The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Review, Feat. Gigabyte, Zotac, & EVGA
by Ryan Smith on October 9, 2012 9:00 AM ESTMeet The Zotac GeForce GTX 650 Ti AMP! Edition 2GB
Our next card is also our first 2GB GTX 650 Ti, Zotac’s GeForce GTX 650 Ti AMP Edition 2GB. Like the other retail cards in our article the Zotac is from their factory overclocked lineup, with Zotac being unique among the bunch for overclocking both the core and the memory. The GTX 650 Ti AMP 2GB ships at 1033MHz for the core clock and 6.2GHz for the memory clock, which is a 107MHz (12%) core overclock and 800MHz (15%) memory overclock respectively. This is a lower core overclock than EVGA’s SSC, but because the GTX 650 Ti is ROP and memory bandwidth limited out of the box, the memory overclock could prove to be very potent.
The Zotac GTX 650 Ti AMP is also unique for being the only card in our review that’s not clearly based upon an NVIDIA reference design. We don’t have a Zotac GTX 650 on hand, but a quick search indicates that this is the same PCB Zotac used on their GTX 650 cards, so while Zotac is using a unique PCB it’s still a PCB taken from a GTX 650 card. With that said, Zotac’s PCB is not significantly different from the reference PCB – at 5.75” long it’s even the same size – and based on our testing it doesn’t appear to be any better or worse at overclocking, particularly since Zotac is using the same 6GHz Hynix GDDR5 as everyone else.
Zotac’s cooler of choice is also lifted from their GTX 650, and like NVIDIA’s reference design is a variation on the open air cooler. Zotac is using an 85mm fan suspended over a mid-profile aluminum heatsink that covers just over half the card. Like the reference design Zotac’s shroud is minimal, so this is a rather typical open air design.
Meanwhile by changing the PCB Zotac was able to change the display ports on their card, opting to use a stacked DVI design to fit on 4 ports. The GTX 650 Ti AMP comes with 1 DL-DVI-I, 1 DL-DVI-D, and 2 full size HDMI ports, meaning it can drive 4 digital displays out of the box. The dual HDMI ports is a bit odd – we don’t see too many users hooking the card up to two TVs – and in this case the HDMI ports are serving more as a compact SL-DVI port. This change also means that part of the second slot is blocked by a DVI port, so the card has less than a slot’s worth of ventilation (not that it should need too much more).
Rounding out the package is the usual collection of a molex power adapter and quickstart guides. Zotac is attaching a $179 MSRP to the GeForce GTX 650 Ti AMP, a full $30 over the 1GB MSRP, but only $10 over what they’re changing for a stock-clocked 2GB card. Meanwhile for the warranty Zotac is offering a base 2 year warranty, which is extended to a rather generous full limited lifetime warranty upon registration of the card.
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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.