The GTX 650 Ti Gets Boost and More Memory

NVIDIA has updated the GTX 650 Ti with more memory, a bigger memory bus and added GPU Boost technology!

In mid-October NVIDIA released the GeForce GTX 650 Ti based on GK106, the same GPU that powers the GTX 660 though with fewer enabled CUDA cores and GPC units.  At the time we were pretty impressed with the 650 Ti:

The GTX 650 Ti has more in common with the GTX 660 than it does the GTX 650, both being based on the GK106 GPU, but is missing some of the unique features that NVIDIA has touted of the 600-series cards like GPU Boost and SLI.

Today's release of the GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST actually addresses both of those missing features by moving even closer to the specification sheet found on the GTX 660 cards. 

Our video review of the GTX 650 Ti BOOST and Radeon HD 7790.

Option 1: Two GPCs with Four SMXs

Just like we saw with the original GTX 650 Ti, there are two different configurations of the GTX 650 Ti BOOST; both have the same primary specifications but will differ in which SMX is disabled from the full GK106 ASIC.  The newer version will still have 768 CUDA cores but clock speeds will increase from 925 MHz to 980 MHz base and 1033 MHz typical boost clock.  Texture unit count remains the same at 64.

Option 1: Three GPCs with Four SMXs

The changes to the memory configuration are even more dramatic as we see the shift from a 128-bit memory bus to the same 192-bit memory bus found on the GTX 660 along with a larger L2 cache, more ROP units and a huge increase in memory bandwidth (86.4 GB/s to 144.2 GB/s).  Memory frequency increases to 6.0 Gbps as well.

With the added clock speed, memory speed and even an increase to 2GB of frame buffer (though a 1GB version of the GTX 650 Ti BOOST is coming later), NVIDIA has increased the TDP from 110 watts to 140 watts. 

The addition of GPU Boost means that you can expect typical in-game clock speeds to be well above the 980 MHz base clock rates and closer to the 1033 MHz level.  This simply translates into more performance from this low cost graphics card.  Also, because the original GTX 650 Ti did not include support for SLI, the GTX 650 Ti BOOST will be the lowest priced option from NVIDIA to allow for multi-GPU scaling.

Physically, the GTX 650 Ti BOOST card looks pretty much identical to the GTX 660 reference design.  The PCB is quite a bit shorter than the stock cooler and we expect partner cards to once again end up shorter than the one we are using for our review. 

The display connections on the GTX 650 Ti BOOST are consistent with the other Kepler reference cards on the market with two DVI ports, an HDMI and a full-size DisplayPort.

Looking at the back of the card clearly shows the difference in PCB length and cooler length.

Like the GTX 660 and the GTX 650 Ti, the new BOOST model only requires that single 6-pin power connector meaning you'll be able to use this GPU on smaller systems and those with lower wattage power supplies.  The single SLI connector allows for two card to be paired together for multi-GPU usage; the original GTX 650 Ti did NOT support SLI.

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