NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M

NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M

The Nividia GeForce GTS 250M is a DirectX 10.1 graphics adapter for notebooks based on the 40nm GT215 core. It features 96 shader cores as the 9800M GT, but the memory bus is only 128 bit wide. To compensate this, the GTS 250M supports GDDR5. With DDR3 graphics memory the performance is only a a bit above the Mobility Radeon HD 4670.

The core of the GTS250M is internally called GT215 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 9800M GT, the GTS 250M features 96 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 GTS250M 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 GTS 250M 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 GTS 250M because the SLI combination would not perform better.

The performance of the middle class to high end gpu GeForce GTS 250M should be clearly above the GT 240M because of it features twice as much shader cores. Demanding DirectX 10 games like Crysis should run fluently in medium to high details. Older or less demanding games should run in high detail settings and high resolutions.

Depending on the the used type of graphics memory (GDDR5, GDDR3) the performance may differ.

The power consumption of the mobile graphics card is with 27 Watt TDP relativley low (especially as the GTS 260M which is a bit higher clocked needs 10 Watt more). Furthermore, according to Nvidia, the new improved core does only need half of the power in Idle mode (compared to the previous generation).

Compared to desktop graphics cards, the GeForce GTS 250M is similar to the GeForce GT 220. The desktop GPU is higher clocked (625/1360/500-1000) and therefore should be faster in games.

 

ManufacturerNVIDIA
GeForce GTS 200M Series

GeForce GTS 260M 96@550MHz

GeForce GTS 250M 96@500MHz

CodenameN10E-GE
Pipelines96 - unified
Core Speed *500 MHz
Shader Speed *1250 MHz
Memory Speed *1600 MHz
Memory Bus Width128 Bit
Memory TypeDDR3, GDDR3, GDDR5
Max. Amount of Memory1024 MB
Shared Memoryno
DirectXDirectX 10.1, Shader 4.1
Current Consumption28 Watt
Transistors727 Million
technology40 nm
FeaturesDirectX Compute Support (Windows 7), CUDA, OpenCL, HybridPower, PhysX, SLI, Powermizer 8.0, MXM 3.0 Type-B
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement15.06.2009
Information360 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 2001SE - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 32373     avg: 32373 (53%)     max: 32373 Points
3DMark 03 - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 20231     avg: 20231 (19%)     max: 20231 Points
3DMark 05 - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 14388     avg: 14732.6 (46%)     max: 15607 Points
3DMark 06
0% 100%
min: 7433     avg: 7982 (31%)     max: 9020 Points
PCMark Vantage - Gaming Score 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 3347     avg: 4709.3 (22%)     max: 5391 Points
Cinebench R10 - Shading 32Bit
0% 100%
min: 4310     avg: 4489 (41%)     max: 4753 Points
3DMark Vantage - P Result no PhysX 1280x1024
0% 100%
min: 3442     avg: 3848.2 (13%)     max: 4371 Points
3DMark Vantage - P GPU no PhysX 1280x1024
0% 100%
min: 2944     avg: 3128.4 (9%)     max: 3653 Points
Windows 7 Experience Index - Graphics
0% 100%
min: 6.5     avg: 6.6 (83%)     max: 6.7 points
Windows 7 Experience Index - Gaming graphics
0% 100%
min: 6.5     avg: 6.6 (83%)     max: 6.7 points
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card

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.

CoD Modern Warfare 2
CoD Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
low:
139.6  fps      Compare
med.:
47.5 48.5 52 ~ 49 fps      Compare
high:
42.2 48.7 ~ 45 fps      Compare
ultra:
25.4 30.2 ~ 28 fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Risen
Risen (2009)
med.:
31.4 35.5 36.7 ~ 35 fps      Compare
high:
27.3 29 ~ 28 fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Resident Evil 5 (2009): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Need for Speed Shift
Need for Speed Shift (2009)
med.:
38.8 42 42.1 ~ 41 fps      Compare
high:
31.8 39.2 ~ 36 fps      Compare
» With most tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Colin McRae: DIRT 2 (2009): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings med.. - more...
Anno 1404
Anno 1404 (2009)
low:
120.6  fps      Compare
ultra:
24.2 26.2 26.5 29.8 ~ 27 fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
ArmA 2 (2009): Not playable with a weaker graphics card. - more...
F.E.A.R. 2
F.E.A.R. 2 (2009)
med.:
69.4  fps      Compare
high:
41.2 44.2 45.5 50.8 ~ 45 fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
GTA IV - Grand Theft Auto (2008): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings med.. - more...
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead (2008)
low:
152.3  fps      Compare
high:
66.5 99.1 100.2 ~ 89 fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Far Cry 2 (2008): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Crysis - GPU Benchmark
Crysis - GPU Benchmark (2007)
low:
88.4  fps      Compare
med.:
48 51.8 ~ 50 fps      Compare
high:
24.6 26.7 28.1 31.4 ~ 28 fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Crysis - CPU Benchmark
Crysis - CPU Benchmark (2007)
low:
95.2  fps      Compare
med.:
45.2 49.3 ~ 47 fps      Compare
high:
21.9 23.8 25.1 28.3 ~ 25 fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
World in Conflict - Benchmark (2007): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings med.. - more...
Call of Juarez Benchmark
Call of Juarez Benchmark (2006)
high:
11.9 19.5 ~ 16 fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.

