Graphics Card Zotac GTX 650 Ti AMP! Edition Review

The demand for a separate graphics solution relies greatly on its performance in correlation to its price. High-end cards usually go at high price, but still it's feasible to detect a model that would also be acceptable in cost. Zotac has recently released, as claimed by the manufacturer, the most powerful graphics card in the series. Codenamed Zotac GTX 650 Ti AMP! Edition, it is delivered with the factorial overclocking parameters. This signifies that the card operates at heightened frequencies from the very beginning. Moreover, this product is ready to gladden the potential audience with an affordable price in combination with an utmost performance.

PCB Design and Delivery

Following the general tendencies, Zotac implemented its singular facilities in the design of a printed circuit board. Microcircuit chips are soldered on both sides of the board; this implies that graphics card Zotac GTX 650 Ti AMP! Edition houses 2GB memory with 128-bit bus interface. The chips are made by Hynix and marked as H5GQ2H24AFR-R0C. The frontal plate is equipped with GK106 GPU that employs 768 shader blocks, 64 texture units, and 16 rasterization blocks.

This graphics solution is distinguished by the predominance of orange color, similarly to all products developed by Zotac. The central part of the frontal board contains an inscription AMP! Edition. The rear part houses four video outputs: two HDMI ports and two DVI ports. The nominal delivery kit is divided into a few sections with the accessories. Informational kit is represented by Zotac brand sticker, user's manual, brand warranty, and Boost Premium guideline. The list of vital accompanying elements involves DVI to D-Sub adapter that provides for the connection of any monitor type except for DisplayPort, and PCI Express 6-pin to 2x Molex adapter.

Power Supply and Cooling Systems

GPU power supply of Zotac GTX 650 Ti AMP! Edition is secured by the implemented PWM controller (uPI Semiconductor iP1610P). The overall algorithm of power phases operates under 2+1+1 template (GPU+MEM+PLL). All other power elements are located right to the controller: solid-state capacitors, Low R(ds)on transistors, and inductor reels in ferrite casings. There is one more PWM controller codenamed uP1542S. Additional power supply is realized via an integrated 6-pin PCI Express socket.

This graphics card model is not noticeable by an elaborate cooling system. Quite the contrary, the card is equipped with a rather simple cooler which consists of a heatsink, a fan and a cover. The heatsink is fixed to the board with the help of four spring-loaded screws from the reserve side. Thermal interface is represented by a gray-silver compound. Plastic cover is fixed right to the aluminum surface of the heatsink. It covers a 12V(0.3A) fan made by Everflow (T129215SH) which is fixed by three screws.

Performance

It should be mentioned that Zotac GTX 650 Ti AMP! Edition differs from other graphics cards by the initially heightened GPU frequencies, as well as memory frequencies. The nominal GPU frequency equals to 1033 MHz, while the nominal memory frequency index approximates 1550 MHz. As compared with the reference GeForce GTX 650 Ti model, graphics solution from Zotac demonstrates additional 100 MHz GPU frequency and 150 MHz memory frequency.

Since the integrated fan is void of a manometer, it's impossible to identify its exact rotational speed. Still, testing results showed that the fan is able to develop the speed up to 1000 rpm at normal loading with room for acceleration when the loading is increased. The noise level fluctuates within the measures of 29-31 dB.