A budget class graphics accelerator with very modest parameters and a low level of performance - this is the NVidia GeForce GT-520. The characteristics of this accelerator are really not impressive. And this adapter was released quite a long time by the standards of computer technology - in 2011. It is his capabilities and other related nuances that will be described in detail in the future.
The segment of the graphic adapters market this solution is oriented towards
Very modest demands were made on discrete entry-level graphics cards at the time sales began in 2011 for the GT-520. The characteristics of this solution are really modest, and the performance is minimal. At that time, there were a lot of motherboards without an integrated graphics subsystem, and the adapter considered in this material was designed to work in tandem with them. As a result, even in office and budget computing systems one could often find such discrete graphics cards. In the context of the gaming system, they could not be considered for the reason that even in the most modest image output mode, this accelerator could produce 15-28 FPS with a minimum of 30 FPS . Now integrated graphics cards have filled this segment of the graphics accelerator market . Discrete adapters in the integrated graphics can not be worthy of competition because the latter include the composition of the processor and there is no need to pay extra for them, which cannot be said about discrete accelerators. Therefore, this class of video cards is gradually disappearing into oblivion.
Processor specifications
The GF119 is the GPU code used by the NVidia GT-520. The characteristics of this silicon solution indicated that it belonged to the Fermi architecture. The tolerance standards by which it was manufactured corresponded to 40 nm. The frequency of this GPU was fixed and amounted to 810 MHz. The number of active CUDA units in this case was 48, and their frequency was set at 1620 MHz. There were 8 texture units in the framework of this solution, and 4 rasterization units. The number of video outputs in the GT-520 was 3. One analog VGA allowed outputting an image in 2048 x 1536 format and two digital DVI (the picture in this case was displayed in 2560 resolution x 1600) and HDMI (1920 x 1080).
Thermal chip features and temperature conditions
At 29 W, the power consumption for the GT-520 was set. The characteristics of this accelerator from the manufacturer's side indicated that the power supply system of the personal computer should be at least 300 watts. To this, it is also necessary to add that such a large value of the video card's power required an active cooling system and, due to this, the noise level increased during computer operation. The maximum permissible temperature for this accelerator is 102 degrees Celsius. In reality, this adapter functioned in the temperature range from 50 to 75 degrees.
RAM
To work in combination with memory chips standard GDDR3 was designed graphics card GeForce GT-520. The characteristics of this RAM controller indicated that it could work with a video buffer of 1 GB or even 2 GB. The recommended clock frequency of RAM was set at 1800 MHz. But most manufacturers, in order to minimize the cost of the end device, used in combination with the GT-520 even lower-speed memory chips with a clock frequency of 1,500 MHz or even 1,200 MHz, which further reduced the performance of such a graphics subsystem. The capacity of the RAM connection bus was 64 bits. The bandwidth of the video buffer was announced by the manufacturer at the level of 14.4 Gb / s.
Tests. Comparison with competitors
The very modest test results were shown at the start of sales by the NVidia GT-520 graphics card. Characteristics really did not allow her to do more. Most of the tests for games in 2011 are summarized in table 1. Moreover, the Radeon HD-6450 acts as an opponent . According to their results, it can be noted that even then this video card could not provide a comfortable "gameplay" like its direct competitor from AMD . Now the situation with toys is even more deplorable .
Table 1 - Comparative testing of the GT-520 from NVidia and the HD-6450 from AMD.
Game name | Borderlands | Crisis: warhead | JUST CAUSE 2 | Mafia 2 |
Picture output mode | 1280 x 1024, DX9, low quality. |
GT-520, fps | 24-34 | 11-19 | 15-23 | 10-18 |
HD-6450, fps | 19-28 | 12-24 | 12-20 | 10-18 |
Price and owner reviews
As soon as already in a maintained condition, a GT-520 graphics card can be purchased. Its characteristics are fully consistent with its value, which is now in the region of 2000 rubles. Only the question of such a purchase remains open. For the same amount you can find offers and much better. Owners of such adapters indicate that their performance is minimal and can only solve the simplest tasks. Installing such a solution in a new computer is pointless for the reason that it will not give any gain in performance or functionality. It is better to use the integrated graphics subsystem, which in its capabilities is certainly not inferior to the hero of this material.
Summary
At the time of its release, of course, the GT-520 became a relevant and very popular graphic accelerator. Its characteristics were perfect for organizing a budget or office system unit. But since then, quite a lot of time has passed and the niche that the hero of this review was aimed at has taken completely different decisions. It is initially impossible to compete on equal terms with integrated graphics with comparable performance and higher cost. Therefore, discrete solutions of this class are no longer available for this segment of the video card market.