| ASUS GeForce GT240 GDDR5 Video Card ENGT240 |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Video Cards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by David Ramsey - Edited by Olin Coles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, 09 December 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 ReviewAs enthusiasts, we're always interested in the latest monster video cards: the expensive, high-end products that blast through benchmarks and play all your games with buttery-smooth frame rates at the highest resolutions with all the settings maxed out- and sucking a not inconsiderable amount of electricity while doing so! But these products represent only a tiny fraction of the number of video cards sold; the low-to-mid-end cards comprise the bulk of the market. Besides, a GTX285 or Radeon 5870 isn't the ideal solution for every situation: considerations from a limited budget to building a small, quiet system come into play. NVIDIA has been filling out the low-middle end of their video card product line lately, and in this article Benchmark Reviews tests the ASUS ENGT240/DI/512MD5/A video card equipped with with NVIDIA's new GeForce GT240 GPU and 512M of GDDR5 memory. The ASUS ENGT240 is a new product only in the sense that it's now available at the retail level; a slightly higher-spec version, the GTS 240, has been available for some time as an "OEM only" part restricted to systems builders. Despite its "GT240" designation, this is not a card based on NVIDIA's newer GT200 GPU like the 260, 270, 280 and 290 series cards; it's based on the older G92 series processors previously used in NVIDIA's 8x00 and 9x00 series cards, albeit rendered in a spiffy new 40 nanometer process that keeps the die size small, yields up, and power and heat levels down. With 96 stream processors, the ASUS ENGT240 seems to slot in neatly between the 9600GT (64 processors) and the 9800GT with 112 processors, but must make do with a 128-bit memory interface while the 9600/9800 have a 256 bit interface.
The low-mid range video card market is much more crowded than the high-end market: while only a few cards exist in the $300-and-up segment, there are dozens in the sub-$200 segment, often with overlapping prices, features, and performance, and this is where the ASUS ENGT240 is competing. Read on to see how it compares and whether it's a card you should consider. About ASUSTeK Computer Inc.ASUS, a technology-oriented company with a global staff of more than ten thousand and blessed with one of the world's top R&D teams, is renowned for high-quality products and cutting-edge innovation. As a leading company in the new digital era, ASUS offers a complete product portfolio to compete in the new millennium. ASUS has an unyielding commitment to innovation and quality, a fact borne out by its corporate slogan-"Inspiring Innovation - Persistent Perfection"-and the numerous media, industry and governmental accolades it receives every year. In 2008, ASUS won 3,056 awards-receiving over 8 awards on average every day. The company's revenue for the same year was 8.1 billion U.S. dollars, and it topped the IT Hardware Category of the annual league table of Taiwan's Top 10 Global Brands with a brand value of 1.324 billion U.S. dollars. ASUS also ranks among the top 10 IT companies in Business Week's "InfoTech 100", and has been on the listing for 11 consecutive years. Inspired by the diverse needs of consumers in all areas and phases of life, ASUS' foremost mission is to deliver truly innovative solutions that in turn inspire consumers to reach for greater heights of productivity and fun. By leveraging its intimate understanding of the requirements of today's digital home, digital office and digital person, ASUS has the honor of claiming many world's firsts-such as the introduction of the groundbreaking Eee PCTM, the ingenious use of renewable materials like leather and bamboo in notebooks and the incorporation of its proprietary power-saving Super Hybrid Engine technology into its notebooks and motherboards. By pioneering many new innovations, trends and technologies that have had a genuine impact on its customers' lives and the Earth at large, ASUS hopes to garner mindshare as well as market share. To succeed in the ultra-competitive IT industry, ASUS focuses on speed-to-market, cost and service. That is why every ASUS employee strives to master the "ASUS Way of Total Quality Management" in order to fulfill the "Persistent Perfection" promise of the brand. Guided by these precepts, ASUS has developed a strong advantage in product design, technology, quality and value/cost. These advantages in turn constitute ASUS' formula for success-allowing marketing to communicate these strengths to win our consumers' hearts. ASUS GeForce GT 240 Features
ENGT240 GDDR5 Specifications
One interesting thing to note in the specifications table is the "Audio input for HDMI: Internal". Unlike many video cards with a native HDMI port, the ASUS ENGT240 does not require a separate cable from your audio source.
ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 Closer LookThe ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 is a compact card with a bright blue PCB and a functional, attractive heat sink/fan assembly. The video card is a compact 4.4" in length, so it will fit any case with the room to accommodate a full-height PCI-E card- as long as there's enough room next to it. Despite its small size, the ENGT240's large aluminum heat sink and its attached fan make it a double-slot card.
A single-slot fan would probably have kept the GPU well within its thermal envelope. Most 9600/9800 cards got by with a single-slot cooler, and used substantially more power: according to NVIDIA's specifications, the 9600GSO GPU can draw a maximum of 105 watts, much more than the 69 watt maximum of the GT240. I can understand ASUS wanting to keep costs down on a card like this, but if it's going to occupy two slots, i'd prefer a cooler that exhausted warm air outside the case. However, the large fan and heatsink mean that the fan can turn relatively slowly, making this a very quiet card.
At the rear of the card we see the analog VGA, DVI, and HDMI connectors. This card does not require a separate cable for HDMI audio. 
At the rear of the card we see the spring-loaded screws securing the heatsink. I've always preferred screws to pushpins even for small heatsinks...it just seems more secure. The ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 doesn't require any supplemental power; it gets everything it needs from the PCI-E slot, so there's no separate power connector. it's disappointing, though, that there's no SLI connector, NVIDIA having decreed that cards based on the GT240 GPU will not be SLI-capable. Since this feature is disabled by burning fusible links in the GPU core, there's no way for some maverick vendor to produce an SLI-capable version. 
At this price point, you're not going to get free games or a CD holder in the box; aside from the card, there's a generic pamphlet showing how to install any ASUS video card, a driver CD, and a CD containing the manual in about 20 different languages. Utilities included on the driver CD are ASUS GamerOSD, a utility that allows in-game overclocking and an on-screen frames-per-second display; ASUS SmartDoctor, a monitoring and overclocking utility, and ASUS Video Security Online, which can record a real-time video feed and monitor defined areas for motion detection. Join me in the next section as I take a detailed look at the hardware on this card.
ASUS GT 240 GDDR5 Detailed FeaturesAs I mentioned in the previous section, the low-end 200 series cards are based on NVIDIA's older G92 architecture. This is basically a die-shrink version of the GPU with some tweaking and a few new features. The GeForce GT240 GPU used in the ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 video card appears to be based on the 9600GSO GPU: they both have the same number of CUDA cores (96) running at the same clock speed (550mHz). One difference is that the 9600GSO has a 192-bit memory interface, while the card we're testing has to get by with a mere 128-bit memory interface. But remember those "new features"? The GeForce GT240 is NVIDIA's first GPU to support GDDR5 memory, and in this example it's clocked at 1700mHz...so the actual memory bandwidth, at 54.4 gb/second, is much greater than that of the 9600GSO's 38.4 gb/second. The quoted memory bandwidth specification is from the NVIDIA spec sheet, but for some reason GPU-Z shows a memory bandwidth of 108.8gb/second.
After removing the four spring-loaded screws securing the heat sink, we can see the GT215 GPU and the four memory chips:
A close-up view of the GPU reveals its product code, "GT215-450-A2". The "450" in the part number apparently designates this as a DDR5 version.
The 512M of video RAM is comprised of 4 Samsung K4G10325FE-HC05 memory chips modules. These are GDDR5 devices with an access time of 0.5ns. 
