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NVIDIA GeForce GT 230M

NVIDIA GeForce GT 230M

The Nividia GeForce GT 230M is a DirectX 10.1 graphics adapter for notebooks based on the GT216 core. Because of the 48 shader cores, it should perform better than the GT 130M and due to the 40nm production process the power consumption should stay the same.

The core of the GT230M is internally called GT216 and according to Nvidia based on the current high-end desktop architecture (GTX 200 series). Furthermore, Nvidia has improved the micro-architecture for further power saving and performance increases. Therefore, the performance per shader unit should be slightly improved compared to the previous generation.

As the GeForce 9700M GTS, the GT 230M features 48 stream processors that do the work of the former dedicated pixel- and vertex-shaders. The unified shaders of Nvidia are 1-dimensional (AMD has 5-dimensional shaders which leads to the higher number of shaders).

The GeForce GT230M also supports CUDA, DirectX Compute, OpenCL, and PhysiX to use the shaders for other tasks than rendering images (like encoding videos, calculating the physics of a game or mathematical tasks). For these special tasks, the GPU can be noticeably faster than current CPUs.

The mobile graphics card has a built in video decoder called PureVideo HD with VP4. The Video Processor 4 (VP4) supports the full decoding of H.264, VC-1, and now also MPEG-4 ASP (e.g. DivX or XviD). MPEG-1 still wont be supported, but the decoding of this codec is quite trivial on a CPU.

In conjunction with a chipset from Nvidia with integrated graphics (e.g. 9400M), the GT 230M supports Hybrid-SLI (HybridPower and GeForceBoost). HybridPower is a technique to choose between the integrated and dedicated graphics core, if performance or battery runtime is needed. This works only in Windows Vista (and possibly Windows 7). Up to now the user has to use a tool to switch between the GPUs. Later Nvidia wants to switch automatically in the drivers. GeForceBoost is not supported by the G 230M because the SLI combination would not perform better.

The performance of the middle class gpu GT 230M should be somewhere between the GeForce GT130M and the 9700M GTS and below the GT 240M because of the lower clock rate. Demanding DirectX 10 games like Crysis should run fluently in medium details. Older or less demanding games should run in high detail settings and high resolutions.

Depending on the the used type of graphics memory (GDDR2, GDDR3 or perhaps even DDR2/DDR3) the performance may differ noticeably.

The power consumption of the mobile graphics card is - like the GT 130M and GT 240M - 23 Watt (TDP). Furthermore, according to Nvidia, the new improved core does only need half of the power in Idle mode.

ManufacturerNVIDIA
SeriesGeForce GT 200M
CodenameN10P-GE
Pipelines48 - unified
Core Speed *500 MHz
Shader Speed *1100 MHz
Memory Speed *800 MHz
Memory Bus Width128 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR2, GDDR3
Max. Amount of Memory1024 MB
Shared Memoryno
DirectXDirectX 10.1, Shader 4.1
Current Consumption23 Watt
technology40 nm
FeaturesDirectX Compute Support (Windows 7), CUDA, OpenCL, HybridPower, PhysX
Notebook Sizemedium sized
Date of Announcement15.06.2009
Information158 Gigaflops
Link to Manufacturer Pagehttp://www.nvidia.com/object/product_gef...
* The specified clock rates are only guidelines for the manufacturer and can be altered by them.

benchmarks

3DMark 2001: - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
      min: 21391, avg: 21596, max: 21800 Points
... More Details

3DMark 03: - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
      min: 15333, avg: 15989, max: 17121 Points
... More Details

3DMark 05: - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
      min: 10397, avg: 10689, max: 11266 Points
... More Details

3DMark 06:
0% 100%
      min: 5647, avg: 5882, max: 6324 Points
... More Details

Cinebench R10: - Shading
0% 100%
      min: 2529, avg: 2819, max: 3109 Points
... More Details

