Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
9600 GT vs GTS 250
Price now
130$
Games supported
57%
- Interface PCIe 2.0 x16
- Core clock speed 738MHz
- Max video memory 1024 MB
- Memory type GDDR3
- Memory clock speed 1100MHz
- Maximum resolution
- 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 rating | 855 | 939 |
| Value for money | 0.08 | 0.02 |
| Architecture | Tesla (2006−2010) | Tesla (2006−2010) |
| GPU code name | G92B | G94 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 4 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
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 cores | 128 | 64 |
| CUDA cores | 128 | 64 |
| Core clock speed | 738 MHz | 650 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 754 million | 505 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 55 nm | 65 nm |
| Thermal design power (TDP) | 150 Watt | 96 Watt |
| Maximum GPU temperature | 105 °C | 105 °C |
| Texture fill rate | 47.2 billion/sec | 20.8 billion/sec |
| Floating-point performance | 387.1 gflops | 208 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 support | no data | 16x PCI-E 2.0 |
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Length | 9" (228.6 mm) (22.9 cm) | 9" (22.9 cm) |
| Height | 4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm) | 4.376" (11.1 cm) |
| Width | 2-slot | 1-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 6-pin | 6-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 type | GDDR3 | GDDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 512 MB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1100 MHz | 900 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 70.4 GB/s | 57.6 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 Connectors | Two Dual Link DVI | HDTVTwo Dual Link DVI |
| Multi monitor support | + | + |
| HDMI | + | no data |
| Maximum VGA resolution | 2048x1536 | 2048x1536 |
| Audio input for HDMI | S/PDIF | S/PDIF |
API support
APIs supported, including particular versions of those APIs.
| DirectX | 11.1 (10_0) | 11.1 (10_0) |
| Shader Model | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| OpenGL | 3.0 | 2.1 |
| OpenCL | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/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.
- 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%
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
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.
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.
Here are some closest AMD rivals to GeForce GTS 250:
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.
Here are some closest AMD rivals to GeForce 9600 GT:
Similar GPU comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
