GTS250 - Some questions about ram and model.

[Pharaun]

My system :

AMD Athlon X2 64 7750
Gigabyte M61PME-S2P
2gigs of ddr2 kingston 800mhz
Soon to be GTS250 512 mb or 1gb

1- I have a 19inch Samsung monitor. I've read in the forums that 1gb graphic cards are only useful if you use higher resolutions (which I don't atm but that may change in the future) Is this correct? I am trying to save some money so if this is true I'm going to save like 20-25 dollars.

2- Whats the difference between GTS250 and GTX250. The store I'm going to shop in has this card named GTX250 V2. I've compared their specs and they both seem identical except for the fans on them. Both around the same price.

Thanks.

 

[shadow187]

If the store your shopping in has the GTS250 for $120, then see if you can buy a radeon HD4870. That card is definitely better than the GTS250.


As for your questions.

1. VRAM is mainly used for Anti-Aliasing, and yes, high resolutions. You shouldn't need the 1GB unless you plan on a monitor upgrade.

2. There might not be a difference. One might relate it to the 9800GT and the 9800GTX; whereas the 9800GT is a stripped down (slower) version of the 9800GTX. However, the GTS250 is, in essence, a renamed 9800GTX, so..

Your welcome

 

[Pharaun]

I kinda insist on buying an nvidia because they have better drivers for linux operating systems and I use Ubuntu as second os. Besides Physics&support with games is a thing I'd like to have.

I am aware of the repackaging thing (it's discussed here all the time), and to be honest I don't care about it because I don't have a 9800gt/gtx or gt250 in the first place. I'm just buying a new nvidia card. That would be a problem if I was upgrading from a 8800 or 9800gt.

As for my first question, if I bought a 21 or 22 inch lcd monitor in the future, would 1gb ram then matter? Because I'm thinking about buying a new monitor after this upgrade.

By the way, my store sells HD4870 for 190$ and GTS250-512mb for 170$.(194$ for 1gig) It may seem like a rip off but these are common prices here. We kind of have a pain in the a-- tax system.

 

[shadow187]

If you're in the US, buy off of newegg. Might take you a couple more days, but y'could save $60+.

Yes, 1GB of Ram would be better for 22'+ monitors. Especially if you plan on anti-aliasing.

As for the drivers you wanted; http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=872598

 

[Pharaun]

I'm not in US.

That link you gave sounds pretty convincing. This could change my mind all over about ATI. Things seemed to have changed much, I remember ati users were having a real hard time with linux drivers in the past.

I've taken enough of your time, but as a last question, if I were to change my mind and buy ati, can I pull it off without changing my PSU?

http://www.com-1.de/img/products/pdf2/11089.pdf

It's a 4 year old and 400W. They adviced me to change it for GTS250, maybe I can get an ATI card which uses less power and hang on to my psu a little longer.

Again thanks a bunch.

 

[shadow187]

I'm not in US.

That link you gave sounds pretty convincing. This could change my mind all over about ATI. Things seemed to have changed much, I remember ati users were having a real hard time with linux drivers in the past.

I've taken enough of your time, but as a last question, if I were to change my mind and buy ati, can I pull it off without changing my PSU?

http://www.com-1.de/img/products/pdf2/11089.pdf

It's a 4 year old and 400W. They adviced me to change it for GTS250, maybe I can get an ATI card which uses less power and hang on to my psu a little longer.

Again thanks a bunch.

Yes, there was indeed a big time when ATI had huge driver issues. Those days, it is safe to say, are behind us. The only issues people have are for newer (older, technically) AGP solutions, and possibly the newest HD5870/50.

I have nothing better to do, and making other's lives a bit easier benefits me in the end (extends my knowledge of technology/warm fuzzeh feeling))).

It's four years old, I don't see any 6-pin PCI-E connectors, and it's rated at 70% efficiency. I really do not think you should use this. I also can't find the amperage on the two 12-v rails. It would be wise to invest in a higher-end PSU.

If you can not do this due to budget, then buy a better PSU, and get a Radeon HD4850. It is on-par with the GTS250, possibly better, and if the Radeon HD4870 is a mere $20 more than the GTS250 at your store, then the 4850 should be quite less.

 

[Pharaun]

I think that's just great, tech knowledge indeed comes to you when you hang out in a place like this. I also want to get into computer parts more and learn more specific stuff. When I see a "hardcore" debate on say, GTS250 vs HD4850, I can only understand to a certain limit. When people get too technical like "this one has one billion transitors but that one uses one and a half" I generally can't catch the meaning. I'd like to learn more so I'll try to hang out more I guess.

Anyway without changing the subject more, about PSU, I've done some research about it last week and some guys advised me to buy a Corsair VX550W. Although it's expensive it's got quite good reviews. I'll probably buy it. There's a very technical review for it:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=62

It has 2x 6pin connectors

Time to get rid of the old psu anyways. What I'm annoyed about is, at the time I built this computer, (like 3 months ago) I had minimum budget so I had to get a very cheap motherboard and CPU (both written above) And now I can get decent cards like gts250/hd4850 and a quality psu. I hope there won't be any bottleneck issues. I'll have to upgrade to a DDR3 system in the future "again"

 

[shadow187]

Where do you live at? UK? I might find you something cheap(er) that will work with the card.

As for bottlenecking, it doesn't hurt you too much, so long as you're not into higher-end games (BIOSHOCK, CRYSIS, etc).

 

[Pharaun]

I live in Turkey. Thanks for asking though. I sometimes check the prices of Newegg and I'm like wow. cheap. I think Europe in general is expensive compared to US when it comes to computer parts.

 

[jerreece]

+1 for the ATI 4870 instead of the GTS 250. Good bit faster, and right now it's cheaper too!

For power concerns, the new ATI 5770 is close to the 4870, but uses less power. In theory, newer driver releases may allow the 5770 to catch up to or beat the 4870 some day potentially. But being a new card, I think the 5770 is a little more expensive?

4870 1GB is pretty cheap right now though (for US folks anyhow).