Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Video Card Review

While the GeForce GTX 1050 is the entry model of the NVIDIA Pascal architecture, the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is its version on steroids. Let’s test it and see how does it perform in this review.
Like the GeForce GTX 1050 (which we already tested), the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti uses the GP107 chip, manufactured under 14 nm process. The main difference between the two cards is that, while on the GTX 1050 Ti the chip comes with all the 768 cores enabled, distributed on six SM (streaming multiprocessors), on the GTX 1060 one SM is disabled, so the card brings 640 cores.
On the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, this cores work at a 1,290 MHz base clock, reaching up to 1,392 MHz. Those are the standard clocks recommended by NVIDIA, but probably most models reach the market with higher clocks, since, according do NVIDIA, this chip can reach clocks ah high as 1,900 MHz.
The memory interface uses 128 bits and the recommended memory clock is 7 GHz, using GDDR5 chips, which brings a 112 GiB/s bandwidth. The GTX 1050 Ti models should come with 4 GiB of VRAM, while the GTX 1050 models with 2 GiB, but it is possible to the manufacturers sell GTX 1050 models with 4 GiB, for example.
One of the highlights of the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is its low energy consumption: its TDP is only 75 W (the same of the GTX 1050,) so there is no need for the auxiliary energy connector on the video card. The recommended power supply is 300 W, which makes this card suitable for basic PCs, where you simply open the case and install the video card at a free slot to make it ready to run recent games with no other worries.
Other highlight of the GTX 1050 Ti is its cost/benefit ratio: the MSRP in the USA is USD 139 (USD 30 above the GTX 1050.) So, it also becomes a direct competitor of the Radeon RX 460. It is also a substitute for the GeForce GTX 950 on the market.
Notice that, unlike the GeForce GTX 1060 and the high-end models from this family, there is no reference (or “Founders Edition”) models for the GTX 1050 Ti.
Like the GTX 1060, the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti doesn’t support SLI.
The GeForce GTX 1050 Ti we tested is manufactured by Zotac, model GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini, part number ZT-P10510A-10L. It is a very small video card, and uses a little higher clocks than the suggested, with 1,303 Mhz base and 1,417 MHz boost clocks. It brings 4 GiB of GDDR5 VRAM running at 7 GHz.
Figure 1 shows the box of the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini.

Figure 1: the box of the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Mini

Figure 2 shows the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini video card.

Figure 2: the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini

In our tests, we compared the performance of the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti to the GeForce GTX 1050, the Radeon RX 460 from XFX (RX-460P4D), a GeForce GTX 960, and also to a GeForce GTX 950.
In the table below, we compare the main specs from the video cards we included in this review. Prices were researched at Newegg.com for this article.

Video card	Core clock	Turbo clock	Effective memory clock	Memory bus
Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini	1,303 MHz	1,417 MHz	7.0 GHz	128 bit
Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Mini	1,354 MHz	1,455 MHz	7.0 GHz	128 bit
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960	1,241 MHz	1,304 MHz	7.0 GHz	128 bit
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950	1,102 MHz	1,279 MHz	6.6 GHz	128 bit
XFX Radeon RX 460	1,090 MHz	1,220 MHz	7.0 GHz	128 bit

Video card	Memory bandwidth	Memory	Processing cores	TDP	DirectX	Price
Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini	112 GB/s	4 GiB GDDR5	768	75 W	12.1	USD 130
Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Mini	112 GB/s	2 GiB GDDR5	640	75 W	12.1	USD 100
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960	112 GB/s	4 GiB GDDR5	1,024	120 W	12.1	USD 180
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950	105.6 GB/s	2 GiB GDDR5	768	90 W	12.1	USD 135
XFX Radeon RX 460	112 GB/s	4 GiB GDDR5	896	75 W	12	USD 140

Now let’s take a closer look to the tested video card.
The Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini looks exactly like the GeForce GTX 1050 Mini that we reviewed recently, being only 5.7 inches (145 mm) long and using two slots. It has a 90 mm fan.
In Figure 2, you see the video connectors of the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini. It brings an HDMI 2.0b, a DisplayPort 1.4, and a DVI-D connectors.

Figure 3: video connectors

In Figure 3, you see the top of the card. Notice that there is no auxiliary power connector, but the PCB has the room for this connector, which means can be some other models (provably overclocked ones) with this connector present.

Figure 4: top view

Figure 5 shows the solder side of the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini. There are no memory chips at this side.

Figure 5: solder side of the GTX 1050 Ti Mini

Figure 6 unveils the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini with the cooler removed. It is a simple aluminum cooler, that keeps contact only with the GPU chip. The card has four memory chips.

Figure 6: the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini with the cooler removed

In Figure 7 you see the GP107 chip, manufactured under 14 technology. As we mentioned before, in the GTX 1050 Ti this chip is fully enabled.

