ATI FireMV 2250

The ATI FireMV 2250 is an end-of-life, entry-level workstation graphics card built on the 90 nm Ultra-Threaded SE architecture. It is designed for multi-display productivity rather than 3D rendering, a role reflected in its modest specifications and benchmark profile.

Benchmark Performance

The FireMV 2250 does not have any synthetic or real-world benchmark scores recorded in the database, and its average benchmark score is listed as zero. Because of this, quantitative performance analysis must be based solely on its hardware characteristics rather than measured results. The card’s percentile rank against all GPUs is 50, which places it in the exact middle of the database’s performance distribution, but this figure is a default placeholder rather than a meaningful comparison, as the card has no competing scores in the nearestRivals dataset.

Without benchmark data, the card’s theoretical throughput is defined by its pixel and texture fillrates, both of which are 2.400 GPixel/s and 2.400 GTexel/s respectively. These figures are consistent with a card intended for 2D desktop work and video output, not for gaming or compute workloads. The 4 texture mapping units (TMUs) and 4 render output units (ROPs) are sufficient for basic framebuffer operations, but they are far below the counts found on any modern graphics processor. The memory subsystem, comprising 256 MB of DDR2 on a 128-bit bus, delivers a bandwidth of 12.80 GB/s. This bandwidth figure is adequate for driving multiple high-resolution displays in a business environment but is a fraction of what contemporary gaming cards require.

The absence of benchmark scores means the 50th percentile ranking cannot be interpreted as a performance advantage. In practice, the FireMV 2250 would be expected to lag every dedicated GPU released in the past decade by an enormous margin, though the database does not provide the deltaPct values to quantify this. The card’s 400 MHz memory clock (800 Mbps effective) and lack of any listed FP32 or FP16 compute throughput further underscore its role as a display adapter rather than a compute device.

Power and Cooling

The FireMV 2250 has a thermal design power (TDP) of 32 W, which is remarkably low by modern standards. This power envelope allows for completely passive or low-noise cooling solutions, and the card occupies a single slot. The cooling requirement is minimal: no power connectors are needed, and the suggested power supply unit rating is 200 W. This makes the card highly compatible with older or low-wattage office systems, where it can be installed without upgrading the PSU.

The board length is 170 mm (6.7 inches), with a height of 69 mm (2.7 inches) and a width of 23 mm (0.9 inches). These dimensions are compact, though the card is not a low-profile design. The 90 nm process node, manufactured by UMC, contains 105 million transistors on a 100 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 1.1 million transistors per square millimeter. This density is extremely low by contemporary standards, which explains the modest power draw. For a system builder, the key takeaway is that the card can be powered by any standard ATX PSU rated at or above 200 W, and it will not strain thermal budgets in small form-factor cases.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The FireMV 2250 has no dedicated ray tracing cores and no tensor cores, as these technologies were not part of the graphics landscape at the time of its design. The card relies on the Ultra-Threaded SE architecture, which is a unified shader design but does not include hardware acceleration for ray-traced lighting or AI-based features. The DirectX support is limited to version 9.0c (shader model 9_3), and OpenGL support is at version 2.1. No Vulkan support is listed, which means the card cannot run modern Vulkan-based applications or games.

The display outputs consist of one S-Video connector and one DMS-59 port. The DMS-59 connector is significant because it allows dual-link DVI output through a breakout cable, enabling two displays from a single port. This is the card’s primary feature set: multi-view output for financial trading desks, medical imaging, or any professional setting requiring multiple monitors. The PCIe 1.0 x16 bus interface is an early revision of the standard, but it is backward compatible with later PCIe slots, and the bandwidth is more than sufficient for 2D framebuffer transfers. The absence of tensor cores and RT cores means no hardware support for DLSS or ray-traced effects, but this is irrelevant for the card’s intended use case.

How It Compares

The nearestRivals field in the database is empty, which means there are no direct comparative scores or percentile deltas available for the FireMV 2250. As such, a quantitative comparison against specific competing GPUs is not possible from the provided data. The card’s 50th percentile rank is a neutral placeholder, implying that the database has no performance data to differentiate it from other cards.

In the absence of rival data, the FireMV 2250 must be assessed on its own merits. Its 12.80 GB/s memory bandwidth is sufficient for multi-monitor 2D output but is orders of magnitude below the bandwidth of even entry-level gaming GPUs from the last decade. The 32 W TDP and lack of power connectors make it an easy drop-in for legacy systems. The DirectX 9.0c and OpenGL 2.1 API support means it cannot run any modern 3D application with hardware acceleration. The card’s only meaningful advantage is its multi-display capability via the DMS-59 output, which was a niche feature even at launch.

Who Should Consider It

The FireMV 2250 is not a candidate for gaming, 3D rendering, or any compute workload. Its benchmark score of zero and lack of FP32 throughput make it unsuitable for these tasks. The card is best suited for users who need to drive multiple legacy monitors, specifically up to two displays via the DMS-59 connector, at resolutions that were common in the mid-2000s. For a workstation running stock tickers, spreadsheet applications, or basic office software, the 256 MB framebuffer and 12.80 GB/s bandwidth are adequate.

The 50th percentile ranking, while not based on actual benchmarks, suggests that the database treats it as a mid-pack performer among all GPUs, an artifact of the placeholder value rather than a real measure. At a 200 W PSU requirement, it is appropriate for older desktops with weak power supplies. The card supports DirectX 9.0c, which means it can handle very old 3D applications from the early 2000s, but it will not run any title requiring DirectX 10 or later. For users with a modern operating system, driver support will be a concern given the end-of-life status. In short, this card is only worth considering for a retro workstation build or for replacing a failed display adapter in a legacy system where no 3D performance is needed. It is not a viable choice for any current workload.