We have with us today, Nvidia's GT220 based on the GT216 core which is Nvidia's first GPU made using 40nm process technology and supporting DirectX 10.1
While it certainly won't set the gaming charts on fire it has the making of a good HTPC card. Going by the specifications and pricing this card along with the GT210 will replace the current generation 9500GT/9400GT
Lets take a quick look at the official specifications
[BREAK=Specifications]
Specifications:
Spec's wise the card is not too different from the 9500GT, 16 extra shaders and a increased core clock.
Since this is a Sonic Edition card its clocked at 650/1415/1800, a slight bump over stock speeds
[BREAK=Pictures of the card]
[BREAK=Test Setup]
System Setup
AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE @ 3.8Ghz
Gigabyte GA-MA79FXT UD5P
4GB DDR3 @ 1600Mhz 7-6-6-18
Corsair HX1000W PSU
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
Galaxy 9500GT 512MB GDDR3
Galaxy 9800GT 512MB GDDR3
OS - Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit
[BREAK=Game tests]
X-Men Origins - Wolverine
[BREAK=Application tests, power consumption and temperatures]
The 9500GT had a better cooler than the GT220 hence the difference in temps. After installing a Zalman VF-900 on both cards the GT220 was cooler than the 9500GT by ~ 3C during the same tests
Power consumption at idle is reduced by quite a bit compared to the 65nm 9500GT
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Although this card does beat its predecessor by a decent margin, the price segment that it will currently be slotted in is dominated by the ATI Radeon HD4670/4650 both of which are far superior both in features and performance.
Nvidia's pricing is way off mark and needs to be drastically reduced it they expect this card to sell. A market price of Rs.2800-3000 should be right considering a HD4670 sells for ~ Rs.4500
Palit's implementation of the GT220 is good enough for it to qualify as a good HTPC card, the cooler is good enough to handle the heat dissipated by the puny GPU and the fan is barely audible even when set to 100%.
And the support for 7.1 audio through HDMI 1.3A only sweetens the deal
Size of the card is smaller than a stock 9500GT and low profile cards based on this GPU will soon hit the market.
Score Card -
Features - 8/10
Performance - 7/10
Value for money - 3/10
Overall - 6/10
Thanks to Palit for the review sample
While it certainly won't set the gaming charts on fire it has the making of a good HTPC card. Going by the specifications and pricing this card along with the GT210 will replace the current generation 9500GT/9400GT
Lets take a quick look at the official specifications
[BREAK=Specifications]
Specifications:
Spec's wise the card is not too different from the 9500GT, 16 extra shaders and a increased core clock.
Since this is a Sonic Edition card its clocked at 650/1415/1800, a slight bump over stock speeds
[BREAK=Pictures of the card]
Box (slightly damaged due to shipping)
Features
40nm fab
Contents
Very skimpy package, just a driver cd and a generic manual which is not surprising considering the segment its targeted at
The card
This card uses Qimonda HYB18H1G321AF 1Gbit ram chips rated at 1000MHz @ 1.8V
IO is taken care of by dual link DVI, standard D-Sub and HDMI 1.3a
Back of the card
Features
40nm fab
Contents
Very skimpy package, just a driver cd and a generic manual which is not surprising considering the segment its targeted at
The card
This card uses Qimonda HYB18H1G321AF 1Gbit ram chips rated at 1000MHz @ 1.8V
IO is taken care of by dual link DVI, standard D-Sub and HDMI 1.3a
Back of the card
[BREAK=Test Setup]
System Setup
AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE @ 3.8Ghz
Gigabyte GA-MA79FXT UD5P
4GB DDR3 @ 1600Mhz 7-6-6-18
Corsair HX1000W PSU
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
Galaxy 9500GT 512MB GDDR3
Galaxy 9800GT 512MB GDDR3
OS - Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit
[BREAK=Game tests]
Crysis
Unreal Tournament 3
Call Of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare
Frontlines - Fuel Of War
Resident Evil 5
X-Men Origins - Wolverine
[BREAK=Application tests, power consumption and temperatures]
Video transcoding using Badaboom
FurMark 1.7.0
HD Playback, 1080p H.264 codec
Video playback was very smooth with CPU utilization remaining at a steady 1-2% with occasional spikes to 16-18% while seeking
FurMark 1.7.0
HD Playback, 1080p H.264 codec
Video playback was very smooth with CPU utilization remaining at a steady 1-2% with occasional spikes to 16-18% while seeking
Temperatures
The 9500GT had a better cooler than the GT220 hence the difference in temps. After installing a Zalman VF-900 on both cards the GT220 was cooler than the 9500GT by ~ 3C during the same tests
Power consumption
Power consumption at idle is reduced by quite a bit compared to the 65nm 9500GT
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Although this card does beat its predecessor by a decent margin, the price segment that it will currently be slotted in is dominated by the ATI Radeon HD4670/4650 both of which are far superior both in features and performance.
Nvidia's pricing is way off mark and needs to be drastically reduced it they expect this card to sell. A market price of Rs.2800-3000 should be right considering a HD4670 sells for ~ Rs.4500
Palit's implementation of the GT220 is good enough for it to qualify as a good HTPC card, the cooler is good enough to handle the heat dissipated by the puny GPU and the fan is barely audible even when set to 100%.
And the support for 7.1 audio through HDMI 1.3A only sweetens the deal
Size of the card is smaller than a stock 9500GT and low profile cards based on this GPU will soon hit the market.
Score Card -
Features - 8/10
Performance - 7/10
Value for money - 3/10
Overall - 6/10
Thanks to Palit for the review sample
