GTX 950 review compilation thread

They make noise, too.

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CA_Steve
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GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:47 pm

Based on GM206 die (GTX960), 90W TDP and meant to slot in between the GTX 750 Ti and GTX 960. Most aftermarket cards are stock overclocked leading to performance in many cases closer to the 960 than the 750 Ti. Needs one PCIe graphics power connector.

Roundups:
HardwareLuxx compares Asus, EVGA, and Inno3D
HardwareInfo compares Asus, MSI, Gigabyte and Inno3D
ComputerBase compares Asus, EVGA, MSI, and Zotac

Reviews with acoustic testing:

Asus GTX 950 STRIX 2GB (8.66" x 4.92" x "), 6-pin, passive idle):
Guru3D
Techpowerup
Hexus
KitGuru
Tom's Hardware
HardwareLuxx
HardwareInfo
ComputerBase

MSI GTX 950 Gaming 2GB (" x " x "), 6-pin, passive idle):
Guru3D
Techpowerup
HardwareInfo
ComputerBase

EVGA GTX 950 SSC 2GB (11" x 4.33" x "), 6-pin, passive idle):
Techpowerup
Hexus
HardwareLuxx

EVGA GTX 950 FTW 2GB (10.1" x 4.38" x "), 8-pin, passive idle):
ComputerBase

Gigabyte GTX 950 Windforce OC 2GB (7.68" x 4.72" x "), 6-pin, not passive idle):
Techpowerup
HardwareInfo

Palit GTX 950 2GB (9.06" x " x "), 6-pin, passive idle):
Guru3D
KitGuru

Zotac GTX 950 2GB (7.87" x 4.53" x "), 6-pin, passive idle):
Techpowerup
ComputerBase

Inno3D GTX 950 Ultra iChill 2GB (7.68" x " x "), 6-pin, passive idle):
HardwareLuxx
HardwareInfo

PNY GTX 950 2GB (7.88" x " x "), 6-pin, passive idle):
Hexus

Abula
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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by Abula » Fri Aug 21, 2015 6:53 am

Given that the only trust worth noise review are SPCRs, i think its fair to compare between the same site into which card is noisier. For me the GTX950 is a card that is passive under light load, so mostly what its important is how they are under heavy or gaming load.

Two of the most popular recently are the Asus Strix and MSI Gaming, these two are the ones that i try to read first, this time Guru3d reviewed both, so might be worth checking for potential buyers,

Guru3d MSI GeForce GTX 950 Gaming + 2-way SLI review
Guru3d ASUS GeForce GTX 950 STRIX review

Both got Top pic awards, so imo both are good choices, the main conclusion that i gather from their testing is the noise difference, given that its not an chamber like SPCR, i do think the measures between each other, or the delta is accurate. From the reviews,
Guru3d MSI review wrote:Cooling VS. Noise Levels

Cooling wise we can’t complain really, noise wise this is a downright excellent product. If you try very hard you might hear a tiny bit of airflow, but that's it. So expect sound pressure values in the 37 dBA range at best under load and warm circumstances. That's measured 75 cm away from the PC, thus a normal distance in-between you and your PC. That level is to be considered totally silent.
Guru3d ASUS Review wrote:Cooling VS. Noise Levels

Cooling wise we can’t complain really, noise wise this is a downright excellent product. If you try very hard you might hear a tiny bit of airflow, but that's it. So expect sound pressure values in the 39 dBA range at best under load and warm circumstances. That's measured 75 cm away from the PC, thus a normal distance in-between you and your PC. That level is to be considered totally silent.
So the conclusion, at least for me, would be the Asus is slightly more noticeable than the MSI under load, the same that i have found on the GTX970 and GTX980Ti.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by Smanci » Fri Aug 21, 2015 8:23 am

Overclock3D delivers:

Image
Image

At those fan speeds, (assuming it's the same cooler as in their 960) Asus will probably be merely audible in a very quiet environment. Msi's even better, though.

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/gpu_ ... face_off/1

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by Abula » Fri Aug 21, 2015 11:50 am

At those fan speeds, (assuming it's the same cooler as in their 960) Asus will probably be merely audible in a very quiet environment. Msi's even better, though.
I have a very similar experience in terms of Asus and MSI, not sure what it is, but at higher load the MSI is quieter.

Back on the GTX950, another site that i like to read the reviews is Techpowerup, sadly no MSI in their 4 reviews,
ASUS GeForce GTX 950 STRIX OC 2 GB
EVGA GeForce GTX 950 SSC 2 GB
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 OC 2 GB
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 950 AMP! Edition 2 GB

Cards behave very similar on idle but on load there are two very similar,

Image

If i were buying i would probably go MSI first, then Asus then EVGA.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by HammerSandwich » Fri Aug 21, 2015 5:30 pm

Neoseeker posted an Asus versus MSI roundup without much info about noise & power draw. However, their overclocking results are quite interesting.

The Asus clocked ever so slightly higher with an extra 70mV compared to the MSI. With fans at 100%, the MSI hit 37C at 2300rpm. The Asus 51C at 3400rpm.

Sure looks like TwinFrozr > DirectCU.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by HammerSandwich » Fri Aug 21, 2015 5:37 pm

Also, what do you folks think about the power results at Techspot?

Although most other reviews indicate the 950 & 960 are within a few watts of each other, this shows (total system) power differences of 30-70W! I was also shocked to see the 950 pulling 99W more than a 750Ti in Battlefield Hardline.

