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GTS 250 in sli in comparison to a GTX 275 or 285
Cant afford a 350-450 dollar card so I was wondering if any graphics enthusiasts out there thing that
2 of these from New Egg in SLI would be on par with aGTC 275 or 285
$108.00 per card
VCGGTS2501XPB GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
Brand |
PNY |
Model |
VCGGTS2501XPB |
Interface |
|
Interface |
PCI Express 2.0 x16 |
Chipset |
|
Chipset Manufacturer |
NVIDIA |
GPU |
GeForce GTS 250 |
Core Clock |
738MHz |
Shader Clock |
1836MHz |
Stream Processors |
128 |
Memory |
|
Effective Memory Clock |
2200MHz |
Memory Size |
1GB |
Memory Interface |
256-bit |
Memory Type |
GDDR3 |
3D API |
|
DirectX |
DirectX 10 |
OpenGL |
OpenGL 2.1 |
Ports |
|
DVI |
2 x DVI |
Comments
anyone?
SLI is for cheap upgrades or if you're rich, 2 top of the line cards (or close to it). SLI is not a RAID type system where a bunch of inexpensive cards outperform one better card. For one: they don't and for two: not every game supports SLI.
Just get the best card you can afford.
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Not for gaming purposes and i would be VERY skeptical of the very few games that actually have SLI support.IMO i would not expect any more than a 15 % improvement in gaming,so i'll let you do the math to see if the 15% equates to the same % in cost effectiveness.
BTW that 15% is only in realtion to the SLI cards,that is not a 15% improvement over the better cards that are already maybe 25% better than one of those SLI cards.SO in essence a 10% loss,only in theory of course,actual numbers will vary depending on those few games that CLAIM to have SLI support.
Best thing to do is try it for your first time,but you need a friend to loan you a better card so you can make your own accurate comparisions.This is what i have done over the years,trial and error and i have found hardware specs always lie,they are just hype.So after you find the TRUE difference you will know for future reference how much to expect and how much is just bs hype.
ON Nvidia releasing their latest driver,they claim improvements of 13-30% using Sli,but again that is improvements using the same cards,that is not going to realistically get you on even terms with a better card.This was also only a few selected games tha twere targeted by the drivers,otherwise it may very well be a zero increase.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I would just wait a few weeks until the new nvidia cards are being sold and see what prices do then.
You can probably pick up a single card that will outperform the 250's in sli for fairly cheap if you give it a bit of time. The ATI cards are pretty cheap already and I bet both Nvidia and certain ATI cards will decrease in price with Nvidia launching its DX11 cards next month.
But to answer the question. No i would not bother to SLI the 250 you have. The gains would be minimal I think vs if you were SLI or Crossfiring top of the line cards.
2 low end cards dont = 1 high end.
I agree with the others, forget the SLI. If you are looking for cards around the NVIDIA 275, 280, and 285 in performance, I would suggest the Radeon HD 5770, 4890, or 5850. These cards go for $150-$320. If you can wait a couple months, the 5850 will probaby drop to $220-$250.
"Those who dislike things based only on the fact that they are popular are just as shallow and superficial as those who only like them for the same reason."
i agree as well, only exception would be you are using a resolution above 1920x1200 and can't live with AA 8x and lower. That's where sli/crossfire performs pretty good.
For "normal" usage single cards definitely bring the most bang/buck. + sli and crossfire may suffer from microlags.
Sorry for my english
Go get 2 9800GTX + from new egg for like 130.00 each.
250's are garbage, the 9800GTX's are better than those.
BUT
If you gonna get 2 9800GTX+ for SLi might as well just get 1 265GTX.
It is a toss up, I run 2 9800GTX + in one machine I have and it runs everything maxed and great.
I run a 265GTX in another and it runs everything maxed and great. They both are about equal as far as gaming goes. Up to you I guess.
I would advise against the 250's they aren't that great.
But.. you realize.. the GTS 250 is the exact identical card as the 9800GTX+? When the card was first coming out some sites just reposted the 9800GTX+ numbers.. because it's just a rebranded 9800GTX+.
