GTX 950 Temperatures & Power Consumption

Measured at equilibrium – we're still adapting our new over time metrics to GPU reviews – the GTX 950 weighs-in at 41.4C delta T over ambient. We re-tested the GTX 950 and and GTX 960 Strix cards to attempt to better understand the large disparity, ultimately chalking it up to the relatively large overclock pre-applied to our GTX 950 sample.

“Auto” fan settings were used for all tests, as we feel this is the most common way a user utilizes their GPU and presents a real-world metric.

Power consumption has become a target of nVidia's newest two architectures. AMD closed the gap significantly with Fiji's liquid implementation, but nVidia still holds the crown for raw power efficiency. We measured averaged peak system load at just 199W, low enough that a 300W PSU could be set in place if desired. A GTX 950 is more likely to be combined with lower-end hardware than the rest of our bench is using, so it is perfectly realistic that the average build could be supported on 300-350W PSUs.

The obvious flaw here, of course, is that such low wattage PSUs are presently rare. At least, they're rare while still retaining quality. We're hoping PSU manufacturers continue to lower the wattage and instead invest BOM on efficiency gains and protections.

Conclusion: Is the GTX 950 Worth It?

The GTX 950 ($160) is an unoffensive card. The unit lands squarely between its two same-brand siblings – the 750 Ti ($120) and 2GB 960 ($200) – making for an inherently uninteresting launch. There's no chart-topping going on with the GTX 950. That's not to say it's bad, just that it's not as polarizing as some other recent launches.

The GTX 950 outperforms the R9 270X in most games and, by the transitive property of device refreshing, the R7 370, while sitting shy of the +$40 R9 380 in most instances. The GTX 750 Ti is still a strong performer for gamers less interested in high-fidelity, triple-A graphics (see: Witcher 3, GTA) or who are more focused on casual and living room experiences. The 750 Ti falls to the wayside in the event a gamer has a slightly increased budget and demands more of a game's graphics; our benchmarks prove that the 950-750 Ti delta is great enough that settings could be increased if using the GTX 950. Upgrading from an existing 750 Ti to GTX 950 is not advisable.

For those on the other side of the spectrum – the side approaching $200 – it makes better sense to investigate an R9 380 or GTX 960 purchase, as the same is true there: A settings increase is in order with the upgrade.

The GTX 950 falls between all of it. If your budget just happens to be $40 shy of $200 or $40 inflated over $120, then the GTX 950 is a fair buy with little competition at its price-point. It's not exciting, but it works well and fits the target market. One thing that is remarkable, though, is the GTX 950's performance at just 90W. A 300W PSU is an option for the GTX 950, depending on the rest of the config, which is certainly a feat to be admired.

As for the MOBA focus, it just seems a little silly to us. Unless you're making money on your MOBA gaming, the GTX 750 Ti, R7 370, and similarly affordable solutions (even the R7 250X) can handle DOTA 2 just fine. The latency reduction is cool, though, and will propagate through modern Maxwell cards via GFE.

- Steve “Lelldorianx” Burke.