Gigabyte GTX950 Xtreme Gaming Review.

[stulid]

Gigabyte Product Page - http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5619#kf


Today I bring you a review of the Gigabyte GTX950 Xtreme Gaming GFX card.

This is what I would call an entry-level gaming GFX card for PC users that are starting out and not looking to run games at huge resolutions and settings. It is based on the Nvidia GM206 processor which is also used in the GTX960, but on the GTX950 it has been cut down.

Featuring 2GBs of DDR5 RAM on a 128bit bus running at 7000MHz, and a core running at Base 1203MHz / Boost 1405MHz (this particular sample was hitting 1420Mhz all by itself) all cooled by a beefy twin 90mm fan cooler: this is one of the faster if not fastest GTX950 available on the market.


Packaging and Accessories

Not much to see here: the rear of the box has some of the key points about the card proudly displayed, and the accessories include a driver disk, a manual, a case badge and DVI-VGA adapter.


The Card

So this is the Gigabyte GTX950 Xtreme Gaming graphics card.

It is 240mm in length which I think is actually rather large. Most of this length is due to the substantial cooler that is fitted to this - the PCB is much shorter (as you will see later).

The rear is fitted with a metal backplate.

Up front, we find a single DVI-I and three gold-plated Displayport 1.2s and one HDMI (supports HDMI2.0). You can set-up four monitors from these, using any combination.

Cooling this card is a pair of 90mm fans that blow down onto an aluminium heatsink and a single 6mm heatpipe.

This card requires a single 8pin PCI-E power connector - the other GTX950 cards on the market all seem to use a single 6pin power connector.

2-Way SLI is supported.

On the side of the cooler (facing you when fitted into a system) is the illuminated Windforce logo and stop+silent illuminated logos.

This card will run passively when below approximately 50°C and barely ramps up, even when above this - it really is silent.


The Naked Card

Upon dismantling the card we find that the two fans, and illuminated logos need three connectors.

The main heatsink and single 6mm heatpipe: notice the core has made contact smack-bang in the centre.

The actual PCB is very barren indeed but has two unique features to improve reliability:

Aerospace-grade PCB Coating for Best Protection
PCB applied with a breathable aerospace-grade coating to shield against moisture, dust, and corrosion for a complete protection

Titan X-grade Chocks and Capacitors for Extreme Durability
Xtreme Gaming Graphics Cards are engineered with the same highest-grade chokes and capacitors as those of Titan X, delivering high quality performance and longer system lifespan.

This custom PCB uses a four phase power design for the core and a single one for the RAM.

Nvidia GM206 core featuring 768 CUDA cores, 48 texture units and 32 ROPs.

Samsung provides the RAM on this sample.


OC GURU II Software

Included with this card, or available to download, is Gigabyte's own software tool to allow overclocking, fan control and WINDFORCE logo colour control.

Here you will have control of the core and memory clock speeds, voltage (this doesn't alter anything according to the voltage logs) and the logo and fan control.

Manual or Auto fan control.


LED Colours

So, as mentioned, you can adjust the WINDFORCE logo to 7 different colours, have it come ON when the fan kicks in, or ON/OFF permanently.

So they are the six main colours, but then we come to white:

This is so far from being white it might as well be cyan - it is odd, as the stop+silent logos are perfectly clear and white.


Overclocking

I used the OC Guru II and MSI afterburner utilities to try and overclock this card and both returned the same results.

I could get the memory to run at 8000MHz up from 7000MHz and the core up to 1570MHz effective boost without any artefacts or weird stuff appearing on screen. I could run up to 1590MHz on the core and pass benchmarks, but visible geometry errors were noticeable.


Temperatures and Noise

I ran two passes of 3Dmark Firestrike at stock speeds and the overclocked settings, as outlined above.

The peak core-temperature reached at stock was 62°C and overclocked it was 64°C with fan control set to AUTO.

Noise is not a concern: there is no fan noise even when spinning, no coil whine - nothing at all.


Benchmarks

Test system,

i7 [email protected]
Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz 16GB DDR4
Antec P380 case
Antec HCP 1000W PSU
Nvidia 358.0 driver

Software,

3DMark Firestrike standard gfx score
Unigen Valley using the same setting as here.
Witcher3 using high preset at 1080P
Star Wars Battlefront Beta using ultra preset at 1080P
Alien Isolation using the same setting as here.
GTAV settings in spoiler below

Spoiler

Results

Conclusion

The GTX950 Xtreme Gaming is a very capable GFX card for gaming at 1080P without having to reduce quality settings and compromising the gaming experience.

It's amazingly silent during use, without any hint of coil whine, and fan noise is non-existent when it does decide to spin them up.

