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.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
91 Comments
View All Comments
chizow - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
I guess in years past this may and probably should've been branded GTS 650Ti along with the GTS 650 (they've used GTS 250, GTS 450 etc in the past), but I know for a fact Nvidia is trying to establish GTX as its own brand for gamers.They really emphasize it with all this "Green Light" business with regard to overclocking, overvolting etc.
Blazorthon - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
Nvidia has been cracking down on overvolting support, so IDK if I'd give them that much credit.Pneumothorax - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
That will make the price/performance gap even worse as the 7850 is an oc beast.goinginstyle - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
So why no reviews of the Asus or MSI offerings in these roundups?silverblue - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
You need to be sent a card in order to review it. ;)Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
The 7850 1GB is $150. It IS is the direct competitor to the 650 ti. You can speculate all you want about the 1GB being some sort of ephemeral limiting factor, but I dont see it. All I see is that in one game, at BEYOND 1080p resolution, memory becomes a factor. But if you look at it, you can see that it is still so very close on the bell curve. I bet that if you actually tested Skyrim at 1920x1080 (not 1920x1200), there would be much less difference between 2GB and 1GB.Even 2 years from now the 7850 1GB is going to be a better performer than the 650ti. Even with the "latest and greatest" games.
Shark321 - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
Where is the 7850 1GB $150?KineticHummus - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
yeah wish i could fine one of those haha. pretty sure there isnt a single card for 150Marlin1975 - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
How about $159 AR shipped?http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
LordanSS - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
I'm a bit curious about this card's performance with PhysX enabled games.Personally, I am a 6970 owner and thus have no access to PhysX effects on games, but there are many workarounds out there where you can add a nVidia card to your machine to compute the physics.
Borderlands 2 is an example, I know of people buying (cheap) nVidia cards so they can run physics on them. Problem is that, most of the time, these guys are buying really old or cheap hardware (like GT210 or 430 cards), causing a big drop in game performance. Others using more powerful (and expensive) cards, on the other hand, experience good results.
So I'm thinking what's the cutting point for performance here. I know it's an extremely niche endeavor, but if anyone has experience or thoughts, I'd be glad to hear them.