The Gainward GT 240 Golden Sample is a new proposal for higher 3D performance compared to the already introduced GT210/GT220 series. Gainward got the generic Nvidia board and added some additional 512MB of GDDR5 memory reaching a total of 1024MB. This increase gave a wider overclocking margin, as it was confirmed in our tests.

Passing to the raw performance numbers, we can safely say that this card is faster from the GT210/GT220 series as well as the previous generation Nvidia 9600GT cards. However it remains slower than other graphics cards that would cost you slightly more. This seems to be the biggest "problem" of the GT 240 series.

Listing more positive for this card, we can say that it doesn't need any external power but it will occupy two empty slots at the back of your PC, due to its large GPU cooler. The support for the CUDA technology is definitely a plus.

The GT240 series faces the strong competition from other Nvidia-based products (9800GT) as well as from ATI's newest series (HD5750) at the €110~120Euro price range. A look around the stores for the best price could be a good choice before making a purchasing decision.