it can even tops the GTX 280 in few games, something that the GTS 250 can only do in dreams. But at $150.00, better of with the GTX 260 192 which is at that price after MIR in Fry's or the HD 4870 512MB.

 

[SlowSpyder]

This 4870 is $155 after rebate. If you don't mind dealing with rebates then that 4870 is a much better buy. If you want to stick with Nvidia, then the GTS250 certainly isn't a bad card by any means, but that 4870 is just better.

Here is the AT review of the GTS250. From my count the 4870 512MB beat the GTS250 in 19 of 21 benches. Even at high resolution where the GTS250's extra memory is supposed to help it, it loses to the 4870 512MB more often then not.

Considering they are the same price, unless you really like some of the unique features Nvidia offers or just want to stay green I see no reason to pass up a 4870 for a GTS250.

 

[AzN]

Originally posted by: Wreckage

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: nosfe
why would it? it's a 9800gtx+ with a different pcb(there have been custom pcb's for this card in the past) and with 1gb of vram(again, it has been done in the past)

die shrink. smaller physical card. lower power consumption?

Yeah the GTS250 is easily the best card in the $150 price range. It even tops the 4870 in a few games. (unless of course you can snag a GTX260 in your range)

But then 4870 is also going for $150. GTS 250 might take 1 or 2 games but the rest 4870 is just faster.

 

[evolucion8]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
This 4870 is $155 after rebate. If you don't mind dealing with rebates then that 4870 is a much better buy. If you want to stick with Nvidia, then the GTS250 certainly isn't a bad card by any means, but that 4870 is just better.

Here is the AT review of the GTS250. From my count the 4870 512MB beat the GTS250 in 19 of 21 benches. Even at high resolution where the GTS250's extra memory is supposed to help it, it loses to the 4870 512MB more often then not.

Considering they are the same price, unless you really like some of the unique features Nvidia offers or just want to stay green I see no reason to pass up a 4870 for a GTS250.

Is interesting how competitive is the HD 4870 512MB against the GTX 260 core 216 even with the VRAM deficit.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: nosfe
why would it? it's a 9800gtx+ with a different pcb(there have been custom pcb's for this card in the past) and with 1gb of vram(again, it has been done in the past)

die shrink. smaller physical card. lower power consumption?

anyway, i'm still running an 8800gs and considering a 260 so if the street price of a 250 is $50 cheaper, maybe i'll bite.

This is the exact same card that the GTS250 is, only here it is called the 9800GTX+. There were a lot of threads back when the 4850 came out, and Nvidia countered with the 9800GTX+. But, you've been able to buy this card for a while now, so you're not likely to see too much noise here as it's really the same card that's been around for a while now, just with a new label. If I remembe right the GTS250 will be available in 2 memory speeds, 2GHz and 2.2GHz. That's the 2GHz version right there it looks like.

 

[niceguy1234]

I am using GTX 8800GTS 512mb. Am I dumb enough to buy a new GTX 250 for an upgrade? I believe many people do.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: niceguy1234
I am using GTX 8800GTS 512mb. Am I dumb enough to buy a new GTX 250 for an upgrade? I believe many people do.

i don't quite know what you're trying to imply here.

i am partial towards nvidia (their drivers).
i like the smaller pcb (i have a antec 300 and it might be a tight squeeze)
i like the power savings.

i'll be giving my 8800gs to my brother and possibly picking up one of these. I will not be buying it at $150.
i am likely going to wait a few months and see if these become $100 AR.

 

[Grooveriding]

The GTS250 is an 8800GTS 512 with an extra 512mb of vram.

 

[Schmide]

Originally posted by: Grooveriding
The GTS250 is an 8800GTS 512 with an extra 512mb of vram.

+ speed bump + die shrink.

But basically the same thing.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: niceguy1234
I am using GTX 8800GTS 512mb. Am I dumb enough to buy a new GTX 250 for an upgrade? I believe many people do.

 

[josh6079]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
i like the smaller pcb (i have a antec 300 and it might be a tight squeeze)
i like the power savings.

So you're only interested in the 1GB version of the GTS 250 I take it? The 9800 GTX+ I have (i.e., the GTS 250 512MB) sports a very long pcb and consumes more power than a 4850.

 

[Denithor]

Great F@H crunchers FTW!!

 

[spittledip]

If between the 4850 and the 250 I would go for the 250. If between the 250 and the 4870, no question, the 4870 is a much better card. If between the 4870 and the normal 260, the 4870 is still the better card. If between the 4870 and the 260 core 216, go for the 260 core 216.

 

[dust]

Originally posted by: spittledip
If between the 4850 and the 250 I would go for the 250. If between the 250 and the 4870, no question, the 4870 is a much better card. If between the 4870 and the normal 260, the 4870 is still the better card. If between the 4870 and the 260 core 216, go for the 260 core 216.

That's exactly your answer. Also the 40nm mid range cards from ATI are going to be here soon for a supposedly lower price, you may want to wait for a little while, as it may change the price stats again for all the "upper" cards regardless of their "color"

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: spittledip
If between the 4850 and the 250 I would go for the 250. If between the 250 and the 4870, no question, the 4870 is a much better card. If between the 4870 and the normal 260, the 4870 is still the better card. If between the 4870 and the 260 core 216, go for the 260 core 216.

The thing is that a GTS250 is supposed to be a ~$150 card. I just got Newegg's promo in my e-mail, right now there is an MSI Radeon 4850 for $110 after rebate and with promo code (slight oc version 640MHz/ nice looking dual slot copper cooler). I think the GTS250/9800GTX+ are pretty close to equal to the 4850, an edge would go to the GTS250 with 1GB of memory in some situations... but I don't think it's worth $40 more.

 

[Soulkeeper]

lower power consumption is the biggest plus from my perspective
it's considerable when compared to gtx260 or the 4870

I just don't want a card that pulls considerably more than 100 Watts

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder

Originally posted by: spittledip
If between the 4850 and the 250 I would go for the 250. If between the 250 and the 4870, no question, the 4870 is a much better card. If between the 4870 and the normal 260, the 4870 is still the better card. If between the 4870 and the 260 core 216, go for the 260 core 216.

The thing is that a GTS250 is supposed to be a ~$150 card. I just got Newegg's promo in my e-mail, right now there is an MSI Radeon 4850 for $110 after rebate and with promo code (slight oc version 640MHz/ nice looking dual slot copper cooler). I think the GTS250/9800GTX+ are pretty close to equal to the 4850, an edge would go to the GTS250 with 1GB of memory in some situations... but I don't think it's worth $40 more.

$150 upon release.
i'm sure in a couple of months, there's going to be $110 AR for them as well.