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GTS 250 vs. GTX 260

Forum Graphic & Displays : Nvidia - GTS 250 vs. GTX 260

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As the title says. I kinda tight in my budget and, I am having trouble choosing the RIGHT gpu. Before you all gonna jump on me 'cos it's very obvious and all, you might wanna hear the catch.

My current monitor is an LG 17" CRT. Yeah very old. But I'm planning to upgrade it to a 19" LCD. But if i'm gonna get the GTX 260, i'll be short of budget. And if I'm gonna get the GTS 250, I can also upgrade my monitor.

So which is which?

A GTX 260 with 17" CRT? or GTS 250 with 19" LCD.

Additional specs:
CPU: core 2 duo E7500
PSU: corsair 600w
MOBO: P5Q SE2
RAM: Xtreem Dark 2gbx2

Note: I am already satisfied with a resolution with 1280x**** or 14**x****.

And also, does the GTS 250 still any good until 2010 or 2011? Thanks guys. I really need your professional help.

Message edited by aserate on 10-14-2009 at 04:57:48 PM

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I will go for GTS250 and 19" monitor.

Gaming on a CRT will not look so beautiful as it will be old and all colors faded.

The 250 will handle games by 2010 (I guess) but at mid settings.

Reply to shubham1401

first answer me what the purpose of your computer, what is your budget, and also if you play games i think its better to buy gtx 260 and later upgrade your monitor because difference between 17 and 19 is not so big...also gtx 260 is much stronger than gts 250 (rebrended 9800gtx) and will be more futureproof

Reply to Anonymous

Yeah the 260 is much more futureproof. The 250 ( as said above ) is basically a 9800GTX+ .......I have one and its starting to age a bit. I play @1440/900 on my 19in Samsung.
My advice get the 260 ( hopefully core 216 ) and save money and do the monitor later.

------------------------------ EP-45 UD3R/ E8400@3.6 wZerotherm Nirvana/4gb Corsair DDR2-800/EVGA 9800GTX+/Corsair 750TX/2xWD Black AALS 640gb RAID 0+1 Windows 7/2xWD Cavier 250gb RAID 0 Windows XP Pro/Seagate 160gb Backup/X-Fi Xtreme Gamer/Logitech Z-2300/Samsung SynchMaster 906BW
Reply to anort3

If you got the GTX260...How long would it take you to save for that monitor?
I have a GTS250 and I'm running a Samsung 22" 120hz monitor @1680 x 1050 and playing the new Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising with settings at max or high and it's flawless. (unfortunately the game does not support the 3Dvission glasses ).
If you buy that 260 and your crt dies then you'll be out to lunch till you get that new monitor....
So, you have to take it all into account before you make a decision.
JQ

------------------------------ Intel C2D E8400 @3.0GHZ, Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3L motherboard, 4GB OCZ vista platinum DDR2-1066 , Seagate320GBsataII 16MB HDD, BFG GTS250oc 512 GDDR3...3Dvision glasses and samsung 120HZ screen.
Reply to johnnyq1233

@John__
Purpose of my computer is mainly for gaming and for Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator. I think you'll have a hard time computing since I'm using philippine peso, 'cos I am a filipino. And myeah that's sorta good idea. Scenario1: Buy GTX 260 and maybe sell my CRT and buy a 19" LCD. That is if someone will buy a second hand CRT these days lol.

@anort3: Uhh can you max out most of the latest games? (Except for Crysis).

@johnnyq1233:
That's one big thing to consider too you know. I am still studying and I don't have any work but I did earn some money through logo designing contests. I won $681 already. And that $681 took me months to get that. It's a contest you know, and who knows when I'll win again because I'm not that VERY good at what I do. I guess it was just luck. Another scenario is, I'll buy GTS 250 and the 19" LCD, and if I'll earn some money I'll sell the GTS 250 and upgrade it to GTX 260.

Which is the better decision? I'm really confused right now. Anyway thanks for the reply guys.

Message edited by aserate on 10-14-2009 at 04:52:03 PM

Reply to aserate

P.S. And please do consider the other specs that I'll be using too. Won't the core2duo E7500 bottleneck the GTX 260? Maybe I can't use all the potential of the gpu with that cpu. And upgrading the cpu to quad would be a very big leap to me so I'll use the E7500 for now.

Reply to aserate

The E7500 won't bottleneck the 260 in most of the games.

Reply to shubham1401

I have both the 250 and the 260....

The 250 should be enough for your needs at that resolution, specially if you are not upgrading to a 22" or bigger. Another thing you can do is overclock your E7500 if that is possible, just to discard any bottleneck that might arise...