It overclocks really well and I feel there are some good gains to be had, performance-wise, by doing so. Even at stock it has a nice, healthy factory overclock already applied.

One negative aspect is the white LED's colour not being correct.

Price is going to be an issue, I feel, and I can see this being a bit close to the cheaper GTX960 cards on the market but then you are not getting the fantastic cooler and perhaps not as much overclocking headroom.

 

[Ethermaster]

Great review Stulid, I hear this card has a special pcb as well wanna try this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsxBkap-kbw&feature=youtu.be

 

[Lokken86]

I'd just posted a recommendation for the msi one of these. Id like to see the before and after on a reference model after oc

 

[stulid]

Great review Stulid, I hear this card has a special pcb as well wanna try this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsxBkap-kbw&feature=youtu.be

I maybe the "sauce boss" but spreading BBQ on my card isnt for me.

 

[Seanspeed]

Conclusion

The GTX950 Xtreme Gaming is a very capable GFX card for gaming at 1080P without having to reduce quality settings and compromising the gaming experience.

I would consider resorting to 30fps(the only way you're not going to be turning down settings) a compromised gaming experience, but ok.

 

[stulid]

I would consider resorting to 30fps(the only way you're not going to be turning down settings) a compromised gaming experience, but ok.

It's only in witcher3 its in the 30's, all other games look nice and play perfectly.

Even BF4 which I haven't included in the tests is great at 1080p at high preset.

 

[Ethermaster]

I think the only reason it had a hard time with the witcher 3 is because it hit the limits of it vram personally.

 

[stulid]

I think the only reason it had a hard time with the witcher 3 is because it hit the limits of it vram personally.

Just turn hairworks off, done.

 

[ndaar]

I really don't understand why people seem to think that if a card cant push 60+ FPS in all games at max settings its a waste of space. (Had this debate with someone the other day)

Not everyone can spend huge sums on expensive GPUs. The 950 can play any game on the market at reasonable frame rates at 1080P. Sure if you want to maintain 60FPS in some games you will have to turn a few settings down, for the money I don't understand an issue with that.

It is what it is, a budget card.

 

[RavenXXX2]

How much does it cost and I'll say if it sucks or not.

 

[stulid]

How much does it cost and I'll say if it sucks or not.

That's the problem I don't know and Gibbo seems reluctant to list it because of the 960's

I would have thought it was the top end of the 950's prices at £140-150

 

[Seanspeed]

It's only in witcher3 its in the 30's, all other games look nice and play perfectly.

Even BF4 which I haven't included in the tests is great at 1080p at high preset.

Actually, no. Battlefront doesn't even average 60fps.

GTA V certainly wouldn't average 60fps if you cranked up all the settings.

And that's just of the games actually tested. There are many other games that aren't going to run at 60fps without a ton of settings turned down, too.

Bottom line, you *will* be turning down settings with this card. It is flat out dishonest to suggest otherwise. The review is great otherwise, but I hate when these sorts of comments get made, as its totally false consumer advice.

I really don't understand why people seem to think that if a card cant push 60+ FPS in all games at max settings its a waste of space.

Yea, nobody was saying that.

 

[stulid]

Actually, no. Battlefront doesn't even average 60fps.

GTA V certainly wouldn't average 60fps if you cranked up all the settings.

And that's just of the games actually tested. There are many other games that aren't going to run at 60fps without a ton of settings turned down, too.

Bottom line, you *will* be turning down settings with this card. It is flat out dishonest to suggest otherwise. The review is great otherwise, but I hate when these sorts of comments get made, as its totally false consumer advice.

Why does it matter if its 60fps or not?

It is close to doing that in Battlefront and GTAV runs lovely at the settings I have shown.

 

[Seanspeed]

Why does it matter if its 60fps or not?

It is close to doing that in Battlefront and GTAV runs lovely at the settings I have shown.

You're basically asking me "Why does framerate matter?". Which I really feel is such an elementary subject that I wouldn't know where to begin.

It is *close* to 60fps in Battlefront, yes. But not quite there, is it? That is an issue. Many people would care that it drops to the high 40's at times.

And GTA V definitely has to have turned down settings to get the performance you've shown. You are not running max settings, I can claim that for a fact, because even with my GTX970, I cant run max settings. So your claim that you dont need to turn down settings with this card is just flat out lying.

There are quite a few other games that would totally require settings to be turned down, just like GTA V.

Look man, I think your review was quite good overall. But let up on the dishonest performance claims. It does consumers no good when you mislead them like that.

 

[stulid]

You're basically asking me "Why does framerate matter?". Which I really feel is such an elementary subject that I wouldn't know where to begin.

