GTS 250 at 512MB vs GTX 550TI at 1GB

[Thoragoros]

Okay, my choices are these, please don't say 'Get this one instead' or 'A better card is this' these are my two choices. It's one or the other at the moment. -_-

My current card is the GTS 250 GTS at 512MB. The card is currently installed on my otherwise suped up comp as an upgrade a year and half ago over the computers onboard GPU. At the time, it was a decent upgrade and ran what I needed no problem.

Recently, I bought the GTX 550TI due to a lack of research on my part and some bad advice from the store clerk who said it was around 2x as powerful as what I had, turns out. Not the case according to what I am reading, but posts seem conflicted.

Now, I have yet to actually install the card, am doing it myself. Since I have not actually installed the card, it turns out that I can still return it. Yay.

Question is, do I return the card and pocket my money, or do I install the card?

Is the GTX 550TI markedly better than my current GTS 250? Yes or no and why?

Thanks.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

550 TI is the better card its newer has DX11 lower power consumption larger frame buffer, and still gets driver updates for performance

250 is old and not worth hanging on to, they can be had in canada for as cheap as $40 new

its a little better

GTS 250 = GTS 450 roughly
to give you a rough idea

ATi 4870 1gb = 5770 1gb
ATi 4870 1gb = GTX 260 core 216
ATi 5770 = 550Ti performance wise in most titles

since a 550Ti is a suped up GTS 450 and the 450 = 250 in older titles means the 550 is roughly 10-15% better then your 250 in modern games and equal in older games.

The 550 is the better card to hold on to simply because well as far as ive been told it will let you play Shogun and Medieval I should you wish to where as the gts 250 wont run those games properly

[Thoragoros]

550 TI is the better card its newer has DX11 lower power consumption larger frame buffer, and still gets driver updates for performance

250 is old and not worth hanging on to, they can be had in canada for as cheap as $40 new

its a little better

GTS 250 = GTS 450 roughly
to give you a rough idea

ATi 4870 1gb = 5770 1gb
ATi 4870 1gb = GTX 260 core 216
ATi 5770 = 550Ti performance wise in most titles

since a 550Ti is a suped up GTS 450 and the 450 = 250 in older titles means the 550 is roughly 10-15% better then your 250 in modern games and equal in older games.

The 550 is the better card to hold on to simply because well as far as ive been told it will let you play Shogun and Medieval I should you wish to where as the gts 250 wont run those games properly

Thanks crazy, as you can see, this problem has yet to actually resolve itself

[Bolkonsky]

ATi 4870 1gb = 5770 1gb
ATi 4870 1gb = GTX 260 core 216
ATi 5770 = 550Ti performance wise in most titles

Well, a GTS 450 actually beats a 5770 in some tests, there's not much of a difference between the two cards.

Anyways, when it comes to that level of card, I'd probably go with an ATi card. People seem to be getting more for their money. However, if you can live with the minuscule downgrade for the price difference (depending on how long you want to be using this card) you could get an EVGA GTS 450 which is out of the box overclocked a bit, and it's practically as powerful as a 5770. (In the end, it boils down to the game.)

Anyways, unless you want DX11, I'd return the card and hold out.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

yea i figured as much lol no worries the 550 might only be mid range but it will hold you over a bit longer. and eventually should you deside to get a bigger and better nvidia or ati gpu if your mobo has 2x PCIE slots you can always reuse the 550 for physx if you have any games that make use of it. aka Mafia II etc

[atraps]

How much did you pay for the card?

[Crazyeyesreaper]

well if he CAN return the card then that would be what he should do take said money sit on it for awhile save up more and get a better GPU like a 560Ti or 6870 or 5850 extreme etc etc but if taking the card back for a refund isnt possible hes probably better off with the 550 as it will have a larger resale value then the GTS 250,

[Bolkonsky]

well if he CAN return the card then that would be what he should do take said money sit on it for awhile save up more and get a better GPU like a 560Ti or 6870 or 5850 extreme etc etc but if taking the card back for a refund isnt possible hes probably better off with the 550 as it will have a larger resale value then the GTS 250,

For what he likely payed, it's not worth the upgrade, in my opinion.

[SPARTAN VI]

RETURN IT, if you still can. The marginal benefit of the 550Ti over your GTS250 doesn't justify the cost. Either sit on the money for a while or dig a little deeper for a more meaningful upgrade.

[Big Boss]

Check out the Sapphire 5850 Extreme if you're looking for a cheap solid upgrade.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

its not really not for its price a 550ti tends to be same price as the 5850 extreme but 5850 extreme is double its performance just the seller talked a good game and the OP wasnt up to date on parts he got suckered it happens to everyone at some point.

again if the card can be returned go for it, if not keep it

simply put the 550ti does have higher resale, it has open cl, direct compute support, better power characiteristics and temps, not to mention the extra 1gb of frame buffer would at least help Shogun II run a bit more smoothly, altho i feel bad for the OP had just been a bit more pessimistic just enough to look up a review, he would have a far better GPU right now lol

reminds me of the 8800 series to 9800 series change where every nvidia fanboy i knew went out and bought the 9800GTX only to find out the 512mb card had worse performance the 8800gtx, and the 1gb card was only on par so they paid more got equal or less, lol. man those days were fun for me.