#1110 - PALiT GT 240 Sonic 1GB GDDR5 Video Card Video Review

[TehUberCyberBeast]

This card is all you need to run Duke Nukem Forever with all settings on max. DO WANT.

[mrcrazyenough007]

this guy looks like a freak 0.o

[ChasingFlies]

Wow iPhone auto correct on the comment below , I meant *mobo

[ChasingFlies]

Ok this is kindof a stupid question but if my mobi has a PCI slot and this card is PCIexpress2.0 or whatever it is,can it fir into my kobo?

[gusnhde93]

sorry but can you tell me the intro music name ?

[idman3333]

@GetALifePleaseThanks Haq yah this is great card which gives some real high end gaming without breaking the bank!! so do get it

[basbas63]

@idman3333 for performance i would look into a gts450 or HD5770 this is mid end in my oppinion

[ironsoilder123]

What is the smallest version of the gt 240 1gb graphics card ?

[krauser100c]

hi! can somebody knows if i can play the new games at 1280x1024 full graphics with this card. I have an nvidia 8600gt.

[stevepogi23]

@krauser100c go for palit gtx 460 sonic platinum or the much cheaper palit gts 450 sonic platinum

[musicstuffer]

@krauser100c Not even close. and graphics card arent the only thing that matters, theres ram size and prcessor speed

[dalcmaster08]

should i get this card?, i want it to play actual games like cod mw2 at max settings,

:):)

cool vid

[masik7290]

@dalcmaster08 yea you can max out mw2 with this card, mw2 isnt really a heavy game like crysis

[stevepogi23]

@dalcmaster08 go for palit gtx 460 sonic platinum

[DiseaseMachine]

This card was pretty awesome because of my fairly low resolution when gaming.

[RUDY2295]

damn, i need this as a physx card. to pair up with my gtx 260.

[jayjjj3]

Is it backwards compatible with a pci-e 1.0 slot?

[darkprodigy4u]

@jayjjj3 nope. 

[PorscheLover87]

@jayjjj3

Yes, but it will downgrade it's performance to the old slot

search google for this "PCI-E 2.0 card in 1.0 slot"

[Paulph04]

Quite a good card for the money, but for a bit more you can have a 9800GT. The 9800GT comes with a 256-bit memory bus, which doubles the bandwidth of the card and makes quite a difference.

[Usul573]

@Paulph04

Still, the GT 240 has RAM at 1700 MHz or 1800 or 2000 depending on the card, while the 9800 GT has 900 MHz and double the bus width.

Pretty close in bandwidth then.

The 9800GT still wins pretty much all the time over GT 240s though, stronger GPU.

[Paulph04]

@Usul573 Most of the 9800GT's I've seen lately seem to be have their RAM clocked at 1400-1800Mhz, so with the 256-bit bus, the 9800GT will definitely have the edge.

Although Palit have an overclocked GT240, with the RAM clocked at 3400Mhz through a 128-bit bus, so its bandwidth almost matches that of the 9800GT. But I agree that the 9800GT is better overall.

[Usul573]

@Paulph04

1800 MHz effective? That's a standard 9800 GT.

3400 MHz effective is the standard for a GT 240 GDDR5, the Zotac AMP! one is up to 4000 MHz effective so it has even more bandwidth than a standard 9800 GT. I confused myself.

Still the 9800 GT has more shaders, more TMUs, and more ROPs, so a standard 9800 GT will probably almost always win, even if the GT 240 has a faster core clock, shader clock, and memory bandwidth.

5870 is 4800 MHz effective memory and 256 bus width *jaw drops*

[BlondDudeson]

Can i run with this 1920x1080 Max settings Borderlands easily?

I have Intel Core2duo 2,6ghz and 6gb DDR2 (or 3) of RAM...

[Usul573]

@BlondDudeson

A GT 240 DDR5 will probably be a little choppy at 1920x1080 and maximum settings for Borderlands.

[shankerman10]

@BlondDudeson yea just drop your res a little bit

[Leignheart]

he also forgot to say that people would also buy this as a physics card. like me, i bought this card to do physics for my 5970. with the new drivers that came out for nvidia, and its fantastic.

