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ASUS ENGTS250 DK Geforce GTS 250 Videocard Review
ASUS ENGTS250 DK Geforce GTS 250 Videocard Review - PCSTATS
ASUS's ENGTS250 DK videocard should draw less power and produce less heat than the Geforece 9800GTX+, and in this case makes use of a very nice and pretty quiet heatsink.
 80% Rating:   
Filed under: Video Cards Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: ASUS Apr 16 2009   Max Page  
Home > Reviews > Video Cards > ASUS ENGTS250 DK

Overclocking the quick Asus Videocard

Overclocking Results:
stock overclocked
gpu (core) speed: 740 mhz 809 mhz
memory speed: 1100 mhz 1320 mhz
if you're new to Overclocking and not sure what to do, check out these two excellent Guides for some pointers:
Overclocking the CPU and Memory
Overclocking the Videocard

The ASUS ENGTS250 DK videocard comes from the factory with its nVidia G92 core clocked at 740 MHz and 512MB of GDDR3 memory running at 1100 MHz. PCSTATS has generally had great luck overclocking nVidia videocards, so our expectations where pretty high for the Geforce GTS 250. As usual, overclocking was done through nVidia's nTune utility which unlocks GPU and memory clock speed. PCSTATS started with the GPU first, pausing to test the results with a quick 3D benchmark before continuing.

Starting with the GeForce GTS 250 core first, the clock speed was increased in small 5 MHz increments, and in no time it hit 770MHz, then 809... and artifacts. The ASUS ENGTS250 was pushed to 828MHz GPU, and while it would complete the benchmark there were artifacts all over the screen. In the end we had to dial back the overclock speed to a less exciting 809MHz GPU. Still, that's 809MHz up from 740MHz, so I guess it's not too bad.

Next up was the 512MB of GDDR3 memory. Starting at 1100 MHz the memory was increased in 10 MHz steps. The RAM overclocked a little easier, allowing us to push the ASUS ENGTS250 DK videocard's memory from 1100MHz to 1145...1200...1240.. and finally 1320MHz - the limit for the memory slider in nTune. Nice!

Together the nVidia GTS250 GPU and GDDR3 memory ran comfortably overclocked at 809MHz GPU / 1320MHz memory without crashing or any obvious signs of artifacts in the 3D benchmarks.

SLI Overclocking?

With the baseline overclock of 809MHz GPU / 1320MHz memory established, the second ASUS ENGTS250 DK videocard was dropped into the MSI X48 Platinum motherboard and the system configured to run in SLI mode. SLI systems tend to be limited by the slowest overclocking videocard, and true enough we had a hard time getting the pair of ASUS GTS 250 videocards to run well at anything beyond 809MHz GPU / 1320MHz memory.

For the record, we were able to push the SLI'd ASUS ENGTS250 DK videocards to 818MHz GPU / 1320MHz memory, but there were plenty of artifacts so in the end we settled on the exact same overclocking result that PCSTATS witnessed for the single ASUS GTS 250 videocard.

Prelude to Benchmarks:

The details of how the Asus ENGTS250 DK HTDI/512MD3/AR/A test system was configured for benchmarking; the specific hardware, software drivers, operating system and benchmark versions are indicated below. In the second column are the general specs for the reference platforms this nVidia GeForce GTS 250 512MB based videocard is to be compared against. Please take a moment to look over PCSTATS test system configurations before moving on to the individual benchmark results on the next page.

PCSTATS Test System Configurations
test system reference system #1 reference system #2
processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (775) Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (775) AMD Athlon64 FX-62 (AM2)
Clock Speed:

15 x 200MHz = 3.0GHz

14 x 200MHz = 2.6GHz 14 x 200MHz = 2.8GHz
Motherboards:

Asus Striker II NSE (nF 790i SLI)*
MSI X48 Platinum
(Intel X48 Express)

MSI X48 Platinum (Intel X48 Express)

Foxconn C51XEM2 (NF 590 SLI)
Videocard:

ASUS ENGTS250 DK*
ASUS EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A
Gigabyte GV-N96TSL-1GI

Palit Radeon HD 4870X2
ASUS Radeon EAH4850/HTDI/512MA
MSI Radeon R3870X2-T2D1G-OC
ASUS Radeon EAH3870X2 1G
Diamond HD 3650 Pe 512
MSI R4830-T2D512-OC

ASUS EAX1900XTX/2DHTV/512M/A
ASUS EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A
MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E-HD
Foxconn FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC
MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC
nVidia GeForce 8600GTS SLI
Foxconn
8600GTS-256
MSI NX8600GT-T2D256E-OC
MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC
Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H SLI
Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H
MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE
MSI NX7900GTX-T2D512E
Gigabyte GV-NX76GT256D-RH
Biostar Sigma-Gate GeForce 7600GS
Albatron 8600GT-256
MSI NX8800GT-T2D512E-OC
ASUS EN8800GT TOP/G/HTDP/512M/A
Palit 9600GT Sonic
Biostar V903GT52-NV1AN *

Memory: Corsair DOMINATOR Twin2X2048-1800C7D (DDR3)

Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C3 (DDR2)

Hard Drive: 74GB Western Digital Raptor WD740
CDROM: ASUS BC-1205PT-BD Blu-Ray Drive
Monitor (1080p): ASUS MK241 24" HD LCD
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling TurboCool 750W
Heatsink: Intel E8400 Reference Intel E6750 Reference Athlon64 FX-62 Reference Heatsink
Test System Setup:

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit
Intel INF 9.0.0.1008
Catalyst 9.3
Forceware 182.08
nVidia 15.23

Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit*

Benchmarks:

3DMark06
3DMark Vantage
FEAR
Crysis
Call of Juarez
Lost Planet

Benchmark results are organized by GPU manufacturer first (AMD/ATI or nVidia), then by GPU generation, and then by GPU class (high end, mainstream, value). This approach provides a clearer view of how performance can differ from generation to generation, and class to previous generation. The product being tested is marked with the red colour bar.

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Contents of Article: ASUS ENGTS250 DK
 Pg 1.  ASUS ENGTS250 DK Geforce GTS 250 Videocard Review
 Pg 2.  nVidia G92 GeForce GTS 250 Core
 Pg 3.  Videocard Power Consumption Measurements
 Pg 4.  — Overclocking the quick Asus Videocard
 Pg 5.  Videocard Benchmarks: 3DMark06
 Pg 6.  DX10 Videocard Benchmarks: 3DMark Vantage, Crysis
 Pg 7.  DX10 Videocard Benchmarks: Call of Juarez
 Pg 8.  DX10 Videocard Benchmarks: Lost Planet
 Pg 9.  Videocard Benchmarks: FEAR
 Pg 10.  Advanced Videocard Benchmarks: Quake 4, FEAR
 Pg 11.  Advanced Video card Benchmarks: Crysis, Quake

 
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