I'm planning to get either of these 650 Ti's EVGA 650 Ti (928 mhz) Stock Clocks EVGA 650 Ti (1078 mhz) SSC (Super Superclocked) The SSC one is significantly costlier than the stock clocked one. They both look exactly the same, same cooler and all. So my question is about the quality of materials used. I've read somewhere before that Overclocked versions use better materials than the stock clocked ones. Is it true or are they both the exact same cards, with the same quality of materials used? Note: Please don't recommend me a 660 or a 660 Ti. They would be overkill for my needs. Thanks!
Some cards do use better components but most of the time you can just OC the stock one to make up the difference. Unless you are horribly unlucky, the stock will perform the same as the OC'd one.
Factory overclocked chips are better binned meaning they're of a better grade than your standard chips though that doesn't mean the standard chips are not good. I personally would save my cash and go for the standard model and OC it myself as sometimes even the OC chip may not be a good performer. However if you get a different cooler with the OC card then by all means go for it.
Thanks for the replies! There are some cards though that use different coolers for their OC editions, but in that case the cooler is the one that makes it more expensive. It just popped into my mind. I'm pretty sure they try to overclock the cards while at factory, then whoever is stable at high clocks and passes get to be branded as "OC Edition"
Different coolers is entirely different cause then the heat might not allow you to OC to the higher levels. If it's the same cooler, then I'd just get the stock one and OC it myself. Even if it doesn't OC to the same levels as the pre-OC'd one, it won't miss it by much. The difference would be too small for actual difference in games, apps etc.
For first, in most cases, when something cost more, it is natural that it should be better, but it's not the rule unfortunately. For binning, it should be like that. But, we have proof from the past that some (or most?) factory overclocked GPU's are not stable at all. If i remember correctly, there was a game (BF3 maybe? i don't know) that showed that instability in obvious manner, and lots of users experienced it, and had to downclock their cards to reference clocks. I think you should consider that fact before buying. Anyway, don't go cheap on GPU, get a better quality one, and overclock it if you need. I would always go for reference clocked GPU, and if PCB is custom, it should be expensive, if is cheaper than reference, that can mean that something was wrong with PCB design. But that is just a possibility. Hope it helps in your decision.
With the mid-range Kepler cards, most of the reference cards will clock just as far as the OC cards. The GTX650Ti and GTX660 are limited by supplied power. The GTX650 can be as it's TDP is only 64w...but most models have the 6-pin aux power connector.
We'd need to see some PCB shots. But since it's EVGA, they're probably both reference. 0 difference there. GPU may or may not be handpicked in SC version. But most likely not. You could ask card owners to report ASIC quality tho. If you want to play games, GTX 660 would not be an overkill... Just so you know, GTX 650 Ti ~ GTX 460.
Thanks for the replies! Yes since its EVGA it does look like the reference type and XBEAST Yep2x! This is actually the reason why I'm going with the 650 Ti. I want a newer card with lower power consumption and smaller size. I'm not sure how long my GTX 460 will live, but it has been running for 3 years and I want a newer card with the same performance as a 460. XBEAST Yes it is overkill for me, coz I only have a 1440x900 screen resolution. I can play the games I like maxed out with my GTX 460 786MB, so I would imagine the 660 to be quite overkill. :banana: @sykozis Thanks. I assume that the Kepler cards have a good headroom for overclocking. So I might get the non-OC one after all. @tweakpower Thanks for the advice!
So I am doing this "sidegrade" on purpose. If there was a brand new 460 or 560 for sale here in my place then I would definitely get those instead
I'm running a GTX 460 768 @ 1440x900 too. And not everything runs maxed out. BF3, MoH: WF, Crysis 3 Alpha, Metro 2033 to name a few. More demanding games will come along. Now performance might seem adequate, but in just a few months you might want something better. So buying 650 Ti now would be a waste of money, IMO. Suggestion would be GTX 660/HD 7870 or at least HD 7850. Although all depends on what games you play. Also... Are you a wizard? 460 released in mid 2010 and you're running it for 3 years now
Well yeah not those games, I said all the games that I "like" :banana: So pretty much all the assassins creed series, NFS the run, Sims 3. Those titles you mentioned are all pretty hardcore games and I'm just not a hardcore gamer Blimey, my bad. It feels like I've had it for a long time now :banana: More like 2 years + (close enough) Hey XBEAST, so seeing that we both have the same card and monitor resolution, don't you have any plans for an upgrade?
Answer: For these specific two EVGA cards, they are identical. They only difference is the SSC model is tested to run stable and is warrantied to run stable at those clocks. Other AIB's do make some physical changes for their models. This isn't the case here. On the EVGA website they have both models at $149.