ATI Radeon HD 4250

The ATI Radeon HD 4250 is an end-of-life graphics card from AMD, built on the RV620 chip using the TeraScale architecture. Fabricated by TSMC on a 55 nm process, it packs 181 million transistors into a 67 mm² die, for a transistor density of 2.7M per mm². Released on 2009-02-24, it belongs to the Radeon R600 generation, specifically the HD 4200 family, and sits between the Radeon R500 PCIe and the Radeon R700 in the product lineage. The card draws a modest 25 W, requires no auxiliary power connectors, and fits in a single slot, with a suggested power supply of 200 W. It connects via PCIe 2.0 x16 and offers 1x DVI, 1x VGA, and 1x S-Video display outputs. In the benchmark database, it holds the 50th percentile position among all GPUs tracked.

Memory Subsystem

The Radeon HD 4250 is equipped with 512 MB of DDR2 memory on a 64-bit bus. The memory clock runs at 396 MHz, producing an effective data rate of 792 Mbps and a total bandwidth of 6.336 GB/s. This is a deliberately modest memory configuration. The combination of a 64-bit bus and DDR2 signaling means the memory subsystem is the primary constraint on performance at high resolutions. With only 6.336 GB/s of bandwidth, the card cannot feed large frame buffers efficiently, and 512 MB of VRAM limits the texture working set for demanding titles. At high resolutions, the memory interface would become saturated quickly, causing frame pacing to suffer in scenes with heavy texture streaming or post-processing effects. The 64-bit bus width is particularly restrictive for bandwidth-bound workloads, since each memory transaction carries a limited amount of data per cycle. The effective 792 Mbps data rate is a product of the 396 MHz clock and the DDR2 double-data-rate signaling. For lower resolutions and older software, the 6.336 GB/s figure is sufficient, but the data clearly indicates that high-resolution gaming is outside the card's intended envelope. The 512 MB capacity is also a limiting factor — modern game assets and high-resolution textures would exceed this allocation quickly, forcing the driver to manage memory spills that further reduce effective bandwidth. Overall, the memory subsystem defines the HD 4250's performance ceiling more than any other component.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The HD 4250 does not include RT cores or tensor cores — both fields are null in the specification data. This is consistent with its TeraScale architecture, which predates dedicated ray tracing and AI acceleration hardware. The card supports DirectX 10.1 at feature level 10_1 and OpenGL 3.3. Vulkan is not supported, which limits its compatibility with modern graphics APIs. The shading engine consists of 40 shading units, 4 texture mapping units, and 4 raster operation units. The pixel rate is 2.376 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 2.376 GTexel/s. FP32 compute throughput is 47.52 GFLOPS. These figures place the card firmly in the era of unified shader architectures. The DirectX 10.1 feature level enables a subset of modern rendering techniques, including hardware support for certain shader models and render targets, but the lack of Vulkan support and the absence of any dedicated ray tracing or tensor hardware mean that contemporary rendering workloads are not addressable. The 4 ROPs are a particular bottleneck for fill-rate-bound effects, as the 2.376 GPixel/s pixel rate is low. The 4 TMUs deliver a matching 2.376 GTexel/s texture rate, meaning texture fetch and pixel output are perfectly balanced but both are constrained by the small number of units. The 40 shading units provide 47.52 GFLOPS of FP32 compute, which is sufficient for basic shader work but falls short for compute-heavy effects.

How It Compares

The database records no nearest rivals for the Radeon HD 4250, so direct percentage comparisons against specific competing GPUs are not available. Its 50th percentile rank among all GPUs tracked places it at the exact midpoint of the performance distribution. This is a notable position: it means half of all GPUs in the database are faster and half are slower, making the HD 4250 a median performer in the broader landscape. In the context of its own product lineage, the Radeon HD 4250 succeeds the Radeon R500 PCIe and precedes the Radeon R700. Within the Radeon R600 generation, specifically the HD 4200 family, it represents the entry-level tier. The 55 nm TSMC process and 181 million transistor count are modest for the era, and the 25 W TDP places it in the low-power segment. The 67 mm² die size and 2.7M per mm² transistor density reflect a design focused on cost efficiency rather than raw performance. Because no rival scores or delta percentages are recorded, the comparison must be framed by its percentile position and its theoretical throughput figures rather than head-to-head benchmark deltas. The absence of rivals in the database is itself a data point — it suggests the HD 4250 was not typically benchmarked alongside other GPUs, likely due to its entry-level positioning and end-of-life status. The 50th percentile rank, however, provides a useful anchor: users can infer that the card delivers median performance relative to the entire database population.

Who Should Consider It

The Radeon HD 4250 is best suited for users with modest display requirements. The 1x DVI, 1x VGA, and 1x S-Video outputs cover basic connectivity for legacy monitors and projectors. The 25 W TDP and absence of power connectors mean it can be installed in systems with a 200 W power supply without additional cabling. The 512 MB DDR2 memory and 6.336 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for desktop productivity, video playback, and light 3D workloads at lower resolutions. For gaming, the DirectX 10.1 feature level and 47.52 GFLOPS of FP32 compute suggest the card can handle older titles at reduced settings and resolutions. The 50th percentile ranking indicates it sits in the middle of the GPU performance spectrum, so users should not expect high-refresh-rate or high-resolution experiences. The 2.376 GPixel/s pixel rate and 2.376 GTexel/s texture rate are the limiting factors for 3D workloads; at higher resolutions, these rates would be strained by even moderately complex scenes. The card is a reasonable choice for a secondary display output, a legacy system build, or a low-power media center where 3D performance is not the primary concern. The absence of Vulkan support and the lack of RT and tensor cores further narrow the use case to older software and basic display tasks. The single-slot form factor and lack of power connectors make installation straightforward in almost any chassis. The PCIe 2.0 x16 interface ensures compatibility with a wide range of motherboards. For users with a 200 W power supply, the 25 W TDP is easily accommodated.

Benchmark Performance

The benchmark database contains no recorded scores for the Radeon HD 4250 — the benchmarks array is empty and the average benchmark score is 0. This absence of data is itself informative: it suggests the card was not widely benchmarked in the database's collection, possibly due to its end-of-life status and entry-level positioning. The theoretical performance metrics provide the only quantitative basis for assessment. The FP32 compute throughput of 47.52 GFLOPS, pixel rate of 2.376 GPixel/s, and texture rate of 2.376 GTexel/s are the card's peak figures. The memory bandwidth of 6.336 GB/s is the binding constraint in most workloads. With a 64-bit bus and DDR2 at 396 MHz, the memory subsystem delivers data at a rate that is low relative to the card's compute capabilities. This imbalance means that in practice, the HD 4250 would be memory-bound in most 3D scenarios. The 50th percentile rank places it at the midpoint of all GPUs, but without rival scores or delta percentages, a precise performance comparison is not possible. The data indicates a card that delivers consistent, if modest, throughput for its era, with the 40 shading units and 4 TMUs working in concert to produce the 2.376 GTexel/s texture fill rate. The 4 ROPs cap the pixel throughput at 2.376 GPixel/s, which is the ceiling for any resolution or setting combination. The 47.52 GFLOPS FP32 figure, while low by modern standards, is consistent with the card's 25 W TDP and 55 nm process. The 181 million transistors on a 67 mm² die yield a density of 2.7M per mm², indicating a design that prioritized power efficiency over performance. In summary, the Radeon HD 4250 is a low-power, entry-level GPU from the TeraScale era, with no recorded benchmark scores, a 50th percentile overall rank, and theoretical peak figures that define its performance envelope. The lack of benchmark data means that any performance assessment must rely on the architectural specifications and the percentile anchor.