GTX 950: review, specifications and reviews

Most recently, Nvidia has added another great video card to its arsenal, which claims to occupy a niche of entry-level gaming devices. The affordable price (10-15 thousand rubles) and high performance clearly allow it to make a new graphics chip GTX 950. The review presented in this article will acquaint the reader with the technical characteristics of the graphics accelerator and with devices from different world manufacturers on this chipset. Testimonials of owners and test results will help determine the choice of a video game card in the market of computer components.

Tactical and technical characteristics

The Nvidia Geforce GTX 950 video adapter is built on a GM206 platform using the 28 nanometer process technology, has a 228 mm2 crystal area and accommodates 2.94 billion transistors. The clock speed of the graphics core is 1024 MHz, and the number of stream processors - 768 pieces. The manufacturer installed on the chip 48 texture blocks and 32 blocks of rasterization.

Memory is built on the basis of GDDR5 technology and has on board 2,048 megabytes. The video card for data transmission uses a 128-bit bus and operates at a frequency of 6600 MHz. The memory bandwidth is 105.4 gigabytes per second. The entire system has a maximum power consumption of 90 watts. It's easy to see that most of the novelty features, including the GM206 platform itself, clearly indicate that the manufacturer has borrowed the chipset from the High-End class gaming adapter, the Geforce GTX 960. It's good or bad, the tests will show.

Factory version

The original Geforce GTX 950 video adapter looks no different from the usual budget-class representative: a 15-centimeter PCB with compactly placed chips and memory modules and a small aluminum radiator on a graphics core with a single fan. In this form, the user is unlikely to ever see this video card, because Nvidia does not supply its products in retail at the factory.

It should be noted that the presence of a weak cooling system video adapter indicates a low power consumption, and accordingly, and the lack of strong heating during operation. The manufacturer only provided the PCB with a full wiring for connecting all possible digital devices. Everything else directly depends on the companies that will present this video adapter on the world market.

Mobile devices

The popularity of video game adapters can be judged not only by counting the devices sold in the computer market, but also by installing modified chips in mobile equipment. The GTX 950 clearly appealed to all notebook manufacturers, since they started to build their gaming solutions on its platform. The mobile graphics adapter supports all necessary technologies that are necessary for the full operation of the laptop:

• Optimus - independent switching between a discrete video adapter and an integrated system when idle;
• PhysX - hardware acceleration, aimed at creating a realistic picture of the world;
• Adaptive V-Sync - minimizes the image gap at a high frame rate;
• Battery Boost - automatic reduction of power consumption with reduced load on the graphics core;
• TXAA - mode for smoothing static and dynamic images;
• SLI - several video adapters can work simultaneously.

Presentation in the budget class

A well-known Taiwanese manufacturer, Gigabyte, allowed itself to be the first to introduce the gaming device based on the Nvidia GTX 950 to the market. The low cost, appearance and small overclock of the manufacturer in no way classify the device as a game class. Rather, it is a top-end device for the budget class. The video card Gigabyte GTX 950 OC is designed to meet the needs of the buyer with little requirements for productive games.

The nominal cooling system of Nvidia has been slightly modified: the radiator casing covers the entire surface of the printed circuit board, and a branded fan is installed in the area of the graphics core. Slightly lowering the heat, the manufacturer allowed himself to make the crystal overclock to 1241 MHz (200 MHz higher than in the factory version). The user should not expect special performance in resource-intensive games and, as the tests show, the adapter is far from its "older brother" - the GTX 960.

Alternative from competitors

Almost all manufacturers of video cards on the world market rushed to compete with the inexpensive solution of Gigabyte, because the transition niche from the budget class to the gaming estate, as it turned out, was unoccupied. Brands: EVGA, KFA2, MSI, Zotac, ASUS and many others presented their vision of an inexpensive chip based on the GTX 950. The test conducted in an independent laboratory by enthusiasts shows that the performance of devices leaves much to be desired in comparison with top-end video cards.

However, one advantage for all video adapters still exists: a low price of 10,000 rubles is the limit for all manufacturers. Do not forget about the support of all the latest technologies, which are incorporated in the platform GM206 - there is no such game that will not be launched using this video card. Thus, when the screen FullHD (at the maximum settings Ultra), in the game "Crysis 3" it was possible to achieve 26 FPS, in "Battlefield 4" - 40 FPS. For comparison: the video game adapter GTX 960 shows slightly better characteristics - 10 FPS more than the device participating in the review.

The conquest of the gaming market

As you might expect, well-known video card manufacturers have used all their potential to win the attention of the buyer and the high-end gaming market. The first world saw a video adapter Gigabyte GTX 950 Xtreme. The name alone already informs the owner that he has an extreme video card in his hands. The key to high performance is to increase the clock speed of the graphics core (1203 MHz in normal mode and 1405 MHz in Boost mode) and memory (1750 MHz).

