Wednesday, February 17th 2016

NVIDIA Readies GeForce GTX 950 SE Graphics Card

NVIDIA is planning to shake up its sub-$150 graphics card lineup with a new SKU carved out of the current $140 GeForce GTX 950. The company is planning to retire the GTX 750 Ti, and is looking for a true replacement to the GTX 750 (non-Ti). The GTX 750 duo are based on the slightly older first-gen "Maxwell" architecture. The new GeForce GTX 950 SE, or GTX 950 LE, as it's being called; will be a further crippled GTX 950, rather than its better-endowed sibling (currently being served by the GTX 960).

The GeForce GTX 950 SE will feature one less streaming multiprocessor Maxwell (SMM) than even the current GTX 950, 5 out of 8 physically present on the GM206 silicon. This works out to a CUDA core count of 640. The TMU count is proportionately lower at 40, ROP count at 32, and memory bus width at 128-bit; holding 2 GB of GDDR5 memory. With a typical board power expected to be around 70W, cards by various AIC partners will either make do with single 6-pin PCIe power inputs, or completely lack them. The GPU and memory clock speeds are expected to be slightly lower than those of the GTX 950, too. NVIDIA could launch this SKU some time in March.
Source: Expreview
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53 Comments on NVIDIA Readies GeForce GTX 950 SE Graphics Card

#1
xorbe
nVidia, king of the 128-bit card line-up, sigh.

960
950
950 Se
750 Ti
750
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#3
megamanxtreme
My old desktop that my brother uses has the i3-540, 4GB RAM, and a GT 440.

I am thinking of getting him another 4GB of RAM and another card that performs better but doesn't exceed the PSU's power of 300W, altogether.
Since I let him use my STEAM library of games, he might have some AAA titles under his collar, so I hope the 950 SE is good enough for his games and stays within the PSU's limit.
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#4
hojnikb
Couldn't they just called it 940Ti or something ?
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#5
bogami
Selling of waste with great fanfare .
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#6
silentbogo
Basically this is a GTX 750Ti, just under different name.
There was a rumor last year about the new revision of GTX 750 based on lower-quality maxwell chips, but I've never seen one with my own eyes.
I can only assume that this is what it ultimately became.
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#7
HumanSmoke
silentbogoBasically this is a GTX 750Ti, just under different name.
Not unless you think GM 107 (750Ti) and GM 206 are the same GPU, but you might have to explain how a 16 ROP GM 107 is the same as a 32 ROP GM 206 and why the GM 206 has HEVC transcode support while GM 107 doesn't. The latter (along with its HDMI 2.0 support) might be of interest to the HTPC/casual gamer crowd - not a lot HEVC / HDMI 2.0 options at the low end of the discrete market.
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#8
silentbogo
HumanSmokeNot unless you think GM 107 (750Ti) and GM 206 are the same GPU, but you might have to explain how a 16 ROP GM 107 is the same as a 32 ROP GM 206 and why the GM 206 has HEVC transcode support while GM 107 doesn't. The latter (along with its HDMI 2.0 support) might be of interest to the HTPC/casual gamer crowd - not a lot HEVC / HDMI 2.0 options at the low end of the discrete market.
GM206 was rumored to be used in GTX750 (non-Ti) due to shortage of older GPUs, but it has one less SMM than the upcoming GTX 950 SE (512 CUDA cores).
These cards are supposedly on the market already and are much more probable option for HTPC, than a more expensive GTX 950 SE (though an extra SMM block will give it a nice ~20-25% boost in games).
32 ROPs vs 16 ROPs on the new GPU is the only real difference, but I doubt it will make a significant impact on performance delta between GTX750Ti and GTX950SE (except some very-very specific benchmarks).
As GTX 750Ti, this card is the best candidate for a low-budget gaming VGA, but then it is only good for 1080p gaming which HDMI 1.4 is more than capable of providing.
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#9
dj-electric
lZKoce
Please, save us from these. You have WCCF for this kind of cancer comments.
xorbenVidia, king of the 128-bit card line-up, sigh.

