GeForce GT 440 video adapter: the ideal solution for entry-level gaming PCs

An excellent graphics accelerator for the gaming personal computer of the economy class is the GeForce GT 440. This video adapter combines a very democratic cost and an acceptable level of performance. It is for these two reasons that this solution is perfect for organizing an entry-level gaming system .

On which segment of the market this accelerator is aimed

Historically, NVidia immediately represents the most productive graphics cards that belong to the GTX lineup. Then, after six months, there is a more accessible family of graphics adapters with the GT prefix. These solutions have both a more democratic value and a lower level of productivity. It is the products of the latter group that the GeForce GT 440 belongs to. The characteristics of this accelerator are the best among the products of the GT 4XX series. This video accelerator will perfectly fit into the basic game system, on such a PC most of the modern toys will go.

Graphics Adapter Features

The number of processor cores that make up the GeForce GT 440 is equal to 96. The operating frequency of such a core in this case is 810 MHz, and for the GPU itself, the specification specifies a value of 1.62 GHz. At the software level, this adapter supports DirectX specifications from Microsoft version 11.0, and Open GL - 4.0. The very same accelerator is designed for installation in the slot of the PCI-Express 2.0 motherboard and can operate in 16X mode. The number of ports for displaying the image on the monitor in this case can be three. Two of them are digital (DVI and HDMI), and one is analog (VGA). Again, in some cases, the number of these ports can be reduced by a single manufacturer to 2. Therefore, before purchasing such an adapter, you need to specify the list of ports implemented in it.

Cooling system. Temperature range, heat package

Very much a solid heat package in the GeForce GT 440, which is 65 watts. It is for this reason that this accelerator can not function steadily in combination with a passive cooling system and only coolers are used with this video card. On the one hand, this engineering solution allows to solve the problem of excess heat removal, and on the other hand it increases the noise level of the system unit. But in this case, it is impossible to exclude the possible overheating of the adapter during operation. Due to the thermal package value of 65W, the system does not need additional power supply system GeForce GT 440. The characteristics of the PCI-Express slot indicate the maximum allowable value of the adapter's heat pack of 75W. The maximum permissible temperature for a given semiconductor solution is 98 ° C. In reality, when solving most problems, the values of this parameter are in the range from 50 ° C to 70 ° C. It should also be noted that the manufacturer of this video card recommends equipping the system units with such an accessory power supplies with a minimum power of 300 watts. If this condition is not met, then a personal computer may be damaged in the future.

Memory subsystem

The most typical amount of RAM for the GeForce GT 440 is 1024Mb. But you can also meet modifications with 512 MB. In the first case, an obsolete RAM type is used - DDR3 and its operating frequency is 900 MHz. The second version uses the type of RAM GDDR5, which operates at a working frequency of 1600 MHz. Although in the second case RAM is faster, but its reduced by 2 times the volume has a very negative effect on the performance of the graphics subsystem. Therefore, there is no cardinal difference in performance between these two modifications. 128 bits - exactly this bit capacity in this device has a memory bus. The throughput capacity for DDR3 is 28.8 Gb / s, and for GDDR5 it is 51.2 Gb / s.

Possible competitors

The main competitors for NVidia GeForce GT 440 are integrated video cards. Comparison of specifications with Intel's products of this class indicates that a higher level of performance will be achieved in conjunction with discrete graphics, and not the least role in this case is the use of a separate RAM for the graphics subsystem. The integrated graphics cards from AMD are also losing their performance in this performance, too. Therefore, the use of such a discrete video system in the gaming PC of the primary class is more than justified. Well, the current cost of such an accelerator does not even leave much room for its direct competitors.

The cost of this adapter. User Reviews

For today for 3500-4000 rubles it is possible to purchase NVidia GeForce GT 440 in the second-hand condition. In the new version, such an adapter can not be found. This cost is justified for a product of this class. In this case, the presence of a separate video buffer in this accelerator allows you to achieve a certain increase in performance compared to integrated graphics adapters in semiconductor crystals of central processors. As a result, the use of an entry level discrete graphics subsystem based on the GeForce GT 440 is quite justified in gaming PCs. The reviews focus specifically on this feature of this accelerator.

Summary

An excellent graphic accelerator of the initial class is to this day GeForce GT 440. Its computing power is enough to run most existing gaming applications, but not with the maximum settings. Well, with the rest of the software, he also can fully cope. Also, in comparison, even with the current integrated graphics cards, it has high speed and good performance. Therefore, the use of such a discrete graphics accelerator in gaming personal computers of the entry level is quite justified to this day and takes place.