The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Review, Feat. Gigabyte, Zotac, & EVGA
by Ryan Smith on October 9, 2012 9:00 AM ESTMeet The EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Super Superclocked Edition 1GB
Our first retail card of the day and the other 1GB card in our roundup is EVGA’s GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Super Superclocked Edition. This is EVGA’s factory overclocked model, with EVGA giving it a rather massive factory overclock of 146MHz (16%), pushing the shipping clockspeed to 1071MHz core while the memory clockspeed remains unchanged at 5.4GHz. Due to the size of the overclock this is one of the few occasions where EVGA skips a Superclocked card and just moves straight to Super Superclocked, which is why the GTX 650 Ti SSC doesn’t have a SC counterpart.
| GeForce GTX 650 Ti Partner Card Specification Comparison | ||||||
| GeForce GTX 650 Ti(Ref) | EVGA GTX 650 Ti SSC | Zotac GTX 650 Ti AMP! | Gigabyte GTX 650 Ti OC | |||
| Base Clock | 925MHz | 1071MHz | 1033MHz | 1033MHz | ||
| Memory Clock | 5.4GHz | 5.4GHz | 6.2GHz | 5.4GHz | ||
| Frame Buffer | 1GB | 1GB | 2GB | 2GB | ||
| Width | Double Slot | Double Slot | Double Slot | Double Slot | ||
| Length | 5.75" | 5.75" | 5.75" | 9.3" | ||
| Warranty | N/A | 3 Year | 2 Year + Life | 3 Year | ||
| Price Point | $149 | $159 | $179 | $174 | ||
Factory overclock aside, as is typical for EVGA the GTX 650 Ti SSC is very similar to NVIDIA’s reference design. Here EVGA is using the NVIDIA reference PCB but with their own cooler. EVGA’s design uses a larger, mid-profile aluminum heatsink, with a partial shroud covering it. This is still an open air cooler, but compared to the NVIDIA reference design EVGA is channeling a larger portion of air towards the card’s exhaust, which uses EVGA’s increasingly common high-flow bracket. Other than the factory overclock and the larger cooler, the GTX 650 Ti SSC is identical to the NVIDIA reference design, right down to connector placement and the display connectivity options.
Of course no EVGA card would be complete without EVGA’s software suite. EVGA has continued to update PrecisionX and OC Scanner X as newer GeForce 600 cards have come out, both of which are going to be more important than usual for the GTX 650 Ti SSC due to its overclocking capabilities. PrecisionX remains as the gold standard for video card overclocking utilities (alongside its sibling MSI Afterburner) thanks to its UI, and in this case voltage control support. OC Scanner X meanwhile is one of the best artifact scanners we’ve seen, though like other artifact scanners its ability to find problems is hit & miss; Crysis tends to trip up an overclock before OC Scanner X does.
Rounding out the rest of package is EVGA’s typical collection of accessories and knick-knacks. In the box you’ll find a molex power adapter, a quick start guide, and some stickers. As with all EVGA cards, the GTX 650 Ti SSC comes with EVGA’s standard 3 year transferable warranty, with individual 2 or 7 year extensions available for purchase upon registration, which will also unlock access to EVGA’s step-up upgrade program. Finally, the EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Super Superclocked 1GB will be hitting retail with an MSRP of $159, $10 over the MSRP for reference 1GB cards. EVGA will also be offering a 2GB version of this card at $179.
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SodaAnt - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
Why is it that all the manufacturers seem to have the need to put two huge fans and heatsinks on a GPU that only has a TDP of 110W? I mean, I can see having that on a GTX 680 or something, it needs it, but why bother on a low end card? You're just adding price for what is pretty much looks.Shark321 - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
Chip cooling results usually in high noise, so I'm glad they put large heatsinks on the 650 Ti.Blazorthon - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
The 650 Ti has some of the lowest noise and temp results of any graphics card in its class. Those large coolers are definitely beneficial, not that I wouldn't mind seeing some single slot 650 Ti models.MrSpadge - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
"But as it stands today the GTX 650 Ti only makes real sense for buyers who absolutely cannot go over $149"If said buyer can't add another 20$ he probably shouldn't be spending his money on a video card at all.