ASUS extends the NVIDIA reference design for the GT240 with their "Xtreme Design for graphics cards" technology. The first part of Xtreme Design is the dust-proof fan: the large GPU cooling fan on the ENGT240 has a sealed hub and bearing rendering it immune to dust contamination which can lead to bearing failure (if you've ever had a card or case fan slowly fail with scratching or squeaking noises, then you've probably had a fan bearing failure). The second part of Xtreme Design is "GPU Guard", which is ASUS' term for the special glue (technically known as "underfill") used to affix the BGA (ball grid array) chips, which include the memory chips as well as the actual GPU, to the board. After the chips are soldered down, the glue is applied at the edge of the chips and seeps under them to fill the void between the dozens or hundreds of tiny solder balls affixing the chip to the board, making the mechanical connection much stronger and rendering the board resistant to shock and vibration. ASUS is the first manufacturer to apply this process, originally developed for cell phones and other mobile devices, to a desktop graphics card. Full HDMI 1.3a support Another one of the "new features" is significant for HTPC fans: these are NVIDIA's first cards to support the full HDMI 1.3a standard. Previous NVIDIA GPUs such as the 8200 series have had partial HDMI 1.3a support, but omitted features such as 12 and 16 bit color modes and DTS-HD audio. This, combined with the new cable-less audio support, make this card very well suited for HTPC applications. Curiously, ASUS does not seem to be promoting this feature.
In the next section I'll discuss the Benchmark Reviews testing methodology and the test system configuration used in our benchmark evaluation.
VGA Testing MethodologyAs of October 2009 Benchmark Reviews has discontinued testing on the Windows XP (DirectX 9) Operating System, although it is recognized that 52% or more of the gaming world still use this O/S. DirectX 11 is native to the Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System, and will be the centerpiece of our test platform for the foreseeable future. In many tests, DirectX 10 is utilized on the Windows 7 platform. According to the Steam Hardware Survey published at the time of Windows 7 launch, the most popular gaming resolution is 1280x1024 (17-19" standard LCD monitors) closely followed by 1024x768 (15-17" standard LCD). Normally, our benchmark performance tests concentrate on the up-and-coming higher-demand resolutions: 1680x1050 (22-24" widescreen LCD) and 1920x1200 (24-28" widescreen LCD monitors), but for cards in this class we've replaced the 1920x1200 resolution with 1280x1024, and adjusted the parameters of the benchmark programs to better match the lower capabilities of these cards, reducing rendering quality and post-processing features. You're going to see some pretty low frame rates, but remember that cards in this class, advertising hyperbole notwithstanding, are not intended for gamers. You need at least 30 frames per second to achieve a smooth, stutter-free experience in a game, but in general should aim for a much higher average frame rate, since any game will have more-demanding sections that can drop the frame rate well below the average for the entire game. In each benchmark test conducted, five tests are collected at each setting with the highest and lowest results discarded. The remaining three results are averaged, and displayed in the performance charts. Intel P55 Test System
Benchmark Applications
Video Card Test Products
3DMark Vantage GPU Tests3DMark Vantage is a PC benchmark suite designed to test the DirectX10 graphics card performance. FutureMark 3DMark Vantage is the latest addition the 3DMark benchmark series built by FutureMark corporation. Although 3DMark Vantage requires NVIDIA PhysX to be installed for program operation, only the CPU/Physics test relies on this technology. 3DMark Vantage offers benchmark tests focusing on GPU, CPU, and Physics performance. Benchmark Reviews uses the two GPU-specific tests for grading video card performance: Jane Nash and New Calico. These tests isolate graphical performance, and remove processor dependence from the benchmark results. Let's see how the ASUS ENGT240 DDR5 performs... 3DMark Vantage GPU Test: Jane NashOf the two GPU tests 3DMark Vantage offers, the Jane Nash performance benchmark is slightly less demanding. In a short video scene the special agent escapes a secret lair by water, nearly losing her shirt in the process. For these cards, Benchmark Reviews tests this DirectX 10 scene at 1680x1050 and 1280x1024 resolutions, and uses Entry quality settings with no anti-aliasing and 2x anisotropic filtering. The 1:2 scale is utilized, and is the highest this test allows.
Here we see where advertising claims run into reality. The 9400GT is still in NVIDIA's product line and is touted as being able to "Realize more vibrant photos, smoother videos and more realistic gaming...", but neither this card nor the twice-as-fast 8600GT should be on any gamer's list. The GTS250 and HD4770 turn in reasonable scores, but remember the test settings are cranked way down. The ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 turns in a reasonable performance, with over 5 times the frame rate of the 9400GT. 3DMark Vantage GPU Test: New CalicoNew Calico is the second GPU test in the 3DMark Vantage test suite. Of the two GPU tests, New Calico is the most demanding. In a short video scene featuring a galactic battleground, there is a massive display of busy objects across the screen. Benchmark Reviews tests this DirectX 10 scene at 1680x1050 and 1280x1024 resolutions for these cards, and uses Entry quality settings with no anti-aliasing and 2x anisotropic filtering. The 1:2 scale is utilized, and is the highest this test allows.
