Why Does GeForce 7950 GTOC Perform Better than a GeForce GTX 650?

[Fluidstream]

Comparing the specifications of the 7950 GTOC with the GTX 650, GTX has a faster core clock speed, higher pixel fill rate, higher texture fill rate, more memory bandwidth. The main difference I see is that the GTX 650 has a 128-bit memory bus while the 7950 GTOC has a 256-bit memory bus. But overall, except for that one point, the GTX 650 LOOKS better on paper. Or am I wrong about that?

I haven't tested the GTX 650 in a full-fledged game, but in something like (don't laugh) CoasterVille, I get much higher frame rates with the 7950 GTOC, while the GTX 650 is almost difficult to play because the frame rate appears to be so low. Hardware acceleration is enabled in Flash.

Right now, I only have DirectX 9.0c in Windows XP. I'm about to install Windows 8 64-bit. Is there something about DirectX 11 that will make the GTX 650 outshine the 7950 GTOC?

Thanks.

[Fluidstream]

Well, I didn't find any way to delete my first post, so I decided to reply to it with a retraction.

I installed The Sims 3, which is the most recent game I have, then ran it at 1920 x 1080 with the highest graphics settings. It most definitely and most obviously outperforms the 7950 GTOC, and it does so at a much cooler temperature. The game is smooth and silky, but when using the 7950 GTOC, it looks like about 20 frames per second, if that much.

[HiVizMan]

Thank you for answering your own question, but maybe I can fill in some of the gaps for you.

The 7950 will and should outperform the 650 in nearly every game and by some margin. It is the far more powerful graphic card.

Here is a handy place to compare VGA cards http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/550?vs=680

[Fluidstream]

HiVizMan wrote:
Thank you for answering your own question, but maybe I can fill in some of the gaps for you.

The 7950 will and should outperform the 650 in nearly every game and by some margin. It is the far more powerful graphic card.

Here is a handy place to compare VGA cards http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/550?vs=680

That comparison you linked to shows the Radeon 7950. I was talking about the GeForce 7950 GTOC. Anandtech doesn't have the GeForce 7950 GTOC (or just the GT model) to pull up as a comparison, unfortunately. I tried that before I got the GeForce GTX 650. The only kind of comparison I could find between the GeForce 7950 GT and the GTX 650 was at this site:

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php

It shows Passmark G3D Mark scores of 277 for the GeForce 7950 GT, and 1808 for the GTX 650. Radeon HD 7950 gets 4414. Of course, I'd rather have the Radeon than what I have now, but then I'd rather have the GTX 680 than any of them. lol I considered this GTX 650 a stepping stone. Usually I buy the top end of the current generation of Nvidia cards, but I just didn't have enough money this time. I'm still happy to have an improvement, though. 🙂

[Mankz]

Side note, interesting that the GTX 680 and 670 seem to out perform the 690 on those tests...

[HiVizMan]

Gosh I was not even thinking of such a old card. 🙂

[Myk_SilentShado]

HiVizMan wrote:
Gosh I was not even thinking of such a old card. 🙂

Me either mate, I thought the OP made a typo...and well naturally a brand spanking new 650 *should* blow away and older(how old?) 7950 lmao, it's like comparing apples and oranges

[Zygomorphic]

Myk SilentShadow wrote:
Me either mate, I thought the OP made a typo...and well naturally a brand spanking new 650 *should* blow away and older(how old?) 7950 lmao, it's like comparing apples and oranges

Possibly because of Windows XP and the levels of driver optimizations. If the older card has better optimization (remember, Flash isn't something to benchmark :p) it will look like it is faster. XP is a 12-year old OS, and doesn't allow the 650 (DX 11) to shine.

[Mankz]

Also, back in the 7850 days we still had render and pixel pipelines, now the entire architectures have come on leaps and bounds

[Zygomorphic]

Mankz wrote:
Also, back in the 7850 days we still had render and pixel pipelines, now the entire architectures have come on leaps and bounds

Yes. Back then we didn't have the unified shaders, which meant that certain cards outperformed others based upon the game's utilization of pixel or vertex shaders. Now a lot of those problems have gone away - except in our smartphones...my current droid has only slightly slower graphics to my old laptop. 😛