TheJian - Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - link
You can say that at any price...LOL. Everyone's budget is different. The 660TI really only makes sense for someone who can't spend another $100 on a 670...And then you chime in with your comment again...Both comments are pointless. Ryan puts crap like that in to disparage NV in every article. At $149 it comes with AC3 a AAA title not even released yet, arguably the card is only $120. Unless you think you'll be able to get AC3 for the price of $30 the day it hits. I doubt it. Probably $45-60. So quite a good deal for someone wanting AC3 and only having $150 correct? Pull your head out Ryan. :) Quit making bias comments like this. It's amazing they even give you a AAA title at $150 range.If some kid's been saving his allowance for ages and finally has $150, to replace his old X card it makes total sense. Same for any adult. These cards are for people who don't have $200 etc. No point in making any comment like ryan did.
And at 1680x1050, where most of these users will run this card it doesn't lose much. He keeps quoting cards above where they should run. $100-150 cards are not for 1920x1200. You'll be turning stuff down all day, thus not giving you what the devs wanted you to play. Just like the 660TI/7950 isn't for 2560x1600 either. He keeps using this crap to bash NV cards. This is why he leaves out minimums on almost everything. If he showed those #'s you'd see you can't even play there with these. $300 is for 1920x1200, $450+ is comfortable at above this, $150 is solidly 1680x1050 when MINIMUMS are looked at with max details. If you're not running with all the goodies on, you're not running what the dev wanted you to play. You're missing the FULL experience. 2560x1600 was unplayable on 3/4 games at hardocp on 7950B/660TI. So why talk about those two in the same sentence with 2560x1600? It's DUMB. Two of the games hit 15/17fps on both cards...LOL. That's a freaking slide show FFS. He bashes NV all day over bandwidth for UNPLAYABLE SETTINGS on both cards in those cases. I'd say he doesn't get it, but he does, he knows exactly what he's doing. He loves AMD or they give him something for the love ;) I really don't care who wins at 15fps settings, and neither should ANY of us. They had games where the drop was 100 to 22-26fps on 7950 from max to min...But as long as ryan evades minimums in games he can quote AMD in a better light...LOL.
jtenorj - Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - link
I don't know if experiencing all the developer intended matters as much as simply enjoying the game. The cheapest you can get a "modern" console(not counting the wii) is like 100 bucks for a 360 with a contract for xbox live. If you already have a decent computer from the last few years with crap graphics, you can drop in a 100 dollar(or less) HD7750, overclock it some, and blow away any console's graphics at 1080p by using medium pc settings. If you up the budget a bit to the HD7770 and overclock, you could even manage high settings at 1080p with playable frame rates. If you want to see minimum frame rates, you can go to other sites like hardocp(as mentioned, though it doesn't seem like they have a review up for gtx650ti...yet). Even better is techreport for testing of individual frame times that can catch latency spikes a minimum frame rate measure might miss.justaviking - Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - link
Eventually you have to draw the line somewhere.Start with a budget of $100...
$100? Why not spend $120?
$120? Why not spend $140?
$140? Why not spend $160?
$160? Why not spend $180?
$180? Why not spend $200?
Why not spend $200? Because you started with a $100 budget.
It's not always that you "can't" spend another $20, but most people have to draw the line somewhere. For some people it's $300, others it's $150. Besides, the person spending $150 might have started with a target of $125, and has already "shopped up" to the $150 mark.
This works in the opposite direction too. Why not SAVE $20 and get a cheaper product if it has "almost" the same performance? Then why not save another $20, and so on? Soon you'll be hopelessly underpowered.
That's the sweet agony of shopping for parts like this. There is such a spectrum of price/performance options that you are always near a 2nd or 3rd option. If there was simply one AMD card and one Nvidia card at $100-200-300-400-500 price points, it sure would be a lot easier to go shopping. But what would be the sport in that?
johnsonjohnson - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
Looks like it's gonna have to be the 7850 then. Time to finally retire that 4830...EnzoFX - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
Sorry if I missed it, but this is often not discussed. This is something I cannot stand in lower end cards. Fixed speed fans. They are annoying usually. Then again, I usually swap out the cooler. I'm otherwise all for shorter cards.Ryan Smith - Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - link
Yes, it has variable fan speeds. In fact none of the GeForce 600 cards we've reviewed (including the 640) have a fixed fan speed.