The GTX 550 Ti graphics card is one of the most popular in the gaming market today, which has undergone major changes associated with the appearance of the latest innovations on it. Currently, the structure of the consumer market is subject to a tendency when expensive video devices fall into a lower niche, which is typical for the budget segment.
The market demand for any video adapter is primarily due to its technical characteristics. The GTX 550 Ti graphics card has the following parameters:
- gf 116 chip for 40nm technical process;
- standard power consumption mode - 116 W;
- bus width - 192 bits;
- video memory GDDR5 - 1 GB;
- core frequency - 900 MHz;
- shader frequency - 1, 8 GHz;
- Support for DirectX 11 technologies, 3D Vision Surround, PhysX, CUDA, HDMI 1.4a and others;
- chips with a density of 32 MB and 64 MB.
The appearance on the market of the GTX 550 Ti video adapter immediately reoriented all manufacturers of computer gaming products, which immediately focused on the manufacture of their version of the device. That is why all models of video cards based on the gtx 550 ti have very similar characteristics. However, significant improvements were made to the package bundle, warranty service and cooling system. After all, each manufacturer has tried to offer consumers an elite product with a lifetime warranty.
However, it is important for buyers to know that this applies to all devices that have not been overclocked by the final manufacturer. In this context, only the 900 MHz core should be taken as a lifetime warranty. But all the other thematic indicators relate exclusively to the warranty obligations existing in the country where this product is sold.
nVidia GTX 550 Ti
Despite the fairly well-reasoned claims of the video card manufacturer that this product is a completely new development, there are persistent rumors in the consumer market about the upgrade of the overclocked GeForce GTS 450. The manufacturer nvidia gt refers to the unique architecture of the chips, which is confirmed by comparing the boards. used in the release of the gts 450 and gts 550 models by a wide variety of manufacturers.
Thus, the fact of substitution of video cards on the market has not been officially confirmed. However, the GeForce GTS 450 has an empty slot for a card that increases the bus width. Plus, there is a technology identity available. But for the consumer market, productivity is an important indicator, and in this case it has become significantly higher. In this context, it is important to understand that any upgrade at the factory settings level will only become in demand when the full potential for overclocking with new chips is used up.
Zotac GTX 550 Ti
The Zotac GTX 550 Ti is rightfully considered the leader of the video card market today. Its characteristics have been improved to such an extent that all owner reviews unanimously confirm this. Moreover, the overclocking affected not only the core, which now operates at a frequency of 1 GHz, but the shaders, which began to operate at a frequency of 2 GHz, as well as the memory, which received 4.4 GHz. Such powerful overclocking left all other competitors far behind.
In addition, the zotac video adapter with such potential has a fairly powerful cooling system. The manufacturer has built a powerful cooler into the radiator that covers the entire video card board. The adapter's beautiful design features an amazing black plastic exterior with a gold-tone mesh. Also, Zotac has tried to complete the video card, which includes drivers, cables, instructions, a sticker on the case and a proprietary overclocking utility. By all accounts, the Zotac GTX 550 Ti is a true overclocker.
MSI GTX 550 Ti
The leader of the IT market also took overclocking seriously, but still put the cooling system in the first place. In the MSI GTX 550 Ti, the graphics core began to operate at 950 MHz, the shaders at 1.9 GHz, and the memory at 4.3 GHz.
The msi gtx 550 ti video adapter uses the Cyclone cooling system, which copes with its task very effectively. Moreover, the owners of video cards based on the outdated GTS 450 and GTX 260 boards unanimously agreed that Cyclone is the best among other analogues. The base of the heatsink is made of nickel-plated plates and touches all the chips of the board very tightly. A powerful cooler has its own group of radiators and rises above the entire structure. Warm air escaping from the enclosure does not generate any noise.
The MSI GTX 550 Ti video card has the following configuration: a proprietary disc, instructions, a large number of adapters and an overclocking utility equipped with a voltage control function.
Asus GTX 550 Ti
Video adapter Asus GTX 550 Ti many users call "a window to the last century." After all, it is aimed specifically at players who, for their personal reasons, do not want to switch to digital monitors. The manufacturer left an analog D-SUB connector on the board. Otherwise, this video card is equipped with its own unique overclocking and proprietary cooling system.
Many users point out that the cooling system is equipped with powerful metal radiators, which are hidden under a protective plastic cooler cover and completely cover the entire board. For better heat transfer to the graphite core, special copper tubes are allocated. Not the richest package except for the device itself consists of a disk with drivers, instructions and an adapter, which is simply not relevant in powerful power supplies that have their own connector.
GTX 550 Ti Gigabyte
Gigabyte's GTX 550 Ti graphics card, which many users dubbed "a strange device", did not deserve the most flattering reviews. The manufacturer carried out overclocking by increasing the frequencies of the graphics core (970 MHz), shader unit (1.94 GHz) and memory (4.2 GHz). However, the cooling system deserves a word of censure.
The fact is that the beautiful appearance of the radiator does not correspond to its practical purpose. After all, the cooling of the graphics chip did not apply to a similar function for additional memory blocks. Users note that holding a gtx 550 ti gigabyte video card in their hands cannot be identified as a gaming-grade device. And against this background, the rich equipment looks completely inadequate. It includes the adapter itself, a huge manual, many different adapters and a proprietary CD with drivers. Summing up in the discussion of the capabilities of this video card, it can be noted that it shows quite good results in synthetic testing, however, the standard cooling system requires an unambiguous modernization.
Palit GTX 550 Ti
The Palit GTX 550 Ti graphics card differs from its competitive counterparts in that its characteristics have not undergone factory overclocking. Moreover, such advantageous characteristics as a lifetime warranty from the seller, an excellent set of video outputs, including D-SUB, the most affordable price on the thematic market, advantageous equipment with many adapters and excellent performance in synthetic tests are unanimously recognized by all players as positive aspects of operating the device.
However, there is a serious problem in the cooling system. The fact is that even at minimum load, the cooler reaches full power very quickly, and the noise from its operation becomes a real hindrance. In addition, excessive sound waves are accompanied by unthinkable vibrations of the body. Users are sure that the arrangement of chips and capacitors on the video card does not allow for normal removal of warm air.
Conclusion
It is important to understand that for the consumer of this product, the result is in the first place, and not the package or appearance. Therefore, a worthy product can only be purchased at a very good price. Of course, some video cards require some modernization in terms of improving the cooling system. However, this will cost the consumer much less than repairing a failed video adapter.
In addition, practice shows that an independent improvement in the technical parameters of a video card based on GTX 550 Ti does not become a reason for an increase in results. In this regard, it can be argued that the manufacturer was able to calculate the optimal frequencies for maximum performance, taking into account the allowable heat generation. And the reviews of the owners of GTX 550 Ti video cards could not give an unambiguous answer to the question regarding the need to provide these devices with proprietary overclocking utilities.
