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Surviving at rock bottom: Testing the GeForce GTX 550 Ti in 2021 [GV-N550OC-1GI]
Our new series kicks off by testing the budget GeForce GTX 550 Ti (2011) in 2021. We cover its performance in 12 games and attempt an overclock.
In this installment of our new, now-permanent "Surviving at the Bottom" series, we're taking a look at the GeForce GTX 550 Ti, a budget graphics card from 2011. For this article, we'll peek under its cooler, run some performance benchmarks on this old card across 12 games, and attempt to overclock it.
The graphics card
The GIGABYTE GV-N550OC-1GI graphics card is a dual-slot design, measuring just over 22 centimeters long, and features GIGABYTE's proprietary Ultra Durable PCB design (meaning high-quality components and increased copper in the power layers). It draws power from a single 6-pin connector, so its power consumption shouldn't exceed 150 watts in practice. NVIDIA's official specifications state the GeForce GTX 550 Ti consumes up to 115 watts, which leaves a small power overhead for further overclocking.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИThe GPU is cooled by a small, fan-shaped aluminum heatsink with a copper insert, paired with a large 100mm fan. Unfortunately, there's no dedicated cooling for the VRAM on this card, which could negatively impact its overclocking potential and the longevity of the GDDR5 chips.
A small aluminum heatsink handles cooling for the power delivery system:
⤢ ВІДКРИТИLike most Fermi-based adapters, our test subject doesn't come with many video outputs: the GV-N550OC-1GI is equipped with just two DVI connectors and a single mini-HDMI port:
⤢ ВІДКРИТИThe PCB and power system
Photos of the GV-N550OC-1GI's PCB:
The GV-N550OC-1GI features a relatively decent power delivery system for both the GPU and VRAM (especially for a budget device), structured as 3+1 phases (three for the GPU and one for the GDDR5).
⤢ ВІДКРИТИThe power circuit uses 12 MOSFETs from the A2724 U 021, A2726 U 029, 4921N RA28, and 4935N RA24 series, along with high-quality Metal Choke inductors.
Phase control is handled by the powerful NCP5395 PWM controller from ON Semiconductor, which we've seen before on the GV-N470SO-13I graphics card.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИThe GTX 550 Ti's BIOS chip is a 1-megabit (128-kilobyte) Pm25LV010 AE1040 ROM:
⤢ ВІДКРИТИGraphics processor and memory
The GTX 550 Ti uses the full 40nm GF116 chip, configured with 24 render output units, 32 texture units, and 192 stream processors.
In our specific case, the GPU is a GF116-400-A1:
⤢ ВІДКРИТИAccompanying the GF116-400-A1 chip is 1024MB of GDDR5 video memory with a 192-bit interface. This memory is composed of four 1-gigabit (128-megabyte) Hynix chips marked H5GQ1H24AFR-T2C 053A, and two 2-gigabit (256-megabyte) chips marked H5GQ2H24MFR-T2C 049A.
This reveals a rather interesting feature of this card: the GeForce GTX 550 Ti's memory controller can work with chips of different capacities, which makes it quite unique.
These memory chips are rated for 5000MHz, but on the GTX 550 Ti, the manufacturer set the frequency at 4200MHz. This theoretically suggests decent overclocking potential for the VRAM.
According to NVIDIA's factory specifications, the GeForce GTX 550 Ti graphics card is rated to operate at 900/1900MHz for the GPU (core/shader domain) at 1.000 volts, and 4100MHz for its GDDR5 video memory. However, the GV-N550OC-1GI sample reviewed here comes factory overclocked by Gigabyte, running at slightly higher frequencies: 970/1940MHz for the GPU at 1.025 volts, and 4200MHz for the GDDR5 video memory.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИThe GPU-Z utility confirms all the characteristics mentioned above, and adds that the GTX 550 Ti supports technologies like OpenCL, CUDA, OpenGL 4.6, PhysX, as well as DirectX 11. DirectX 12 API is not officially supported.
