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KFA2 GeForce GTX 550 Ti White Edition LTD OC review

by Tarinder Sandhu on 1 April 2011, 08:51 3.0

Tags: NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), KFA2

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qa5eh

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How we test

GPU comparisons

Graphics card Approx.
pricing
GPU clock
(MHz)
Stream
processors
Shader clock
(MHz)
Memory clock
(MHz)
Memory bus
(bits)
Graphics driver
KFA2 GeForce GTX 550 Ti White Edition LTD OC 1,024MB £140 1,000 192 2,000 4,600 192 ForceWare 267.59
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 550 Ti OC 1,024MB £130 970 192 1,940 4,200 192 ForceWare 267.59
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1,024MB £115 900 192 1,800 4,100 192 ForceWare 267.59
EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1,024MB £140 675 336 1,350 3,600 256 ForceWare 267.59
KFA2 GeForce GTX 460 768MB £125 675 336 1,350 3,600 192 ForceWare 267.59
Inno3D GeForce GTS 450 1,024MB £90 783 192 1,566 3,608 128 ForceWare 267.59
Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1,024MB £140 775 960 775 4,000 256 Catalyst 11.4
HIS Radeon HD 5770 1,024MB £100 850 800 850 4,800 128 Catalyst 11.4
Sapphire Radeon HD 5750 1,024MB £90 700 720 700 4,600 128 Catalyst 11.4

Test bench

CPU Intel Core i5 2500K (3.30GHz, 6MB L3 cache, quad-core, LGA1155)
Motherboard Intel DP67BG
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance (9-9-9-24-2T @ 1,600MHz)
Power Supply Corsair AX750
Monitor Dell 30in 3007WFP
Disk drive(s) Crucial RealSSD C300 (256GB)
Chassis Corsair Graphite Series 600T
Operating system Windows 7, SP1, 64-bit

Benchmarks

3DMark 11 Performance preset, overall score and combined test results recorded.
Aliens vs. Predator DX11, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 resolutions, 2xAA, 8xAF, medium quality.
Call of Duty: Black Ops DX9, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 resolutions, 4xAA, ultra quality, FRAPS-recorded benchmark.
F1 2010 DX11, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 resolutions, 4xAA, high quality, Monaco circuit.
Just Cause 2 DX10, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, medium/high quality, Dark Tower benchmark.
Metro 2033 DX11, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, medium quality.
StarCraft II DX9, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 resolutions, 2xAA, high quality.
Power consumption To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record mains power draw both when idle and whilst playing Just Cause 2. And, for a worst-case scenario, we throw in numbers from the FurMark stress test.
Temperature To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record GPU core temperature both when idle and whilst playing Just Cause 2. And, for a worst-case scenario, we throw in numbers from the FurMark stress test.
Noise A PCE-318 noise level meter is placed at front of a Corsair 600T chassis with side panel on.

Notes

For our mid-range testing, we've made the transition to a new Intel Sandy Bridge platform consisting primarily of an Intel P67 motherboard and a Core i5 2500K CPU.

Coinciding with the move to our new test rig, we've also made the jump to Windows 7 SP1 and refreshed our benchmark suite. The new additions to our line-up include the synthetic 3DMark 11 benchmark, F1 2010, Metro 2033 and StarCraft 2. All games are tested at the 720p and 1080p resolutions that everyone's familiar with, too.

The KFA2 card is up against some rather stiff competition once the price has been factored in. Let's now see how it does.