The key to model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) algorithms for transmission computed tomography lies in the ability to accurately model the data formation process from the emitted photons produced in the transmission source to the measured photons at the detector. Therefore, accurately modeling the system matrix that accounts for the data formation process is a prerequisite for MBIR-based algorithms. In this work we compared quantitative performance of the three representative ray-driven methods for calculating the system matrix; the ray-tracing method (RTM), the distance-driven method (DDM), and the strip-area based method (SAM). We implemented the ordered-subsets separable surrogates (OS-SPS) algorithm using the three different models and performed simulation studies using a digital phantom. Our experimental results show that, in spite of the more advanced features in the SAM and DDM, the traditional RTM implemented in the OS-SPS algorithm with an edge-preserving regularizer out-performs the SAM and DDM in restoring complex edges in the underlying object. The performance of the RTM in smooth regions was also comparable to that of the SAM or DDM.