The Palit GTX 950 2GB StormX Dual graphics card is a cost-effective implementation of the GTX 950 GPU. The card features a modest factory overclock but sports a dual-fan cooler to provide quiet operation. Add the light-blue colour into the mix, and Palit's styling may be a reason for some potential buyers to put it on their wishlist.
Performance from the card in its out-of-the-box state is good. A comfortable performance gap is opened up between a factory overclocked GTX 750 Ti and Palit's modestly-overclocked GTX 950. Asus' STRIX GTX 950 card is a little faster at the factory-overclocked frequency, although that solution is also more expensive than Palit's offering.
Overclocking performance from Palit's board was good. We saw the core clock climb as high as 1474MHz during gaming and memory reached 7800MHz effective with relative ease. These frequency boosts opened up a good serving of performance which closed the performance gap to Asus' manually-overclocked solution that was able to achieve a slightly higher core clock.
Acoustic performance from the Palit cooler was great. The 0dB mode worked well and even under load the fans were barely audible. Thermal performance is not as strong as we would have liked though, with the GPU creeping over 70°C at factory clocks and almost hitting 80°C when manually overclocked.
The fan speed never rose above 56%, so there is clearly more cooling potential from Palit's card if you are happy with slightly higher noise output and manual fan speed tuning.
Another negative for gamers who value system appearance is the brown PCB. While this may be a minor point, it may be enough to dissuade some potential customers who want an aesthetically-friendly gaming machine.
We have focussed on the GTX 950 GPU in our review of Asus' STRIX Gaming GTX 950 DirectCU II OC graphics card. The latest addition to the Maxwell family brings heavy competition to the £129 MSRP price point where AMD has been commanding. Nvidia's GPU brings with it many of the Maxwell core's goodies, such as HDMI 2.0, strong overclocking potential, and low power usage.
I expect Palit's GTX 950 StormX Dual to be positioned between the lower- and mid-end of the GTX 950 pricing spectrum. The card is currently available to pre-order for around £135, which puts it around £15 cheaper than Asus' STRIX GTX 950 DC2 OC card. That slight cost saving can be invested elsewhere by a budget-conscious gamer. And with some time spent manually adjusting clock speeds, the performance of Maxwell's GM206 core can be further unlocked by Palit's board.
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Pros:
- Positive overclocking performance.
- Handles 1920×1080 high/ultra IQ gaming very well.
- Low noise output from the dual-fan cooler.
- Blue colour may appeal to some gamers seeking a change from red.
- Good power consumption numbers.
- Factory overclocked, albeit quite modestly.
Cons:
- Brown PCB.
- Asus DirectCU II cooler is better with out-of-the-box operation.
- 2GB VRAM of the GTX 950 is cutting it fine for many AAA games.
KitGuru says: A smart, cost-effective offering from Palit that has the potential to unlock much of the GTX 950 GPU's overclocking performance.