Palit GeForce GT 210 And GT 220 Sonic Edition Graphics Cards: 40nm On Budget
littlelion | 27 October, 2009 13:51
Our friends from PC Trends, Inc., flooded us with a lot of graphics cards from Palit lately. The cards that we had were based on NVIDIA’s entry level GPUs for the GeForce 200 series, namely the GT 220 and the GT 210. The most interesting fact about these GPUs is that they are NVIDIA’s first chips which were manufactured using the 40nm process. Most members of the GeForce 200 series were produced using the 55nm technology.
As a rule of thumb in the field of nanotechnology, a lower number would mean smaller die size, lesser power consumption, and cooler temperature for GPUs. But do these benefits really occur in actuality at all times? We leave that question hanging, but we do assure you that it is going to be answered in the coming issues of HWM Philippines. For the meantime, let’s take a peek at the Palit graphics cards piece by piece.
Palit GeForce GT 210
Let’s start off with the lower end variant of the class, the Palit GeForce GT 210 graphics card. As you can see, this card has a very spartan layout so one might think that it is among those cards that can be normally seen inside a pre-built desktop computer.
For this graphics card, cooling is standard fare as well. The cooler is reminiscent of that found on GeForce 4 graphics cards. We went on to see what lies under the cooler.
Here is the photo of the GPU being compared with a 1-peso coin. The name “NVIDIA” aside, another prominent marking on the chip is the code GT218-300-A2. The prefix GT218 actually stands for the codename of the GPU. According to our sources, the GT 210 has a die size of 55mm2 and is composed of 260 million transistors.
A closer look at the Elixir DDR2 memory chips used on the Palit GT 210. The card has a total of 512MB video memory size.
The graphics card in its full frontal glory. Take note that it only uses regular electrolytic capacitors.
The back of the card.
On the connectivity front, the card comes with an HDMI, VGA and DVI output. You should notice the lack of the legacy analog TV-out port, a trend that is fast becoming a paradigm among graphics cards today. Of course, since the GT 210 is an entry level option, this Palit has no power connector as well.
This screenshot of GPU-Z shows us the breakdown of the GT 210’s specifications and temperature reading. By and large, this rendition of Palit complies with the conventions set by NVIDIA for the GT 210.
Palit GT 220 Sonic Edition
Our next stop is the higher end Palit GT 220 Sonic Edition. Branded with the “Sonic” label, we can see that Palit has managed to make this card more powerful by overclocking its core, memory and shader clocks. NVIDIA’s reference card is nailed only at 615MHz at the core, 1580Mhz at the graphics memory, and 1335MHz at the shaders.
With that said, it is a necessity for this GT 220 card to be equipped with a more sizeable cooling solution.
Codenamed GT216, the GT 220 comes with a larger die size and more transistors than the GT 210 chip. For the record, the GT 220’s die measures 100mm2 and is made up of 486 million transistors.
A total of four Qimonda DDR3 video memory chips make up the 512MB memory size of this Palit graphics card.
The relatively dumpy outline of the card is soldered with solid capacitors, which gives us the impression of longer lifespan and better performance under stressful conditions.
The rear of the card.
Like the GT 210 graphics card, this GT 220 has the same set of interfaces and has no power connector as well.
This screenshot of GPU-Z shows us the considerable clock boosts that Palit has applied on this GT 220 version, especially on the memory clock. We can also see here the lower temperature reading that the GT 220 has compared with that of the GT 210, though the difference is marginal. We allude such a result to the larger GPU cooler that the Palit GT 220 Sonic Edition possesses.
In general, the Palit GeForce GT 210 and GT 220 Sonic Edition graphics cards exactly match the modern definition of an entry level offering. At the time of writing, the cards were going through a series of benchmarks and though the final scores were not settled yet, we can say that the cards, the GT 220 Sonic Edition in particular, are ideal constituents for an HTPC setup and decent for light gaming.
comments
prices
distributor | 28/10/2009, 13:55
GT 220 vs 9600GT
fiorina | 03/11/2009, 21:18
I just read HWZ SG's review about the GT 220. The 9600GT is still more powerful than the GT 220. You can buy a 9600GT card at a price range of 3,000-4,000 pesos.
OEM
dimabenta | 07/11/2009, 11:21
NVIDIA should have reserved these cards bundled with those pre-built PCs.
A strategy?
el_greco | 10/11/2009, 16:38
I think this is simply NVIDIA's desperate strategy to milk more from their GeForce 200 series.
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The GT 210 costs P2,100. The GT 220 Sonic is not yet priced. However, for the non-Sonic GT 220s, here are the prices:
Palit GT 220 512MB - P3,000
Palit GT 220 1GB - P3,800