NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 video card: review, description, specifications and reviews

The computer market of graphic video adapters is full of all kinds of devices, the price of which is in the range of 3000-50000 rubles. Naturally, this run-in is related to the performance in games and the availability of the potential for overclocking. However, many users are interested in an ordinary video card from the budget segment, which will allow to launch an interesting game and enjoy a dynamic process, albeit not at the maximum settings.

The focus of this article is an entry-level NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 video card. The review, description, features and reviews will help the reader to learn a lot of useful information that will be useful in the future when buying this wonderful and very affordable device.

Basic characteristics of the chipset

Do not expect anything supernatural from the budget video adapter NVIDIA GeForce GT 220. Technical characteristics declared by the manufacturer are incomparable with devices of the middle and upper class, therefore it is recommended to take them without negativity.

1. The graphics chipset GT 216 is built using 40 nanometer technology.
2. The frequency of the graphics core is 625 MHz, and the memory runs at 1600 MHz.
3. The memory is built on GDDR3 technology and has a 128-bit bus.
4. The amount of RAM is 1024 MB.
5. The number of stream processors is 48 pieces, and the bus bandwidth is 25.6 gigabytes per second.
6. For the transmission of a quality image is responsible for DirectX 10.1, the number of blocks, texture filtering is 16 pieces, and the number of ROPs is 8 pieces.

Appearance and equipment

Quite interesting is the box from the manufacturer, in which the video card NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 is supplied. The characteristics of the device decorate the package in the form of small labels that are located at the edges of the box display. No hints, except for inscriptions, on the contents of the packaging there.

The NVIDIA circuit pack is made in a simple style: capacitors and power elements are installed in even rows and even a cooler with a cooler looks somehow conservative. The length of the video adapter is 17 centimeters, which allows it to be installed in any existing case, including the Barabone system for home multimedia centers. It is worth noting that the cooling system closes only the graphics core and memory chips, which are neatly placed side by side. In addition to the video card, there are discs with drivers and a small instruction in the box.

Disclosure of potential

Do not forget that all existing video cards on the computer market are designed for games. Not an exception is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 device, the characteristics of which have a significant difference from the High-End class video adapters. To unleash the full potential of the video card, it is recommended to use the following computer configuration:

• A dual-core processor running at a frequency of at least 2 GHz;
• Two gigabytes of RAM in Dual mode;
• A hard disk with a spindle speed of 7200 rpm (or SSD drive);
• Operating system Windows 7 Professional or higher.

If, for some reason, non-recommended components are installed in the system unit and have a performance lower than the specified requirements, it is unlikely that the owner will be able to achieve the maximum number of frames per second (FPS).

Gaming opportunities

Having ascertained that for the decent performance of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 graphics card, the characteristics of the processor and other components play a significant role, you can proceed to testing the device. It should be noted that the maximum resolution of the screen, which the video adapter will handle, is 1280x1024 dots per inch, however, it is recommended to use a lower resolution (1024х768) to improve image quality and speed characteristics.

Fans of the game Crysis and the world of tanks budget device is able to demonstrate 25 frames per second. Toys Farcry 2, Resident Evel 5 and Bioshock will be able to play 60 FPS. All listed games were launched in the automatic detection mode of the video adapter. If you go into the detailed settings, it turns out that all applications preferred to use the minimum settings.

Consumer goods

ASUS NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 video card is considered the most affordable device among analogues of other manufacturers. The thing is that in the company's laboratory they decided to install their own cooling system on the adapter and to provide products on the market as the cheapest video card. As the owners say in their reviews, a cheap radiator and a small cooler bleed the dust off the video card, in fact, the graphics core, even with the cooling off, does not warm above 60 degrees Celsius.

However, the manufacturer on one of the drives with drivers provided a proprietary utility for overclocking the video card called SmartDoctor, of course, all owners had a desire to test the program. The ASUS video card demonstrates stable performance at a frequency of 705 MHz (basic 625 MHz), respectively, an increase of 13%. An excellent indicator for a budget class device.

