GTX 550...first ever graphics card to ship with a mixed memory configuration

[toyota]

I guess those rumors were true as reviews are up now.


There are still six chips—two per memory controller. However, four of those are 128MB chips, while the remaining two have 256MB of capacity. In other words, two of the memory controllers shoulder 256MB each, and the third controller has 512MB all to itself. Nvidia says the GTX 550 Ti is its first ever graphics card to ship with such a mixed memory configuration. Supporting it required the implementation of custom logic in both the drivers and the GF116 GPU.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20573

 

[tviceman]

It's a great improvement over the lackluster gts450, but it's $25 too expensive. And when it's only $150 to begin with, $25 over priced is way too much.

 

[Termie]

Man, I called it. Nvidia would price it at $150, wouldn't be worth buying until they drop a fat $30 rebate on it:

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 550 Ti: Coming Up Short At $150
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4221/nvidias-gtx-550-ti-coming-up-short-at-150

I actually thought it would hit GTX460SE speeds. It doesn't. Weak - seriously. There must be a marketing reason nVidia overprices its cards. I think it's probably so OEMs can include the MSRP in the build-to-order configurations.

 

[toyota]

It's a great improvement over the lackluster gts450, but it's $25 too expensive. And when it's only $150 to begin with, $25 over priced is way too much.

yeah this card should be around the $120 range.


I wonder if there is any chance we could end up with a 4gb gtx590 since they took the time and trouble to use mixed memory on a low end card.

 

[Skurge]

$10 more, you get the much faster 6850, $20 less you get the generally faster 460 768, $50 less you get the just as fast 5770.

Very poor pricing indeed. Not to mention its louder, hotter and uses more power than the competing cards.

 

[wahdangun]

the fact is why bother to use TWO MC just to make it 1 GB card ??? why not use 256 bit ?? or 128 bit and use faster GDDR5 ?? and the fact you need "special driver" to use it is totally fail

 

[toyota]

the fact is why bother to use TWO MC just to make it 1 GB card ??? why not use 256 bit ?? or 128 bit and use faster GDDR5 ?? and the fact you need "special driver" to use it is totally fail

well it was built with three 64bit controllers so 256bit is not an option. they would have done better just to let it use 768mb of memory since at this level of gpu it would not be an issue.

 

[MentalIlness]

$10 more, you get the much faster 6850, $20 less you get the generally faster 460 768, $50 less you get the just as fast 5770.

Very poor pricing indeed. Not to mention its louder, hotter and uses more power than the competing cards.

And for about $50 more, you can get a 6870 which is almost twice as fast.

So that is like, purchasing a second GTX550 Ti for $50.

 

[Lonyo]

well it was built with three 64bit controllers so 256bit is not an option. they would have done better just to let it use 768mb of memory since at this level of gpu it would not be an issue.

It's all about marketing.

They release a GT(S?)440, which was the same GPU core as the GTS450, but with some CUDA cores disabled, and the extra ROP and memory controller enabled.
144 shaders, 192-bit memory bus.
What did they give it for RAM? 1.5GB.

Marketing, pure and simple, only with this it's not just an OEM product, so they need to contain costs more, so they had to go for 1GB instead of 1.5GB. The current price is already non-competitive with both their own products and the competition, giving it 1.5GB RAM would have made it more expensive to make, so harder to drop the price to the correct level for this performance.

Going with the hack solution was required from a marketing standpoint and to allow them to drop the price sufficiently without dropping performance by using super cheap RAM.

 

[notty22]

the fact is why bother to use TWO MC just to make it 1 GB card ??? why not use 256 bit ?? or 128 bit and use faster GDDR5 ?? and the fact you need "special driver" to use it is totally fail

Its called innovation. As far as the driver, thats all transparent to the end user. I'm not sure why that aspect is fail to you. It is faster than the 5770 now, and the price will compete in a couple weeks. Which means AMD needs to bring something new in this segment.

 

[Arkadrel]

Why is the 460 slaugtering the 550 ti?

I thought usually the 5xx cards 10 rateing behinde the 4xx cards where supposed to be equal or atleast slightly faster in favor of the 5xx ones.

Thats not the case with the 550ti...the 460 is giveing in a ass whooping.


Basically the 550 ti needs to be around ~110$ to be decent value buy (to battle it out with the 5770)


550 ti:
runs hotter than a 460 (idle+load),
makes as much noise as a 460.
550ti uses 61watts more than a 5770 in furmark.
550ti uses 39watts more than a 5770 in crysis.