Test bench:
Processor – Xeon E5-2620 v3@3200MHz (unlocked Turbo Boost frequency);
Graphics card – GIGABYTE GV-N550OC-1GI;
Motherboard – Kllisre X99-D8 (AD12) with a modified BIOS for unlocked full Turbo Boost frequency;
RAM – G.SKILL DDR4@1866MHz, 4 sticks of F4-2400C15S-4GNT 4GB each, total 16GB (timings 10-10-10-24);
SSD – KINGSTON 120GB SA400S37120G;
HDD – Seagate 2TB ST2000DM008-2FR102;
Power supply – Chieftec GPS-1250C.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИTesting the GeForce GTX 550 Ti graphics card in 12 games:
Control
⤢ ВІДКРИТИMinimum graphics settings, 1280×720 resolution.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИIs it really possible to play Control on a 10-year-old budget graphics card? Yes, it is! With some caveats, the GTX 550 Ti delivers console-level framerates around 30 FPS, allowing for relatively comfortable gameplay with a gamepad. However, with a mouse and keyboard, things aren't as smooth. Most gamers will likely need to lower the resolution a bit more.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
⤢ ВІДКРИТИMinimum settings, medium textures, 1920×1080 resolution, MSAA x2 anti-aliasing.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИCounter-Strike: Global Offensive runs without any significant issues on the GTX 550 Ti. The average framerate is 96 FPS, and the minimum doesn't drop below 77.
Dota 2
⤢ ВІДКРИТИMinimum graphics settings, 1920×1080 external resolution, 100% render resolution, anti-aliasing active, medium textures and shadows.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИDota 2 on the GTX 550 Ti shows a similar performance to CS:GO. The game runs extremely stable and smoothly. The average FPS is 98, and the minimum didn't drop below 69.
Days Gone
⤢ ВІДКРИТИMinimum graphics settings, 1280×720 resolution, 70% render resolution.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИPlaying the recent hit Days Gone, however, is extremely difficult. The reason is simple: to achieve an acceptable FPS of around 30, we had to reduce the internal render resolution to 70%, especially considering the external resolution was already a disappointing 1280x720 for 2021 standards. As a result, we still managed to reach an average of 31 FPS, but the image quality became 'muddy' and completely unplayable.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light
⤢ ВІДКРИТИMinimum graphics settings, 1280×720 resolution, 85% render resolution, FXAA anti-aliasing.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИThe GTX 550 Ti performed slightly better in Destiny 2. We again had to drop the internal render resolution, but the average FPS hit 35, and the minimum didn't drop below 32. It's a stretch, but you could call that a playable framerate.
Far Cry 5
⤢ ВІДКРИТИMinimum graphics settings, 1280×720 external resolution, 80% render resolution, SMAA anti-aliasing.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИFar Cry 5 presented the same challenge. We again had to slightly reduce the internal resolution, making the image quality extremely unpleasant. Playing with visuals like that is difficult, but if you're determined, you might manage it.
Far Cry New Dawn
⤢ ВІДКРИТИMinimum graphics settings, 1280×720 external resolution, 80% render resolution, SMAA anti-aliasing.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИFar Cry New Dawn's performance mirrored that of Far Cry 5.
eFootball PES 2021
⤢ ВІДКРИТИMinimum settings, 1600×900 resolution, 80% render resolution.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИOn the GTX 550 Ti, eFootball PES 2021 ran relatively stably at 1600×900 (with an effective internal resolution of about 1366×768). Keep in mind that when the camera shifts to players, goals, the ball, or during replays, the FPS might drop below 50, sometimes even to 30. But these aren't critical gameplay moments, so they don't affect the overall experience.
On average, the GTX 550 Ti delivered 56 FPS, with 1% lows staying above 51 FPS. That's a decent result!
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
⤢ ВІДКРИТИMinimum settings, 1280×720 resolution, 75% render resolution.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИ
⤢ ВІДКРИТИThe GTX 550 Ti can provide a minimally comfortable experience in Tom Clancy's The Division 2. Just don't expect a consistent 39 average FPS throughout the game. Division 2 is an open-world title, and you'll definitely hit framerate drops as low as 25 FPS in some areas.
Watch_Dogs 2
⤢ ВІДКРИТИMinimum settings, 1280×720 resolution.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИIt's the familiar 30 FPS all over again. Watch_Dogs 2 on the GTX 550 Ti is perfectly playable with a gamepad, but for keyboard and mouse, that framerate just isn't quite enough.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
⤢ ВІДКРИТИMinimum settings, 1280×720 resolution (Novigrad).
