Nvidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti Review: Bridging The Budget Gap
Nvidia has a sizable gap in its product line between the GeForce GTS 450 and the GeForce GTX 460 768 MB. The company is filling that gap with an all-new card called the GeForce GTX 550 Ti. Is this product a worthy competitor for AMD's Radeon HD 5770?
MSI's N550GTX-Ti Cyclone II
The N550GTX-Ti Cyclone II is 8.25” long, the same size as the reference card. But MSI’s overclocked model is quite a bit taller due to its extra-large Cyclone II cooler, a unit that extends just over an inch higher than the 4 ¼” PCB.
The cooler is the obvious focal point of the card. It has a nickel-plated copper base and two heat pipes that run around its circumference. MSI boasts that its exclusive propeller design achieves 20% more airflow than a conventional blade, and that the Cyclone II keeps the GF116 GPU 23 degrees Celsius cooler than the reference model.
The extra thermal capacity allows for the card’s factory overclock: 950 MHz/1900 MHz core/shader, and 1075 MHz (4300 MT/s effective) memory.
With two dual-link DVI connectors and a single mini-HDMI output on the bezel, the card sports the same options as the reference model.
MSI’s product is bundled with a mini-HDMI-to-HDMI converter, a DVI-to-VGA converter, and a Molex-to-PCIe adapter. There’s also a driver/utility CD, user’s guide pamphlet, and quick user guide poster.
Of course, the CD comes with MSI’s Afterburner overclocking utility, a program it wisely opened up to any hardware (a step that’s helped it become the de-facto overclocking software for graphics cards). Happily, MSI’s N550GTX-Ti Cyclone II is rigged to give the utility control over GPU voltage adjustment, in addition to basic clock speeds.
The N550GTX-Ti Cyclone II has an MSRP of $154.99.
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AMD_pitbull So, when is the release date on this? Or is it going to be another paper launch by the green team?Reply -
zooted So it consumes more power, and is louder than the 460 768, yet performs just about on par with the 5770? What was the point of this card?Reply -
hardcore_gamer The far superior, less power consuming 6850 is available for only $10 more..This card is pointlessReply -
scook9 zootedSo it consumes more power, and is louder than the 460 768, yet performs just about on par with the 5770? What was the point of this card?To cost a lot clearly lolReply -
dark_lord69 "On par with the 4870"Reply
"The MSRP of the new card is $149"
Well.. in that case I'll stick with my 4870 that I bought for $80. -
sithtis zootedSo it consumes more power, and is louder than the 460 768, yet performs just about on par with the 5770? What was the point of this card?Reply
God i was thinking exactly the same... whats the point of that. a 460 768 cost around 140 and less noise less power better performance... i really really dont get it?
6850 or 460 768 are the cards to get... here in Canada you can get a 5770 for less than 100$
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K2N hater @DonReply
How about the minimal FPS? Any substantial change on FPS once all eye-candy settings are enabled? -
cleeve K2N hater@DonHow about the minimal FPS? Any substantial change on FPS once all eye-candy settings are enabled?Reply
Minimum FPS readings should be there for most of the games we've benched.
As for adding eye-candy settings, not sure that makes sense for this class of card as it might push FPS down to unpleasant levels.
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