ZOTAC GeForce GTX 650 (not the TI i guess)

[juanveliz626]

Hello,
I just bought this video card today and I've been looking for a review everyone online and can't find one. Could anyone review this video card for me? Did I buy a piece of crap for $139.99? I'm trying to upgrade from a MSI GeForce GT 610 1 GB, so keep that in mind xD

Here's the link to the video card that I bought today, http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4844448

 

[juanveliz626]

Hello,
I just bought this video card today and I've been looking for a review everyone online and can't find one. Could anyone review this video card for me? I'm so dumb for not doing this type of research BEFORE buying the video card... anyway, Did I buy a piece of crap for $139.99? I'm trying to upgrade from a MSI GeForce GT 610 1 GB, so keep that in mind xD.

Oh yea and I'm very gullable so please no sarcasm be SERIOUS! If i get misguided i might get a refund before I even get the videocard in the mail...

Btw, model of the videocard that i bought is: ZT-61002-10M, here's the link where i bought it
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4844448

 

[sam_p_lay]

Well it's a huge upgrade from what you had before! You won't be able to play everything maxed at 1080p, but at lower res or settings you'll be fine playing anything.

 

[juanveliz626]

So hey, Sam, did I pay good money for that video card? Or could I have done a lot better spending the same amount? I know there are $3000 video cards out there and they are beast but I could only afford to spend like $150 TOPS...

anyway you think I did alright? As you might know, the video card I have right now truly sucks (MSI GeForce GT 610 1GB); I play Batman: Arkham City at around 20 FPS on the LOWEST possible display settings with that donkey hahahaha

 

[sam_p_lay]

Haha yeah it doesn't get much worse than GT610 The GeForce 6800 Ultra (2004) beats that card. As for price, I don't know how much GTX650s typically go for in the States (I'm not American), but assuming you got a good price for one, the GTX650 is definitely not a waste of money. Even Far Cry 3 will run fast on it depending on settings!

 

[bigshootr8]

Well, juan I would look for cards on sale honestly you are wanting to spend 150 dollars tops.

You have a budget for a Ti card sir. Keep in mind these are on sale so you may want to jump on them before its to late if you do. Also, with a Ti card you can turn on physx in arkham city.
here is a video of a guy playing the game on high settings on a 650Ti I would look into it at your price range.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYAe6sP8BbE&playnext=1&list=PLg_NS9IVBuhpikQBhxf7CyMCy9dVMGZw9&feature=results_main

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130839&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

here is another one. I'd go with the one above evga is really great in terms of warranty and customer service and with the price of this one I feel like you get more out of the one above.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127704&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[johnsonjohnson]

Hi. I think you overpaid for that GTX 650 because you can get a GTX 650 Ti for even less than $140 after rebate and the HD 7850 1GB often go on sale for $150 after rebate. If you can get a refund and won't spend more than $140, then go with a GTX 650 Ti. Here's the cheapest on TigerDirect currently. You maybe be able to get one for less elsewhere.

MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti Power Edition
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5121336&CatId=7387
$130 after rebate with a free game.

 

[johnsonjohnson]

I forgot to add that you should make sure you have a quality power supply unit with sufficient power and cables for the upgrade.

 

[johnsonjohnson]

I think the cheapest GTX 650 Ti at the moment is this one from Newegg:

Galaxy 65IGH8DL7AXX GeForce GTX 650 Ti GC 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162127
$125 after rebate with a free Assassin’s Creed III

 

[juanveliz626]

Hey bigshoot thanks for your reply but I think you lead me to a new question: That video card that you are suggesting (GTX 650 Ti) only has 1 GB of memory?

So what's better, the GTX 650 Ti with 1 GB, or the normal GTX 650 with 2 GB (the one i bought is 2 GB, but no Ti).

Another thing I wanted to add, The one i bought <em>does</em> have Nvidia Physx technology, at least that's what it says on the page where i bought it. I'm just going on a limp here so you can help me clarify!

