Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 And 660 Review: Kepler At $110 And $230

[cleeve]

We have two new graphics cards in the lab today: Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 and 660, filling the gap between its GeForce GT 640 and GTX 660 Ti with Kepler derivatives. Are these GK107- and GK106-based boards able to challenge the Radeon HD 7750 and 7850?

Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 And 660 Review: Kepler At $110 And $230 : Read more

 

[EDVINASM]

Was waiting for GTX 650 to see if it can beat the old GTX 550 Ti but it seems other than power draw it's no match. Might as well keep my GPU until next NVidia lineup. GTX 660 on other hand is only €50 cheaper than GTX 660 Ti meaning its a no budget saver to buy non Ti version. Fail...

 

[mikenygmail]

AMD wins again!

 

[mikenygmail]

Buy a 7770 or 7870 instead.
Wait for sales on whichever one is needed and then grab one -
AMD 7770 can be had for just over $100.
AMD 7870 can be had for about $220.

 

[lahawzel]

Goddamn Mike NY Gmail or whatever the hell your name is supposed to be, here, proper commenting etiquette:

1. Read the article.
2. Understand what the article is talking about.
3. If you find an urge to comment about "______ sucks" or "_______ wins again", especially when the article says the opposite of what you want to post, chances are your comment will look dumb as hell when it's posted and earn you 20 downvotes. Therefore, don't post that goddamn poor excuse of a "comment".

 

[tomfreak]

How "nice" of u tomshardware. By only compared 7750/7770 vs 650 in high detail but not comparing 7750/7770 on the Ultra detail, then when u pull out a 460 SE/9800GT for benchmark, u are taking away 650(why?).

Is it because 650 performance is too poor to show off on benchmark? It doesnt take a genius to figure out the huge diff between 6870 vs 650. 7770= 6850 speed. So I guess even the 7750/460SE are putting shame on 650 on those high quality detail? too shy to show off 460SE/9800GT up against 650?

I dare u put on a detailed benchmark with 650 up against 7770/7750/GTS450/550ti/460/9800GT/9800GTX on all condition. Not a selective benchmark.

 

[Guest]

Why are there giant gaps in both lineups? AMD has the 7770 at $130 and 7850 at $230 -- nvidia has the 650 and 660 at similar price points -- ideally for my budget would be something in the $150-170 price range, but I either have to compromise or shell out more. It seems like an obvious market gap.

 

[mikenygmail]

[citation][nom]LaHawzel[/nom]God damn Mike NY[/citation]
Thanks for the attempted compliment, but call me Mike. I'm glad you've been paying attention.

It was more of a joke than anything else to simply write "AMD wins again!" and it was actually pretty funny! I try to balance things out so that no one company is viewed too favorably.

For example, I recently bought an Nvidia GTX 460 1 GB 256 bit card for $70, new, with a 3 month warranty for a friend to upgrade his gaming computer. Unusual? Yes. Great deal? You better believe it! Of course, if an equivalent AMD card was available at a cheaper price, that's the one I would've bought.

Now, relax and try to control yourself. Refrain from the use of profanity in future posts. Thanks.

 

[EzioAs]

Nice article to be honest. I'm really glad you tested the Radeon cards with the new driver compared to other review sites.

I've got nothing else to say on the GTX650 but to just point out that it's a weak card.

On the other hand, the GTX660 is probably the only Kepler (besides the 670) that impresses me. I don't know about everyone else though. To point out one thing, most Radeon 7870s can be found at $240 or lower without MIR. The GTX660 is priced well for a release MSRP and makes the 660ti offers less value, kind of like the 670 vs 680. For 8xMSAA, the performance does cripple but I think at this price point, most people are going to stay with 4xAA or possibly lower.

