The mid-range graphics adapter of 2012, with affordable cost and acceptable technical specifications, is all about the NVidia GeForce GT 640. Of course, the adapter's characteristics are not outstanding, but its presence in the computer at the time sales started was enough to launch most of the toys on This moment. It is about this video card and its capabilities that will be discussed later.
Graphics adapter niche
NVidia California graphics accelerators for stationary system units are conventionally divided into two large groups:
Premium solutions with maximum performance, high power consumption and high cost. Also, the technical specifications in this regard are indeed beyond competition. Video cards of this group have the abbreviation GTX in the designation .
The second group of graphics cards from this leading manufacturer of such products is designated GT. In this case, the performance of the video subsystem is much lower, the technical specifications are more modest, and the price is more affordable. It is to this group of devices that the NVidia GeForce GT 640 belongs. The characteristics of this product confirm this once again.
Adapter options
Quite good (as for 2012) were the parameters in the NVidia GeForce GT 640. The characteristics of this computer component were as follows:
- The chip code is GK107. Architecture - Kepler.
- Production Technology - 28 nm. The number of transistors is 1.3 billion.
- The operating frequency of the core and CUDA cores is 900 MHz.
- The number of CUDA blocks is 384.
- The number of TMUs per conveyor is 32.
- The number of ROP modules is 16.
- At the system software level, DirectX and OpenGL technologies were supported . Their versions were 11.0 and 4.3 , respectively .
- The number of ports is 3. 2 digital DVI ( maximum image format - 2560 x 1600) and 1 analog - VGA (2048 x 1536) .
RAM graphics accelerator
In 2012, there was a gradual replacement of one type of RAM with another. More specifically, GDDR3 has been squeezed out of the GDDR5 market . As a result, this model of a graphics accelerator could be equipped with both the first type of RAM and another. The minimum RAM in this case was 1 GB, and the maximum RAM size for the NVidia GeForce GT 640 was 2 GB . The characteristics of the video buffer controller indicate that it was focused on memory chips with operating frequencies of 1800 MHz. As a result, it was most optimal to use GDDR3 on such accelerators . But from the use of GDDR5 to get an additional increase in performance was almost impossible. The capacity of the memory bus for this GPU was 64 bits.
Thermal Accelerator
At 49 W, the NVidia GeForce GT 640 had a thermal package. The characteristics of most similar video cards indicate that with this value of this parameter the cooling system can be passive. But this California company decided to play it safe and by default equipped these accelerators with systems with an active heat sink (that is, with a cooler). On the one hand, this approach made it possible to avoid overheating of the video accelerator in almost any situation, and on the other, added additional decibels to the overall noise level of the PC. The maximum allowable temperature value for this accelerator was 95 0 . But the minimum power of the power supply system of the system unit was limited to 300 watts.
Competitors
The main competitors of the hero of this review are video adapters integrated into the CPU. Their technical parameters are almost the same, as well as their speed. Even the maximum number they have is identical to the NVidia GeForce GT 640 - 2 GB. The characteristics of the GPUs themselves have a lot in which they also coincide. The main plus of the built-in accelerators is that they are already initially included in the PC and there is no need to purchase them separately. But such discrete graphics need to be additionally bought for an additional amount. Therefore, its acquisition is justified only in case of repair of the system unit due to a malfunction of the existing video card in the shortest possible time and at the lowest possible cost.
Cost. Reviews
In the new state, such a computer accessory can no longer be purchased: it has already been discontinued quite a long time ago, and stocks have been successfully sold. In maintained condition, such an accelerator can be purchased at various trading platforms on the Internet at a price of 3,000 to 3,500 rubles. The reviews of the majority of owners of such a computer component indicate, first of all, that the modern integrated graphics subsystems and the NVidia GeForce GT 640 have the same level of performance. ASUS (the characteristics of the products under this brand always differed somewhat from its competitors) GT released 640 in a special version with improved cooling system. This is a GT 640-2GD3 model . As a result, such adapters can be overclocked and achieved due to this certain gain in speed in relation to modern integrated graphics. Otherwise, as noted earlier, the technical parameters of the integrated video cards duplicate the GT 640 and have similar performance .
Summary
At the time of its release, the NVidia GeForce GT 640 was a worthy accelerator of the middle class. Its characteristics were really relevant and allowed to launch most of the existing toys at that time. Now this accelerator has gradually descended into the segment of entry-level products and now it has to withstand integrated video subsystems. The latter have one important advantage: they are included in the PC from the very beginning and there is no need to pay extra for them.