The New Calico test pushes these cards even harder. The ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 maintains its lead over the 9400GT and 8600GT, turning in five times the frame rate of the former and more than twice the frame rate of the latter, but the frame rate is far too low for smooth video even at the lower resolution.
Crysis Warhead TestCrysis Warhead is an expansion pack based on the original Crysis video game. Crysis Warhead is based in the future, where an ancient alien spacecraft has been discovered beneath the Earth on an island east of the Philippines. Crysis Warhead uses a refined version of the CryENGINE2 graphics engine. Like Crysis, Warhead uses the Microsoft Direct3D 10 (DirectX 10) API for graphics rendering. Benchmark Reviews uses the HOC Crysis Warhead benchmark tool to test and measure graphic performance using the Airfield 1 demo scene. This short test places a high amount of stress on a graphics card because of detailed terrain and textures. Using the DirectX 10 test with Medium Quality settings, the Airfield 1 demo scene receives 4x anti-aliasing and 16x anisotropic filtering to create maximum graphic load and separate the products according to their performance.
While the 9400GT and 8600GT, as expected, return unplayable frame rates, the ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 is marginally playable at 1680x1050 and playable at 1280x1024. Remember that these are the average frame rates; during parts of the 1680x1050 test, performance dipped into the low 20s, which results in visible lag/stuttering on the screen.
Devil May Cry 4 BenchmarkDevil May Cry 4 was released on PC in early 2007 as the fourth installment to the Devil May Cry video game series. DMC4 is a direct port from the PC platform to console versions, which operate at the native 720P game resolution with no other platform restrictions. Devil May Cry 4 uses the refined MT Framework game engine, which has been used for many popular Capcom game titles over the past several years. MT Framework is an exclusive seventh generation game engine built to be used with games developed for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and PC ports. MT stands for "Multi-Thread", "Meta Tools" and "Multi-Target". It was originally meant to be an outside engine, but none matched the developer's requirements in performance and flexibility. Games using the MT Framework are originally developed on the PC and then ported to the other two console platforms. On the PC version a special bonus called Turbo Mode is featured, giving the game a slightly faster speed, and a new difficulty called Legendary Dark Knight Mode is implemented. The PC version also has both DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 mode for Microsoft Windows XP and Vista Operating Systems. It's always nice to be able to compare the results we receive here at Benchmark Reviews with the results you test for on your own computer system. Usually this isn't possible, since settings and configurations make it nearly difficult to match one system to the next; plus you have to own the game or benchmark tool we used. Devil May Cry 4 fixes this, and offers a free benchmark tool available for download. Because the DMC4 MT Framework game engine is rather low-demand for today's cutting edge multi-GPU video cards, Benchmark Reviews uses the DirectX 10 test set at 1680x1050 resolution to test with 8x AA (highest common AA setting available between GeForce and Radeon video cards) and 16x AF. The benchmark runs through four different test scenes, but scenes #2 and #4 usually offer the most graphical challenge.
Devil May Cry 4 doesn't stress the GPU to the extent that other game engines do. This isn't to say that the graphics don't look good, because they do, it's just that the MT Framework game engine is very well optimized. Still, the 9400GT and 8600GT are completely out of their depth, while the ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 returns solidly playable frame rates in both scenes.
