XFX Geforce GTS250 PCIE 1GB DDR3 Dual-Dvi 738MHZ

Comment: It's pretty big but don't let it scare you. It fit in my Dell Inspiron 560 with a Ultra LSP750 and functioned great. I can play WoW (World of Warcraft) in about 9 seconds from desktop to in game playing. I have a 3.0ghz duo core processor and I think it could handle even a little bit better of a processor before the card needs to be upgraded again. I say these three are a perfect match. The 3.0 duo core with a LSP750 and the GTS250. The perfect trio of higher end casual gaming. However. If you look deep in some bright light situations in a higher end game. You seem to be able to see a pattern of oval lines. But I have no idea if my old CRT monitor is doing that because the card displays some pretty good graphics.

Comment: Wanted a decent middle of the road card for an entry gaming system I was putting together.
user is not very savvy, decided on nvidia after prior problems with ATI drivers crashing their systems.
Card installed fine, runs everything the client is throwing at it at full resolution, so unless you're going for an extreme system, this card will do just fine for you.

make sure you have around a 450 watt psu at least, the build has an xfx 650 watt installed, everything runs great.



components
cpu: i5-750
mb: evga p55-sli (atx, 1156)
cpu cooler:
Ram: Corsair XMS3 4 GB PC3-12800 (x2)
HDD: samsung spinpoint f3 (1tb)
case: CM 690II advanced
sleeved wiring, UV cathode tube, custom window, Overclocked

Comment: The GTS250 replaces the venerable nvidia Geforce9800 (using the same G92 core), in a larger package that requires 2 slots, runs a bit cooler, and plays a little snappier while not benchmarking notably faster than my 9800GT.

Physically, this GTS250 is a notably larger package, consuming two slots (instead of one), with an externally-vented fan, and a new enclosed cooling shroud covering the working parts of the board. It's an inch longer than my old XFX 9800GT, and requires the same single-plug 6-pin PCIE power connector. It took some effort to fit this unit into my Dell Inspiron 530; the edge of the case literally touches the the plastic "handle" on one DIMM slot, and covers 1PCIE and 2 SATA ports making them unusable. This card is definitely meant for a larger case; while I got a reasonable fit after some struggle, it may not fit some smaller microtowers / small minitowers depending on how their mainboards are laid out.

The external venting and shroud seem to help; despite the higher clock rate on the same hw, this card idled at 47-49C, about 10C cooler than the XFX 9800GT. The running fan consistently sounds quieter to my ears

This GTS250 has a 738MHZ clock-rate vs the 600 in my old card (23% faster), and the effective memory clock is 2000MHZ instead of 1800 (11% faster). Along with its 128 stream processors instead of 112 and double the DDR3, I was expecting the GTS250 to turn in a modestly faster performance. Instead, I got a mere 3% improvement on the FutureMark 3DMark06 benchmark vs the XFX 9800GT.

This card scored 12285 on the benchmark; in the exact same setup, my old XFX 9800GT scored as high as 11928. (both tested on the same WinXP SP3, Q6600 2.4GHZ). Despite the mere 3% bump in 3DMark score, gameplay in Call of Duty 4 (w/settings unchanged) seemed snappier during gameplay, so perhaps the boosted specs manifest in some way not readily apparent in the benchmark. Game play is very smooth, with full effects enabled, playing very busy maps of 40+ players.

I favor XFX for cards that are better-made than average, this is my 3rd card by XFX and it replaced my comparable XFX 9800GT 512MB. The GTS250 build quality seems just as high as I expected, nothing about the card seems flimsy or poorly fitted.

I had read that the GT250 doesn't run notably faster (than my old card), but tech-lust overcame my hesitation. The effectively lateral upgrade didn't net enough performance gain to be worth my effort. If you are in a similar upgrade position, I'd recommend going for the GTX260 or higher instead. If you are replacing something older/slower, either 9800 pr GTS250 will do the trick. The deciding factor may then be whether your priority is space (the GTS250 takes two slots and is longer), temperature (the 9800 runs hotter), or price (the 9800 is notably cheaper at this writing).

Recommended, with caveats on performance vs the 9800, and the size of the the card.

Comment: I grabbed this card to replace my flawless HIS IceQ4 4850 that got blown up by an angry PSU. Got a new even higher rated PSU and finally got my card (quickly! Amazon tip O' the hat) and popped in the nifty COD4 game that it came with and ..not much goin on!.. It plays for a while and then black screens me, needing a reboot of the PSU to get a raster.. Tried other intensive games with the same result.. that's with all the requirements met, and then some..Although it will play older, less stressful games flawlessly. But I like the new eye candy so..And I have read many reviews stating that peeps have got high frame rates with the new games, so I am open to find a fault here but.. I am an adept gamer/builder and know most of the tricks and am on many tech boards.. So.. I think I will RMA this and try to find another HIS card..bummer