9600 GT vs GTS 250

Buy
VS
Buy
Price now 130$
Games supported 57%
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250
Buy
  • Interface PCIe 2.0 x16
  • Core clock speed 738MHz
  • Max video memory 1024 MB
  • Memory type GDDR3
  • Memory clock speed 1100MHz
  • Maximum resolution
NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
Buy
  • Interface PCIe 2.0 x16
  • Core clock speed 650 MHz
  • Max video memory 512 MB
  • Memory type GDDR3
  • Memory clock speed 900 MHz
  • Maximum resolution
Price now 300$
Games supported 53%

General info

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in performance rating855939
Value for money0.080.02
ArchitectureTesla (2006−2010)Tesla (2006−2010)
GPU code nameG92BG94
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date4 March 2009 (14 years old)21 February 2008 (15 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$199 $179
Current price$130 (0.7x MSRP)$300 (1.7x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

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Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores12864
CUDA cores12864
Core clock speed738 MHz650 MHz
Number of transistors754 million505 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm65 nm
Thermal design power (TDP)150 Watt96 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature105 °C105 °C
Texture fill rate47.2 billion/sec20.8 billion/sec
Floating-point performance387.1 gflops208 gflops

Dimensions and compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Bus supportno data16x PCI-E 2.0
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length9" (228.6 mm) (22.9 cm)9" (22.9 cm)
Height4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot1-slot
Supplementary power connectors6-pin6-pin
SLI options++

Memory

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated VRAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR3GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount1 GB512 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1100 MHz900 MHz
Memory bandwidth70.4 GB/s57.6 GB/s

Video outputs and ports

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display ConnectorsTwo Dual Link DVIHDTVTwo Dual Link DVI
Multi monitor support++
HDMI+no data
Maximum VGA resolution2048x15362048x1536
Audio input for HDMIS/PDIFS/PDIF

API support

APIs supported, including particular versions of those APIs.

DirectX11.1 (10_0)11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model4.04.0
OpenGL3.02.1
OpenCL1.11.1
VulkanN/AN/A
CUDA++

Benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. Note that overall benchmark performance is measured in points in 0-100 range.


Overall score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTS 250 1.56
+24.8%
9600 GT 1.25
  • Passmark

Passmark

This is probably the most ubiquitous benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

Benchmark coverage: 24%

GTS 250 618
+24.6%
9600 GT 496

GeForce GTS 250 outperforms GeForce 9600 GT by 25% in Passmark.

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance rating 1.56 1.25
Recency 4 March 2009 21 February 2008
Cost $199 $179
Pipelines / CUDA cores 128 64
Memory bandwidth 70.4 57.6
Chip lithography 55 nm 65 nm
Thermal design power (TDP) 150 Watt 96 Watt

Judging by the results of synthetic and gaming tests, Technical City recommends

NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250
GeForce GTS 250

since it shows better performance.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Competitors of GeForce GTS 250 by AMD

The nearest GeForce GTS 250's AMD equivalent is Radeon HD 2900 PRO, which is faster by 1% and higher by 5 positions in our performance rating.

ATI Radeon HD 2900 PRO Radeon HD 2900 PRO
Compare

Here are some closest AMD rivals to GeForce GTS 250:

GeForce GTS 250 100

Competitors of GeForce 9600 GT by AMD

The nearest GeForce 9600 GT's AMD equivalent is Radeon R7 M265DX, which is faster by 1% and higher by 1 position in our performance rating.

AMD Radeon R7 M265DX Radeon R7 M265DX
Compare

Here are some closest AMD rivals to GeForce 9600 GT:

GeForce 9600 GT 100
Caicos 88

Similar GPU comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

User rating

Here you can see the user rating of the graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3.6 1084 votes

Rate NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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2.9 1361 vote

Rate NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Questions and comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.