Far Cry 2 BenchmarkUbisoft has developed Far Cry 2 as a sequel to the original, but with a very different approach to game play and story line. Far Cry 2 features a vast world built on Ubisoft's new game engine called Dunia, meaning "world", "earth" or "living" in Farci. The setting in Far Cry 2 takes place on a fictional Central African landscape, set to a modern day timeline. The Dunia engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2, by Ubisoft Montreal development team. It delivers realistic semi-destructible environments, special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storms, real-time night-and-day sun light and moon light cycles, dynamic music system, and non-scripted enemy A.I actions. The Dunia game engine takes advantage of multi-core processors as well as multiple processors and supports DirectX 9 as well as DirectX 10. Only 2 or 3 percent of the original CryEngine code is re-used, according to Michiel Verheijdt, Senior Product Manager for Ubisoft Netherlands. Additionally, the engine is less hardware-demanding than CryEngine 2, the engine used in Crysis. However, it should be noted that Crysis delivers greater character and object texture detail, as well as more destructible elements within the environment; for example, trees breaking into many smaller pieces and buildings breaking down to their component panels. Far Cry 2 also supports the amBX technology from Philips. With the proper hardware, this adds effects like vibrations, ambient colored lights, and fans that generate wind effects. There is a benchmark tool in the PC version of Far Cry 2, which offers an excellent array of settings for performance testing. For these cards, Benchmark Reviews used the medium performance setting for DirectX 10 tests, with 1680x1050 and 1280x1024 resolutions. Render Quality was set to 'Optimal' (which was "high" for these cards), 4x anti-aliasing was applied, and HDR and Bloom were enabled. We used the "Ranch Small" time demo (which yields the lowest frame rates of the tests available) for this benchmark.
Although the Dunia engine in Far Cry 2 is slightly less demanding than CryEngine 2 engine in Crysis, the strain appears to be extremely close. The frame rates we see here are close to what we saw in the Crysis: Warhead benchmark, with performance up about 10% overall for most of the cards...except for the ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5, the only card in the group whose frame rates are significantly lower in this test. This is odd since the frame rates of the architecturally-similar GTS 250 went up.
Resident Evil 5 TestsBuilt upon an advanced version of Capcom's proprietary MT Framework game engine to deliver DirectX 10 graphic detail, Resident Evil 5 offers gamers non-stop action similar to Devil May Cry 4, Lost Planet, and Dead Rising. The MT Framework is an exclusive seventh generation game engine built to be used with games developed for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and PC ports. MT stands for "Multi-Thread", "Meta Tools" and "Multi-Target". Games using the MT Framework are originally developed on the PC and then ported to the other two console platforms. On the PC version of Resident Evil 5, both DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 modes are available for Microsoft Windows XP and Vista Operating Systems. Microsoft Windows 7 will play Resident Evil with backwards compatible Direct3D APIs. Resident Evil 5 is branded with the NVIDIA The Way It's Meant to be Played (TWIMTBP) logo, and receives NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision functionality enhancements. NVIDIA and Capcom offer the Resident Evil 5 benchmark demo for free download from their website, and Benchmark Reviews encourages visitors to compare their own results to ours. For these cards Benchmark Reviews uses the DirectX 10 version of this benchmark at a resolution of 1680x1050. Because the Capcom MT Framework game engine is very well optimized and produces high frame rates, high quality settings are configured, with 8x MSAA post processing effects for maximum demand on the GPU. Test scenes from Area #3 and Area #4 require the most graphics processing power, and the results are collected for the chart illustrated below.
Resident Evil 5 has really proved how well the proprietary Capcom MT Framework game engine can look with DirectX 10 effects. The Area 3 and 4 tests are the most graphically demanding from this free downloadable demo benchmark, and even with the relatively low resolution and settings, the ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 can't produce solidly playable frame rates— you'll need to drop down to 1280x1024 or reduce the quality if you're going to play this game.
ASUS GT 240 GDDR5 TemperaturesBenchmark tests are always nice, so long as you care about comparing one product to another. But when you're an overclocker, or merely a hardware enthusiast who likes to tweak things on occasion, there's no substitute for good information. Benchmark Reviews has a very popular guide written on Overclocking the NVIDIA GeForce Video Card, which gives detailed instruction on how to tweak a GeForce graphics card for better performance. Of course, not every video card has the head room. Some products run so hot that they can't suffer any higher temperatures than they already do. This is why we measure the operating temperature of the video card products we test. FurMark does do two things extremely well: drive the thermal output of any graphics processor higher than any other application of video game, and it does so with consistency every time. While I have proved that FurMark is not a true benchmark tool for comparing video cards, it would still work very well to compare one product against itself at different stages. FurMark would be very useful for comparing the same GPU against itself using different drivers or clock speeds, of testing the stability of a GPU as it raises the temperatures higher than any program. But in the end, it's a rather limited tool.