Here, http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4844448

 

[bigshootr8]

Well you could look at this one with mail in rebates you would end up at 149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130840&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

If you intent on playing games like battlefield 3 you may want to consider the 2 gigabyte items.

Well physx is a technology where the gpu is offloading processing in games.
[flash=640,360]http://www.youtube.com/v/thCWFXVCH3A?hl=en_US&version=3[/flash]

 

[juanveliz626]

Hey johnson thansk for your reply. What do you mean by sufficient power and cables for the upgrade? I'm a complete noob, this is actually the first time i buy ANY computer hardware and i will be trying to install it myself.

Can you please have a look at my computer tower? This is the link, i bought it off of newegg, it's a cyberpower "gaming" pc.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229362

So I haven't done anything to the tower, it's just how i bought it, exactly as described there on that link. So would I need any additional stuff (cables, etc) ?

 

[Mousemonkey]

This next topics has been merged by Mousemonkey
■ ZOTAC GeForce GTX 650 (not the ti)

 

[juanveliz626]

Thanks for merging it Mousemonkey, i accidently asked the same question twice

 

[Mousemonkey]

NP.

 

[bigshootr8]

Hey johnson thansk for your reply. What do you mean by sufficient power and cables for the upgrade? I'm a complete noob, this is actually the first time i buy ANY computer hardware and i will be trying to install it myself.

Can you please have a look at my computer tower? This is the link, i bought it off of newegg, it's a cyberpower "gaming" pc.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229362

So I haven't done anything to the tower, it's just how i bought it, exactly as described there on that link. So would I need any additional stuff (cables, etc) ?

The 610 that it comes with isn't very good rule of thumb for you kind sir the 2nd number means the most when you look at a graphic card series

1,2,3,4 are HTPC: Home Theatre PC's
5(nvidia) means entry level gaming and also a home theatre maestro.
6 Mid level or mainstream for nvidia entry for amd
7 entry level with AMD Enthustiast with NVIDIA
8 Mid level/Maintstream with AMD with NVIDIA Enthusiast normally the highest single GPU sku
9 Dual GPU solutions 690, 7990

 

[bigshootr8]

I feel you would be happier with a 2 gigabyte solution and since you play Arkham City I feel you would be happier with a Nvidia solution as the visual experience is higher with a card that can provide the extra eye candy that AMD just can not.

Also, I would suspect that the computer would have all your cables tied in nicely so you wouldn't have issues with that. It comes with a 500 watt power supply so a 650Ti or a 7850 would be no problem for you sir as well. The computer you have picked out.

 

[juanveliz626]

Thanks for clearing that up, bigshoot. Basically what you're saying is that the video card that I have right now sucks sooooo hard in terms of gaming! But I'm still stuck on this:

What's better, GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1 GB memory or GeForce GTX 650 2GB (no ti, and it's the one i bought)

Does memory size even matter, then? Or should I just worry about the graphics model itself?

 

[juanveliz626]

Yea, I play arkham city, skyrim, some emulation like pcsx2 and dolphin... anyway the point is, im just not happy right now with my video card its so damn slow, I figure I have a good processor with the AMD FX-6100 series, @ 3.3 GHz, ... SO i have to assume it's my shitty video card thats all

 

[bigshootr8]

yes that is the main source of your problem at the moment your processor is pretty good as well as the other components I would certainly give yourself a video ard update. Get a Ti with 2 gigabytes of memory you have 2 demanding games in skyrim and arkham city that will love you more with 2 gigabytes of ram.

