Testing the GTX 950: what can a mid-range graphics card do?

GeForce GTX 950 Features

The NVIDIA GTX 950 graphics accelerator is based on the Maxwell 2Gen architecture and is made using a 28nm process technology, which consumes very little electricity and heats up very little. The graphics card exists in two versions: with a power consumption of 90 and 75 watts. The second version can do without an additional 6-pin power supply (you can save on the power supply), but it works at slightly lower factory frequencies and overclocks manually worse.< /p>

NVIDIA itself positions the GeForce GTX 950 as the optimal solution for multiplayer MOBA games : Dota 2, League of Legends, Heroes of the Storm, etc. Firstly, all these games will run at 120+ FPS, which is relevant for gaming monitors (read the article "Five low-cost gaming monitors"). Secondly, the GTX 950 has reduced the number of pre-rendered frames, which reduces the delay between a mouse click and the on-screen response.

In addition to MOBA, the GTX 950 can handle more demanding games in other genres: auto racing, shooters and RPGs . At FullHD resolution and medium-high graphics settings, this graphics card feels like a fish in water (more in the Test Results section).

The GeForce GTX 950 supports all key NVIDIA proprietary technologies. So, the Shadow Play function allows you to record videos of the best gaming moments. You can start recording at the touch of a button, or save the previous 10 minutes of gameplay. In turn, GameWorks technology is responsible for rendering realistic water, rays of light, human hair and animal hair. Finally, DSR (Dynamic Super Resolution) runs games in virtual 4K resolution on a regular FullHD or 2K monitor, making the picture clearer. And don't forget about NVENC and CUDA, which allow you to use a graphics accelerator not only for games, but also for video editing.

Inno3D iChill GeForce GTX 950 2GB Ultra

A graphics card for our testing courtesy of InnoVISION, the owner of the Inno3D brand. The entire range of Inno3D graphics accelerators is built exclusively on NVIDIA GeForce solutions. Models with an improved two- and three-fan cooling system and high factory overclocking have been moved to a separate iChill series.

Great factory overclock, potential for additional manual overclocking. < div class="clr"> Not the quietest fans.< /div>

INNO3D GeForce GTX 950 C95U-1SDV-E5CMX The GeForce GTX 950, a junior representative of the NVIDIA Maxwell 2Gen architecture, opens the Inno3D iChill series of video cards. There are two versions of this graphics card — iChill and iChill Ultra. The frequency formula for both versions is the same: 1178-1367 MHz for the core (for comparison, the reference frequency is 1024-1188 MHz) and 6800 MHz for the memory (reference 6600 MHz). Video cards differ in the cooling system. The iChill heatsink is made of a single piece of aluminium, while the iChill Ultra is made of individual aluminium fins, fastened with copper heat pipes, plus there is a steel back plate. Both versions have two nine-centimeter fans. As a result, the slightly more expensive iChill Ultra heats up less, which means it has better chances for successful manual overclocking (it also depends on the particular graphics card instance). Due to the high factory overclocking, we can recommend the younger Inno3D iChill GTX 950 to purchase for those who do not want to spend time on manual overclocking. And the older iChill GTX 950 Ultra with an improved heatsink is for those who, on the contrary, are used to squeezing the maximum performance out of the graphics card using manual overclocking. Test results The older version of Inno3D iChill came to our test GeForce GTX 950 2GB Ultra. We decided to abandon synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark and Unigine Valley, as they show numbers that mean nothing in fact. Real games are a completely different matter: the people's favorite GTA V, fresh Doom 2016, The Witcher 3 with a huge open world, Star Wars Battlefront on the advanced Frostbyte 3 engine and DirectX12-based Rise of the Tomb Raider. Simply put, the most resource-intensive games of 2015-2016 were selected for the test. Testing was conducted at FullHD screen resolution, frame rate was measured using the Fraps application. Average frame rate in games GeForce GTX 950, 1920x1080, cps

Cheaper and more expensive alternatives

Given that the AMD Radeon R7 370 at the same price is slightly behind the GTX 950 in terms of performance, and the Radeon R9 380 costs significantly more, you have to look for alternatives among the NVIDIA solutions themselves. The junior GeForce 750 Ti is equipped with 1 or 2 GB of video memory. And if some modern games do not run at all on a one-gigabyte graphics card (for example, Assassin's Creed Syndicate), then a two-gigabyte one is quite the place to be. At a price of $120-140, the GTX 750 Ti loses to the GTX 950 by 30-40 percent, depending on the game, that is, how much cheaper, so much weaker.

By the way, it is Inno3D that offers one of the cheapest 2 GB versions GTX 750 Ti — INNO3D GeForce GTX 750 Ti N75T-1DDV-E5CW . This, of course, is not a dual-fan iChill, but for a GTX 750 Ti with a negligible 60 W of heat dissipation, serious airflow is not required.

If, on the contrary, you need something more powerful, you should take a closer look at the GeForce GTX 960. Moreover, that versions of this graphics card with 4 GB of memory have finally fallen in price to an acceptable level — $ 220-240. And if now the GTX 960 is only 20-30 percent more powerful than the GTX 950, then in the future, with an increase in video memory consumption by games, the difference should increase. Inno3D has GTX 960 versions with one, two and even three fans.

Conclusions

After the release of Pascal, older Maxwell video cards expectedly became less interesting for buyers. To clear stocks, NVIDIA has already announced a global price reduction for the GTX 970, 980 and 980 Ti, but the price reduction has not yet reached our market. The younger GTX 750 Ti, 950 and 960 are still relevant and in high demand. The GeForce GTX 950 looks the most balanced among this trio. At a cost of only $160-180, it gives out 30+ FPS in the brand new DirectX12 game Rise of the Tomb Raider at high graphics settings. In GTA V, The Witcher 3 and Star Wars Battlefront you can play at high at 40-60 FPS. Unless in Doom 2016 the settings will have to be lowered to medium for a comfortable game.