Someone explain GTX650Ti to me please

[tiny voices]

First of all, These are my system specs:

Phenom 2 x4 965 black edition OC at 3.8ghz
8gb ram at 1333
gigabyte ga-78lmt-s2p motherboard
450w antec-vp 450
Rosewill Challenger case
gtx 460 (fried)

I am looking at a gtx 650ti. I have head so many different things about these cards. People have said they blow away 7770s, but other people say they won't. Benchmarks say they are good cards but some people say they aren't. I only have a 450w PSU so 7850 isn't really an option. Lastly, why are most 650ti cards small in size?

Thanks for any info!

 

[dudewitbow]

its only moderately better than the 7770 at an extensive cost. What it lacks most is that the card cannot be used in SLI, so in the end, if you ever decided to upgrade, you can only use it as a physx card or sell it. as for size, Kepler this generation was built to me small.



on a side note, I can almost assure that a 1gb 7850 is doable with the Antec VP

its rails are 18 18, with a max load of 360w

back in december 2011, toms 500$ budget build used an i5-2400 and 6870(which consumes more power than the 7850) using an antec earthwatts 430w

which has a 12v rail of 17 and 16, with a max load of 384w(24w difference)

using this chart

the 1gb 7850 has considerably less power consumption than the 6870(and thats reference, aftermarket may consume more power) Which makes me conclude that its highly possible to run a 7850 on a vp

 

[tiny voices]

But if i could get one for the same price as a middle range 7770 i should go for it?

 

[tiny voices]

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=76883&vpn=01G-P4-3650-KR&manufacture=eVGA&promoid=1296

only $135 right now

 

[dudewitbow]

get one as the 650ti? if you can get it at the 7770 range of prices, its the better card for the money between the two. You just have to be aware of upgrade possibilities after are a bit limited(it makes a good physx card though)

 

[tiny voices]

What would you do? My MOBO doesn't support sli or crossfire. I probably will keep this system after the GPU upgrade for about a year or so before getting a new CPU and MOBO. I would shortly after that worry about a new GPU. I figure a non SLI card isn't a problem in my situation. Plus, i can always physX it later if i end up with a 700 series card in a year or so.

 

[dudewitbow]

since its a single slot, it wouldn't matter which you would use. but this is how i would approach the situation:


If you plan on making a large performance gain in the future:
get 650ti
use it for the time before upgrade
upgrade
Buy higher end card, use 650ti for physx

if you plan on making a budget upgrade in the future
get 7770
use it for the time before upgrade
upgrade
get another 7770 for crossfire

in the situation though, I would have went path one, assuming both cards were relatively the same price.

 

[tiny voices]

Best answer selected by tiny voices.

 

[tiny voices]

Thanks for the help!