GeForce GTX 650 Ti Review: Nvidia's Last Graphics Card For 2012

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GeForce GTX 650 Ti: A Good Value At $150

With Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 set at 100%, here's what the chart looks like comparing all of the cards in today's review:

We get an interesting outcome from the new GeForce GTX 650 Ti, which returns the largest gap between its high- and low-detail results. We can blame a relatively narrow 128-bit memory bus for this, coupled with a fairly potent GPU.

At fairly conservative settings, the GK106-equipped GTX 650 Ti nearly overtakes Nvidia's GeForce GTX 560 and Radeon HD 6870. But when MSAA is applied at higher quality levels, the board takes a disproportionately large hit, ending up a few percentage points faster than the Radeon HD 6850, on average. As we saw in the benchmarks, that disparity can be mitigated somewhat through overclocking. In addition, most newer titles support alternative anti-aliasing modes, such as FXAA, that are easier on bandwidth-starved board designs.

Assuming it surfaces at the $150 target Nvidia tells us to expect, the GeForce GTX 650 Ti offers the best performance at its price point, with average frame rates that outclass the Radeon HD 6850. The Radeon HD 7770 is beaten even more soundly. Conservative power, heat, and noise measurements make the card easy to live with and build an entry-level gaming system around, too.

Are there any reasons to shy away from a $150 GeForce GTX 650 Ti? Only that there's a 1 GB Radeon HD 7850 selling for $30 more. We think that gamers with the extra money would do well to invest it in the notably-faster AMD card, even though it uses about 30 W more power under load. We've seen a Pitcairn-based board selling for as little as $165 already, which could be a short-lived gimmick on AMD's part to give us a moment of pause. If it's not, then that's a real shot across Nvidia's bow.

It's impossible for us to know where prices will settle over the next few weeks. What is clear, however, is that Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 Ti is fast enough and affordable enough to serve as a compelling option for mainstream gamers, particularly now that the Radeon HD 6850 and GeForce GTX 560 are at the end of their effective lives and disappearing from store shelves.

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Summary
  1. GeForce GTX 650 Ti: The Last Kepler-Based Card For 2012
  2. Zotac GeForce GTX 650 Ti AMP! Edition
  3. Gigabyte GeForce GTX 650 Ti (GV-N65TOC-2GI)
  4. Test Setup And Benchmarks
  5. Benchmark Results: Batman: Arkham City
  6. Benchmark Results: Battlefield 3
  7. Benchmark Results: Crysis 2
  8. Benchmark Results: DiRT Showdown
  9. Benchmark Results: Max Payne 3
  10. Benchmark Results: Metro 2033
  11. Benchmark Results: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  12. Benchmark Results: World Of Warcraft
  13. Overclocking
  14. OpenCL: GPGPU Benchmarks
  15. OpenCL: GPGPU Benchmarks (Basemark CL)
  16. OpenCL: Image Processing (Basemark CL)
  17. OpenCL: Video Processing (Basemark CL)
  18. Temperature And Noise
  19. GeForce GTX 650 Ti: A Good Value At $150
About the author
Don Woligroski & Igor Wallossek
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  • yialanliu
    Awesome, finally something that mainstream budget users can afford from Nvidia, been waiting for ages!
  • jimbaladin
    40% slower than the 7850 while costing 10-20% less, and 10% faster than the 7770 while costing 25% more.

    That looks like a fail to me, and don't even get me started on how late this is.
  • unionoob
    Would be awesome if you would include HD 5770 in benchmarks vs this one too, sure its old card but would love to see how powerfull is that one compered to this one.
  • Mike-TH
    Why would you not include the GTX 660 Ti in the tests? After all, the 650 Ti and 660 Ti should be the options of the day for upgrades - why not compare them?
  • outlw6669
    nVidia, you really need to stop gimping your bandwidth!
    Seriously, such a waste of silicon that could perform quite a bit better if you just gave it a little more breathing room....
  • tomfreak
    I assume the place where it cripple the 650TI is the 16ROP as well as the 128bit bus. But the 16ROP is probably the biggest bottleneck of the card, this is the only place where u cant be fix by any OCing at all.

    With 128bit bus, they could have just leave the memory speed @ 6GHz. 5400 is pretty much ruin the thing.

    Edit: btw, this is probably one of the most useful review I see for a while. 6870/6850/560/460/7770 are all there, with benchmark of AA on and off. thumbs up for u author!
  • Wisecracker
    jimbaladin40% slower than the 7850 while costing 10-20% less, and 10% faster than the 7770 while costing 25% more.That looks like a fail to me, and don't even get me started on how late this is.


