GeForce GTS 250M vs GTX 860M
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce GTX 860M and GeForce GTS 250M, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
GTX 860M outperforms GTS 250M by a whopping 453% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 516 | 1001 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Architecture | Maxwell (2014−2018) | GT2xx (2009−2012) |
| GPU code name | N15P-GX | N10E-GE |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 12 March 2014 (10 years ago) | 15 June 2009 (15 years ago) |
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 | 640 | 96 |
| CUDA cores | 1152 or 640 | 96 |
| Core clock speed | 797 MHz | 500 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 1,870 million | 727 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 75 Watt | 28 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 43.40 | 16.00 |
| Floating-point performance | 1.389 gflops | 0.24 gflops |
| Gigaflops | no data | 360 |
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).
| Laptop size | medium sized | large |
| Bus support | PCI Express 2.0, PCI Express 3.0 | PCI-E 2.0 |
| Interface | MXM-B (3.0) | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | no data |
| SLI options | + | + |
| MXM Type | no data | MXM 3.0 Type-B |
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 | DDR3, GDDR3, GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 1 GB |
| Standard memory configuration | GDDR5 | no data |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | Up to 2500 MHz | Up to 2000 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 80.0 GB/s | 51.2 GB/s |
| Shared memory | - | - |
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 | No outputs | HDMIVGALVDSSingle Link DVIDisplayPortDual Link DVI |
| eDP 1.2 signal support | Up to 3840x2160 | no data |
| LVDS signal support | Up to 1920x1200 | no data |
| VGA аnalog display support | Up to 2048x1536 | no data |
| DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support | Up to 3840x2160 | no data |
| HDMI | + | + |
| HDCP content protection | + | - |
| Maximum VGA resolution | no data | 2048x1536 |
| 7.1 channel HD audio on HDMI | + | - |
| TrueHD and DTS-HD audio bitstreaming | + | - |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder | + | - |
| Optimus | + | - |
| Power management | no data | 8.0 |
| Ansel | + | no data |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 11.1 (10_1) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 4.1 |
| OpenGL | 4.5 | 2.1 |
| OpenCL | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | 1.1.126 | N/A |
| CUDA | + | + |
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.
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.
3DMark Vantage Performance
3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.
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 | 91
+469%
| 16−18
−469%
|
| Full HD | 36
+28.6%
| 28
−28.6%
|
| 4K | 13
+550%
| 2−3
−550%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
+200%
|
4−5
−200%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 18−20
+217%
|
6−7
−217%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 10−12
+1000%
|
1−2
−1000%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 21−24
+475%
|
4−5
−475%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 16−18
+300%
|
4−5
−300%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
+200%
|
4−5
−200%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 18−20
+800%
|
2−3
−800%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 21−24
+633%
|
3−4
−633%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 50−55
+1633%
|
3−4
−1633%
|
| Hitman 3 | 14−16
+150%
|
6−7
−150%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 45−50
+200%
|
14−16
−200%
|
| Metro Exodus | 21−24
+475%
|
4−5
−475%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 21−24
+1000%
|
2−3
−1000%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 24−27
+225%
|
8−9
−225%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 55−60
+69.7%
|
30−35
−69.7%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 18−20
+217%
|
6−7
−217%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 10−12
+1000%
|
1−2
−1000%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 21−24
+475%
|
4−5
−475%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 16−18
+300%
|
4−5
−300%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
+200%
|
4−5
−200%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 18−20
+800%
|
2−3
−800%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 21−24
+633%
|
3−4
−633%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 50−55
+1633%
|
3−4
−1633%
|
| Hitman 3 | 14−16
+150%
|
6−7
−150%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 45−50
+200%
|
14−16
−200%
|
| Metro Exodus | 21−24
+475%
|
4−5
−475%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 21−24
+1000%
|
2−3
−1000%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 24−27
+225%
|
8−9
−225%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 60
+445%
|
10−12
−445%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 55−60
+69.7%
|
30−35
−69.7%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 18−20
+217%
|
6−7
−217%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 10−12
+1000%
|
1−2
−1000%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 16−18
+300%
|
4−5
−300%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
+200%
|
4−5
−200%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 18−20
+800%
|
2−3
−800%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 50−55
+1633%
|
3−4
−1633%
|
| Hitman 3 | 14−16
+150%
|
6−7
−150%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 45−50
+200%
|
14−16
−200%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 24−27
+225%
|
8−9
−225%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 12
+9.1%
|
10−12
−9.1%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 55−60
+69.7%
|
30−35
−69.7%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 21−24
+1000%
|
2−3
−1000%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 14−16
+650%
|
2−3
−650%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 12−14
+500%
|
2−3
−500%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 8−9
+700%
|
1−2
−700%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 3−4 | 0−1 |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 8−9 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+300%
|
1−2
−300%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 9−10
+350%
|
2−3
−350%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 30−33
+500%
|
5−6
−500%
|
| Hitman 3 | 10−12
+57.1%
|
7−8
−57.1%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 16−18
+240%
|
5−6
−240%
|
| Metro Exodus | 10−11
+900%
|
1−2
−900%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 7−8
+600%
|
1−2
−600%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 7−8
+600%
|
1−2
−600%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 50−55
+614%
|
7−8
−614%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 12−14
+225%
|
4−5
−225%
|
4K
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 7−8
+600%
|
1−2
−600%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 5−6
+400%
|
1−2
−400%
|
| Hitman 3 | 4−5 | 0−1 |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 27−30
+460%
|
5−6
−460%
|
| Metro Exodus | 5−6 | 0−1 |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 5−6 | 0−1 |
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 5−6
+400%
|
1−2
−400%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 3−4
+200%
|
1−2
−200%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 3−4 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 4−5 | 0−1 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 9−10
+800%
|
1−2
−800%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 3−4 | 0−1 |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 3−4 | 0−1 |
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 8−9
+167%
|
3−4
−167%
|
This is how GTX 860M and GTS 250M compete in popular games:
- GTX 860M is 469% faster in 900p
- GTX 860M is 29% faster in 1080p
- GTX 860M is 550% faster in 4K
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Forza Horizon 4, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTX 860M is 1633% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- Without exception, GTX 860M surpassed GTS 250M in all 49 of our tests.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 7.91 | 1.43 |
| Recency | 12 March 2014 | 15 June 2009 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 1 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 75 Watt | 28 Watt |
GTX 860M has a 453.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 42.9% more advanced lithography process.
GTS 250M, on the other hand, has 167.9% lower power consumption.
The GeForce GTX 860M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTS 250M 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.
