The GTX 650 Ti BOOST Preview

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i7-3770K reference 3.50 GHz/Turbo to 3.7GHz, overclocked to 4.8 GHz; HyperThreading is on, supplied by Intel.
• EVGA Z77 FTW motherboard (latest Beta BIOS, USB/PCIe 3.0 specification; CrossFire/SLI 16x+16x), supplied by EVGA
• 8 GB OCZ DDR3 PC 1866 Kingston RAM (2×2 GB, tri-channel at 1866 MHz; supplied by Kingston)
• Nvidia reference GTX 650 Ti BOOST, 2 GB (reference clocks of 925/1350MHz and also overclocked, +175MHz/+250MHz), supplied by Nvidia
• Galaxy GTX 660, 2 GB reference clocks, supplied by EVGA.
• Nvidia GTX 650 Ti, 1 GB reference design and clocks, supplied by Nvidia
• Onboard Realtek Audio
• 2 x 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200-12 HDDs; one for AMD and one for Nvidia
• Cooler Master Silent Pro Platinum 1000W PSU, Supplied by Coolermaster
• Thermaltake Chaser MK-I Full Tower case, supplied by Thermaltake
• Noctua NH-DH14 CPU cooler and 8 case fans, supplied by Noctua
• Philips DVD SATA writer
• HP LP3065 2560×1600 thirty inch LCD.

Test Configuration – Software

• Nvidia GeForce 314.22 WHQL drivers for all GTXes except for the GTX 650 Ti BOOST – 314.14 launch drivers. High Quality, prefer maximum performance, single display.
• AMD 13.3 Beta 3 Catalyst drivers; latest CAPs. High Quality – optimizations off; use application settings
• Windows 7 64-bit; very latest updates
• Latest DirectX
• All games are patched to their latest versions.
• VSync is off in the control panel.
• AA enabled as noted in games; all in-game settings are specified with 16xAF always applied; 16xAF forced in control panel for Crysis.
• All results show average, minimum and maximum frame rates except as noted.
• Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games.
• Windows 7 64, all DX10 titles were run under DX10 render paths; DX11 titles under DX11 render paths.

The Benchmarks

Synthetic

• Vantage
• 3DMark 11
• Firestrike
• Heaven 4.0
• Valley 1.0

• Left 4 Dead 2
• Serious Sam 3 BFE
• Alan Wake: Ameican Nightmare
• The Witcher 2
• Borderlands 2
• Resident Evil 6 demo

• Crysis
• Far Cry 2
• Just Cause 2
• Resident Evil 5

• BattleForge
• Alien vs. Predator
• STALKER, Call of Pripyat
• Metro 2033
• F1 2010
• F1 2012
• H.A.W.X. 2
• Lost Planet 2
• Shogun II
• Crysis 2
• Dirt 3
• Batman: Arkham City
• Battlefield 3
• Max Payne 3
• the Secret World
• Sleeping Dogs
• Sniper Elite V2
• Hitman: Absolution
• Assassin’s Creed 3

Before we get to the GTX 650 Ti BOOST’s performance charts, let’s look at overclocking, power draw and temperatures.

Overclocking, Power Draw, Noise and Temperatures

Overclocking the GTX 650 Ti BOOST is just as easy as overclocking the GTX 660/660 Ti, 670, 680 and 690. We were able to add an additional +150MHz over the base clocks that Nvidia set for the reference GTX 650 Ti BOOST. On top of that, we were able to get +155MHz on the memory; overall, a very good overclock.

We did not adjust the GTX 650 Ti’s voltage nor fan profile. Temperatures were never an issue and the fan profile remained at stock which meant that the GTX 650 Ti BOOST is also extraordinarily quiet at maximum load – the fan profile rarely went over 40% and the temperatures remained under 70C under the most stressful conditions and highest load in gaming.

Let’s head to the performance charts to see how the GTX 650 Ti BOOST – stock and overclocked – compares with the non-Boost regular GTX 650 Ti and the GTX 660.