⤢ ВІДКРИТИWe encountered a similar situation with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The GTX 550 Ti delivers an average of 31 FPS, with rare dips to 21. While the game is playable, controlling your character with such low frame rates is definitely easier with a gamepad.
World of Tanks
⤢ ВІДКРИТИOur benchmark utilized a pre-recorded replay on the 'Erlenberg' map in 'Assault' mode. Graphics were set to minimum, at 1920×1080 resolution.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИAmazing optimization! The GeForce GTX 550 Ti delivers comfortable gameplay in World of Tanks at Full HD resolution, even with enhanced graphics. We saw an average of 76 FPS, with lows never dipping below 47.
Below is a summary chart comparing the GeForce GTX 550 Ti's performance across 12 games.
⤢ ВІДКРИТИIt's easy to guess why titles like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Mafia: Definitive Edition, Apex Legends and Red Dead Redemption 2 aren't in our test suite. Their framerates were so low on this card that including the results would have been pointless.
Overclocking the GeForce GTX 550 Ti
We managed to overclock our GV-N550OC-1GI sample to 1020/2040 MHz (core/shader domain) for the GPU (+5% over stock) and an impressive 5100 MHz for the GDDR5 video memory (+21% over stock):
⤢ ВІДКРИТИThat's an amazing result for stock voltage! With a voltage bump to 1.150 volts, our card hit 1075 MHz on the GPU. However, we opted not to test at that level; even with the fan at 100%, the GPU temperature soared past 85 degrees, which is simply unacceptable.
Remember, high temperatures are particularly harmful to older graphics cards, potentially causing GPU, VRAM, or power system failures.
Now, let's see how much performance the GeForce GTX 550 Ti gained after this successful overclock.
Benchmarking the GeForce GTX 550 Ti: stock vs. overclocked
Destiny 2
GeForce GTX 550 Ti | Average FPS | Minimum FPS | 1% Lows |
Stock clocks | 37 | 32 | - |
Overclocked | 39 | 34 | - |
Even after overclocking the GTX 550 Ti, Destiny 2 only saw a 5% increase in frame rate. This directly mirrors the 5% clock speed boost we achieved on the GPU during overclocking, which is a bit of a disappointing indicator.
Far Cry 5
GeForce GTX 550 Ti | Average FPS | Minimum FPS | 1% Lows |
Stock Clocks | 32 | 28 | 28 |
Overclock | 32 | 30 | 30 |
In Far Cry 5, overclocking offers almost no performance gains. The only noticeable effect is a slight increase in minimum FPS.
Far Cry New Dawn
GeForce GTX 550 Ti | Average FPS | Minimum FPS | 1% Lows |
Stock Clocks | 31 | 22 | 22 |
Overclock | 33 | 24 | 24 |
Far Cry New Dawn responded to the GTX 550 Ti's overclock with a 6% FPS increase. While not substantial, it did slightly stabilize the minimum FPS.
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
GeForce GTX 550 Ti | Average FPS | Minimum FPS | 1% Lows |
Stock Clocks | 36 | 26 | 15 |
Overclock | 37 | 26 | 17 |
Another rather mediocre result after overclocking, with frame rate gains a modest 3%.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the final game in our test suite, overclocking also delivered virtually no noticeable performance boost.
Our study on overclocking's impact on the GTX 550 Ti's performance concludes that despite the significant video memory overclock achieved by our test card, it didn't yield the expected benefits. This suggests GTX 550 Ti owners should likely limit themselves to just overclocking the GPU.
Conclusion
Unlike its older sibling, the GeForce GTX 470, which proved its capability in 2021, the GTX 550 Ti only demonstrated its inability to handle single-player projects with acceptable frame rates. Still, this budget-friendly card, a representative of the second-generation Fermi architecture, can deliver relatively decent FPS in online games like Dota 2, CS:GO, PES 2021, and World of Tanks.
What's more, the GeForce GTX 550 Ti isn't as prone to the notorious 'GPU failures' as its older siblings. So, if you're looking for a temporary 'stopgap' card to tide you over during the 'Mining Era,' it might do the job.
But remember: we aren't offering any specific recommendations here. We're just providing food for thought, and it's entirely up to you to decide if the game is worth the gamble.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more!
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