In some games its barely faster than a 5770, in others its a bit faster (but its usually not by huge amounts).



From Anandtechs final thoughts page:

So what’s the problem? The same problem NVIDIA normally runs in to: pricing. The GTX 550 Ti seems destined to sell based on NVIDIA’s name and market presence more than it will sell based on performance characteristics.

Indeed the GTX 550 Ti is faster than the 5770 - by around 7% - but then the GTX 550 Ti costs 36% more.

Think hes being generous here, you can find 5770s for 99$ vs the 550ti going for like 150$ as he said, thats more like a 50% price differnce.

In the end the GTX 550 Ti just isn’t a compelling product at $149. At that price you’re much better served by ponying up the extra $10 to pick up a 6850 for much better performance

Yep... its just not a good buy at 149$

 

[toyota]

Why is the 460 slaugtering the 550 ti?

I thought usually the 5xx cards 10 rateing behinde the 4xx cards where supposed to be equal or atleast slightly faster in favor of the 5xx ones.

Thats not the case with the 550ti...the 460 is giveing in a ass whooping, so are the 5770 that are OC cards.


Basically the 550 ti needs to be around ~110$ to be decent value buy.

well 192sp vs 336sp for one thing. and how is it slaughtering because based on the specs of both cards the numbers look right?

 

[MoMeanMugs]

Which means AMD needs to bring something new in this segment.

That doesn't make much sense to me. Just because it's priced incorrectly, doesn't mean AMD needs to release something else. Likewise, if AMD did the same thing, I wouldn't expect NVidia to release a new card. Isn't that what price mobility is for?

 

[wahdangun]

Why is the 460 slaugtering the 550 ti?

I thought usually the 5xx cards 10 rateing behinde the 4xx cards where supposed to be equal or atleast slightly faster in favor of the 5xx ones.

Thats not the case with the 550ti...the 460 is giveing in a ass whooping.


Basically the 550 ti needs to be around ~110$ to be decent value buy (to battle it out with the 5770)


550 ti:
runs hotter than a 460 (idle+load),
makes as much noise as a 460.
550ti uses 61watts more than a 5770 in furmark.
550ti uses 39watts more than a 5770 in crysis.

In some games its barely faster than a 5770, in others its a bit faster (but its usually not by huge amounts).



From Anandtechs final thoughts page:



Think hes being generous here, you can find 5770s for 99$ vs the 550ti going for like 150$ as he said, thats more like a 50% price differnce.

Yep... its just not a good buy at 149$

this, and thats why 2 MC in this GPU is fail, because it will add cost and complexity, while 768 mb is still capable for lower resolution that this card aiming for

 

[Skurge]

That doesn't make much sense to me. Just because it's priced incorrectly, doesn't mean AMD needs to release something else. Likewise, if AMD did the same thing, I wouldn't expect NVidia to release a new card. Isn't that what price mobility is for?

Yeah, AMD's lineup is well priced atm. The 550ti is just so horribly priced that it makes everything around look much better value.

The power usage is most worrying to me. The Stock 550 uses as much power as a 6870 a card with 2x 6pins and is almost twice as fast.

The overclocked 550ti uses as much power as a 6950 and costs as much and a 6870 while still much slower.

The cards needs to be $110, at that point AMD still wouldn't need to release anything there.

 

[notty22]

TH conclusion wraps up what I'm thinking, will new buyers pay 20 dollars more for the faster 'new' card, VS the 'old' 5770. Obviously company fans who live debating in forums get all riled up about 10 dollar shifts wouldn't, in fact they get outraged,

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-550-ti-gf116-radeon-hd-5770,2892-17.html
Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 550 Ti delivers solid competition for the Radeon HD 5770. The aggregate numbers show them to be incredible similar, in fact, though both cards claim victories in specific applications.