[NissanskylineBrs]

i have this video card in the 512mb edition

on idle 35 degrees

gaming ( battlefield bad company 2 ) 60 degrees

[VideoBlogs2012]

hahaha cute small video card =)

[Usul573]

@VideoBlogs2012

No doubt made for people who want a graphics card cheap and small that they don't have to upgrade their power supply for. Especially if they just have integrated graphics.

Seems decently powerful though.

[JorgeHGPR]

@Usul573 Can I put this card on a 250W psu?

[Usul573]

@JorgeHGPR

GT 240s usually say they require 300w or 350w.

Still, you never know, they might work on a 250w.

There's a variety of GT 240s.

[nowwatchingyou]

i need an answer soon , what does the computer need to handle it

[stevepogi23]

hey if ur planning 2to buy this card go for palit gts 250....250 is faster but almost the same price

[Leignheart]

@stevepogi23 not true dude, i got the gt 240 for 50 bucks.

[Vanderoze]

so tell me, which one better, GT240 sonic or HD 5670 ? cos im going to buy one of them next week, well it's hard for me to choose

i like HD5670 because it support DX11 and consume less power, but this GT240 sonic shows a great performance too, pls i need some advice

sorry for my poor english :)

[N64AndBattleTanx]

@Vanderoze I would go with 5670

[Vanderoze]

@N64AndBattleTanx yes, i was thinking about it, i'll get HIS HD 5670 IceQ 1Gb GDDR5 :)

[N64AndBattleTanx]

@Vanderoze im getting that one to what games are you gonna run?

[Vanderoze]

@N64AndBattleTanx Mass Effect 2 and some online games like lineage II, perfect world and atlantica

[Leignheart]

@Vanderoze seriously man, i dont want you to take offence, but i wouldnt pick a 5670 for directx 11, i have a 5970, the best card to date and directx 11 is a performance hog, so unless you get like a 5770 or higher i wouldnt get a dx11 card. i wish you luck man in card hunting.

[TheMadOrc]

I entered to win it hope I do.

[639426]

it looks like like a little kid video card im just use too the ATI 8450 or higher, but other than its an okay video card specially the 1gb of ddr5 and the 3 diffrent outputs but the fps for crysis idk.... i prefer an ATI like he says its a budget solution

[Leignheart]

@639426 dude this is like perfect for a physics card.

[bh3ader]

damn i bought the 1gb ddr3 version

luckily i overclocked mine making it better than the 9600gt and somewhat comparable to the ddr5 in terms of performance

[SandvichGod]

i have it, its wonderful

[UltimateXtremeGamer]

wiil this support my 330w psu

[Usul573]

Should be fine.

I prefer one of the Zotac GT 240s though, it's a lot faster, and still a cheap and small and quiet and energy efficient card.

[dav1dhoang]

@UltimateXtremeGamer yea, it works fine on my 300w psu :)

[basbas63]

yes it will

[CustomPcsUK]

No one likes your reviews there rubbish and ur a bellend

[dragefyr]

@CustomPcsUK A FOE HAS APPEARD.

This guy kicks your ass you fucking asshole.

[CustomPcsUK]

no one likes ur reviews WHY DO YOU DO THEM! its not like you get paid

[CustomPcsUK]

Your a bellend

[sinsomphou]

lol i tryed to play battlefield bad company on medium quality with Core 688MHz. Memory 2142MHz. Fan speed 100% still laggish =/ any tips?

[rayright15]

@sinsomphou resolution?

should max it out at about 1280 x 720 or 1280 x 1024

[BramRongen]

@sinsomphou I play BFBC2 on this card with Intel i5 750 on high just easy, no lag, around 40/50 FPS.. =)

[bh3ader]

@sinsomphou i can play bad company 2 with this card with a core 2 duo 2.4ghz at medium settings with 40-80 FPS i think that's pretty good

maybe try overclocking your videocard using msi afterburner and overclocking your cpu.

hope this helps

[Daftpunkfan123]

AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHZ Black Edition

GSKILL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

Will this card bottleneck my PC badly? What should I get to average out my system if that makes sense.

