Inno3D iChill GTX 650 Ti Boost 2 GB

[W1zzard]

Inno3D has engineered a unique GTX 650 Ti Boost using the company's iChill triple-slot, dual-fan cooler. It provides amazing noise levels, which makes the card almost inaudible during gameplay. Temperatures are also much improved, so the triple-slot design certainly paid off. The card is also overclocked and comes at a reasonable $190 price-point.

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[dj-electric]

I'd rate it 7.5 at a price of a GTX660. Can't see how it is relevant to gamers more than GTX660 does.

Nonetheless, good review as always w1zz.

 

[DarkOCean]

$190... really?! keep it inno3d

 

[sanadanosa]

this card looks great for me

 

[Casecutter]

With the changes in the new games... Bioshock Infinite (No AA), Crysis 3, Tomb Raider (4AA but either title hardly playable even on enthusiast hardware ) and then Star Craft II . While discontinuing Crysis 2 (ok) but Alan Wake and Max Pane those where descent titles that with the settings provided apropos results.

A card like this moved up the 1920x summary page about another 3% from these new titles also, the latest drivers 314.21 and now 314.22 WHQL. Those release specifically addressed Nvidia performance woe's for both Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite. So not only new title but drivers that are explicitly new to those to titles. And now StarCraft II (No AA) … A title that released now almost 3 years ago! Everyone sees Nvidia hardware has a clear advantage, but still easily playable for eithers hardware at such mundane settings… why is it in there other than to skew the results?

Here's something odd when W1z first ran this new suite of titles (7990) I clearly remember seeing the 314.22 driver "only" used on the GTX660, now it shows all Nvidia card used them. I specifically commented on that when it was brought up in the forum comments.

 

[racedaemon]

The x2 power connector is strange. Maybe that is because Inno3D is a a budget brand, although i understand that this particular card is overpriced, and people who buy budget video cards tend to also buy budget power supplies and maybe the really cheap PSUs don't provide the requited voltage on one plug...
Inno3d could still made it possible to run the card with only one cable, like the 4/8 pin power cable for CPUs.

 

[W1zzard]

Here's something odd when W1z first ran this new suite of titles (7990) I clearly remember seeing the 314.22 driver "only" used on the GTX660

you looked at the wrong review? all nvidia use 314.22 and it's always been stated like that.

The x2 power connector is strange.

i think the idea is to make it look more powerful. "here look, i have this special card for you. it has 2x 6-pin instead of 1x, so it can draw twice the power". and all of that is even true.

StarCraft II does not support AA and doesn't really need it anyway due to how the game is designed and artwork works.

 

[Casecutter]

StarCraft II does not support AA and doesn't really need it anyway due to how the game is designed and artwork works.

I'm not sure why you'd shelve titles like Max Payne 3 (Dx11) or Alan Wake which are about year old, and place strong demands on even such mainstream hardware; to StarCraft II… A 3 year old release that puts no demand on cards, even card that where just above entry like 2 years ago could give 1920x.

We know that the March 2013; 314.14 Beta Drivers claimed a 23% performance optimisations on Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, while 314.21 Beta drivers mainly where to fix Tomb Raider. Then here with 314.22 March 25, BioShock Infinite saw huge improvements.

It would seem auspicious that gaming got mixed so soon after..

 

[Darkleoco]

I'm not sure why you'd shelve titles like Max Payne 3 (Dx11) or Alan Wake which are about year old, and place strong demands on even such mainstream hardware; to StarCraft II… A 3 year old release that puts no demand on cards, even card that where just above entry like 2 years ago could give 1920x.

We know that the March 2013; 314.14 Beta Drivers claimed a 23% performance optimisations on Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm.

My guess would be because people still play quite a lot of StarCraft II and will likely continue to play it for many years. Titles such as Alan Wake and Max Payne 3 might put more demand on cards but most people do not really care about benchmarks in those games when others that put as much or more demand on cards are added in.

 

[Casecutter]

StarCraft II and will likely continue to play it for many years

As W1z says “Please note that StarCraft II is very CPU limited on high-end cards, especially on lower resolutions”. It doesn’t do anything … It’s a game that folks can play at 1080p easily on any decent CPU and 5770 or GTX550Ti. Why is it here it's not straining any on the cards that got tested! Folk still pay it fine, but because it run on most any decent system, it not a good indicator of cutting edge!

 

[W1zzard]

I'm not sure why you'd shelve titles like Max Payne 3 (Dx11) or Alan Wake which are about year old, and place strong demands on even such mainstream hardware; to StarCraft II… A 3 year old release that puts no demand on cards, even card that where just above entry like 2 years ago could give 1920x.

We know that the March 2013; 314.14 Beta Drivers claimed a 23% performance optimisations on Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, while 314.21 Beta drivers mainly where to fix Tomb Raider. Then here with 314.22 March 25, BioShock Infinite saw huge improvements.

It would seem auspicious that gaming got mixed so soon after..

I removed the most unpopular titles based on how many people watched the individual review pages. Games are only changed when I do a full rebench, which I do every few months. I didn't want 84534856 comments "wut old driverz", so I started rebenching as soon as 314.22 came out, when HD 7990 was only a rumor.. I even benched with AMD beta drivers because WHQL hadn't been released for months and I knew that if HD 7990 would come I'd have no time to bench all AMD cards on the latest drivers at that time.

Next rebench will be some time in summer, certainly after Metro Last Light is released, probably after I upgrade to Haswell

SC II is in our benchmarks because it's extremely popular and also provides a data point for a CPU limited game. With it you can figure out how much CPU time the graphics driver uses, for example.

 

[pjl321]

Anyone know where you can buy this card in the UK?

 

[mirakul]

Hey W1zz sir, could you please explain why a 7950 lost to 7870 in Starcaft 2?

And how did you test the cards in Starcraft 2? IMHO, the process should be something like in this vid
Starcraft 2 Benchmarking Procedure Explanation Lin...
If you test the cards at the beginning of a match, the result is just simply unreliable.

And FYI, another reviews tell a different stories in Starcraft 2 for Titan/7990/690 comparing to yours. Titan even ran at higher clock.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7990/19.html
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...0-review-starcraft-ii-heart-of-the-swarm.html
The driver is newer, and the performance from nVi side is lower!!!

Another note is that you didn't turn on AA in Starcraft 2, while it is available!

 

[W1zzard]

Another note is that you didn't turn on AA in Starcraft 2, while it is available!

apparently i missed that option, will turn it on for next rebench

 

[Stefenheif]

Overbuilt much?

This is the most laughable video card I have ever seen. Even more, the price point can afford you better graphics chip. Three slots ... for real? I was disappointed that Asus made their 7970 with the good cooler, a three slot card instead of two as their 670. This 650ti boost though, can barely play at very high settings at 1680x1050.

Hope this is not going to be a trend.

*edit : grammar