    The HD7850 and GTX 650ti are essentially the same price on New Egg.
  • proffet
    another PhysX card I suppose..
    slightly too weak for a dedicated in my book.
    I said my book as in my opinion.
  • Iastfan112
    Mike-THWhy would you not include the GTX 660 Ti in the tests? After all, the 650 Ti and 660 Ti should be the options of the day for upgrades - why not compare them?


    Because comparing cards in the ~150 dollar range to a card thats +280 dollars is asinine?
  • cknobman
    AnandTech has already released an article covering AMD officially dropping the price of the 1GB 7850 to $169 for the fall season http://www.anandtech.com/show/6357/amd-cuts-radeon-hd-7850-prices-again

    This means we will easily see $150 or less after rebates and officially makes this Nvidia 650ti product a total fail. I see no reason to purchase this.
  • digiex
    Can the power plane of the of the diminutive 5.75" x 4" PCB can support the 100W of power? Could it result in PCB delamination over time?
  • Mike-TH
    Quote:
    Iastfan112Because comparing cards in the ~150 dollar range to a card thats +280 dollars is asinine?


    Not if you seriously would like to know what the performance difference was. Look at the current Video Card ratings - they cover from very low to extreme high - because people would like to know.

    So - Right now, I'm looking at buying a $300 660 Ti, but if the 650 Ti can come within 20% of the performance, I might not drop the extra cash on it. But without trying to find a common benchmark between the two, there's no way to tell. Looks like I get to go benchmark hunting.
  • tomfreak
    further read on several reviews said that most if not all of 650ti use 6GHz hynix RAM. So why are they clocking it @ 5400? 128bit + 6Ghz is not going to hurt 660.

    Nvidia are doing stupid thing here :/
  • UltimateDeep
    How about EVGA's Super Superclocked Impersonation of the 650Ti? I really want Tom's Hardware to take a look at that one.
  • Mike-TH
    Found a comparative benchmark between 650ti and 660ti - in the GPGPU benchmarks. The games tests all have different settings between the 650ti and 660ti reviews, so they aren't a true comparison.

    I used this as the 660ti review to compare benchmarks against for the games : http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-ti-benchmark-review,3279.html
  • luciferano
    Mike-THNot if you seriously would like to know what the performance difference was. Look at the current Video Card ratings - they cover from very low to extreme high - because people would like to know.So - Right now, I'm looking at buying a $300 660 Ti, but if the 650 Ti can come within 20% of the performance, I might not drop the extra cash on it. But without trying to find a common benchmark between the two, there's no way to tell. Looks like I get to go benchmark hunting.


    Mike-THFound a comparative benchmark between 650ti and 660ti - in the GPGPU benchmarks. The games tests all have different settings between the 650ti and 660ti reviews, so they aren't a true comparison. I used this as the 660ti review to compare benchmarks against for the games : http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,3279.html


    The 660 non-Ti has a roughly 50% lead on average over the 650 Ti. This 650 Ti obviously doesn't come anywhere near the 660 Ti. You shouldn't need the 660 Ti in this to know that.
  • jabliese
    Why is the Max TDP on this 110W? Makes no sense, with power use being identical to a 650. Might these be made w/o an extra power connector?
  • greghome
    Hopefully, the GT700s will be based off more than 2 GPUs....... :/
    so they won't be as late as this gen because they had to collect enough bad chips
  • luciferano
    jablieseWhy is the Max TDP on this 110W? Makes no sense, with power use being identical to a 650. Might these be made w/o an extra power connector?


    Outside of gaming, such as some stress tests, they might be able to reach their TDP.
  • luciferano
    BigMack70This. Nailed it. Nothing more needs to be said.


    Some of the highly factory overclocked 7770s would be considerably faster than this 650 Ti while still being cheaper ;)
  • Onus
    I was going to say "Doesn't suck, but has nothing compelling about it," then saw this:
    jimbaladin40% slower than the 7850 while costing 10-20% less, and 10% faster than the 7770 while costing 25% more.That looks like a fail to me, and don't even get me started on how late this is.

    ...which put the value perspective on it. Once again, nVidia has failed.

    Throw in this:
    cknobmanAnandTech has already released an article covering AMD officially dropping the price of the 1GB 7850 to $169 for the fall season This means we will easily see $150 or less after rebates and officially makes this Nvidia 650ti product a total fail. I see no reason to purchase this.

    ...and its last sentence is the final verdict. Pass.
  • jdwii
    At newegg i can get a 7850 for 165$ and a 650TI for 155$ when a 7850 is 50% faster for 7% more money what is the better buy? I never understood why Nvidia is so bad on the low end.
  • Maxx_Power
    Why this card ? That's my main question after reading a few reviews. Gimped bandwidth, horrible pricing and extremely late launch will keep this card in the discount and rebate category for a long time.
  • tomfreak
    they should have price this thing @ $130. Thats it SHOULD BE.
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