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Twintech GTS250 Claims Windows 7 Support

By - Source: Tom's Hardware US | B 25 comments

This afternoon, Twintech revealed its GTS 250 line of graphics cards, featuring on-board HDMI in 512 MB and 1 GB flavors.

However, what struck out most was the company's claim that the GTS 250 series is ready for Windows 7 and, according to Twintech, one of the first to support DirectX 11. There's some skepticism in that aspect, as anything Vista-capable seems to default as Windows 7 compliant even though the operating system is still in its beta stage. Any recent GPU in fact, will be able to support Windows 7 no problem. Those of you running the Windows 7 beta can attest to this already.

The new GeFprce GTS 250 is nothing more than a rebranded GTX 9800+, to fit more in line with current Nvidia naming conventions. We're told that the new cards however, will receive a price reduction, making them more affordable than current GTX 9800+ boards.

Both the 1 GB and 512 MB versions of the GTS 250 feature 128 stream processing, a core clock of 738 MHz, a processor clock of 1836 MHz and a texture fill rate of 47.2 billion/sec. Each card utilizes DDR3 256bit memory with memory clock of 2000 MHz (1 GB card) and 2200 MHz (512MB card). With on-board HDMI, users will benefit from digital transfer speeds up to 10.2 gigabytes per second, offering double the bandwidth needed to transmit a 1080p signal; the card also provides a DVI max resolution of 2560x1600. To keep things cool, the cards sport dual fans in an equally cool blue color as well as a heat pipe mounted somewhere under the shell.

Note: Because there's not much to bring to the table, we're expecting most if not all board manufacturers to offer overclocked GTS 250 cards straight from the factory.

Additionally, Twintech also announced its overclocked version of the GTS250: the GeForce GTS 250 HDMI XT OC Edition, with the core clock increased from 738M Hz to 750 MHz. The memory clock of this edition also increases from 2000MHz to 2250MHz (1 GB card) whereas the 512MB version memory clock increase from 2200 MHz to 2300 MHz. The specs also show that these cards use DDR3-0.8ns 256bit memory, however other than these three  differentiating factors, the XT OC Edition cards offer the same design as the regular "vanilla" GTS 250.

On top of a reference GTS 250, and the XT OC Editions, Twintech also revealed another set, the AC Twin Turbo Cooler and Heatpipe Dual Silent Fan Edition, bearing an extremely long name, building upon its overclocked XT OC siblings. Each card sports the AC Twin Turbo cooling system featuring four heat pipes and two "ultra-quiet" 80mm fans with neon orange blades that gives each card an uncanny catty look.

Look for all six to become available online and offline soon, however pricing and availability will not be announced until Nvidia officially reveals the GTS 250 tomorrow. To get a better understand of the difference between the GTS 250 and the 9800 GTX+. Check out the table below:


GTS 250

9800 GTX+

Processor Cores

128

128

Graphics Clock

738 MHz

738 MHz

Processor Clock (MHz)