[tiagom135]

is this a 9600gt? cause it was as many cuda cores

[Usul573]

No, the 9600 GT has 62 cores, the GT 240 has 96 cores. The 9600 GT is 256 bit and the GT 240 is 128 bit, but can have much faster memory being GDDR5.

Depending on which test and which GT 240, the GT 240 can beat the 9600 GT most of the time.

[tiagom135]

lol pwnd

[BramRongen]

@tiagom135 the GT 240 is allmost the same as the 9600 GT.. The 9600 is older, less cores, but 256 bit in stead of 128 for the GT 240..

Some games the 9600 is better some times the GT 240, it depents on the settings, your pc etc.. ;)

[BoXeLwOw]

is it safe to up the FANSpeed to 100% ?

[CustomPcsUK]

ye but its loud above 85%

[BoXeLwOw]

who cares :P

[BoXeLwOw]

what about the ddr3 virision ?

[burberrybedroom]

can someone tell me how much better this is than the 8600gt?

[Usul573]

Probably quite a bit.

32 cores up to 96 cores.

On the Zotac GT 240 GDDR5, it's 4000 MHz memory compared to the 8600 gt having either 800 MHz or 1400 MHz.

[burberrybedroom]

oh wow thats quite a bit thats like 3x better :O i only thought it was a few mhz better or something xD thanks!

[Usul573]

It's got some other cool stuff too, it's 40 NM, and DX 10.1

Basic 8600 GT to Zotac AMP! GT 240 512 GDDR5.

Core clock 540 to 600

Shader clock 1180 to 1460

Already talked about memory speed, over double the bandwidth too.

[tiagom135]

because gddr3 e double pumped

[Marijuana420rKo]

dude cracks me up on how happy he always looks.

[PatriotWalker76]

I have 8 gigs of DDR2 RAM

2.5 ghz dual core processor

Will a graphics card with GDDR3 or GDDR5 work on my pc?

What is the best out of these graphics cards for gaming,- Nvidia Geforce 9400 GT, Nvidia GT 220 or Nvidia GT 240?

[Usul573]

GT 240, GDDR5 is the best.

As long as you have a PCI-E X16 slot, it should work. Pretty simple and low power.

You probably have one, but I can't be sure.

[BoogieWithStew]

Zotac makes a fanless GT 240 (silent) 1GB version model # ZT-20404-10L that runs $90.

[ALIN135]

i play gta 4 on 1680 1050 rezolution everyting in hight on a dual core 2 duo 3.2 on 35 30 fps

[driftaholic369]

would this solve my frame rate issues

[allibowthepilot]

i want a nvidia 240 DDR 2 memory do they do them? lol

[Usul573]

Why would you want a DDR2 GT 240?

You can get a GT 240 with DDR3 if you want.

[allibowthepilot]

okay what would u get ati readeon HD 4850 or this most people sed the ATI

[Usul573]

For the GT 240 my most recommended would be the Zotac AMP! GT 240 512 MB GDDR5, $98.

The 4850 will win under all circumstances, it's $120 for the 1 GB GDDR3 version which is great.

The GT 240 is cheaper, easier to set up, and uses less power, probably cooler, quieter, and smaller mostly and is still good enough for games no problem though.

Like Left 4 Dead, 1920x1200, maximum settings, 46 FPS, Fallout 3, high settings, 1920x1200 about 60 FPS.

Your call. I'd be happy with that GT 240.

[allibowthepilot]

oww rite coz im in the UK and it £ 80 . here the ATI and nvidia one. so im stuck .

[Usul573]

Ouch that's more expensive.

[allibowthepilot]

yh yh i know atleast they r at the same price lol . so il get the ATI coz people in the shop says its a better card . they also sed not to get the nvidia atm . because they r just upgrading from 9800 and so onn .

[Usul573]

Yep, the 4850 1 GB GDDR3 wins in all situations.