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 GTS 250M graphics card

Acer Aspire 8940-6865 (Intel Core i7 720QM, 18.4")
» Acer Aspire 8940-6865 - External Review

Acer Aspire 8940G-724G50Bn (Intel Core i7 720QM, 18.4")
» Review Acer Aspire 8940G Notebook - Review
» Acer Aspire 8940G-724G50Bn - External Review

Acer Aspire 8940G-724G64Bn (Intel Core i7 720QM, 18.4")
» Acer Aspire 8940G-724G64Bn - External Review

Cyberpower Xplorer X7-7700 (Intel Core i7 720QM, 17")
» Cyberpower Xplorer X7-7700 - External Review

Ibuypower Battalion 101 LX-797 (Intel Core i7 720QM, 17")
» Ibuypower Battalion 101 LX-797 - External Review

MSI GT640 (Intel Core i7 720QM, 15.4")
» Review MSI GT640 Gaming Notebook - Review
» MSI GT640 - External Review

MSI GT640-030UK (Intel Core i7 720QM, 15.4")
» MSI GT640-030UK - External Review

MSI GT640-i7247W7P (Intel Core i7 720QM, 15.4")
» MSI GT640-i7247W7P - External Review

MSI GT740 (Intel Core i7 820QM, 17.0")
» Review MSI GT740 Gaming-Notebook - Review
» MSI GT740 - External Review

MSI GT740-021UK (Intel Core i7 720QM, 17.0")
» MSI GT740-021UK - External Review

MSI GT740-i7247W7P (Intel Core i7 720QM, 17.0")
» MSI GT740-i7247W7P - External Review

Toshiba Qosmio X500-10T (Intel Core i7 720QM, 18.4")
» Toshiba Qosmio X500-10T - External Review

Toshiba Qosmio X500-10V (Intel Core i7 720QM, 18.4")
» Review Toshiba Qosmio X500-10V Notebook - Review
» Toshiba Qosmio X500-10V - External Review

Toshiba Qosmio X500-10W (Intel Core i7 720QM, 18.4")
» Toshiba Qosmio X500-10W - External Review

Toshiba Qosmio X500-110 (Intel Core i7 720QM, 18.4")
» Toshiba Qosmio X500-110 - External Review

Toshiba Qosmio X500-111 (Intel Core i7 620M, 18.4")
» Toshiba Qosmio X500-111 - External Review

Toshiba Qosmio X505 (Intel Core i7 820QM, 18.4")
» Toshiba Qosmio X505 - External Review

Velocity Micro NoteMagix M17 (Intel Core i5 520M, 17.0")
» Velocity Micro NoteMagix M17 - External Review

ZAReason Verix (Intel Core i7 620M, 15.4")
» ZAReason Verix - External Review

» Comparison of GPUs
Detailled list of all laptop GPUs with a short description. Classified and sorted by performance.

» Benchmark List
Sortable and restrainable list of all GPUs with benchmarks (e.g. 3DMarks).

» Notebook Gaming List
Which game can be played with my graphics card.

Class 1
GeForce GTX 590
GeForce GTX 580
Radeon HD 6970
GeForce GTX 570
GeForce GTX 480
GeForce GTX 560 Ti
Radeon HD 6870
GeForce GTX 470
Radeon HD 5850
GeForce GTX 460 768MB
Radeon HD 6790
Radeon HD 5770
GeForce GTX 550 Ti
GeForce GTS 450
Radeon HD 4850
Radeon HD 5670
Class 2
GeForce GT 240
GeForce GT 430
7590M *
Radeon HD 5570
Radeon HD 6550D *
GeForce GT 220
Radeon HD 6450 GDDR5
Class 3
Radeon HD 4350
GeForce G 107M *
Chrome9HD *
Class 4
Class 5
Class 6
SGX543MP2 *
Mali-400 MP *
PowerVR SGX540 *
PowerVR SGX535
unknown *

* Approximate position of the graphics adapter

> Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News > FAQ / Tips / Technics > Comparison of Laptop Graphics Cards > NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M
Author: Klaus Hinum (Update: 2012-01-25)