 

[mikenygmail]

[citation][nom]EzioAs[/nom]Nice article to be honest. I'm really glad you tested the Radeon cards with the new driver compared to other review sites.I've got nothing else to say on the GTX650 but to just point out that it's a weak card.On the other hand, the GTX660 is probably the only Kepler (besides the 670) that impresses me. I don't know about everyone else though. To point out one thing, most Radeon 7870s can be found at $240 or lower without MIR. It's priced well for a release MSRP and makes the 660ti offers less value, kind of like the 670 vs 680. For 8xMSAA, the performance does cripple but I think at this price point, most people are going to stay with 4xAA or possibly lower.[/citation]

Exactly - Savvy TH readers will wait for sales on whichever one is needed and then grab one!
AMD 7770 can be had for just over $100 on sale.
AMD 7870 can be had for about $220 on sale.

 

[mubin]

Gtx 660 is the only option in mid-range gpu

 

[EzioAs]

Why are there giant gaps in both lineups? AMD has the 7770 at $130 and 7850 at $230 -- nvidia has the 650 and 660 at similar price points -- ideally for my budget would be something in the $150-170 price range, but I either have to compromise or shell out more. It seems like an obvious market gap.

The 6870 might be more compelling at that price point. Newegg still sells them. It's too bad that AMD didn't release a 7830 or something similar from the Nvidia side. But chances are, you probably can get the 7850 or 660 below $200 by the end of the year. Fingers cross though.

 

[tomfreak]

[citation][nom]mikenygmail[/nom]Thanks for the attempted compliment, but call me Mike. I'm glad you've been paying attention.It was more of a joke than anything else to simply write "AMD wins again!" and it was actually pretty funny! I try to balance things out so that no one company is viewed too favorably.For example, I recently bought an Nvidia GTX 460 1 GB 256 bit card for $70, new, with a 3 month warranty for a friend to upgrade his gaming computer. Unusual? Yes. Great deal? You better believe it! Of course, if an equivalent AMD card was available at a cheaper price, that's the one I would've bought.Now, relax and try to control yourself. Refrain from the use of profanity in future posts. Thanks.[/citation]they cant even dare to put up a weaker 460SE up against 650 let alone a full 460. I guessing the 650 got trash hard when u put serious shader and resolution on it. It is a garbage card @ $110.

 

[EzioAs]

Gtx 660 is the only option in mid-range gpu

That is if you don't need the compute performance in which AMD clearly leads

 

[Guest]

I totally agree with TomFreak

another thing, i would prefer more comparison to old cards like the 460 1GB (256bit). i am sure alot of gamers still use that old card

 

[jimbaladin]

Buy a 7850, overclock it. Win.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]Tomfreak[/nom]How "nice" of u tomshardware. By only compared 7750/7770 vs 650 in high detail but not comparing 7750/7770 on the Ultra detail, then when u pull out a 460 SE/9800GT for benchmark, u are taking away 650(why?). Is it because 650 performance is too poor to show off on benchmark? It doesnt take a genius to figure out the huge diff between 6870 vs 650. 7770= 6850 speed. So I guess even the 7750/460SE are putting shame on 650 on those high quality detail? too shy to show off 460SE/9800GT up against 650?I dare u put on a detailed benchmark with 650 up against 7770/7750/GTS450/550ti/460/9800GT/9800GTX on all condition. Not a selective benchmark.[/citation]

Dude, we included the 650 for reference at high details in the rest of the benchmarks. The info is there, just trying to keep it focused.

It's all there. Just look for it.

[citation][nom]Tomfreak[/nom] I guessing the 650 got trash hard when u put serious shader and resolution on it. [/citation]

It did, look at the numbers from the other high detail benches. The 460 kills it.

But the 460 192-bit is too expensive for a direct comparison, so I didn't include it in the standard low-detail benches. It has a higher price point than the 7770.

 

[Gman450]

NVIDIA seriously needs to step up their mid range cards! The 650 is weaker than expected...

 

[EzioAs]

NVIDIA seriously needs to step up their mid range cards! The 650 is weaker than expected...