If you have a good sized case, enough power, and power connection go for it.

ATI is winning mostly these days, but Nvidia has good cards too. They've taken too long with their new cards though, and yes they've rehashed a lot of cards.

Nvidia dominated more a few years ago.

I kinda trust Nvidia more, but that's me, I grew up just using Nvidia cards.

I have an Nvidia card that's over three years old, still great for every game.

[allibowthepilot]

yh i alwaysed use nvidia i still got my nvidia 7100 . and my other pc a nvidia 6200 gd cards . but tht ATI will be the best i would ever have. ive never had ATI before lol

[Usul573]

Whoa, stone age graphics.

Looks like they're still supported in drivers though.

Just a little benchmark to make yourself confident with the 4850.

Modern Warfare 2, 1920x1200, maximum settings, on the 4850 probably 46 FPS or so.

The GT 240 I recommended probably more like 30-35 fps, still good.

[Usul573]

Uh, one thing, do you have enough power for the 4850?

7100 gs is Pci-expess x16, so that's ok, but the 4850 needs 450 watts.

[allibowthepilot]

yh i just bought the nvidia 9500 1 gig ddr2 coz the ATI was to powerful for my powersupply thing :(. i get 30 - 60 on call of duty WAW :) gaming scoe is 6.2 ( basescore)

[Usul573]

@allibowthepilot

Oh, well the 9500 gt isn't bad.

I'm guessing you're at a smaller resolution?

GT 240 uses even less power though.

[allibowthepilot]

yh i like the 9500 . plenty of memory in it and now a lot of different and only uses 350 watts . :P i get so many frames i love it and its so cheap.

[rayright15]

@Usul573 i agree, ati is dominating right now. i have been waiting for someone to say this. I would trust nvidia far more. But ati cards have alot of competition for nvidia. But i still trust nvidia, respecting the fanboy in me:D

[Usul573]

They fight at low end, mainstream, and enthusiast. Can't argue that ATI wins in enthusiast, if you have too much money.

ATI released a new card today, low end though.

More in the $150 and less area is where the most cards are sold. They both have great cards in that range.

Graphics cards in general are kinda down now though aren't they?

The consoles are pretty cheap, and PC gaming is very frustrating in a lot of ways.

[Usul573]

Oh yeah, and integrated graphics are improving.

Basically the only reason you need a graphics card is to play more enthusiast type games better.

Unless you care about CUDA or Steam or whatever.

[rayright15]

@Usul573 maybe it would be, but in my opinion they are just moving with the flow. integrated graphics can't even compete with older graphics card (or weak stuff like 9500 gt. But then again that stuff is almost mainstream.

[Usul573]

Well, integrated graphics have surpassed the Geforce 210, rendering the lowest end graphics cards essentially pointless, but they'll still have their place.

It's just more and more of the market they're eating into.

I'm not sure if buying graphics cards is down in general, or if PC gaming is down in general.

Quite a few factors.

[rayright15]

@Usul573 i completely agree. graphics cards seem to be down a tad, most likely due to nvidia taking their time. consoles are cheap, but if you are a tech loving kind of guy and then you will always prefer the pc.

[dchilo]

HD 5670 or this one?

[halfpol]

5670!faster

[LatiniumFenix]

could that card works on a pci express 1.0 slot???, doest it or not??

[Gun10001]

@LatiniumFenix

yes

[Gun10001]

@LatiniumFenix

yes it does

[tenshitaiakuma]

@LatiniumFenix yes

[uzaiyaro]

Palit is rubbish. Had a video card from them, never again.

[xxxyboy3000]

same here

[ledus123]

I bought a Geforce GT 240 1gb GDDR3... can it run fallout 3?

[misticsniper]

Yes at max because of the good amount of vram

[ledus123]

I'm using a 19 inch monitor so not so big and normally run games no higher than 1300x1300 resolutions.

So can i run everyone game on the market at high?(with Amd Phenom II x4 black edition 3.2ghz + 4gb ram + windows xp pro service pack 3)

[ledus123]

Also is 405w Psu enough?

