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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NextSparkle GeForce GTS 250 1GB Graphics Card
Mar. 30, 2009 by Lawrence Lee
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Product
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Sparkle GeForce GTS 250 1GB
SXS2501024D3-NM
PCI-E Graphics Card
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Manufacturer
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Street Price
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~US$150
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nVidia has received a lot of flak for their newest GPU, the GeForce GTS 250.
The name would seem to indicate a slightly cut-down version of the GTX 260,
but it is a simple renaming of the 9800 GTX+, a midrange gaming card marketed
to compete against ATI's Radeon
HD 4850. Revising nomenclature is nothing new to nVidia, after all the
entire 9800 series was fabricated out of the 8800 series. The 9800 GT is actually
a 8800GT and the 9800 GTX+, is an overclocked 9800 GTX, which in-turn is a really
a G92 8800 GTS. With the economic climate worsening and demand for high-end
graphics dwindling, there's no telling how many more times nVidia will recycle
the venerable G92 core.
While nVidia did not touch the GPU core, the PCB has undergone some changes.
There are two different GTS 250 board designs floating around — one is 9"
long with a single power connector, while the second is 9.5" long with
two power connectors. The reference 9800 GTX+ is 10.5" long so some changes,
probably to power regulation have been implemented, even if the core itself
has been left untouched. The 250 is also available with three different memory
sizes: 512MB, 1GB, and a whopping 2GB.
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The box.
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The card we're examining is made by Sparkle Computer — not in any way
related to Sparkle Power. Not a huge name in the industry, Sparkle Computer
seems to focus their sole attention on producing graphics cards.
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The box contents include two power adapters, a S/PDIF cable and driver
CD.
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Our sample is a 1GB model with a native HDMI port, though a S/PDIF cable is
still required to patch through audio. The card is equipped with a uniquely
designed heatsink rather than the common all-encompassing box coolers residing
on most GTS 250s and GTX series cards.
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| Model number |
SXS2501024D3-NM |
| Graphics Processing |
NVIDIA GeForce GTS250 |
| Stream Processors |
128 |
| Core Clock |
738MHz |
| Memory Clock |
2200MHz |
| Memory Type |
1024MB GDDR3 |
| Memory Interface |
256Bit |
| Shader Clock |
1836MHz |
| Bus Type |
PCI-Express 2.0 |
| RAMDAC |
400 MHz |
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Technical specifications according to GPU-Z.
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According to GPU-Z, our GTS 250 sample shares the same number of shaders and
core/memory/shader frequency as a reference 9800 GTX+. Nothing surprising here.
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