True. I thought it could at least give the 7770 some competition, but as it turns out it's slower than the 7750. But actually, that's to be expected since it's basically a GT640 with GDDR5. They should probably called it a GT645 or GTS640. It doesn't deserve the GTX name

 

[tomfreak]

[citation][nom]Cleeve[/nom]Dude, we included the 650 for reference at high details in the rest of the benchmarks. The info is there, just trying to keep it focused.It's all there. Just look for it.It did, look at the numbers from the other high detail benches.[/citation]according to the bench, each game have 2 presets, the similar priced 7770/7750 is missing on the second higher bench on most games. Would be love the 6870 being replace with 7770/7750 on the second game bench.

 

[bawchicawawa]

WHY didn't they add the 7770 to the 1920 x 1080 preset? =\

 

[JoeMomma]

I will be the first to admit the AMD makes some great hardware at affordable prices.
I will also say that I prefer Intel and Nvidia because if one buys strictly on price . . .
You will get what you pay for.

I have had some bad experiences with Athlon and Radeon products, that is just me but I will never go there again. I would rather pony up some more money for a better quality product.

Intel makes solid CPU's that are the industry standard. I do not want a chip that is 90% compatible or has AMD making some lame excuse that Microsoft needs to fix Windows in order for the chip to achieve maximum performance.

Nvidia has much better drivers and tech support if there is a problem. For example look at the game RAGE, when it was released the reputation of the game was irreparably damaged because of AMD driver issues. AMD admitted they had a problem and issued a few patches until they got it right. Id software responded quickly with a patch for the game. I didn't know what all the fuss was about because the game always ran just fine on my computer.

Nvidia charges a little more because they work harder at making cards that are going to work right, first time, every time. I save money by purchasing last years top of the line card when the prices drop after the next generation is introduced. If you want maximum benchmark performance for your dollar, by all means buy a Radeon. Just do not complain if you have to wait a while for a driver fix for every new program that is released. I have bought or been asked to fix too many AMD computers that were incompatible or overheating due to a defect.

Nvidia the way it is meant to be played.

 

[EzioAs]

I will be the first to admit the AMD makes some great hardware at affordable prices.
I will also say that I prefer Intel and Nvidia because if one buys strictly on price . . .
You will get what you pay for.

I have had some bad experiences with Athlon and Radeon products, that is just me but I will never go there again. I would rather pony up some more money for a better quality product.

Intel makes solid CPU's that are the industry standard. I do not want a chip that is 90% compatible or has AMD making some lame excuse that Microsoft needs to fix Windows in order for the chip to achieve maximum performance.

Nvidia has much better drivers and tech support if there is a problem. For example look at the game RAGE, when it was released the reputation of the game was irreparably damaged because of AMD driver issues. AMD admitted they had a problem and issued a few patches until they got it right. Id software responded quickly with a patch for the game. I didn't know what all the fuss was about because the game always ran just fine on my computer.

Nvidia charges a little more because they work harder at making cards that are going to work right, first time, every time. I save money by purchasing last years top of the line card when the prices drop after the next generation is introduced. If you want maximum benchmark performance for your dollar, by all means buy a Radeon. Just do not complain if you have to wait a while for a driver fix for every new program that is released. I have bought or been asked to fix too many AMD computers that were incompatible or overheating due to a defect.

Nvidia the way it is meant to be played.

You're quite ignorant if you thought that Nvidia never release bad drivers. Their Forceware 196.75 causes the video cards to overheat. I've had an issue where browsers (Chrome and Firefox) lags as hell when browsing on 29x.xx (didn't quite remember the full version name). But yeah, it's good that Nvidia step it up on the driver section. AMD is also stepping it up. Maybe they haven't quite catch up to what Nvidia does but their drivers now are way better than older versions

 

[sarinaide]

Oh well I guess that means budget buyers will be flogging the HD 7770 clearly it is the dominant player in that market.

 

[Cryio]

Nvidia driver 306.23 is WHQL. 306.02 is Beta.