My 250 is running on a 19" Dell cheapo screen, Pent. D 2.8Ghz, 4Gb 667Mhz and so far it runs most of my games fine at 16x10 no xAA ....

Message edited by OvrClkr on 10-14-2009 at 06:28:54 PM

------------------------------ 550 @ 4.0 Ghz 1.425v
BFG GTX 260 (216)
4GB G.Skill @ 960MHz
Thermaltake TP 850w
Reply to OvrClkr

Will the potential of the GTX 260 be used to it's fullest when new demanding games arrive even if in a 19" LCD?

Reply to aserate

Maybe not now...

But certainly later on...

Reply to shubham1401

The 260 shines on a 22" or higher, at least in my experience... Of course the resolution and your hardware come into play as far as what frames you can achieve playing your favorite game.

My advice is that if you are planning on purchasing a 19", try saving up a tad more and get at least a 22" so you can see the full potential of a 250 or 260. They run about 30 to 40 dollars more but it will be worth it in the longrun, not to mention your games will look better in contrast to what you are used to seeing. When I upgraded from a 19" to a 22" the difference was amazing and the investment was well worth it.

------------------------------ 550 @ 4.0 Ghz 1.425v
BFG GTX 260 (216)
4GB G.Skill @ 960MHz
Thermaltake TP 850w
Reply to OvrClkr

Games these days really should be played on higher resolutions. 17" and 19" monitors and resolution sizes are quickly fading away. If you can afford something with 1920x1080 (or 1920x1200) I'd go for that.

The GTS 250 is essentially today's version of the 8800 GTS (G92), but with a couple modern tweaks to it. The GTX 260 however, is a fantastic graphics card. By itself, a single GTX 260 plays today's games very well at 1920x1080 resolution.

However, at your current resolution (with 17" or 19" monitors) either card would honestly be overkill.

This is how I went:

MSI GTX 260 Core 216 (OCv4) $179 ($15 off TODAY with PromoCode 24HRSALE114H)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127430

Asus 21.5" VH222H 1920x1080 $159
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824236053

Message edited by jerreece on 10-14-2009 at 11:03:00 PM

------------------------------ i5-750 @ 2.66Ghz / Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4P / Xigmatek HDT-S1283 (Waiting for Bracket)
2 x MSI GTX 260 Core 216 SLI (655Mhz) / 4GB GSkill DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24 @1.5v
2 x WD Caviar Black 1TB / Thermaltake Armor BWS8003
Win 7 64bit / Antec TPQ-850
Reply to jerreece

So what should I do? get the GTX 260 first?

Reply to aserate

sorry jerreece but the GTS250 is alot faster than the 8800....I have the GTS250 and running the Nvision 3D glasses and it is awesome!
I even went as far as to bench my 250 and my sons 9800gtx+ on my mobo and the 250 was way faster.

Message edited by johnnyq1233 on 10-15-2009 at 04:06:01 AM

Ever considered a HD5770? Benchmarks show that it rivals the GTX 260. It'll also support DX11, which is more future-proof than either GTS250 or GTX260. With a retail sticker at $160USD, you should be able to find prices lower than that.

Message edited by skolpo on 10-15-2009 at 04:14:53 AM

Reply to skolpo

Any benchmarks showing the 5770 against the 260?

Only thing I found was this.....

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/g [...] 0-review/5

pretty good for a 128bit card.....

------------------------------ 550 @ 4.0 Ghz 1.425v
BFG GTX 260 (216)
4GB G.Skill @ 960MHz
Thermaltake TP 850w
Reply to OvrClkr

Yea, there's a thread on the main Graphics forum that links to all the reviews. It consistently keeps up with the 260 for a bit cheaper. Plus, the size and DX11 is a bonus.

Reply to skolpo

Well, I've been using a 19" and 17" CRTs on my spare computers. Of course the 19" sure does a number on the ol eyes . Anyway I'm tempted to say to go to the more powerful GTX 260, but it's kind of a waste on a CRT unless said CRT can do at least 1600x1200 like my NEC MultiSync. Anyway, I say go with the GTX250 and the monitor for now. Your eyes will thank you.

Reply to megamanx00

Go with the GTX260 it will hold up better in the long run. As for the CRT so long it don't do any strange things already you should be fine long enough to get a LCD.

Reply to nforce4max

GTX 260 1+ the card is great itll handle games for alot longer than the gts 250 throughout the future and with a new monitor youll be more than happy that you purchased those 2 items

Reply to Ron23

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