So anyway, to the OP.. GTS 250 in SLI is pretty fast but it's safer to buy a single graphics card, especially for MMO's because many MMO's aren't really enhanced for SLI well in drivers (they mostly focus on games that are used in benches when they tweak drivers for this stuff)
512MB GTS 250
Model
Brand
EVGA
Model
512-P3-1140-TR
Interface
Interface
PCI Express 2.0 x16
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer
NVIDIA
GPU
GeForce GTS 250
Core Clock
675MHz
Shader Clock
1620MHz
Stream Processors
128
Memory
Effective Memory Clock
1800MHz
Memory Size
512MB
Memory Interface
256-bit
Memory Type
DDR3
3D API
DirectX
DirectX 10
Ports
HDMI
1 x HDMI
D-SUB
1 x D-SUB
DVI
1 x DVI
General
Max Resolution
2560 x 1600
SLI Support
SLI Ready
Cooler
With Fan
Power Connector
6 Pin
Dual-Link DVI Supported
Yes
HDCP Ready
Yes
Dimensions
4.376"H x 9.5"L
VS
512MB 9800GTX+
Model
Brand
EVGA
Model
512-P3-N871-AR
Interface
Interface
PCI Express 2.0 x16
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer
NVIDIA
GPU
GeForce 9800 GTX+
Core Clock
738MHz
Shader Clock
1836MHz
Stream Processors
128
Memory
Effective Memory Clock
2200MHz
Memory Size
512MB
Memory Interface
256-bit
Memory Type
DDR3
3D API
DirectX
DirectX 10
OpenGL
OpenGL 3.1
Ports
DVI
2 x DVI
TV-Out
HDTV / S-Video Out
General
RAMDAC
400 MHz
Max Resolution
2560 x 1600
RoHS Compliant
Yes
SLI Support
3-Way SLI
Cooler
With Fan
System Requirements
Minimum of a 450 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 24 Amp Amps.)
Minimum 550 Watt for SLI mode system.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 30 Amp Amps.)
Power Connector
6 Pin
Dual-Link DVI Supported
Yes
HDCP Ready
Yes
Dimensions
Height: 4.376 in - 111.15 mm
Length: 10.5 in - 266.7 mm
Packaging
Package Contents
512-P3-N871-AR
Driver Disk
User Manual
Power Cable
DVI to VGA/D-sub Adapter
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts
Lifetime limited
Labor
Lifetime limited
It is pretty safe to say the 9800GTX+ 512 is better than the 250GTS 512.
Now if you are talking about the 250GTS 1GB card, I would say it is equal to a 9800GTX+, the only Difference is the Memory Size of 512 vs 1GB but they have the exact same specs other than that. At a price difference of $30.00 more than a 9800GTX+. Though the 9800GTX+ does beat the 1GB version 250GTS in Pixel Shaders. But yeah....
Model
Brand
EVGA
Model
01G-P3-1158-TR
Interface
Interface
PCI Express 2.0 x16
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer
NVIDIA
GPU
GeForce GTS 250
Core Clock
738MHz
Shader Clock
1782MHz
Stream Processors
128
Memory
Effective Memory Clock
2200MHz
Memory Size
1GB
Memory Interface
256-bit
Memory Type
DDR3
3D API
DirectX
DirectX 10
OpenGL
OpenGL 3.0
Ports
DVI
2 x DVI
TV-Out
HDTV / S-Video Out
General
RAMDAC
400 MHz
Max Resolution
2560 x 1600
SLI Support
Yes, 3-Way
Cooler
With Fan
Power Connector
6 Pin
Dual-Link DVI Supported
Yes
HDCP Ready
Yes
Some bench marks from test of the 250 Sli cards and higher end cards. Weather its supported or not buy the game when Sli is active it still uses the cards to your advantage by controling how the processes/what processes are being ran on each card.
http://www.guruht.com/2010/01/geforce-gts-250-sli-vs-gtx-285-vs.html
In the end the answer to your question is yes it is a good build for a cheap workaround of having to buy a 450$ card. But i would only go with the 250 gt or gts cards with 1 gig of ram on each.
I run in sli 2 260gtx bfg cards.Some games you have to turn of the sli ( easy to do) like the witcher which makes lights shine threw walls an people.Some games tho its noticable to me when i change drivers an i dont see any improvment but a downgrade .Then i remember to go back in an turn sli on.With sli off in coh i notice a difrence than when its on. even tho its not a sli suported game.
