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- Date:
- Monday , December 14, 2009
- Author:
- Matthew Krysiak
- Editor:
- Brent Justice
- Google +1
Galaxy GeForce GT 240 Video Card Review
Galaxy is bringing you a brand new video card based on the new NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 GPU. We’ll tell you exactly what this new GPU is made of and what Galaxy has to bring to the table. We have an in-depth gameplay evaluation in store for you with several video card comparisons.
Introduction
Galaxy may be a familiar brand to some gamers, but it isn’t the most talked about. Galaxy does have a lot to offer in terms of current generation NVIDIA GPU products. Founded in 1994, Galaxy Technology manufactures video cards, motherboards, and TV tuners. Galaxy's video cards exclusively feature NVIDIA GeForce GPUs, and their motherboards exclusively feature NVIDIA nForce core logic.
Today, we'll be evaluating the Galaxy GeForce GT 240.
NVIDIA GeForce GT 240
The GeForce GT 240 is NVIDIA’s latest GPU, meant to round out the lowest segment of the market, in addition to its brothers the GeForce GT 220 and GeForce 210. The GeForce GT 240 seems to be aimed at replacing the ancient GeForce 9600 GT, with some new feature support included. This new GPU is not part of the Fermi family, and is aimed squarely in the low-end and HTPC markets.
One of the new features about this GPU is that NVIDIA has reduced the manufacturing process of the GeForce GT 240 to 40nm. This should help reduce the amount of heat produced and reduce the power requirements. Two things that are always welcome.
NVIDIA has finally jumped onto the DirectX 10.1 bandwagon, and while never quite catching on to the extent that AMD had hoped, AMD video cards have long since supported it. Of course, the AMD Radeon HD 5000 series go further by now supporting DirectX 11. Another catch-up play here is NVIDIA is now using GDDR5 memory modules in conjunction with a 40nm GPU, although GDDR3 is still supported in some configurations as well. It seems that NVIDIA has finally caught up on the 40nm/DX10.1/GDDR5 front, but in a very budget oriented GPU.
GT 240 GPU vs. 9600 GT
Since the GT 240 is meant to supplant the GeForce 9600 GT we need to look at how they compare. The GPU frequency of the GT 240 is 550MHz, 50MHz less than the 9600 GT at 600MHz. The Shader frequency has been reduced from 1500MHz on the 9600 GT to 1340MHz on the GT 240. So right off the bat the shader frequencies are actually lower on the new GT 240, but, to make up some difference in performance the GT 240 has 96 stream processors vs. 64 on the 9600 GT.
The memory interface has been decreased from 256-bit on the 9600 GT to 128-bit on the new GT 240, which with GDDR3 cuts the memory bandwidth in half since they both share the same memory frequency. With GDDR5 and a reference frequency of 3400MHz (effective) that still shaves off some bandwidth compared to the 9600 GT. These specifications make us wonder how the new GT 240 will really stack up to the 9600 GT.
Additionally NVIDIA has also added support for HDMI audio to the GT 240, allowing for 7.1 surround sound. This will be greatly appreciated by the HTPC crowd. So while there are a lot of firsts here for NVIDIA, they seem to be trying to stay close to 9600 GT performance with the new GT 240, not improve it by any measurable amount. We will have to see what our gameplay performance reveals.
Galaxy GeForce GT 240
Galaxy is currently offering three different models of the GeForce GT 240. The first two both use DDR3 at 900MHz (1800MHz effective) with either 512MB or 1GB of memory. Their third model uses the faster GDDR5 memory at 1800MHz (3600MHz effective), note the slide is incorrect here, with 512MB of memory. So while the first two models are both using the reference frequency the third has a 100MHz boost on the memory. We are evaluating the GDDR5 model which retails for $109.99.
Galaxy has also chosen to improve the cooling solution on all three of its models, and is using a double slotted configuration. Taking up an extra slot certainly helps with cooling and keeps the noise down, but it may limit its use in some HTPC and other small form factor cases. They also promise to make available in the in future Xtreme Tuner HD that will let you not only monitor power consumption, but also adjust the voltage. This is great news for anyone out there wanting to get the most out of their video card; we just wish it had been already available at the time of shipping.
The Galaxy GeForce GT 240 comes in a very small but stout box that measures only 10" x6.5"x3.75". The front of the box uses a sticker to highlight the use of DDR5 memory along with some the cards other specifications. There is also a second sticker that advertises the 2 year warranty and the 24/7 support hotline. On the side of the box, the "Key Features" are listed along with the minimum system requirements. The back of the box covers some more of the video cards specifications.
The Galaxy GeForce GT 240 is only six and three quarters inches long, or to put it in perspective almost half the length of an ATI Radeon HD 5970. It uses a custom double slotted cooling solution but does not vent any air out the back of the case. The cooling solution also doesn’t directly attach to the memory, but there is airflow over the memory chips. It also has a secondary fan connector in case you choose to change the cool solution later.
On the front bracket of the video card, there is a DVI port, a VGA port, and an HDMI port. On the tail end you will note that there is no auxiliary power connector and no SLI connector.
On the back of the Galaxy GeForce GT 240, we see that there is a second set of mounting wholes around the GPU, again in case you choose to change the cooling solution later. The accessories that come with the video card are very sparse, just a tech support card, a driver CD, and a user manual.