Serious player

The video card NVIDIA GeForce GT 220, presented by Zotac company will please with its productivity all game lovers. It's all a matter of the proprietary cooling system - the manufacturer did not economize on metal, having installed an aluminum radiator practically on the entire surface of the printed circuit board. As you might expect, a cooler, created in the laboratories of Zotac, takes part in the cooling. He is known to all fans for his noiselessness and very effective work. True, the air flow is not directional, there is no casing on top, so the cooling efficiency of the entire radiator is reduced.

The performance in games with this video adapter significantly increases if you overclock the graphics core to 750 MHz, with a slight heating of the PCB, but this does not affect the stability of the work. Very strange things are with increasing the frequency of memory, even a small overclock destabilizes performance.

New Product

The company Chaintech, known to users for the production of high-quality and affordable cases, power supplies and cooling systems, also presented the market with its vision of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 video adapter. The price of the device, compared to its competitors, is quite attractive (3000 rubles). However, as it turned out, a branded cooler with a copper base is not enough for decent cooling. The problem is that the radiator only touches the graphics core, and the memory chips and power elements that are also heated are left without a heat sink. Yes, the airflow created by the fan falls on the printed circuit board, but the efficiency is still lower than when fully in contact with the heat conductor.

As a result of overclocking, the user will be able to increase the frequency of the graphics core to 710 MHz. Further all depends on cooling inside the case, if the hood works with dignity, you can experiment with overclocking and on, but as practice shows, the video adapter starts to produce artifacts (colored cubes) on the monitor screen.

Bargain

An interesting product was released by Gainward on the NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 chipset. Media reviews about this video card are quite interesting. First, the manufacturer has reduced the amount of video memory by half (512 MB installed) and this significantly affected the price of the device (up to 3,000 rubles). The manufacturer installed a proprietary cooling system with a protective casing, as it is implemented in top-end video cards. Thanks to this, the airflow from the fan has a directional effect, and does not dissipate to the sides, as it does for all other video cards. Confused only contact with the graphics core pad, it is aluminum, and not copper.

A decent cooling system does an excellent job of removing heat, allowing the graphics core to accelerate to 750 MHz. Excellent result for the cheapest device in the review. There are complaints from users to the noise of the fan, but high performance eventually takes over, so many people do not pay attention to the rumble.

Strange approach

A well-known manufacturer of motherboards, Elitegroup presented its vision of the video card NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 on the market. However, most users immediately rejected the product after learning that it uses the old type of GDDR2 memory. Unlike all competitors, the video card and without tests will show low results in games. And if the buyer thinks that the situation can be rectified by dispersal, then he is mistaken. The manufacturer installed memory modules Qimonda, capable of operating at a frequency of 1000 MHz.

There are also questions about the cooling system, the experts have the opinion that the manufacturer installed a conventional round cooler, which is known to all owners of ECS motherboards (the north bridge is cooled by a similar device). Expect decent cooling from it is not necessary, even at high revs the airflow is very low.

Beauty requires sacrifice

Another Taiwanese manufacturer Gigabyte decided that the NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 chip can handle the job using the GDDR2 bus. Unlike competitors, the video card has a huge heatsink covering almost the entire surface of the printed circuit board, and the same size fan. The whole cooling system is closed with a protective casing that does not allow cold air to dissipate.

But the performance of the video card in games is very low, even a decent overclocking of the graphics core will not bring the desired result to the owner. However, everyone will like the quiet operation, sometimes it seems that the cooler is completely disconnected. Novelty is more suitable for office employees and for undemanding home users, because toys are still launched and at low settings allow you to enjoy a dynamic storyline.

Finally

Expect something grand from video cards of entry level is not worth it. The device NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 is designed for non-resource-intensive games and will be interesting to fans of old games (released 2-4 years ago), where there are no special requirements for technology and high throughput. And if the computer is going to rest and multimedia, the device will enjoy the presence of all popular interfaces that allow you to connect the system unit to any video playback device.