I'm not too concerned about 1 wild data point, but these results are odd.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by CA_Steve » Sat Aug 22, 2015 10:02 am

Ok, I had a bit of time and started populating the review listings.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by Das_Saunamies » Sun Aug 23, 2015 1:39 pm

HammerSandwich wrote:I'm not too concerned about 1 wild data point, but these results are odd.
Someone more in tune with the processor architecture might pull out a theory on what could be driving the 950 harder than the 750 Ti, but the review site does not explain what the data is or how they got it, so there is no room to even make an educated guess. (Which would be that the 950 ticks faster at their given quality settings compared to the 750 Ti, leading the 60% difference in transistors to tear it up.)

They don't even list what the 750 Ti is - it could be a reference design, but they list the Palit StormX 950 the same as they list the 750 Ti, so all bets are off.

Thanks for the effort as always, Steve.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by CA_Steve » Mon Aug 24, 2015 5:29 am

Sure.

EVGA @ Hexus added.

HardwareLuxx roundup added with Asus, EVGA, and Inno3D

HardwareInfo roundup added with Asus, MSI, Gigabyte and Inno3D. MSI looks pretty good here.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by CA_Steve » Wed Aug 26, 2015 5:31 am

MSI @ Techpowerup added.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by Das_Saunamies » Wed Aug 26, 2015 6:06 am

Those MSI load figures are just lovely. It's a shame they won't overclock their cards more with such cooling power on hand, but then again they always position themselves at the low end of the cost curve.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:47 am

PNY @ Hexus added.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by CA_Steve » Mon Sep 07, 2015 3:54 pm

Asus, MSI, Zotac, and EVGA FTW @ ComputerBase added.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by xen » Sun Dec 06, 2015 4:33 am

There is a YouTube review of the MSI GTX 950 2GD5 OC, which is a single-fan card that looks really good and has 2 DVI, 1 HDMI and 1 DisplayPort.

The review is by a Portuguese guy, a bit hard to understand but he is fast, compact, the video is of professional quality, and mostly what he mentions is that this card has a fan that has no passive mode, the minimum is 42% of full speed which is 1500 rpm. At idle it runs at 1500 rpm but I could not divine whether it is possible to change this, probably not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw6h3347RPo

It really seems like one of the worst cards to pick noise wise, and it also looks the best :p. I can't see whether these fans have regular 4-pin PWM connectors, I think they don't, they seem smaller, and I don't know how easy it is to undervolt them.

[Note: The Gigabyte Windforce is, per the review at TechPowerup, not passive in idle, and is quite noisy according to them.]

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by CA_Steve » Sun Dec 06, 2015 8:50 am

xen wrote:[Note: The Gigabyte Windforce is, per the review at TechPowerup, not passive in idle, and is quite noisy according to them.]
fixed.

Yep, 1500rpm = not quiet.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by xen » Fri Dec 11, 2015 8:27 am

Just a quick heads up on the "MSI GTX 950 2GD5 OC". I have acquired the card but am going to send it back for a GTX 960.

Small picture:

Image

This card has a fan that runs between 1500 and about 1800 rpm. I don't think it has gone higher even under full load.

The rather higher-pitched fan is audible outside the case (at 1500) although it did not dominate my Seasonic S12II 330W that is quite noisy. This Seasonic has also started to make a form of coil whine (real high pitched noise) and I cannot or could not reliably determine if the card added to that or not. I thought that for a moment but I think I was mistaken about that. There are BIOS mods you can do using "Maxwell BIOS Tweaker" which is a tool you can use to lower the minimum RPM that it uses (and the minimum RPM that it sees as safe, which will allow you to use that lower RPM) but I haven't tried this, as I was returning the card.

Other resources on the internet suggested that many of these fans would have a high starting voltage (and RPM) which would mean that changing the PWM curve to a lower start RPM wouldn't do much for you, but it could of course turn it into a passive mode, if that's what you wanted (I believe). I would recommend this card *IF* you can lower the base RPM but I still don't know if it can be done, so no use in there here. Maybe the YouTube reviewer will do it for me if I send him a cable :P. He was actually complaining about the card's noise while saying it is quite quiet (because the rest of his system is passive or near-passive, and his PSU is passive). But he was not eager to flash the BIOS with a modded bios file. IF you have a silent system, this card by default will make more noise in idle mode than the rest of your system. That much can be said. So I could recommend it, but it a recommendation on hold.

The card consumes about 100% in World of Warcraft ultra settings at 1080p, and Diablo 3 was also nearing that mark, I believe. I had Diablo 3 running at 80%. While gaming the fan noise becomes very audible but it is drowned by the game's noise, unless you pay it attention.

When idling the fan quickly ramps down to that 1500 rpm again. That is my mini review of this MSI card.

ps. I'm probably getting the 960 version of this card, the two-fan white model.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by CA_Steve » Fri Dec 11, 2015 11:24 am

The two fanned Gaming version is the decent 950...and it's also the 960 Gaming that's listed in the 960 thread.

Your GPU loading sounded high to me, so I fired up WoW with my GTX 760...which should perform worse than your 950. The only way I could get to 100% loading with 1080P Ultra settings (flying around in towns..wasn't in a RAID or anything) was to use SSAA 4x or better in Antialiasing. Anything below that gave me less than 90% loads and > 60fps. MSAA 4x and Ultra provides 75fps and 75% load. Kicking in Vertical Sync drops the loading to 55%.

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Re: GTX 950 review compilation thread

Post by Das_Saunamies » Sat Dec 12, 2015 1:53 am

Thanks for the impressions xen. Sounds like a faithful update to my card; it has way too high minimum RPM and a mediocre acoustic/sound profile. Tolerable at best, but hey - it was 50 EUR less than the competition at the time. Enough to buy a third-party cooler, if I had found one I truly liked.

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