Starting with an ambient temperature of 22°C, I used GPU-Z to measure an idle temperature of 32°C for the ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5. The test system is an "open" chassis so internal case temperature was not a concern. After running FurMark 1.7.0 for 15 minutes, the load temperature stabilized at 66°C. This temperature is very low compared to NVIDIA's high-end cards, where load temperatures in the mid-90s are not uncommon! This is a good thing for small form factor and HTPC systems, because although the largish fan is quiet even at full load, the card's cooler expels all its heated air into your case. VGA Power ConsumptionLife is not as affordable as it used to be, and items such as gasoline, natural gas, and electricity all top the list of resources which have exploded in price over the past few years. IThe ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 is not a high performance gaming monster, but one area in which it excels is power usage. A high end video card can easily use hundreds of watts of power under full load, and one of the real advantages of cards in this class is that they don't.
To measure isolated video card power consumption, Benchmark Reviews uses the Kill-A-Watt EZ (model P4460) power meter made by P3 International. A baseline test is taken without a video card installed in the test computer system, which is allowed to boot into Windows and rest idle at the login screen before power consumption is recorded. Once the baseline reading has been taken, the graphics card is installed and the system is again booted into Windows and left idle at the login screen. Our final loaded power consumption reading is taken with the video card running a stress test using FurMark. Below is a chart with the isolated video card power consumption (not system total) displayed in Watts for each specified test product:
* Results are accurate to within +/- 5W.
At idle, the ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 uses a mere 10W of power, while under full load, I measured only a 49 watt usage, which is significantly below NVIDIA's rated 69 watts maximum. This load usage is also substantially below the idle power required by NVIDIA's high end cards. The primary advantage to having a video card like the GeForce GT 240 is that it does not require external power connections from the PSU. ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 Final ThoughtsNVIDIA's had it rough for the last 18 months or so. Their introduction of the GTX 280 card last year was quickly eclipsed by ATI's Radeon 4800 series, which offered most of the performance of the GTX 280 at a much lower price. Within weeks early adopters who paid $600 for their new GTX 280 cards saw prices tumble by 20% or more. Still, NVIDIA managed to hang onto the performance crown, tweaking the G200 GPU to produce the GTX 285 and doubling them up to produce the monstrous GTX 295. But the recent introduction of ATI's 5800 series cards took even that victory from NVIDIA, offering superior performance at a lower price. With the 5750, 5770, 5850, 5870, and 5970 cards, ATI holds a decisive price/performance lead in the mid-to-high end graphics card range. Their support of the DrectX 11 graphics API in Windows 7 makes NVIDIA's position even weaker; it's interesting to see how NVIDIA, who lectured long and loud on the advantages of DirectX 10 when their cards had it and ATI's didn't, tries to denigrate DirectX 11 support, pointing to the paucity of games supporting it. NVIDIA has announced their new G300 "Fermi" GPU architecture, although the presentations they've given so far have concentrated on its used as a general-purpose GPU computing device (GPGPU) and haven't mentioned its graphics capability at all, leading to speculation that there may not be a consumer version of this 3 billion transistor monster. If there is, expect new levels of performance and a price to match. Badge MarketingWhile waiting for Fermi, NVIDIA is refreshing the low end of their product line, moving the older 9 and 8 series cards to the new 200 series. These new 40nm versions offer the same or slightly better performance in a smaller, lower-power package, and from that standpoint represent a significant improvement over their larger, more power-hungry forebears. They also give NVIDIA some experience in tuning their 40nm process, which they'll doubtless need for the upcoming Fermi GPUs. NVIDIA has included some notable new features: DirectX 10.1 support (albeit almost two years after ATI), GDDR5 memory on some models (the GeForce GT 240 is the first NVIDIA GPU that can support GDDR5), but consumers need to be aware that the 210-220-240-250 cards are not based on the newer G200 architecture as used in the 260-270-280-290 