1836MHz

1836MHz

Texture Fill Rate

47.2 billion/sec

47.2 billion/sec

Memory Clock

1100 MHz

1100 MHz

Memory Interface Width

256-bit

256-bit

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  • -3 Hide
    cheepstuff , March 2, 2009 11:08 PM
    the main question is: how cheep will it be.
  • 7 Hide
    curnel_D , March 2, 2009 11:32 PM
    How can it claim DX 11 support? Or is this another one of your journalism flaws, kevin parish? I think DX 11 support would make a whole lot more noise than this one article.
  • 0 Hide
    allenpan , March 2, 2009 11:39 PM
    isn't the GTS250 = 9800+ = 256bit memory bandwith on both cards?s
  • Display all 25 comments.
  • -2 Hide
    truehighroller , March 3, 2009 1:12 AM
    first to support DirectX 11. I think that means DX11.
  • 5 Hide
    liemfukliang , March 3, 2009 1:36 AM
    512 memory controller? Wao that is should be a big leap. It is that 9800+ should be identical in anyway to GTS250? No VGA that can support DX 11 right now. Especially renamed older VGA.
  • 4 Hide
    liemfukliang , March 3, 2009 1:42 AM
    P.s. I really really hate when marketting really twist thing up. Direct X is support many extention. D3D10, D3D11, etc. It just like USB. Many current VGA can support DirectX 11 at D3D10. Many USB 1.0 support USB 2.0 hi speed (not full speed). This is the worst marketting ever :( .
  • -1 Hide
    eddieroolz , March 3, 2009 3:49 AM
    I really really hate the current nVidia naming scheme. Life was so much simpler when it was matter of simply adding an extra letter.
  • 2 Hide
    curnel_D , March 3, 2009 4:10 AM
    eddieroolzI really really hate the current nVidia naming scheme. Life was so much simpler when it was matter of simply adding an extra letter.

    But if Nvidia didnt dupe their customers, how would they sell all those 8800's?

    I've had 3 customers already tell me they want to switch from either their dual 8800's or 9800's to a new GTX 250 when it comes out, because they hear it's super cheap for a GTX card.

    One of them wasn't too happy when I told him the story, and had me order him a 4870x2 on the spot to replace his 9800. Lol, it just felt so right.
  • 1 Hide
    scook9 , March 3, 2009 4:51 AM
    definately need that 512bit memorybus clarified ASAP, as that would put a 1gb version of this up there with the GTX 280 on memory bandwidth. that would also send the price through the roof, not make it cheaper.
  • 0 Hide
    scarpa , March 3, 2009 7:11 AM
    Curnel_DBut if Nvidia didnt dupe their customers, how would they sell all those 8800's?I've had 3 customers already tell me they want to switch from either their dual 8800's or 9800's to a new GTX 250 when it comes out, because they hear it's super cheap for a GTX card. One of them wasn't too happy when I told him the story, and had me order him a 4870x2 on the spot to replace his 9800. Lol, it just felt so right.


    :) )) You did the right thing, Nvidia is brainwashing idiots into buying old products.

    GTS 250 is the same old product just in a different package.
  • 2 Hide
    falchard , March 3, 2009 7:34 AM
    Uhh how can this support DX11? The G92 chipset can't even support DX10.1, and all that transfers onto 11. I am wondering when nVidia added their tesselator on a mere rebranding of an old product?
  • 1 Hide
    Pei-chen , March 3, 2009 12:21 PM
    GTS 250 is using 512 bit memory instead of 9800+'s 256 bit according to Kevin and Tuan.

    Its performance increase should be similar to 4850 to 4870.
  • 0 Hide
    scrumhalf , March 3, 2009 3:49 PM
    Pei-chenGTS 250 is using 512 bit memory instead of 9800+'s 256 bit according to Kevin and Tuan.Its performance increase should be similar to 4850 to 4870.

    It clearly says twice in the article that the card uses a 256 bit memory interface, where does everyone keep pulling 512 bit from?
  • 0 Hide
    scrumhalf , March 3, 2009 3:54 PM
    Pei-chenGTS 250 is using 512 bit memory instead of 9800+'s 256 bit according to Kevin and Tuan.Its performance increase should be similar to 4850 to 4870.

    Where does everyone keep coming up with 512 bit memory? It clearly states twice in the article that the memory bus is 256 bit. Was it edited, or are people just reading what they want to hear?
  • 0 Hide
    scrumhalf , March 3, 2009 3:56 PM
    Where does everyone keep getting 512 bit memory bus from? The article clearly states (twice) that the memory bus is 256 bit. Was the article edited, or are people just reading what they want to hear?
  • 0 Hide
    thegh0st , March 3, 2009 4:10 PM
    Curnel_DBut if Nvidia didnt dupe their customers, how would they sell all those 8800's?I've had 3 customers already tell me they want to switch from either their dual 8800's or 9800's to a new GTX 250 when it comes out, because they hear it's super cheap for a GTX card. One of them wasn't too happy when I told him the story, and had me order him a 4870x2 on the spot to replace his 9800. Lol, it just felt so right.


