NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 custom card roundup!

NVIDIA yesterday launched the GeForce GTX 950, with optimizations like lower latency to target MOBA gamers. As a card at the budget end of NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 900 series of Maxwell cards, NVIDIA isn’t releasing a reference card and as instead gone with a hard launch, with custom designs available immediately from add-in card partners.

As expected, they’ve tacked on modifications like custom cooling solutions and factory overclocks for an extra performance boost over the reference core clock of 1024MHz and boost clock of 1188MHz. Furthermore, as is de rigueur these days, the fans stop spinning when the card is operating below a certain thermal threshold, so you can expect fairly quiet operation.

Here’s a list of cards from key market players to give you an idea of the choices available to you.

ASUS

The ASUS Strix GeForce GTX 950 is equipped with ASUS’ dual-fan DirectCU II cooler for cooling. The thick copper heatpipes are in direct contact with the GPU, which enables greater heat transfer efficiency. Like most other non-blower style coolers, the two 80mm fans pull air over the heatsink and exhausts it back into the case. Compared to more powerful cards like the GeForce GTX 980, the card measures just 218mm long, which means it'll happily fit into mini-ITX and other small form factor systems.

It’s also manufactured using ASUS’ Auto-Extreme technology, an automated manufacturing process which supposedly helps ensure more consistent quality. ASUS is so far still the only manufacturer to use a completely automated assembly process. In addition, the card features ASUS' Super Alloy II components for improved quality and reliability.

The card’s core clock has been overclocked to a 1165MHz base block and 1355MHz boost clock in OC mode, an approximately 14% increase over the reference clock. The effective memory clock has likewise been bumped up to 6612MHz. It requires a single 6-pin PCIe power connector just like the specified reference design.

EVGA

EVGA is releasing four variants of the GeForce GTX 950, with clock speed differences and value-added features like a backplate being the primary differentiating factors.

The EVGA GeForce GTX950 FTW sits at the top of EVGA’s GeForce GTX 950 line-up. It features a muted, all-black design and EVGA’s dual-fan ACX 2.0 cooler, which is also found on the GeForce GTX 950 SSC and SC+ cards.

According to EVGA, the ACX 2.0 cooler has been designed with double-ball bearing, swept-blade fans and a low-power motor for improved air flow and power efficiency. 

The card is factory overclocked with a base block of 1203MHz and boost clock of 1405MHz, a fairly aggressive speed boost. It is also the only card to feature a metal backplate for extra support.

 On the other hand, the EVGA GeForce GTX 950 SSC takes things down a notch with a 1190MHz base clock and 1393MHz boost clock. Along with the GeForce GTX 950 FTW, it also supports EVGA’s Quick Switch Dual BIOS, which allows overclockers to switch to a secondary BIOS by flicking a switch.

The EVGA GeForce GTX 950 SC+ continues the downward trend with a 1165MHz base clock and 1355MHz boost clock.

Finally, EVGA also offers the GeForce GTX 950 SC, which is a single-fan card that measures just 173mm. It’ll do well in extremely compact cases, but do note that it’s still a dual-slot card. It sports a 1152MHz base clock and 1342MHz boost clock. It is also listed as lacking features like EVGA’s dB Inverter semi-passive fan technology, which might mean that the fans will still keep spinning even under low loads.

Gigabyte

The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 WindForce 2OC utilizes Gigabyte’s familiar WindForce cooler, complete with its unique fan blade design. The raised ridges on the fan blade and the triangle protrusion at its edge combine to direct air more efficiently to the heatsink.

It also ships with factory overclocks of a 1102MHz core clock and 1279MHz boost clock, a considerably tamer speed boost than most of the other cards here.

Gigabyte is also releasing a single-card variant in the form of the GeForce GTX 950 OC, which features marginally boosted clock speeds of a 1064MHz base clock and 1241MHz boost clock. The single 90mm fan is actually quite large, and uses the same fan design as those on the WindForce cooler. At 186mm long, it’s also slightly longer than EVGA’s single-fan card.