[misticsniper]

Definently it works on my 305w psu so yeah i think it will do :D

[vanhakaveri]

jes 300 is recomended

[misticsniper]

I mean if your gaming at a big monitor

[freaktube4]

@ledus123 yes obviosly you can run any game in the market but not on maxed settings though

[ledus123]

I think i have proved that you don't need a processor which is more than 1 core and also that you don't need a very powerful processor either...

i ran empire total war on high with the pny geforce 240GT GDDR3, xp sp3, 1gb ram and a amd single core at 2.20ghz but rated at 3.96 ghz <_<

[lootehcris]

ur awesome

[rayright15]

@ledus123 fallout 3 favours geforce cards, also, gt 240 is very powerful in my opinion for a "budget" card, considering power consumption. It can prolly max out fallout 3 at 2 - 4x AA, possibly even 8x AA and 16 AF, with fair resolutions. hope this helped out.

[BAouttaVA]

how significant of an upgrade do you think this would half over a 9500gt 1gb ddr2? i have a low end pc i use for light gaming and don't want have to upgrade my power supply (antec 430) and this is my top candidate so far

[BAouttaVA]

sorry, i meant have, not half

[bati555]

how is this compared to an power color HD 4850 512MB @ 1600x900 resolution?

[supercritical100]

This card is not meant to be high price/performance. 4850 would beat this card with ease but 240 is good for saving power.

[Dorisequador]

I agree the 4850 is alot more powerful but for only one game and thats Crysis..

But every other game this card runs great...very smooth and Bang for buck it's amazing..

[dmob420]

is this card PCI-E 1.0 or 2.0

[egetunks]

PCIe x16 2.0

[Pieh0]

white text on a white background...

thanks

[eurafox]

im getting this card :D

[majinale]

Would you recommend GTS 240 2 GB (TWO NOT ONE GB!) for MMORPG and Lan party computer?

[CRW5900]

depends on what type of mmo, WOW would be fine, but future games like APB might not be able, should be decent unless you plaaying like GTA 4 online

[majinale]

something like Aion, wow catacl ysm, and GW2 if it comes out before summer because im planning to go on with that card till next summer and then change it.

[CRW5900]

the current guild wars would do fine, actually i will do fine for almost all games,

but if you want maximium eye candy.

maybe gta 4, assassin's creed 2 and bioshock medium settings will be fine

[Eaze2009]

well actualy these 3 run on highest on this card.

[dipu94321]

nvidia did assure this card is future proof upto 2013.

[pwnerman123]

would i be able to play crysis with this and and i5-750 processor(8MB Cache, 2.66GHz) and 4 gigs of mem

[Usul573]

Depends on settings, but yes.

At 12x10 resolution, it'll play it noo problem.

At 19x12 resolution, it'll do it at somewhat medium settings.

[Dorisequador]

sure man !

[rfryworld]

God I love Palit cards. LOVE them.

Never owned one, but that's because I always buy GPUs a generation behind, and by then only weaker models are left. But even this budget-card looks DAMN sexy compared to others. The dual slot backing is probably very unnecessary, seeing as it's designed for more Home Theatre PCs and less for gaming, but it's still awesome...

[Venessa51]

I don't mind playing on a lower resolution. Will this card play modern warfare 2 and valve games without lag?

[Kalywonkas]

I would think so

[rfryworld]

@Venessa51

So long as your CPU isn't weak, and you have plenty of RAM, and you're cool with replacing it in about 6-9 months (you'll want to), grab it. Or, get a Geforce 9800 like I have and wait until the new stuff.

[heyyurDEAD]

yes with ease

[xDarkVideosx]

A 9800 would probably playing MW2 without lag...

[LaDeXi]

Nvidia always advertises Purevideo HD but how do I use it?

[txmoney]

I pre-orderd the EVGA version but from this review, I cancelled and ordered the Palit with 1GB DDR5.

I'm ordering the GT240 not because of the price but because I dont want the trouble of upgrading my psu as well. I only have a 350watt psu.

