Conclusion
Within the last year or so, there have been plenty of enthusiast level graphics cards which have wowed us with incredible performance. The GTX 750 Ti doesn’t fit into the high end segment and certainly won’t appeal to gamers who can afford better solutions but it nonetheless represents one of the most impressive technological achievements the GPU industry has seen in the last two years. NVIDIA have proven that high framerates and leading edge gaming capabilities aren’t necessary for a GPU to be considered groundbreaking.
When taken at face value, the GTX 750 Ti has modest goals: it’s meant to become a performance per watt leader in the bottom half of today’s mid-tier market. By using their new Maxwell architecture NVIDIA has achieved just that and so much more. Not only does the GTX 750 Ti have a TDP of just 60W but it consumes dozens of watts less than a similarly-performing R7 260X and simply demolishes the 115W TDP GTX 650 Ti 1GB in every test. For users with older systems that may not have the power supply overhead for other solutions, this is a game-changer that will surely facilitate future upgrades.
These feats have been achieved without moving away from TSMC’s 28nm manufacturing process, making Maxwell all that much more impressive in our eyes. The architecture’s close adherence to efficiency targets has been perfectly balanced with a core design which is both adaptable to changing workload conditions and focused on improvements in areas where Kepler may have been lacking. While the GM107 core can be considered a pipe-cleaning part, it’s an outstanding first showing and points towards some incredible future potential as Maxwell's innovations flow throughout the rest of NVIDIA’s lineup. This should make AMD very, very worried since they likely won’t have a suitable response for the foreseeable future, at least from a performance per watt standpoint.
A whole lot of NVIDIA’s marketing points about the GTX 750 Ti play up its perf per watt story and there’s a good reason for that: this card is miles ahead of anything else in today’s GPU market. However, when we take the power consumption factor out of the equation, things turn out to be just a bit less clear-cut. Once it’s released, the R7 265 could conceivably offer more bang for your buck while the $119 R7 260X is able to hang close to the GTX 750 Ti in most tests.
There are some major caveats with these statements though: AMD’s current history is filled with missed pricing promises. Look no further than the MIA “price drop” to $119 for the R7 260X for proof of that. Whether or not the paper-launched R7 265 will go down that same path remains to be seen but you can see where the safe bet lies. Therefore, in the current market this card finds itself in, it can still be considered an excellent value.
Within NVIDIA’s lineup, the GTX 750 Ti’s positioning makes perfect sense. It and the GTX 750 act as suitable replacements for the GTX 650 Ti while narrowing the gap between lower end cards and NVIDIA’s GTX 760. We just can’t help but draw parallels with the GTX 650 Ti Boost which was also $149 before being discontinued and offered substantially more performance. Granted, the Boost could never offer Maxwell’s high levels of efficiency but, in our eyes at least, the GTX 750 Ti is a small step backwards in terms of delivering playable framerates at its particular price point.
Regardless of price and power consumption, the GTX 750 Ti overclocks like a bat out of hell without any additional voltage. This could possibly point to NVIDIA being a bit too conservative on core frequencies and will go a long way towards extending its value in the eyes of gamers who want to push its capabilities.
If pure performance is what you’re looking for regardless of power consumption numbers, the GTX 660 2GB, which can be found for just $30 more than NVIDIA’s GTX 750 Ti is an excellent alternative. On AMD’s side, there are simply no options right now. The R9 270 is either horribly expensive or sold out, the R7 265 will be launching at who knows what price and the R7 260X looks positively overpriced since retailers have flat out refused to budge from its current cost of $139.
With all of this in mind, for now, the GTX 750 Ti is the only game in town for those looking to upgrade an older system with an outdated power supply. Even if you have a better PSU, its excellent features, awesome power consumption numbers and good 1080P performance make it a perfect fit for just about anyone searching for an affordable, efficient GPU.
Conclusion
Within the last year or so, there have been plenty of enthusiast level graphics cards which have wowed us with incredible performance. The GTX 750 Ti doesn’t fit into the high end segment and certainly won’t appeal to gamers who can afford better solutions but it nonetheless represents one of the most impressive technological achievements the GPU industry has seen in the last two years. NVIDIA have proven that high framerates and leading edge gaming capabilities aren’t necessary for a GPU to be considered groundbreaking.
When taken at face value, the GTX 750 Ti has modest goals: it’s meant to become a performance per watt leader in the bottom half of today’s mid-tier market. By using their new Maxwell architecture NVIDIA has achieved just that and so much more. Not only does the GTX 750 Ti have a TDP of just 60W but it consumes dozens of watts less than a similarly-performing R7 260X and simply demolishes the 115W TDP GTX 650 Ti 1GB in every test. For users with older systems that may not have the power supply overhead for other solutions, this is a game-changer that will surely facilitate future upgrades.
These feats have been achieved without moving away from TSMC’s 28nm manufacturing process, making Maxwell all that much more impressive in our eyes. The architecture’s close adherence to efficiency targets has been perfectly balanced with a core design which is both adaptable to changing workload conditions and focused on improvements in areas where Kepler may have been lacking. While the GM107 core can be considered a pipe-cleaning part, it’s an outstanding first showing and points towards some incredible future potential as Maxwell's innovations flow throughout the rest of NVIDIA’s lineup. This should make AMD very, very worried since they likely won’t have a suitable response for the foreseeable future, at least from a performance per watt standpoint.
A whole lot of NVIDIA’s marketing points about the GTX 750 Ti play up its perf per watt story and there’s a good reason for that: this card is miles ahead of anything else in today’s GPU market. However, when we take the power consumption factor out of the equation, things turn out to be just a bit less clear-cut. Once it’s released, the R7 265 could conceivably offer more bang for your buck while the $119 R7 260X is able to hang close to the GTX 750 Ti in most tests.
There are some major caveats with these statements though: AMD’s current history is filled with missed pricing promises. Look no further than the MIA “price drop” to $119 for the R7 260X for proof of that. Whether or not the paper-launched R7 265 will go down that same path remains to be seen but you can see where the safe bet lies. Therefore, in the current market this card finds itself in, it can still be considered an excellent value.
Within NVIDIA’s lineup, the GTX 750 Ti’s positioning makes perfect sense. It and the GTX 750 act as suitable replacements for the GTX 650 Ti while narrowing the gap between lower end cards and NVIDIA’s GTX 760. We just can’t help but draw parallels with the GTX 650 Ti Boost which was also $149 before being discontinued and offered substantially more performance. Granted, the Boost could never offer Maxwell’s high levels of efficiency but, in our eyes at least, the GTX 750 Ti is a small step backwards in terms of delivering playable framerates at its particular price point.
Regardless of price and power consumption, the GTX 750 Ti overclocks like a bat out of hell without any additional voltage. This could possibly point to NVIDIA being a bit too conservative on core frequencies and will go a long way towards extending its value in the eyes of gamers who want to push its capabilities.
If pure performance is what you’re looking for regardless of power consumption numbers, the GTX 660 2GB, which can be found for just $30 more than NVIDIA’s GTX 750 Ti is an excellent alternative. On AMD’s side, there are simply no options right now. The R9 270 is either horribly expensive or sold out, the R7 265 will be launching at who knows what price and the R7 260X looks positively overpriced since retailers have flat out refused to budge from its current cost of $139.
With all of this in mind, for now, the GTX 750 Ti is the only game in town for those looking to upgrade an older system with an outdated power supply. Even if you have a better PSU, its excellent features, awesome power consumption numbers and good 1080P performance make it a perfect fit for just about anyone searching for an affordable, efficient GPU.
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