GeForce GTS 250 Roundup (ASUS, Gigabyte, Sparkle, EVGA)

Conclusions

ASUS GTS 250 1GB Dark Knight

Let’s put our cards on the table right away: this ASUS card’s performance disappointed us. We are used to ASUS coming out with all guns blazing and when I saw the heatsink on this thing, my hopes seemed justified…until I looked at the specs. In my push to get the roundup done, I surged ahead with testing before even looking at the specs for many of these cards so when the Dark Knight started posting scores which were lower than a stock GTS 250 1GB, I was puzzled. A quick GPU-Z click later I found out that the memory was operating at 2Ghz which is 200Mhz below Nvidia’s reference specs for 1GB card. This translates into sub-standard performance for the ASUS card when compared to the other 1GB models.

To make matters even worse, the stock GTS 250 512MB uses memory operating at 2.2Ghz. Guess where that leaves the ASUS Dark Knight: trailing the stock 512MB card in several tests. Did we mention that this card is priced higher on average than the Gigabyte model we tested? It’s embarrassing really.

Luckily for ASUS, it isn’t all doom and gloom since I am happy to report that I was completely wrong in my initial assessment of the Dark Knight’s heatsink. It was among the best of the best when it came to cooling off the G92b core and it went about its business at sufficiently low noise levels. We also have to give ASUS credit for including the 10% off game voucher as the discounts apply to games that are actually worth the money.

Unfortunately, a kick-ass heatsink and 10% off select games does nothing to diminish the reality of what this card is: overpriced and underperforming. Just remember that if ASUS actually decides to cut this card’s price, it could be the perfect solution if you are looking for a 1GB GTS 250. If anything, the Dark Knight proves that you really, really have to do your homework before making a purchase.


EVGA GTS 250 1GB Superclocked

We are used to seeing EVGA right in the thick of things performance-wise and the GTS 250 1GB Superclocked did not disappoint. In every game we tested it posted results which were well ahead of the reference GTS 250 1GB and in some rare cases its advantage in framebuffer size allowed it to close with the GTS 260 216. Its dual slot cooler is definitely an advantage as well since (unlike other cards in this roundup) it is able to exhaust hot air outside of your case and it does so in near-silence. This would all be for nothing if the Superclocked’s temperatures were high but the heatsink proves itself to be more than adequate for cooling off the overclocked core.

Indeed, there is very little not to like about EVGA’s entry into this roundup. The shadow of cost-cutting did rear its ugly head with the anemic accessory package but that was the most glaring fault the Superclocked Edition showed…until we saw its price. We understand paying a premium for higher clock speeds is inevitable but EVGA priced this card high enough that it is now in the same bracket as the GTX 260 216. Considering the performance difference between these two cards in the vast majority of benchmarks we feel the mere $30 difference between the two cards is unjustified.

EVGA’s entry into the GTS 250 1GB arena is definitely something for them to be proud of as it provides performance in spades at every resolution and EVGA’s customer service is literally second to none. Those two facts alone should take it to the top of your list…as long as you can find the GTS 250 Superclocked for more than $40 less than a GTX 260 216.