If i rember right 2 260gtx in sli is about the same as a 275gtx.As pointed out a 250 isnt as good as a 9800 overall.Tho if nothing else the extra card can help with physixs .Sli can help but it realy doesnt make geting two cheeper cards = to a more expensive card viable.YOu will always have more coin in the two cheeper cards that the more expensive card your tryign to emulate its performance.
Also consider to your power suply needs to be beefy.what can run one card may not always run two.
"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing." Robert E. Howard, The Tower of the Elephant (1933)
I have that very card and it runs great. I haven't ran into a game I can't max yet and for the price point, its perfect. The performance increase in SLI would be negligable though, so I wouldn't bother. My recommendation for the price to performance argument would be a GTX 260 OCX from BFG. Blows the GTS 250 and GTX9800+ out of the water in benchmarks and is around the $200 price point.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010699&prodlist=froogle
As for the GTS 250 vs GTX9800+, they are the same card. They perform the exact same. Only difference is the 1gb version of the 250 performs better at higher resolutions where the 9800 runs out of memory to use. Other than that, they are basically, benchmark for benchmark, the same card. So aruging one way or another is pointless, like saying the color green is better than the color green...
would this be better than 2 x 250 gts in sli.The ones I listed.
GTX 275
Model
Brand
BFG Tech
Model
BFGEGTX275896OCE
Interface
Interface
PCI Express 2.0 x16
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer
NVIDIA
GPU
GeForce GTX 275
Core Clock
648MHz (vs. 633MHz standard)
Shader Clock
1440MHz (vs. 1404MHz standard)
Stream Processors
240 Processor Cores
Memory
Effective Memory Clock
2304MHz (vs. 2268MHz standard)
Memory Size
896MB
Memory Interface
448-bit
Memory Type
GDDR3
3D API
DirectX
DirectX 10
OpenGL
OpenGL 2.1
Ports
DVI
2 x DVI
General
RAMDAC
400 MHz
Max Resolution
2560 x 1600
SLI Support
3-Way SLI
Cooler
With Fan
System Requirements
575W PCI Express-compliant system power supply with a combined 12V current rating of 42A or more
Dual-Link DVI Supported
Yes
HDCP Ready
Yes
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts
Lifetime limited
Labor
Lifetime limited
Yes, by far. You'll want to look at the processing cores and it has much more than a 250. Thats where your horsepower comes from. The only thing you'll need to check is if you've got enough wattage in your PSU and your good.
The NVIDIA GTX 275 is a good card, but you could probably spend $20 or so more and get a Radeon HD 5850. NVIDIA cards are currently overpriced and a generation behind.
"Those who dislike things based only on the fact that they are popular are just as shallow and superficial as those who only like them for the same reason."
Not to start an ATI vs Nvidia argument but I personally have had nothing but problems with the Catalyst drivers. Each persons experience is different but I believe Nvidia's driver support is a bit better. Just my opinion though so take with a grain of salt.
My personal experience is totally opposite.
Seems people here grossly underestimate Sli or simply dont know what they are talking about. As you can see here on Toms Hardware, one of the nets most well established hardware testing sites; any time you turn the juice up Sli and crossfire take the first many winning spots.
F.E.A.R. 2
Fraps/Mission Ruin (1920x1200, 4AA, 8AF, Maximum Quality)
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality/F.E.A.R.-2,1814.html
9800 GTX+ in Sli performs best, 250 and 9800 gtx in Sli are the same and runs as welll as a single 4790, a better card than 275. All three outpaces a 285 which kinda makes a clear point.
Far Cry 2
Benchmark/Ranch Small (1920x1200, 4AA, 8AF, Very High Quality)
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality/Far-Cry-2,1810.html
250 in sli gives you 20 better fps than a single 275...
Left4Dead
TH-Timedemo (1920x1200, 8AA, 16AF, Very High Quality)
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality/Left4Dead,1818.html
Same as the first one, 9800 gtx+ takes the lead, 9800 gtx and 250 are the same. All three Sli setups outperform the 1792 mb version of the 275.
In my mind there really is no contest, I actually got 9800 GTX+ in Sli and know their strengths, I don't need to upgrade to anything atm. Arguing Dx 11 right now is for me moot. Those people buying it are dressing up to go stand in line. When the store opens they will very likely buy a new dressup to go inside and shop with.
Atm playing DoW2 multiplayer on ultrahigh settings in 1900x1200 resolution. Pretty sure a 275 alone would get me kicked for lagging.