960
950
950 Se
750 Ti
750
That didn't prevent them from being best-sellers, have great efficiency and performance. That said, they weren't super-cheap either
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#10
xorbe
Dj-ElectriCThat didn't prevent them from being best-sellers, have great efficiency and performance. That said, they weren't super-cheap either
It's just that the 3GB 192-bit 960 Ti never materialized, outside of mobile space. What a waste!
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#11
jabbadap
xorbeIt's just that the 3GB 192-bit 960 Ti never materialized, outside of mobile space. What a waste!
It did in oem space:
www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-960-oem/specifications

gtx950se if the price is right would be a perfect card for htpcs(hdmi2.0, hw decoder for hevc,vp9 and it has hw hevc encoder too). But I guess it will be over $150, which will be no point because you can get normal gtx950 almost the same dollar and not much more gtx960...
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#12
Kevin-HTPC
HumanSmokemight be of interest to the HTPC/casual gamer crowd - not a lot HEVC / HDMI 2.0 options at the low end of the discrete market
Exactly, especially if they put it into a low profile dual slot card. The fastest card available in low profile format at the moment is the GTX 750Ti which is limited to HDMI 1.4, so a toned down GTX 950 with HDMI 2.0 and HEVC would help move small HTPC's forward.

In order to get HDMI 2.0 at the moment your only options are high end ATX Z170 gaming motherboards, or full height graphics cards, both of which mean you have to use large cases.

A low profile GTX 950 SE would be ideal allowing HDMI 2.0 in sub 10L cases.
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#13
rainzor
GM206 also has delta color compression, MFAA, some extra DX12 features and supports SLI. Actually it's quite a bit different than Maxwell v1. If it's priced at $120 or less it will be a solid buy.
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#14
GhostRyder
Sweet, I was actually looking to buy a GTX 750ti single slot variant for something very soon so this will be even better! Hopefully we get one like the MSI low profile or the KFA2 Razor without power hookups as that is what I am after.

Very cool to see this coming back, want to see a review and the performance of the card!!! If they enable SLI, that would be pretty sweet in my book for my specific needs!
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#16
jabbadap
xorbejust fyi that's the laptop part soldered to a motherboard ... was never a card, afaik.
Well fair enough, it marketed as desktop part with same core config as gtx970M. But you might be right, zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN970, has one and it's clearly just rebadged gtx970m.
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#17
Casecutter
bogamiSelling of waste with great fanfare .
Do we really think at this point in TSMC process there's a boat load of bad wafers to work from? First there was a 950 as a 768 Cuda part (Aug 15), which fine a decent mid-ballpark card, but $150 for that was no "value". They just did some "Rebrand" with it a 1024 Cuda (Jan 16), and now the SE (Sucky Edition) with 640 CUDA. I suppose for the HTPC market it could be useful, but gamers IDK a GTX950 is just decent low-ballpark 1080p card, probably would be right in the middle of R7 360/370. I suppose if no 6-pin they can drop the GTX750Ti and maintain that 300W OEM PSU crowd while a slight bit more oomph.
GhostRyderHopefully we get one like the MSI low profile or the KFA2 Razor without power hookups as that is what I am after.
That would be the way to have these really have merit as half-height no 6-pin, but such a animal will probably end up elusive and expensive.
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#19
GhostRyder
CasecutterDo we really think at this point in TSMC process there's a boat load of bad wafers to work from? First there was a 950 as a 768 Cuda part (Aug 15), which fine a decent mid-ballpark card, but $150 for that was no "value". They just did some "Rebrand" with it a 1024 Cuda (Jan 16), and now the SE (Sucky Edition) with 640 CUDA. I suppose for the HTPC market it could be useful, but gamers IDK a GTX950 is just decent low-ballpark 1080p card, probably would be right in the middle of R7 360/370. I suppose if no 6-pin they can drop the GTX750Ti and maintain that 300W OEM PSU crowd while a slight bit more oomph.

