GeForce GTS 250M vs HD Graphics 3000
Aggregate performance score
We've compared HD Graphics 3000 and GeForce GTS 250M, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
GTS 250M outperforms HD Graphics 3000 by a whopping 118% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 1187 | 998 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | no data | 3.52 |
| Architecture | Generation 6.0 (2011) | Tesla 2.0 (2007−2013) |
| GPU code name | Sandy Bridge GT2+ | GT215 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 1 February 2011 (13 years ago) | 15 June 2009 (15 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 96 | 96 |
| Core clock speed | 650 MHz | 500 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1300 MHz | no data |
| Number of transistors | 1,160 million | 727 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 32 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | unknown | 28 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 15.60 | 16.00 |
| Floating-point processing power | 0.2496 TFLOPS | 0.24 TFLOPS |
| Gigaflops | no data | 360 |
| ROPs | 2 | 8 |
| TMUs | 12 | 32 |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Laptop size | no data | large |
| Bus support | no data | PCI-E 2.0 |
| Interface | Ring Bus | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| SLI options | - | + |
| MXM Type | no data | MXM 3.0 Type-B |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | System Shared | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | System Shared | 1 GB |
| Memory bus width | System Shared | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | System Shared | Up to 2000 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | no data | 51.2 GB/s |
| Shared memory | + | - |
Connectivity and outputs
Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.
| Display Connectors | Portable Device Dependent | HDMIVGALVDSSingle Link DVIDisplayPortDual Link DVI |
| HDMI | - | + |
| Maximum VGA resolution | no data | 2048x1536 |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| Power management | no data | 8.0 |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.1 (10_1) | 11.1 (10_1) |
| Shader Model | 4.1 | 4.1 |
| OpenGL | 3.1 | 2.1 |
| OpenCL | N/A | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
| CUDA | - | + |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.
3DMark Vantage Performance
3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Average FPS across all PC games
Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:
| Full HD | 8
−250%
| 28
+250%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 4−5
−50%
|
6−7
+50%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 1−2
−200%
|
3−4
+200%
|
| Hitman 3 | 5−6
−20%
|
6−7
+20%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 10−12
−36.4%
|
14−16
+36.4%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 6−7
−33.3%
|
8−9
+33.3%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−33
−10%
|
30−35
+10%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 4−5
−50%
|
6−7
+50%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 1−2
−200%
|
3−4
+200%
|
| Hitman 3 | 5−6
−20%
|
6−7
+20%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 10−12
−36.4%
|
14−16
+36.4%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 6−7
−33.3%
|
8−9
+33.3%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−11
−10%
|
10−12
+10%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−33
−10%
|
30−35
+10%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 4−5
−50%
|
6−7
+50%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
| Hitman 3 | 5−6
−20%
|
6−7
+20%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 10−12
−36.4%
|
14−16
+36.4%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 6−7
−33.3%
|
8−9
+33.3%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−11
−10%
|
10−12
+10%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−33
−10%
|
30−35
+10%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Far Cry New Dawn | 1−2
−100%
|
2−3
+100%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 0−1 | 1−2 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2
−100%
|
2−3
+100%
|
| Hitman 3 | 6−7
−16.7%
|
7−8
+16.7%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 3−4
−66.7%
|
5−6
+66.7%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 2−3
−250%
|
7−8
+250%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 0−1 | 1−2 |
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 2−3
−50%
|
3−4
+50%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 3−4
+0%
|
3−4
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 3−4
+0%
|
3−4
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 3−4
+0%
|
3−4
+0%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
4K
High Preset
| Far Cry New Dawn | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
This is how HD Graphics 3000 and GTS 250M compete in popular games:
- GTS 250M is 250% faster in 1080p
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTS 250M is 250% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- GTS 250M is ahead in 33 tests (70%)
- there's a draw in 14 tests (30%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.66 | 1.44 |
| Recency | 1 February 2011 | 15 June 2009 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 40 nm |
HD Graphics 3000 has an age advantage of 1 year, and a 25% more advanced lithography process.
GTS 250M, on the other hand, has a 118.2% higher aggregate performance score.
The GeForce GTS 250M is our recommended choice as it beats the HD Graphics 3000 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