That chart doesn’t include AA performance, mind you. When that visual enhancement is enabled, the GeForce GTX 550 Ti can pull ahead of the Radeon in a greater number of game titles. With this in mind, Nvidia’s new card is probably worth a few dollars more than the Radeon 5770 if you like to crank up AA--just remember that you'll probably have to lower your detail settings in many games if you want to keep your frame rates high.
Of course, individual buyers might find Radeon- or GeForce-specific features to be the deal makers. For example, if single-card, triple-monitor gaming is your thing (at a necessarily low vertical resolution, of course), the Radeon is the way to go—GeForces require two cards in SLI for triple-monitor gaming. Folks who would like to view movies and games on a 3D display will want to go with the GeForce. The Radeon HD 5770 doesn’t offer HD3D; that’s a 6000-series exclusive. There are other features to consider, such as Nvidia's CUDA and PhysX, plus AMD's APP. But if these features concern you, there's a good chance you know about them already.
The bottom line is that Nvidia needed a Radeon HD 5770 alternative, and the GeForce GTX 550 Ti is just that. The MSRP of the new card is $149, but real-world prices will fluctuate both above and below this number. The point is, if the GeForce GTX 550 Ti is priced close to the Radeon HD 5770, it’s a good buy. If it’s priced closer to the GeForce GTX 460 768 MB, it’s going to have a tough time—at least until the powerful card is gone from the store shelves.

 

[MoMeanMugs]

I'd probably go for the newer card (who doesn't like to have the new shiny toy?), but at this price segment, $20 is a big difference. I like to think of it as the "broke college student" segment. That doesn't apply to me, so someone else will have to speak up.

 

[WildW]

Disappointing, but I guess the hopes for a low-power GTX460 equivalent were a bit unlikely.

Looking at the prices here in the UK, it doesn't look as badly priced as is being talked about. I see a couple of 550's at £115, vs about £100 for the 5770, £135 for a 6850, and £125 for the GTX460 768MB. It's still not a great deal though, when you can step up to much better for not much more money.

 

[Arkadrel]

THG:

...The point is, if the GeForce GTX 550 Ti is priced close to the Radeon HD 5770, it’s a good buy.If it’s priced closer to the GeForce GTX 460 768 MB, it’s going to have a tough time.....

Im sure thats true... lets see the 550ti around 100-110$
Im also sure most people would pick the 550ti at that price.
At 149$ its just way overprice though.

 

[Skurge]

TH conclusion wraps up what I'm thinking, will new buyers pay 20 dollars more for the faster 'new' card, VS the 'old' 5770. Obviously company fans who live debating in forums get all riled up about 10 dollar shifts wouldn't, in fact they get outraged,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...%20%28Fermi%29

It isn't priced anywhere near the 5770, $50 is not a few dollars. Seriously the pricing on this card is just insane. You can get a 6850/460 1gb for the same price and a 6870 for $30 (a larger difference than 5770 to 550).

 

[wahdangun]

hmm after seeing anand review the 2 MC solution is not really bad (but still bad for price and complexity) and maybe GTX 590 will use something like this to solve vram problem and making it 4 gb card so it can compete with HD 6990???, but how the hell this card with just 192 SP can draw more power than 336 Sp GTX 460 ?? its really shocking and its look like fermi architecture can't scale for low end market efficiently

 

[SlowSpyder]

TH conclusion wraps up what I'm thinking, will new buyers pay 20 dollars more for the faster 'new' card, VS the 'old' 5770. Obviously company fans who live debating in forums get all riled up about 10 dollar shifts wouldn't, in fact they get outraged,

Considering 6850's can be found for the same price after rebate, and pretty close without rebate, the 550 is garbage. But you seem happy with this card... I'm shocked.

 

[tincart]

The novel memory setup is the most interesting thing about this card.

The fact that the 5770 is still competitive is amazing, particularly when you look at the SOC card that Tech Report used (though the price advantage is somewhat reduced)

 

[Vette73]

TH conclusion wraps up what I'm thinking, will new buyers pay 20 dollars more for the faster 'new' card, VS the 'old' 5770. Obviously company fans who live debating in forums get all riled up about 10 dollar shifts wouldn't, in fact they get outraged,

Not sure where you get your current prices (or if using msrp) but the 550 cost the same as some 6850's and 5770 is up to $50 less than the 550.

6850 for $150 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131374

5770 for $100 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131330

Cheapest 550 is $153 shipped
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500193


550 is just way over priced. I hope rebates start coming soon or they will be getting a lot of dust on them.

 

[notty22]

Considering 6850's can be found for the same price after rebate, and pretty close without rebate, the 550 is garbage. But you seem happy with this card... I'm shocked.

I'm not shocked your putting words in my mouth
Or which members feel threatened by new competition.

Look, look launch day pricing can't compete with deal of the day pricing, its unbelievable !