| Best PCIe Card: $145 To $220 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Gaming Graphics Card for ~$150 | Best Gaming Graphics Card for ~$170 | Best Gaming Graphics Card for ~$200 | |
| Product |  GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 1GB |
 GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB |
 GeForce GTX 660 |
| Your Price | N/A | Buy | Buy |
| Analysis |
With performance right on par with the Radeon HD 7850, Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 1 GB delivers an incredible gaming experience for $150. In essence, this card is a GeForce GTX 650 Ti with clock rates and a 192-bit memory interface borrowed from the GeForce GTX 660. There's not much more to add, except that this card is our gaming value favorite under $200. Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture. |
There are plenty of cases where 1 GB of memory can hold back the performance of a game running at high resolutions, or with lots of eye candy turned on. For an extra $20, you can get a GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost with 2 GB instead. In most cases, you're not going to notice much of a difference. However, in a bottlenecked situation, the extra memory is going to help frame rates scale the way you'd expect, rather than falling off of a cliff. Because AMD's Radeon HD 7850 2 GB starts at $185, the GeForce takes our sole recommendation. Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture. |
Up until now, the GeForce GTX 660 was overpriced compared to the slightly-faster Radeon HD 7870. But after a considerable reduction to $200, Nvidia's GK106-based board is one of the better values currently available. Simultaneously, the Radeon HD 7870 goes from best-in-class to, frankly, a hard sell. Particularly with the Tahiti-based Radeon HD 7870s floating around for $240, Pitcairn-based boards just aren't as attractive. Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture. |
Performance (indexed to 100%)
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| GPU | GK106 (Fermi) | GK106 (Fermi) | GK106 (Fermi) |
| Process | 28 nm | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Shader Units | 768 | 768 | 960 |
| Texture Units | 64 | 64 | 80 |
| ROPs | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| Core (Shader) Clock | 980 MHz | 980 MHz | 980 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 1502 MHz GDDR5 | 1502 MHz GDDR5 | 1502 MHz GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus | 192-bit | 192-bit | 192-bit |
| Memory Bandwidth | 144 GB/s | 144 GB/s | 144 GB/s |
| Memory Capacity | 1 or 2 GB | 1 or 2 GB | 2 GB |
| DirectX, Shader, OpenGL Capability | 11/5.0/4.3 | 11/5.0/4.3 | 11/5.0/4.3 |
| Max. TDP | 134 W | 134 W | 140 W |
| Aux. Power Connector(s) | 1 x 6-pin PCIe | 1 x 6-pin PCIe | 1 x 6-pin PCIe |
| Min. Power Supply | 450 Watt | 450 Watt | 450 Watt |
| Your Price | N/A | Buy | Buy |