    I think you should be more clear. What Dual 8800's or 9800's? 8800 GT's? the GTS 250 would be an upgrade on that. Not that it would be worth it but it would be. It would also be an upgrade on 9800 GT's. Again maybe not worth it but it would be an upgrade in both memory and performance (yes I know some of these cards came in 1GB version to but not most). We are talking about a card here that is roughly equal to an 8800 GTX, 8800 Ultra, 8800 GTS, 9800 GTX, or 9800 GTX+. Sure replacing those cards wouldn't do any noticeable difference other than a memory advantage over the 8800 GTS and most 9800 GTX/GTX+'s. But a blanketing statement implying that replacing any 8800s or 9800s with a GTS 250 is worthless is a slanted statement no matter how you spin it.

    For that matter as someone asked on the other article - if it IS possible to SLI an older 9800 GTX/GTX+ with a GTS 250 then one might could make a slanted statement and say that you "duped" your customer by providing limited information (not giving him all his options) and getting them to spend roughly 300 dollars more than they might have had they known all the options.

    And no I'm not taking nVidia's side, I'm just pointing out how saying something so bland could pretty much be compared to the complaint you yourself have against nVidia renaming the G92 yet again. I'm also playing a bit of devil's advocate.

    And yes I know the 8800 GTX and 8800 Ultra are not G92's. I also did not bother to bring up the 8800 GTS 320/640's either. I give everyone that much credit.
  • -1 Hide
    thegh0st , March 3, 2009 4:11 PM
    Curnel_DBut if Nvidia didnt dupe their customers, how would they sell all those 8800's?I've had 3 customers already tell me they want to switch from either their dual 8800's or 9800's to a new GTX 250 when it comes out, because they hear it's super cheap for a GTX card. One of them wasn't too happy when I told him the story, and had me order him a 4870x2 on the spot to replace his 9800. Lol, it just felt so right.


    I think you should be more clear. What Dual 8800's or 9800's? 8800 GT's? the GTS 250 would be an upgrade on that. Not that it would be worth it but it would be. It would also be an upgrade on 9800 GT's. Again maybe not worth it but it would be an upgrade in both memory and performance (yes I know some of these cards came in 1GB version to but not most). We are talking about a card here that is roughly equal to an 8800 GTX, 8800 Ultra, 8800 GTS, 9800 GTX, or 9800 GTX+. Sure replacing those cards wouldn't do any noticeable difference other than a memory advantage over the 8800 GTS and most 9800 GTX/GTX+'s. But a blanketing statement implying that replacing any 8800s or 9800s with a GTS 250 is worthless is a slanted statement no matter how you spin it.

    For that matter as someone asked on the other article - if it IS possible to SLI an older 9800 GTX/GTX+ with a GTS 250 then one might could make a slanted statement and say that you "duped" your customer by providing limited information (not giving him all his options) and getting them to spend roughly 300 dollars more than they might have had they known all the options.

    And no I'm not taking nVidia's side, I'm just pointing out how saying something so bland could pretty much be compared to the complaint you yourself have against nVidia renaming the G92 yet again. I'm also playing a bit of devil's advocate.

    And yes I know the 8800 GTX and 8800 Ultra are not G92's. I also did not bother to bring up the 8800 GTS 320/640's either. I give everyone that much credit.
  • 0 Hide
    thegh0st , March 3, 2009 4:18 PM
    I think they must have corrected the article because I do not see where it says that either scrumhalf
  • -1 Hide
    thegh0st , March 3, 2009 4:21 PM
    I do not see where it says that either scrumhalf. I think they must have updated the article.
  • -1 Hide
    thegh0st , March 3, 2009 4:25 PM
    ummm...obviously this page is having some trouble. it did not update the posts for like 5 minutes in Opera or IE and would not even come up in Chrome. having trouble tomshardware?
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