series cards. To make it even more confusing, many of the older 8x00 and 9x00 series cards are still available (although in most cases you'd be better off with a 200 series card, which would be either faster or smaller/quieter, or perhaps both.) And trying to compare the specifications of cards with different numbers of processing cores, clock speeds, and memory types can be even more confusing. Features such as "NVIDIA 3d Vision Support" only muddy the waters (technically, yes, the ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 does support 3D Vision, but since that technology would halve the frame rates of an already marginal gaming card, you'd be crazy to use it). The ASUS ENGT240/DI/512MD5/A is positioned in a very tough market segment: if you're looking for a small, quiet card for your HTPC that can decode Blu-ray and supports HDMI 1.3, the ENGT240 will do that...but an ASUS ENGT220 will do it for $30 less. And if you're trying to upgrade a system you use for games from an integrated video solution or an older, slower card, the ENGT240 will handle that as well...but for the same $99.95 you could buy a Sapphire 100277HDMI Radeon HD 4770 (which has the same 512M of GDDR5 memory) that offers substantially better performance as can be seen in our tests. If you prefer NVIDIA cards, a mere $10 more will buy you a SPARKLE SXS250512D3-NM GeForce GTS 250 or a Palit NE3TS25NFHD52 GeForce GTS 250, which also offer much better performance...and don't forget that the Radeon 4770 offers the potential to add another card later in Crossfire mode, while the GTS 250 can be paired with another card in SLI mode. But the ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 does manage to fit in a sweet spot: it's the fastest NVIDIA card that supports HDMI 1.3a, and while ATI's new Radeon 5x00 supports it as well, the cheapest card in that series costs more than half again as much as the ENGT240. There's one other niche where this card would be a good fit: as a secondary card in a system already equipped with a higher-end NVIDIA card, where it could be used as a dedicated Physx card or CUDA processor for GPGPU project such as Folding@home. ASUS ENGT240 GDDR5 ConclusionThe performance of this card was reasonable given its price and specifications. Full HDMI 1.3a support is a plus, but better gaming performance is available for very little more money. ASUS has thankfully avoided slathering the card with a silly heat sink or fan shroud covered with stickers depicting game characters. The card is understated and businesslike in appearance.
The construction quality seems to be excellent. The substantial heat sink is attached with spring-loaded screws rather than push-pins, and the load temperatures were quite low. The card provides basic GPU functions, and provides all the connectors one could expect. The ability to use HDMI audio without a separate connection cable is very convenient. As of December 2009, you can buy the ASUS ENGT240/DI/512MD5/A video card for $99.95 at Newegg. This is $10-$35 less than a GTS 250, and $20-$30 more than a GT 220. The value is not so great if you consider the card only as an HTPC card or only as a gaming card, but it's reasonable when considered as both or as a dedicated PhysX or GPGPU card. Pros:
+ Compact, quiet, low-power; excellent cooling Cons:
- Dual-slot cooler doesn't seem to make sense in this class of card Ratings:
Final Score: 7.6 out of 10.Questions? Comments? Benchmark Reviews really wants your feedback. We invite you to leave your remarks in our Discussion Forum.
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Comments
1. Regarding pricing, Asus has a rebate in effect for the month of March for multiple graphics cards. Range: $10-$25.
2. Also, something not available at the time of your review, have found card & software bundled packages. See TigerDirect and NewEgg.
Your review was done in Dec 2009.
Your review is very blunt that SLI isn?t included, and can?t be added.
However, the Asus product page (##asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=n3z90PjCsyxTi0ON) lists ?NVIDIA SLI Technology? as a feature.
Any idea what gives? Have specs changed? That fast?
4. I also saw a similar, but reverse, situation with the ENGTS250 DK/DI/1G (as listed on TigerDirect). ENGTS250 DK/DI/1GD3 at Asus (##asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=5MjSJjzjCwAupIzV). ASSUME TigerDirect error in dropping D3 from model #. That appears to be the designator for type of memory.
Anyway, TigerDirect makes a big splash about the SLI on this card, including that it is the latest 3-way version. But, on the Asus web page, it is NOT listed it as a feature.
Again, any idea what gives?
i had a geforce 9400 gt, it cant hold a candle to what this thing can do.