It is *close* to 60fps in Battlefront, yes. But not quite there, is it? That is an issue. Many people would care that it drops to the high 40's at times.

And GTA V definitely has to have turned down settings to get the performance you've shown. You are not running max settings, I can claim that for a fact, because even with my GTX970, I cant run max settings. So your claim that you dont need to turn down settings with this card is just flat out lying.

There are quite a few other games that would totally require settings to be turned down, just like GTA V.

Look man, I think your review was quite good overall. But let up on the dishonest performance claims. It does consumers no good when you mislead them like that.

I think you need to take a chill or something.

This card can run the games smooth (except for witcher3 which has been problematic for even many high end cards) just fine.

60fps average means very little as long as it doesn't fluctuate wildly and remains nicely constant with no stutters.

So NO that is not an issue at all, if its constant which it is.

And of course Im not running max settings on GTAV, not even my GTX980 can do that, there are settings that a 950 just cannot do in the options.

I have shown the settings used in the games tested if you look.

 

[bru]

And GTA V definitely has to have turned down settings to get the performance you've shown. You are not running max settings, I can claim that for a fact, because even with my GTX970, I cant run max settings. So your claim that you dont need to turn down settings with this card is just flat out lying.

Hmm maybe go back and look at the opening post again, he posted the settings used in GTA V.

Look man, I think your review was quite good overall. But let up on the dishonest performance claims. It does consumers no good when you mislead them like that.

What dishonest claims, he has linked too or shown the settings used in the game tests, I really don't see how that is dishonest.

 

[Seanspeed]

I think you need to take a chill or something.

This card can run the games smooth (except for witcher3 which has been problematic for even many high end cards) just fine.

60fps average means very little as long as it doesn't fluctuate wildly and remains nicely constant with no stutters.

So NO that is not an issue at all, if its constant which it is.

And of course Im not running max settings on GTAV, not even my GTX980 can do that, there are settings that a 950 just cannot do in the options.

I have shown the settings used in the games tested if you look.

I'm relaxed, dont worry.

"60fps average means very little"

No, it really doesn't. But you know what? It doesn't mean everything, you're right. A game can *average* 60fps and still not perform all that great. What you *really* want is a game that performs at a consistent 60fps. That is what I'd call 'smooth'.

Either way, plenty of games aren't going to run close to 60fps with max settings with a GTX950. You'll *definitely* have to drop the settings, possibly by a huge amount, to the point where 30fps might actually be a more preferable target.

Hmm maybe go back and look at the opening post again, he posted the setting used in GTA V.

What dishonest claims, he has linked too or shown the settings used in the game tests, I really don't see how that is dishonest.

The settings he has shown demonstrated dropped settings. And he claims that settings dont need to be dropped in his conclusion.

It's not a huge deal. But it's dishonest. A GTX950 will *absolutely* require you to drop settings in the more modern, demanding games. I have to do it with my GTX970, after all.

 

[bru]

The settings he has shown demonstrated dropped settings. And he claims that settings dont need to be dropped in his conclusion.

I assume you mean this line.

Conclusion

The GTX950 Xtreme Gaming is a very capable GFX card for gaming at 1080P without having to reduce quality settings and compromising the gaming experience.

In which case when you take the entire sentence and not truncate just the part in yellow then it make perfect sense. At 1080p in the games he has run you do not have to reduce the settings to the point that they compromise the gaming experience.


Anyway, good review stulid cheers.

 

[Seanspeed]

I assume you mean this line.



In which case when you take the entire sentence and not truncate just the part in yellow then it make perfect sense. At 1080p in the games he has run you do not have to reduce the settings to the point that they compromise the gaming experience.

Quite the opposite. When you take the whole sentence in context, then it becomes clear his comment is nonsense. You will *definitely* have to turn down settings in many games.

You are way too eager to kiss his butt than realize the obviousness of what I'm saying. And for the record, this was a great review otherwise. Props for that OP, but I dont think its cool to be dishonest about how you summarized the card's capabilities.

 

[stulid]

Quite the opposite. When you take the whole sentence in context, then it becomes clear his comment is nonsense. You will *definitely* have to turn down settings in many games.

You are way too eager to kiss his butt than realize the obviousness of what I'm saying. And for the record, this was a great review otherwise. Props for that OP, but I dont think its cool to be dishonest about how you summarized the card's capabilities.

The card does not compromise gaming in anyway, the games do not look like lego bricks and far from it in fact.

No ones kissing butt and to be honest I don't like that tone of voice.

The GFX settings are clear to see and nothing is dishonest.

Now move on.