To reduce heat generation, the manufacturer used a proprietary cooling system, which is installed on top gaming devices: an aluminum radiator on the entire surface of the printed circuit board, copper tubes and two huge fans. The bottom of the board has an aluminum platform for effective heat removal. As the owners note in their reviews, the power system has also changed - all the power elements have been transferred to the front edge of the adapter, and cheap capacitors have been changed to solid state drives. The potential for further overclocking is unequivocally available, and competitors can choose not only the GTX 960, but also devices in the class above.

Extreme video adapter game indicators

Powerful cooling system and changing the power system led to the fact that the device GTX 950 Xtreme Gaming from the company Gigabyte splendidly overclockable, while the graphics core temperature does not exceed 80 degrees Celsius. According to their feedback, the maximum overclocking that users can reach is 1572 MHz on the graphics core and 7800 MHz on memory. In games at high resolutions (2560x1440) it looks like this:

• "Tomb Raider" - 50,6 FPS;
• "The Witcher 3" - 32.7 FPS;
• "Battlefield Hardline" - 36.2 FPS.

The list can be continued indefinitely, but in comparison with the top device GTX 960, which works in the standard mode, the performance of the new GTX 950, which is tested, is higher by 1-3%. This is already a serious indicator, given that the representative of the High-End class is 30% more expensive. The main thing is to remember the fact that the potential for overclocking is interesting for the device in the future, when modern games will not be under the power of the GTX 950 chip.

The main Taiwanese competitor

The leader of sales of computer equipment in the Russian market, the company ASUS, also did not leave its fans without a novelty from Nvidia. This is one of the few products on the market, the overclocking of which allows you to achieve the performance of the "big brother" - GTX 960, working at the nominal frequencies. The video card ASUS GTX 950 has undergone significant modifications in the power system. The manufacturer completely rebuilt the phase distribution system and installed ferrite cores and solid capacitors.

The cooling system has undergone changes. The aluminum radiator is located on the batteries, memory modules and crystal. Copper tubes permeate the radiator all around the perimeter and boil down on the touching pad with the graphic core. A casing with two large fans running at low rpm is mounted on top.

The potential of the ASUS video card

When it comes to low-end entry-level gaming devices, the priorities are given by the user in favor of the overclocking potential. Accordingly, the system of power distribution and cooling of the video adapter should be at the best level. The device GTX 950 Gaming ASUS STRIX is a wonderful example in this. Initially, the manufacturer presents a device with a small overclocking (the graphics core works at 1165 MHz), but it is enough to overtake all competitors in the tests on the same core in the budget class.

With the help of proprietary ASUS utilities, the owner can increase productivity according to his needs. Excellent stability is noted at the frequency of the graphics core 1355 MHz. Such a gain outputs the device to one level of performance with top devices. Here it should be noted that some High-End devices that are on the market for more than five years (4-6 generation) can lose the novelty at high resolutions (4K). It's all about the technologies that were used in the production of the GTX 950 chip.

An exception

Who would have thought that the manufacturer ASUS would refuse to brand graphics cards in black and red coloring and present the world with a completely new design for the graphics accelerator GTX 950! Overview of the device in white and blue design first raises doubts about the originality of the product. However, with detailed familiarization, it dissipates: the ASUS logos are present on the radiator, the protective cover and even on the fans.

The manufacturer did not disappoint its fans and performance in games. The graphics core of the device operates at a frequency of 1202 MHz (in the Boost mode - 1279 MHz). The potential for overclocking is, but it is undesirable, since the beautiful appearance of the cooling system is in no way connected with a worthy efficiency - increasing the frequency of the graphics core by several percent immediately causes the crystal to heat up to 90 degrees Celsius - this is an obvious overheating. As the buyers say in their reviews, the ASUS solution is beautiful, but impractical, because the video card will be installed inside the system unit, and what color it is, does not play a role, unlike the performance in games that you can really see.

Noiseless player on the market

The gaming platform with passive cooling on the Geforce GTX 950 core is represented by the Zotac plant. As the owners say in their reviews, the device is unlikely to compete with its competitors in the Low-End niche, but the use of new technologies in production and complete quiet operation will please all designers and videographers.

The video card panel contains all the necessary digital video outputs (DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI-I, DVI-D), and the maximum resolution that the adapter can output is 4096x2160 dots per inch. The device has a length of 17 centimeters, so it can be installed in any system unit. With the amount of operative video memory of 2 GB, the novelty will definitely appeal to all creative personalities who prefer to work without extraneous noise. Leisure and a break in work at any time can be spent with advantage in high-performance games, because the GTX 950, which is reviewed in this article, still has great potential for this.

Finally

The device's technical characteristics and testing in games clearly indicate that many video adapters have a serious competitor on the market - a video card based on the GTX 950. The review shows that this device claims to occupy several niches simultaneously and, as practice shows, successfully Achieves the set goals. Low power consumption, overclocking potential, modern technologies and affordable price in the computer hardware market solve everything.