GTX 550 or GTX 650 on IP35-Pro

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steveak

Weaksauce
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Feb 2, 2006
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While my computer is still running well and doing what I need of it, I'm getting error messages when trying to encode and burn a movie to DVD, with the message essentially saying my current video card is not powerful enough for this task.

I want to keep the cost of upgrade to about $100, give or take a few. I'm not really a gamer, so I don't need a high-end card, but do want videos and graphics to run smoothly.

At my price point, I see an EVGA GTX 650 and an EVGA GTX 550.

I noticed that the 650 is PCI E 3.0 x 16, while the 550 is 2.0 x 16.

I've been out of the building loop for a while, so want to make sure that they are both, the 650 especially, compatible with my motherboard, an Abit IP35-Pro.

Of course, I'd also be open to other ideas as to compatible cards in the $100 range.
 
I have a 680 superclock, and used to get that message occasionally ... It's just the gfx driver vs the Windows desktop Aero framerate vs whatever is hogging your GPU. Er, assuming you're talking about the "do you want to disable Aero" message or whatever it says.
 
Actually, it's that my current card does not have the correct DirecX support, that I need a more recent DirecX level.
 
PCIE 2.0 and 3.0 are interchangeable and backwards compatible with non PCIE 2.0 & 3.0 motherboards.

Get whichever one fits your budget and needs, either will work for you.
 
I owned a KFA2 GTX 550 TI and now have an EVGA GTX 650 SC. The 650 is definitely the better card. Its smaller in length, uses less energy, easier to cool and gives slightly better performance.

Even if it costs slightly more you should get the 650.
 
bytes said:
I owned a KFA2 GTX 550 TI and now have an EVGA GTX 650 SC. The 650 is definitely the better card. Its smaller in length, uses less energy, easier to cool and gives slightly better performance.

Even if it costs slightly more you should get the 650.
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The 650 should have more overclocking headroom too, no?
 
bytes said:
I owned a KFA2 GTX 550 TI and now have an EVGA GTX 650 SC. The 650 is definitely the better card. Its smaller in length, uses less energy, easier to cool and gives slightly better performance.

Even if it costs slightly more you should get the 650.
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With that question answered, there are 1GB and 2GB versions of the GTX650.

As to why a normally-AMD guy would consider nVidia, the issue is (amazingly) price for performance (AKA bang for buck) - the GTX650 in 2GB trim is (literally) priced identically to the HD7770 with half the GDDR5, while the 1GB model is as low as $104.99 (Newegg) or $119.99 (MicroCenter Fairfax VA/Rockville MD). Which would be a better match to (initially) a Q6600? (Primary games are Crysis 2, DCUO, and other games of that year-vintage - while an i5-3570K is the planned target, due to the cheap price, I may upgrade the GPU (from an HD5450) first.)
 
I don't know but make sure your CPU doesn't bottleneck the new card
 
firas said:
I don't know but make sure your CPU doesn't bottleneck the new card
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I doubt very seriously that even a Q6600, despite it being three (Intel CPU) generations dead, would bottleneck what is essentially a midrange GPU - it certainly won't be bottlenecked by i5-3570K. If anything would bottleneck the GTX650, it would be the 128-bit memory bus of the *GPU* (same problem that plagues the HD77xx, in fact).
 
What price is the 2GB card ? What resolution are you using to play games ? Is it a 32bit or 64bit OS you will be using this on ?

At 1920 x 1080 the extra 1GB wont make much of a difference, maybe a few fps extra for some games at best. The extra memory normally isn't worth it for this range of card as you are unlikely to be using really high resolutions, multiple monitors etc that would see memory usage go over 1GB. However if its only a few $$ more then it may be worth considering, but id think the brand of card and what cooler it uses is more important than 1GB v 2GB for this card.
 
bytes said:
What price is the 2GB card ? What resolution are you using to play games ? Is it a 32bit or 64bit OS you will be using this on ?

At 1920 x 1080 the extra 1GB wont make much of a difference, maybe a few fps extra for some games at best. The extra memory normally isn't worth it for this range of card as you are unlikely to be using really high resolutions, multiple monitors etc that would see memory usage go over 1GB. However if its only a few $$ more then it may be worth considering, but id think the brand of card and what cooler it uses is more important than 1GB v 2GB for this card.
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The card in question - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/PNY+-+X...Card/6820159.p?id=1218808243147&skuId=6820159 (yes - the same card costs less at Newegg; however, I have a BB gift card that knocks some off the price)

The spread between this and the 1GB card (same everything except the RAM loadout) is $20 (with the 1GB card being cheaper-same BB). I wouldn't think that the 2GB card would be worth it in a single-GPU setup, either. I'm comparing the card heads-up to the various AMD HD7770s (same price range and pretty much the same limitations) - likely the only game I play that would actually use the extra RAM (single GPU) would be Crysis 2. Again, the major fault that the GTX650 has is that narrow 128-bit memory bus.

