Is 250GTS too much?

[hopar]

My system: Athlon X2 4600+ (2.4hgz), 3GB DDR2 ram (dual channel), Geforce 8800GT 256MB.

I want to upgrade to a 250gts 512MB, will it be too much for my system (bottleneck) or will i get the most out of that card?

 

[Mousemonkey]

You'll be fine, if you were to go SLi then issues might occur but a single card won't have a problem and should be a sweet upgrade from that crippled 8800GT.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

GTS250 isn't much of an upgrade, so I would say don't bother, as, yes your are going to be somewhat limited by the rest of your system.

Save that money and upgrade the rest of your system later.

What is it that your GF8800GT currently can't play that you think the GTS250 would change?

 

[hopar]

2 contradicting responses, joy!

 

[Mousemonkey]

I still believe the 256 version of the 8800GT was a wrong 'un as every benchie shows it a lot slower than the 512 version and as such the 250 should be better.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

The question becomes whether you think that the 16x10 cap in memory efficiency is going to matter to both cards who are going to be held back by an aging X2 CPU?

As I said before, what games does the OP or MM think are going to be significantly more playable on the GTS250 worthy of an upgrade?

 

[Mousemonkey]

The question becomes whether you think that the 16x10 cap in memory efficiency is going to matter to both cards who are going to be held back by an aging X2 CPU?

As I said before, what games does the OP or MM think are going to be significantly more playable on the GTS250 worthy of an upgrade?

From just a couple of old benchies I could find the performance of the 256 is half that of the 512 or thereabouts so if a 250 performs around the same as a 9800GTX+ I would assume it should be a better card and a bit of an upgrade.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Actually mis-spoke on the resolution from the other thread, he's running 12x10 not 16x10, so I still don't think he's getting much new from performance with regards to playability, so not much of an improvement other than enabling AA.

If it was a significant change in features or something else to enable some added performance, or he was playing at higher resolution, I'd say it might be worth it especially if not held back by the CPU, but at low res he's still going to be primarily CPU bound. Even at higher resolution with a GTX280, look at the impact;
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/desktop-cpu-charts-q3-2008/Crysis-1680x1050,818.html

 

[hopar]

So there is nothing I can upgrade to with my current PC?

thats poopy 🙁

 

[Mousemonkey]

I didn't see the other thread and assumed that 16 x 10 res was being used as that's where the difference between the 256 and 512 start to show in the 512's favour but as TGGA has said at 12 x 10 a GTS250 is pointless.

 

[hopar]

I guess I am gonna save up for an upgrade sooner rather than later 🙁

 

[Bluescreendeath]

8800GT 512mb is only 1 tier below the GTS250.
8800GT 256mb is about 2-3 tiers below the GTS250.

All in all, it's not that much of an upgrade. Considering the GTS250 costs around $110-$130, you're better off getting an ATI 4870 512mb for about $130.

 

[hopar]

BSD I am being told the reason I should not upgrade is not because 250GTS > 880GT but because my system will not see a benefit from a faster GPU, do you know something new?

 

[Jrams116]

BlueScreenDeath said it right, The 8800GT is 1 tier below the GTS250 and probably even less then a tier. Remember Nvidia loves to simply rip off the names on the video cards and simply change their names and put them up for sale again. Don't also forget that the GeForce 9800GT IS THE EXACT same card as the 8800GT series, Only difference is the 9800 series had better cooling, and the 9800GTX series was the same as the GT series it was just a very overclocked version of the GT's which when gaming doesnt make a HUGE difference, it just bumps up your fps a tiny bit, Now that very same 9800GTX series had a name change to make people think its a next tier card. it isnt ... be careful.

 

[Mousemonkey]

BlueScreenDeath said it right, The 8800GT is 1 tier below the GTS250 and probably even less then a tier. Remember Nvidia loves to simply rip off the names on the heatsink and simply change their names and put them up for sale again. Don't also forget that the GeForce 9800GT IS THE EXACT same card as the 8800GT series, Only difference is the 9800 series had better cooling, and the 9800GTX series was the same as the GT series it was just a super overclocked version of the GT's, Now that 9800GTX became a GTS 250, simply a name change.

Yeah, the drop from 65nm to 55nm means that they are exactly the same only the sticker is different.

 

[hopar]

Yeah, the drop from 65nm to 55nm means that they are exactly the same only the sticker is different.

actually not all 9800GTX+ and 250GTS card were built on the 55nm tech, a friend of mine has the 250GTS 512MB and his CPU-Z shows a 65nm tech, bummer ehh?

 

[Mousemonkey]

actually not all 9800GTX+ and 250GTS card were built on the 55nm tech, a friend of mine has the 250GTS 512MB and his CPU-Z shows a 65nm tech, bummer ehh?

Or his version of GPUz doesn't recognize the card correctly, if it does then I would be inclined to return it as the published specs for a GTS250 show it a 55nm GPU.

 

[apache_lives]

Its pretty much the same architecture but with higher clock speeds and more memory - its an upgrade yes, but not a good one when theres better options out there

 

[hopar]

Or his version of GPUz doesn't recognize the card correctly, if it does then I would be inclined to return it as the published specs for a GTS250 show it a 55nm GPU.

His brand is MSI, and I did some reading on comments left by reviewers on Newegg, and unless most of them have a messed up CPU-Z too, its a 65nm card. Staying away from MSI 🙁