That would be the way to have these really have merit as half-height no 6-pin, but such a animal will probably end up elusive and expensive.
Yea, unfortunately the only one I can easily procure is the msi low profile (great card though). I love the razor as my personal favorite. Hopefully this card will come in a low profile single (or 1.5) slot card, no power connector, and sli (though I won't hold my breath for this part). I will guarantee 2 purchased if all that is met for a project I have!

The only problem I have right now with this card is the name...I mean when I see something like SE on the end I expect it to be an upper version not a lower one. Could they not have called it even something like LE or similar. I get they didn't want to drop it I tot he 40's range but this is a little confusing just going on name alone.
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#20
rruff
jabbadapBut I guess it will be over $150, which will be no point because you can get normal gtx950 almost the same dollar and not much more gtx960...
Price will be sensible (as good in FPS/$ as 950), and depend on the competition. I bought a GTX 950 for $100 last fall (nice EVGA), and the SE will be cheaper if you wait for a deal.

The later gen Maxwells do not seem to be doing better in FPS/watt vs the 750s. Looks like this will just miss being a slot only powered card.
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#21
rruff
GhostRyderThe only problem I have right now with this card is the name...I mean when I see something like SE on the end I expect it to be an upper version not a lower one.
I really wonder how many people they have working overtime to come up with names. Or do they pull them out of a hat? 940 and 940Ti would make sense. The 950 is nearly as good as the 960 and it got its own number.
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#22
rruff
CasecutterGTX950 is just decent low-ballpark 1080p card, probably would be right in the middle of R7 360/370.
Well above a 370 (which is a slightly OC'd 265). Equal to a 270X in most stock configurations and clearly better if you OC.

EDIT: Just realized you might have been thinking of the SE. I would expect it to be similar to a 370.
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#23
Beerbam
The comments above are interesting but the GM 107 (750Ti) and GM 206 (950) are very different regarding one thing common people neglect.
Cache.
The GFlops and Bandwith are depended on the cache size and speed.
The GM107 was also designed for their professional cards, the GM206 is not.

The only thing that saves the 950 from performing worse than the 750Ti is the difference caused by memory bandwidth and the bigger Render Config.
If you remove that we can finally prove that it is slower in several cases^^

128 bit:
86.4 GB/s vs 106 GB/s
Shading Units: 640 vs 768
e.t.c.
and the difference:
L2 cache: 2MB vs 1MB
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#24
bogami
HumanSmokeI'm sure the shareholders are crying all the way to the bank, and the company is losing sleep over being able to maintain its R&D budget
Nvidia revenue beat powered by strong demand for graphic cards
3/8 unsuccessful cut silicon chip is a waste product which lifespan is therefore highly questionable !
And it is propagated as a new product .Horror offering us a the garbage in the stars . link has nothing to do with the article !
Posted on Reply
#25
Casecutter
rruffWell above a 370 (which is a slightly OC'd 265). Equal to a 270X in most stock configurations and clearly better if you OC.

EDIT: Just realized you might have been thinking of the SE. I would expect it to be similar to a 370.
Nope... Use some normal OEM box like say this Dell Inspiron 3650 Desktop, and toss out the GT 730.

Then use this MSI GTX 950 GAMING$120 -AR$30 and this XFX R7 370 $120 -AR$15. On 1080p adjust settings to provide playable 50-60FpS (basically as [H] does) on the 950, then use those same settings for the 370 (Apples to Apples). How far apart do you think they are over a mix of like 10 titles? Then pull power usage over all those titles and see the average variance. I bet it's not much, perhaps like having a 30W bulb on when ever you game over a month.

Testing with a i5-6400 2.7 Ghz (up to 3.30GHz) working its single channel DDR3 memory and all the other shortcoming such mainstream box enacts. It's way different than the test system most all reviewers test these with, some OC i7 @ 4.7Ghz and ton of fast ram. In reality that Inspiron isn't all that inspiring.

Edit: Well found something out on that Dell Inspiron 3650, it has a tiny (3 1/4'' x 2 1/2'' x 8 3/4'' L) proprietary PSU with 240W MAX Total Power. So a usable example on that account.
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