I'm leaning more toward the 1GB model simply because I play no games that take advantage of 2GB of GDDR5 (not with a Q6600 - that would be silly) - maybe post-upgrade I'd look that way, but not now. (I'm running Windows 8 Pro x64 with Media Center.)
 
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I dont live in the US but going by the prices on the bestbuy website you linked to i definitely wouldn't get that PNY 2GB GTX650 as its only $20 cheaper than a 2GB GTX650 TI which is a lot more powerful. There's a galaxy 1GB card on that site for $114. So you could get a 1GB GTX650 for $114, a 2gb GTX650 for $160 or a 2GB GTX650 TI for $180.

Now that iv seen the prices i think you should avoid the 2GB GTX650's as they are not worth the extra cash and either get a GTX650 1GB or a GTX650 TI 2GB.
 
bytes said:
I dont live in the US but going by the prices on the bestbuy website you linked to i definitely wouldn't get that PNY 2GB GTX650 as its only $20 cheaper than a 2GB GTX650 TI which is a lot more powerful. There's a galaxy 1GB card on that site for $114. So you could get a 1GB GTX650 for $114, a 2gb GTX650 for $160 or a 2GB GTX650 TI for $180.

Now that iv seen the prices i think you should avoid the 2GB GTX650's as they are not worth the extra cash and either get a GTX650 1GB or a GTX650 TI 2GB.
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You saw a GTX550 Ti at that $179.99USD price from EVGA - the Galaxy GTX650 Ti is a 1GB model, and has a week lag time (site to store) *and* is $10 more.

The Ti models have that wider bandwidth and are marked-up accordingly compared to their non-Ti brethren. Note that even the 1GB GTX550 Ti is priced higher compared to the non-Ti GTX650 with twice the memory. Worse, Fermi has (so far) shaped up to be a bandwidth pig compared to Southern Islands (it does far worse when bandwidth-constrained). Hence the odd pricing (1GB GDDR5 priced higher than 2GB GDDR5) - bandwidth.
 
It was a 650 ti not a 550 ti. Sorry the one i was looking at is sold out but theres a galaxy 650 ti 1GB for $185. I still think you'd be better of with a 1GB 650 or 650 TI as that 2GB 650 is only $25 cheaper than a 1GB 650 TI. In my opinion its not worth it but its up to you.

Use this link for searching - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=7051821727504534131&id=pcat17071&type=page&ks=960&st=gtx+650&sc=Global&cp=1&sp=%2Bcurrentprice+skuid&qp=&list=n&usc=All+Categories&nrp=15&iht=n
 
bytes said:
It was a 650 ti not a 550 ti. Sorry the one i was looking at is sold out but theres a galaxy 650 ti 1GB for $185. I still think you'd be better of with a 1GB 650 or 650 TI as that 2GB 650 is only $25 cheaper than a 1GB 650 TI. In my opinion its not worth it but its up to you.

Use this link for searching - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=7051821727504534131&id=pcat17071&type=page&ks=960&st=gtx+650&sc=Global&cp=1&sp=%2Bcurrentprice+skuid&qp=&list=n&usc=All+Categories&nrp=15&iht=n
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The bigger issue is Beast Buy's horrific markup for GPUs (it's far from unique to nVidia) - the only time they have any sort of advantage is when they have unique models or purchase an EOL and close them out. (Retail vs. retail, MicroCenter alone gives them a ton of grief - same-brand vs. same-brand, MicroCenter has had typically both better stock and better prices; the advantage BB has - and it's slim - is usually more locations; however, the stock can either be spread out or concentrated.) For example, both Best Buy and MicroCenter carry EVGA, PNY, and ASUS - however, Best Buy also carries Galaxy (which MicroCenter does not - MicroCenter DOES make up for it by carrying more EVGA and PNY, in addition to ASUS). In these days of higher transportation costs (either fuel if driving, or transit fares if not), you can find yourself forced to BOHICA if you are paying cash.
 
galdoes16 said:
PCIE 2.0 and 3.0 are interchangeable and backwards compatible with non PCIE 2.0 & 3.0 motherboards.

Get whichever one fits your budget and needs, either will work for you.
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The IP35-pro is 1.1.

That said around 9 months ago I bought a Evga GTX660 that had issues.
Could have been the card or the board. 2D was fine, 3D it would crash, artifact and it crashed windows to the point some drivers went missing.

Installed my old 1.1 card, no problems and returned the card for refund not willing to take the chance again.

New hardware does not always play nice with old hardware.
 
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