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
Based on 13 benchmarks

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailled information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (2010): Not playable with a weaker graphics card. - more...
CoD Modern Warfare 2
CoD Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
low:
88.4  fps
med.:
33  fps
high:
28.5  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Risen
Risen (2009)
low:
53.3  fps
med.:
23  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Need for Speed Shift
Need for Speed Shift (2009)
low:
52  fps
med.:
29  fps
high:
19.5  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Colin McRae: DIRT 2 (2009): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings low. - more...
Anno 1404
Anno 1404 (2009)
low:
53  fps
ultra:
17.4  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Sims 3 (2009): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
F.E.A.R. 2
F.E.A.R. 2 (2009)
low:
94.5  fps
med.:
45.5  fps
high:
27.5  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
GTA IV - Grand Theft Auto (2008): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings low. - more...
Left 4 Dead (2008): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Far Cry 2 (2008): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings low. - more...
Crysis Warhead (2008): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings low. - more...
Racedriver: GRID
Racedriver: GRID (2008)
low:
67  fps
med.:
34.9  fps
high:
28  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare (2007): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings med.. - more...
Supreme Commander - FA Bench (2007): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings low. - more...
Crysis - GPU Benchmark
Crysis - GPU Benchmark (2007)
low:
43.1 61.5 ~ 52 fps
med.:
27.1 34.5 ~ 31 fps
high:
17 20.3 ~ 19 fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Crysis - CPU Benchmark
Crysis - CPU Benchmark (2007)
low:
44.8 63 ~ 54 fps
med.:
25 34 ~ 30 fps
high:
15.3 18.7 ~ 17 fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
World in Conflict - Benchmark (2007): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings med.. - more...
Command and Conquer III (2007): Not playable with a weaker graphics card. - more...
Call of Juarez Benchmark (2006): Not playable with a weaker graphics card. - more...
The Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion (2006): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark (2005): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Quake 4 (2005): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings ultra. - more...
F.E.A.R.
F.E.A.R. (2005)
low:
343  fps
med.:
159  fps
high:
58  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
World of Warcraft (2005): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings med.. - more...
Counter-Strike Source (2004): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Doom 3 (2004): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings ultra. - more...
Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo
Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo (1999)
high:
454.9  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.

For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List

Notebook reviews with NVIDIA GeForce GT 230M graphics card

HP Pavilion dv6-2090eg (Intel Core i7 720QM, 15.6")
» HP Pavilion dv6-2090eg - External Review

HP Pavilion dv6-2190US (Intel Core i7 720QM, 15.6")
» HP Pavilion dv6-2190US - External Review

HP Pavilion dv7-3080us (Intel Core i7 720QM, 17.3")
» HP Pavilion dv7-3080us - External Review

HP Pavilion dv7-3085dx (Intel Core i7 720QM, 17.3")
» HP Pavilion dv7-3085dx - External Review

HP Pavilion dv7-3170eg (Intel Core i5 520M, 17.3")
» HP Pavilion dv7-3170eg - External Review

HP Pavilion dv7-3180us (Intel Core i7 720QM, 17.3")
» HP Pavilion dv7-3180us - External Review

HP Pavilion dv8 (Intel Core i7 720QM, 18.4")
» HP Pavilion dv8 - External Review

Sony Vaio VPC-CW1S1E (Intel Core 2 Duo P7450, 14.0")
» Review Sony Vaio VPC-CW1S1E Notebook - Review
» Sony Vaio VPC-CW1S1E - External Review

Toshiba Satellite A500-17X (Intel Core 2 Duo P7450, 16")
» Toshiba Satellite A500-17X - External Review

Toshiba Satellite A505-S6999 (Intel Core 2 Duo P7450, 16.0")
» Toshiba Satellite A505-S6999 - External Review

Toshiba Satellite P500-12D (Intel Core 2 Duo P7450, 18.4")
» Toshiba Satellite P500-12D - External Review

Toshiba Satellite P500-12E (Intel Core 2 Duo P8700, 18.4")
» Toshiba Satellite P500-12E - External Review

 

Author: Klaus Hinum (Update: 2010-03- 9)