[Pokanimal]

WTF?? there still making 2** cards come on when the 3**s coming out?!?!

[Dominionlord]

no one wouldn't regret a night with me ^^

[Dilo1002]

will i play crysis and modern warfare 2 at a good resolution with this card????

[Tartanka]

You can see the test result at the end on the video. it will play crysis, but not with so high fps. However mw2 dosent req that much, it would be much easyer to run with a desent fps

[Dominionlord]

i wouldn't say that, prolly medium/high tho the design looks very cheap...

[Cypherus21]

The ATI 5550 and 5770 guarantees the irrelevance of these cards.

[LiibeSexiii91]

hm mag nicht nerven aber bin einsam wer hat lust zu quatschen

[burberrybedroom]

how much more powerful is this than a 8600gt???? is it worth it to upgrade it to this??????

[Fireiex]

it run cooler and use less power

[bob333336]

much more, ya kinda

[kristof070]

I think it would be a good upgrade . This little card is a Mid end card with kickass Memory , and the 8600 ... Its a low end GPU .

[burberrybedroom]

might go for it then.

[williamkendrick]

XD XD XD XD aww its so cuuuute :P

my msi gtx 275 v2 lightning edition makes that look like a toy hehe.

oh, @kuruGDI, the reason is simple: capacity vs pricepoint/performance ratio. not to mention loyalty. any owner of the lovely drives feels the same - love em. ssd could beat it vs power consumption/performance ratio, but not pricepoint, not really, not yet.

[xXiN5aNeXx]

worst box art ever

[flamingburner]

where can i buy this?

[CaptainDickerson]

HELLA YEAH! its awesome

[Ellista2k]

can anyone example badaboom program doesnt work for me, when i click on it i get BSOD ?

[punkzorr]

not dx11?

[Jefneurotoxin]

the latest nvidia video card was the 7900gt in 2006

[KuruGDI]

@ Rodney: Why do you still use the 2 Veloci Raptors in Raid 0? I thought you would get a Raid 0 with SSDs.

[3DGAMEMAN]

Yes, I am, but I'm waiting for the new firmware to be released for the SSDs before I upgrade.

[sandiegoborn32]

He says "GDDR5" sort of wierd. To me he does, at least.

Despite that little complaint, this is a great review of a great card!

[Rowdyeh]

Ideal card for an entertainment system! Thanks Rodney. PS, you can take down the YouTube processing message. Cheers!

[tippete123]

it looks very shitty compared to the ebst video cards

[GuideHero]

RODNEY: For the test system, what case would be best for those items? please answer ;D

[lbwlow]

Will it faster than a 48 stream processor 9600GS graphic card? I am thinking of upgrading my graphic card.

[misel141994]

HD is working :D youtube has processed it.

[LilWayne56789]

you should do a giveaway...

[zarksentinel]

love you review,can you do high end ati card review as well? thanks :)

[daoli1994]

he already did it :D

[flamingburner]

where can i buy this online or at a store?

[hound4680]

damn i should of bought this over galaxy 9500 gt  1gb

[DualCorePower]

I bought a galaxy 9500GT 1GB, very fast card only in DX9/XP. But yea the GT240 would of been a better choice. I bought a GT20 to replace that 9500gt, however its only slightly more powerful over the 9500gt, which is fine, but i took it back and just bought me a PNY 9800GT GREEN edition which is faster then a 9500GT, 9600gt, gt220 and gt240. Even tho the bandwidth on the GT240 is higher then the 9800GT. 240 = 60GB, 9800GT = 57.8GB, but overall the 9800gt is faster.

[qbthething]

i can understand why rodney review this thingy so long and with great details..This can improve his chances on nvidia company providing him more products which in term is good for us :)

[DualCorePower]

I am buying a GT240 for my Quad core system which i am buying later this year

[HowsItBroin]

are you going to game?

[DualCorePower]

um i always game.

[HowsItBroin]

well then you should look into the ati radeon 5700 series. a little bit more expensive, but you'll get DX11 and a huge performance jump.