Is the GTS250 a Lousy Card?

[Smolin]

I just installed an nVidia GTS 250 w/ 1 GB DDR3 RAM, manufactured by EVGA, to replace my old 7900 GTX 512. I haven't tried any games on it yet, but just working on the computer, I feel like I'm getting poor refresh rates. For example, dragging a window across the desktop, it looks jumpy, like watching a movie with a low framerate. Zooming in and out in Photoshop is no longer smooth like one would expect (and like I had with my 7900 on the same machine).

My system is a pretty straightforward, out of the box deal: a Dell XPS 410 with 2 GB RAM running Windows XP Pro on a Core2 Duo (6400@2.13GHz with 2 CPUs) , and a 22" Dell widescreen LCD (2209WA) using DVI input. Dell PSU is rated at 375W (sounds low, I know, but that's idle power).

I'm sure the quality should be better with this card. Could this be a power issue? Or is the GTS250 a crappy model? Is there not enough heft on my system? Or do I simply have a glitchy card that I should seek to exchange?

 

[Smolin]

Just made sure all drivers are up to date. Can anyone advise?

 

[scudst0rm]

Did you uninstall the old drivers first?

Try this: http://downloads.guru3d.com/Guru3D---Driver-Sweeper-%28Setup%29-download-1655.html

Then reinstall the drivers for the gts 250.

 

[Griffolion]

The GTS 250 is essentially a rebranded 9800GTX+ but even then it should blow your 7900 out of the water. You might have a bad card, try uninstalling all your old drivers and reinstalling the latest ones fresh. If that isn't the case i'd RMA it or exchange it for another brand with your retailer, such as the XFX one.

 

[Smolin]

The GTS 250 is essentially a rebranded 9800GTX+ but even then it should blow your 7900 out of the water. You might have a bad card, try uninstalling all your old drivers and reinstalling the latest ones fresh. If that isn't the case i'd RMA it or exchange it for another brand with your retailer, such as the XFX one.

Yeah, I uninstalled the old drivers (did that in Safe Mode but didn't use a 3rd party driver cleaner to do it -- just Windows Control Panel). I also took the precaution of removing that nView desktop manager thing, which I heard bad things about. No change. I guess I'll try to exchange it. You think XFX is a better make?

 

[-Fran-]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/2d-windows-gdi,2547.html

Take a look on that article and you'll know why you have a feeling of "not very responsive".

And no. The GTS250 is a respectable card overall. Strong contender, but like in all HW related stuff, there's something better around the corner (5750/5770).

Cheers!

EDIY: Typo xP

 

[Smolin]

Whoa. Thanks for the articles, Yuka. Really illuminating and annoying at the same time.

Now I'm thinking that the card itself is "fine" -- or at least, doing what it was designed to do: ignore or devolve 2D application performance. It seems like the GTS250 - like most newer cards - is just poorly designed for 2D applications in XP, which is what I'm running. So if I want optimal 2D performance, I ought to put my old 7900 back in; or as a second best, upgrade to Windows 7.

 

[nforce4max]

Whoa. Thanks for the articles, Yuka. Really illuminating and annoying at the same time.

Now I'm thinking that the card itself is "fine" -- or at least, doing what it was designed to do: ignore or devolve 2D application performance. It seems like the GTS250 - like most newer cards - is just poorly designed for 2D applications in XP, which is what I'm running. So if I want optimal 2D performance, I ought to put my old 7900 back in; or as a second best, upgrade to Windows 7.

This is why I am still holding onto my old 3DFX cards and on my more modern rigs only run CRT monitors (85hz) which helps in 2D. I can't stand crappy 2D and 3D performance. I rather have low res than to suffer under a slide show or scroll lag.

 

[Smolin]

Best answer selected by Smolin.