MSI

The MSI GeForce GTX 950 Gaming 2G features MSI’s much-lauded Twin Frozr V cooler and dual Torx fans. At 37mm thick, it’s also slightly slimmer than the other cards here and actually occupies slightly less than two slots.

The card is clocked at a base clock of 1127MHz and boost clock of 1317MHz in OC mode. The effective memory clock is hair higher than that on the other cards here, coming in at 6650MHz.

In addition, MSI has a second card in the form of the GeForce GTX 950 Armor2X, which ditches the red-and-black Twin Frozr V design in favor of a striking black-and-white color scheme that matches the design of MSI’s Krait motherboards. The card is similarly overclocked out of the box, with a 1076MHz base clock and 1252MHz boost clock.

Finally, the GeForce GTX 950 2GD5 2OC is a single-fan affair with an all-white shroud. It comes with a mild factory overclock of 1076MHz base clock and 1253MHz boost clock.

But while NVIDIA has specified a reference selection of display connectors comprising three DisplayPort connectors, one HDMI 2.0 port, and one dual-link DVI port, the GeForce GTX 950 2GD5 2OC features a slightly different choice of ports. The card has cut down on the number of DisplayPort outputs and is equipped with just a single DisplayPort 1.2 connector, one HDMI port, and two dual-link DVI-D and DVI-I outputs.

Gigabyte has gone a similar route with the single-fan GeForce GTX 950 OC, but the EVGA GeForce GTX 950 SC has stuck with the reference selection of connectors.

Palit

The Palit GeForce GTX 950 StormX Dual comes with a striking bright blue cooling shroud and dual semi-passive fans. It comes with a slight factory overclock of a 1064MHz base clock and 1241MHz boost clock.

The fans are designed to stop spinning if the GPU temperature is below 60°, which also happens to be the threshold for most of the other cards here equipped with semi-passive fans. According to Palit, the TurboFan blade design also helps increase air flow and pressure, thus improving cooling performance.

The GeForce GTX 950 StormX is Palit’s single-fan version of the card. The clock speeds are almost at reference speeds, and it ships with a 1026MHz base clock and 1190MHz boost clock. This is a much plainer looking card, and Palit has abandoned the blue for a more staid all-black look.

Palit has also opted not to stick with the reference design when it comes to display connectors. Instead, both cards have just one DisplayPort output, one HDMI port, and two DVI connectors.

Zotac

Zotac is offering three versions of the GeForce GTX 950, each with varying cooling capabilities and factory overclocks.

At the top of the line-up is the Zotac GeForce GTX 950 AMP! Edition, a fairly compact dual-fan card that measures just 208mm in length. It is also the only other card here, the other being the EVGA GeForce GTX 950 FTW, to come with a metal backplate.

It features something called Carbon ExoArmor, which is essentially a water-transfer printing technique to give both the fan shroud and backplate a carbon fiber-esque design. In addition, it utilizes dual 90mm fans as part of Zotac’s IceStorm cooling design, which focuses on improving cooling by maximizing air flow, increasing the area for heat dissipation, and reducing air flow turbulence.

It ships with a base clock of 1203MHz and boost clock of 1405MHz, and the effective memory clock has been boosted to an impressive 7020MHz.

The Zotac GeForce GTX 950 OC comes with a lower factory overclock of 1102MHz base clock and 1279MHz boost clock. The effective memory rate has also been decreased to 6814MHz, which is still higher than quite a number of the cards here.

The two fans are slightly smaller than those on the GeForce GTX 950 AMP!, coming in at 80mm instead of 90mm. It’s also lacking Zotac’s IceStorm cooling technology, which explains the sized-down fans. One striking feature of the card is the fact that the cooling shroud extends beyond the PCB, exposing also the heatpipes underneath. For a dual-fan card, it’s actually quite short.

Last on the list is the Zotac GeForce GTX 950, which comes with a base clock of 1089MHz and boost clock of 1266MHz. This is a single-fan version, so it measures only 174mm long. However, it still supports Zotac’s semi-passive fan technology, dubbed Freeze, so you’ll still get quiet operation under low loads.

Source: ASUS, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI, Palit, Zotac

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