MSI N240GT Review - PAGE 2

After playing around with the Palit GT240, I was a little disappointed when I first saw the MSI N240GT. Not because it was an entirely different card, but because the heat sink did not look impressive at all. This isn't a reason to dislike a video card, so I immediately put that thought aside. The N240GT is roughly the same size as Palit's offering, and uses a nice black PCB. We can also see that the memory modules are all located on the front of the card.

Flipping the card over reveals a rather empty backside. Like the Palit GT240 the N240GT's cooler is mounted to the card via four screws. Unlike the Palit GT240, the N240GT doesn't have a warranty void sticker located on top of one of these screws. This is, once again, an unimportant fact. However, it's nice to see that you can remove the cooler without voiding your warranty.

The N240GT, like all GT240's, was designed with the HTPC user in mind. For this reason it's equipped with three display ports. These include a DVI port, an HDMI port, and a standard VGA port. The three, arguably, most important ports are located on the card itself, so no adapters were included in the packaging. Right above the display ports is the N240GT's rear vent. Usually this is a plain and boring part of a video card. However, MSI decided to make their name part of the vent as well.

The GT240's are able to draw all the power they need straight from your motherboards PCIe slot. The N240GT is no different. The power connector isn't the only thing missing. If you're looking to SLI then the GT240 is not the card for you. However, if you want to use it as a PhysX card then go for it. According to Nvidia a GT240 used as a PhysX card while paired with a GTX275, can increase performance up to 50%.

Scattered around the card are the military class SSCs. There are three in total, and each is conveniently labeled SSC. Removing the N240GT's cooler is extremely easy. Simply unscrew the four screws located on the back of the card, and pull.

The MSI N240GT's cooler is extraordinarily basic. It consists of a decent sized chunk of aluminum, and a sexy black fan with the MSI logo. The aluminum is finned in order to provide more surface area. The surface of the cooler is very flat, so it should provide good contact with the GT215 chip. Hopefully this cooler will be able to keep the N240GT nice and cool.

With the cooler removed we can more clearly see the four memory modules. These four modules make up the N240GT's 512MB of GDDR5 memory. Located in the center of these memory modules is the GT215 core. The N240GT's GT215 core is stock clocked at 550MHz. The memory clock is 1800MHz, and the Shader clock comes in at 1340MHz.

Specifications

The GT240 offers PhysX, 3D Vision, and Cuda for around $90. Unlike other Nvidia cards the GT240 has unboard audio, so users looking to use an HDMI cable will not need an SPDIF cable as well. When the GT240 is used as a PhysX card with a GTX 275 games can run up to 50% faster. The GT240 is equipped with a GT215 chip, which is built on a 40nm process and uses 96 Stream Processors. The card is equipped with 512MB of GDDR5 memory on a 128Bit bus.

Smallest of The Bunch: 4870 X2, GTX 260, 5750, N250GT                              Slightly Different: Palit GT240 Sonic, MSI N240GT

So what does the N240GT offer you, that other GT240's don't? Well for one thing it allows you to increase the voltage. Actually, the N240GT is the first GT240 that supports over voltage. That and it's military class components should make for some great overclockablity.