GeForce GT 230 vs GTX 550 Ti
Aggregate performance score
GTX 550 Ti outperforms GT 230 by a whopping 377% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 654 | 1101 |
| Place by popularity | 71 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.29 | 0.01 |
| Architecture | Fermi (2010−2014) | Tesla (2006−2010) |
| GPU code name | GF116 | G94B |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 15 March 2011 (13 years ago) | 12 October 2009 (14 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $149 | $43.99 |
| Current price | $197 (1.3x MSRP) | $123 (2.8x MSRP) |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
GTX 550 Ti has 2800% better value for money than GT 230.
Detailed specifications
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 | 192 | 48 |
| CUDA cores | 192 | no data |
| Core clock speed | 900 MHz | 650 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 1,170 million | 505 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 116 Watt | 75 Watt |
| Maximum GPU temperature | 100 °C | no data |
| Texture fill rate | 28.8 billion/sec | 15.60 |
| Floating-point performance | 691.2 gflops | 156 gflops |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Bus support | 16x PCI-E 2.0 | no data |
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Length | 8.25" (21 cm) | no data |
| Height | 4.376" (11.1 cm) | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | 1-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | One 6-pin | None |
| SLI options | + | no data |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 512 MB |
| Memory bus width | 192 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 4.1 GB/s | 1800 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 98.4 GB/s | 57.6 GB/s |
Connectivity and outputs
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-IMini HDMI | No outputs |
| Multi monitor support | + | no data |
| HDMI | + | no data |
| Maximum VGA resolution | 2048x1536 | no data |
| Audio input for HDMI | Internal | no data |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 11.1 (10_0) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| OpenGL | 4.2 | 3.3 |
| OpenCL | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
| CUDA | + | 1.1 |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark performance score. 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.
GTX 550 Ti outperforms GT 230 by 377% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of 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: 25%
GTX 550 Ti outperforms GT 230 by 380% in Passmark.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Average FPS across all PC games
Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:
| 900p | 38
+443%
| 7−8
−443%
|
| Full HD | 32
+433%
| 6−7
−433%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+600%
|
1−2
−600%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 8−9
+700%
|
1−2
−700%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 2−3 | 0−1 |
| Battlefield 5 | 9−10
+800%
|
1−2
−800%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 9−10
+800%
|
1−2
−800%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+600%
|
1−2
−600%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 8−9
+700%
|
1−2
−700%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 10−12
+450%
|
2−3
−450%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 18−20
+500%
|
3−4
−500%
|
| Hitman 3 | 8−9
+700%
|
1−2
−700%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 21−24
+450%
|
4−5
−450%
|
| Metro Exodus | 5−6
+400%
|
1−2
−400%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 10−11
+400%
|
2−3
−400%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 14−16
+400%
|
3−4
−400%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 18−20
+533%
|
3−4
−533%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 8−9
+700%
|
1−2
−700%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 2−3 | 0−1 |
| Battlefield 5 | 9−10
+800%
|
1−2
−800%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 9−10
+800%
|
1−2
−800%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+600%
|
1−2
−600%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 8−9
+700%
|
1−2
−700%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 10−12
+450%
|
2−3
−450%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 18−20
+500%
|
3−4
−500%
|
| Hitman 3 | 8−9
+700%
|
1−2
−700%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 21−24
+450%
|
4−5
−450%
|
| Metro Exodus | 5−6
+400%
|
1−2
−400%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 10−11
+400%
|
2−3
−400%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 14−16
+400%
|
3−4
−400%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 9−10
+800%
|
1−2
−800%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 18−20
+533%
|
3−4
−533%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 8−9
+700%
|
1−2
−700%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 2−3 | 0−1 |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 9−10
+800%
|
1−2
−800%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+600%
|
1−2
−600%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 8−9
+700%
|
1−2
−700%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 18−20
+500%
|
3−4
−500%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 21−24
+450%
|
4−5
−450%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 14−16
+400%
|
3−4
−400%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 9−10
+800%
|
1−2
−800%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 18−20
+533%
|
3−4
−533%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 10−11
+400%
|
2−3
−400%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 7−8
+600%
|
1−2
−600%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 5−6
+400%
|
1−2
−400%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 3−4 | 0−1 |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 6−7
+500%
|
1−2
−500%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 2−3 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 6−7
+500%
|
1−2
−500%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 6−7
+500%
|
1−2
−500%
|
| Hitman 3 | 9−10
+800%
|
1−2
−800%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 9−10
+800%
|
1−2
−800%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 3−4 | 0−1 |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 1−2 | 0−1 |
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 8−9
+700%
|
1−2
−700%
|
4K
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 2−3 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 3−4 | 0−1 |
| Hitman 3 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 4−5 | 0−1 |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 1−2 | 0−1 |
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 3−4 | 0−1 |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3 | 0−1 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 2−3 | 0−1 |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 4−5 | 0−1 |
| Metro Exodus | 6−7
+500%
|
1−2
−500%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 1−2 | 0−1 |
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 5−6
+400%
|
1−2
−400%
|
This is how GTX 550 Ti and GT 230 compete in popular games:
- GTX 550 Ti is 443% faster in 900p
- GTX 550 Ti is 433% faster in 1080p
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 4.01 | 0.84 |
| Recency | 15 March 2011 | 12 October 2009 |
| Cost | $149 | $43.99 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 512 MB |
| Chip lithography | 40 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 116 Watt | 75 Watt |
The GeForce GTX 550 Ti is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GT 230 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