 

[johnsonjohnson]

The thread disappeared on me when it got merged. To answer your question the card from Newegg I linked to comes with an adapter since your PSU doesn't have any PCI-E connector. So there's a chance you don't have to buy additional cables if you have 2 available molex cables. Your computer has a 500W PSU which in a quality PSU would be more than enough to power your upgraded rig but I think the one you have is mediocre at best and probably can't get anywhere near that. I believe it's the Turbolink 500W ATX-TL500W-BK. Here's one in another CyberPower rig reviewed by Legit Reviews:

"The system is powered by a 500 Watt Turbolink branded switching power supply with model number ATX-TL500W-BK. This is a brand that we haven't heard of before. It has two +12V rails with +12v1 being rated at 16 Amps and +12v2 being rated at 18 Amps. This power supply doesn't have any PCIe 6-pin power connectors for video card expansion, which is a bit of a bummer as we always like PCs to have an upgrade path. We took a look around the system and found all the power connectors were used except for one 4-pin molex connector and a SATA power connector."

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1762/4/

That PSU might power the card but I would rather replace it if possible.

 

[bigshootr8]

Yea I would agree on replacing it I mean it will power his card as it only uses 1 PCI-E 6 pin connection. But at some point I would say yea replace it with something like a 550W XFX power supply which seem to be very popular right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013

 

[juanveliz626]

I think we might have got off topic with those connection cables and stuff... but I did it to myself because I'm the one that asked that.

All in all, I think I'll just stay with what I bought. I'm not a delicate/picky gamer... I'm 27 yrs old So I've been playing since the times of the regular nintendo; graphics are not an integral part of my gaming experience. I even used to play the Atari with my dad way back in the day, I had to report my dad for child abuse on that!

anyway, I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO RUN THE DAMN THING!!! AND SMOOTHLY... As long as I can run the games in low to mid settings with no frame drops or lagg, or jerking, or glitching, then I'll be fine.

I could do without that fancy smancy Nvidia Physx stuff, im more concerned about gameplay and being able to complete the game start to finish.

Thanks all for your input and feedback, I think that gtx 650 with 2GB of memory isn't that bad after all, and after looking around, I seriously couldn't find a better price. I paid exactly $139.99 for this card.

If you could find a GTX 650 Ti with 2 GB of memory for $150 or less (after rebates, tahts fine), and taking taxes (i live in los angeles), shipping & handling into account, then I'd be more interested.

 

[bigshootr8]

Newegg shipping center is in the city of commerce so I wouldn't worry to highly on the shipping costs there. I live in North Orange County so hello neighbor to the north. I can only find cards going under 150 with rebates which may not be something you are after. If you aren't into the physx element of the game you can probably turn up all the settings in arkham city and be just fine in dx11 but if you want you could as well with dx 9 in the settings tab. I just thought with a game like Arkham City being one of the major physx title the eye candy would mean more to you. Here is my benchmarks with my card I've beaten arkham city 8-9 times and arkham asylum 8-9 times so I know my way around those games.

 

[juanveliz626]

Hey guys! It's been a few days and I had lost track on this post. Anyway thanks for all of your feedback I really appreciate it.

I'll tell you what I ended up doing. I got a refund on that zotac geforce gtx 650. It had to do more with how my order was being handled. I had ordered it at tigerdirect.com and it turns out they DIDN'T HAVE STOCK ON THE ITEM, SO IT WAS ON BACKORDER, AND IT WOULD BE SHIPPED AS SOON AS THEY RECEIVED STOCK ON IT. That pist me off; how the hell do you sell something you don't have? It would have taken all the way uptil February or later to get the damn video card, excuse my language. So I got a full refund, at least that was no hasle... It hadn't even shipped yet becuase they didn't have the video card, so the refund went by fast.

Case in point, I'LL NEVER USE TIGERDIRECT AGAIN, AND WOULDN'T RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE.

Let's stay on topic though, so I went to newegg and got the zotac geforce gtx TI 2GB, had to shell out like $40 more, but what's the benefit? I RECEIVED IT THE NEXT DAY... I LIVE IN EL MONTE, CA, LIKE 2 MILES AWAY FROM CITY OF INDUSTRY (THEIR MAIN CITY OF DISTRIBUTION)... here's the link, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500277