Figure 7: the GP107 chip

Figure 8 shows one of the memory chips present on the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti. It is a Samsung K4G80325FB-HC28 chip, with 8 Gib (1 GiB) capacity and 3.5 GHz nominal maximum clock.

Figure 8: memory chip

Figure 10 shows the voltage regulator of the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti. It uses three phases for the GPU and one phase for the memory chips.

Figure 9: voltage regulator

During our benchmarking sessions, we used the configuration listed below. Between the tests, the only variable component was the video card being tested.
Hardware Configuration

CPU: Athlon X4 880K running at 4.4 GHz
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88X Extreme 6+
CPU Cooler: stock
Memory: 16 GiB DDR3-2133, four G.Skill Ripjaws Z F3-17000CL9Q-16GBZH 4 GiB memory modules configured at 2,133 MHz dual channel
Boot drive: Kingston HyperX Savage 480 GB
Video Monitor: Philips 236VL
Power Supply: Corsair CX500M

Operating System Configuration

Windows 10 Home 64-bit
NTFS
Desktop video resolution: 3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz

Driver Versions

AMD driver version: 16.5.2.1
NVIDIA driver version: 358.91

Software Used

Error Margin
We adopted a 3% error margin; thus, differences below 3% cannot be considered relevant. In other words, products with a performance difference below 3% should be considered as having similar performance.

3DMark is a program with a set of several 3D benchmarks. Fire Strike benchmark measures DirectX 11 performance and is targeted to high-end gaming computers, while Sky Diver also measures DirectX 11 performance being aimed at average computers. The Cloud Gate benchmark measures DirectX 10 performance.

On Fire Strike, the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) was 5% faster than the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 (ZT-P10500A-10L), 4% slower than the GeForce GTX 960, 7% faster than the GeForce GTX 950, and 19% faster than the Radeon RX 460.

On the Sky Diver benchmark, the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) was 5% faster than the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 (ZT-P10500A-10L), 6% slower than the GeForce GTX 960, 6% faster than the GeForce GTX 950, and 9% faster than the Radeon RX 460.

On Cloud Gate, the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) was similar to the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 (ZT-P10500A-10L), the GeForce GTX 960, and the GeForce GTX 950, being 4% faster than the Radeon RX 460.

Battlefield 4

Battlefield 4 is one of the most popular games of the Battlefield franchise, being released in 2013. It is based on the Frostbite 3 engine, which is DirectX 11. In order to measure performance using this game, we walked our way through the first mission, measuring the number of frames per second (fps) three times using FRAPS. We ran this game at Full HD, setting overall image quality at “medium.”
The results below are expressed in fps and they are the mean between the three collected results.

On Battlefield 4, the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) performed similarly to the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 (ZT-P10500A-10L), was 14% slower than the GeForce GTX 960, 4% slower than the GeForce GTX 950, and 11% faster than the Radeon RX 460.

Dirt Rally

Dirt Rally is an off-road racing game released in April 2015, using Ego engine. To measure performance using this game, we ran the performance test included in the game, in Full HD resolution and image quality configured as “medium” and MSAA off.
The results below are expressed in fps.

In this game, the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) performed similarly to the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 (ZT-P10500A-10L), 7% slower than the GeForce GTX 960, and 5% slower than the GeForce GTX 950 and the Radeon RX 460.

Dying Light

Dying Light is an open-world horror game launched in January 2015, using the Chrome Engine 6. We tested the performance at this game with all quality options as “high” and Full HD resolution, measuring three times the frame rate using FRAPS.
The results below are expressed in fps and they are the mean between the three collected results.

On Dying Light the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) was equivalent to the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 (ZT-P10500A-10L), 13% slower than the GeForce GTX 960, similar to the GeForce GTX 950, and 9% faster than the Radeon RX 460.

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V, or simply GTA V, is a open-world action game released for PCs in April of 2015 and uses the RAGE engine. In order to measure the performance on this game, we ran the performance test of the game (the plane portion), measuring the frame rate with FRAPS. We ran GTA V at Full HD, with image quality set as “high” and MSAA as 2x.

The results below are expressed in frames per second.

On GTA V, the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) showed the same performance of the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 (ZT-P10500A-10L), was 7% slower than the GeForce GTX 960, 5% faster than the GeForce GTX 950, and 44% faster than the Radeon RX 460.

Mad Max

Mad Max is an open-world action game launched in September of 2015, using the Avalanche engine. In order to measure the performance using this game, we ran its intro, measuring the framerate with FRAPS three times. We ran the game at Full HD, with image quality set as “normal”.

The results below are expressed in fps and they are the mean between the three collected results.

On Mad Max, the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) was 10% faster than the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 (ZT-P10500A-10L), 10% slower than the GeForce GTX 960, 15% faster than the GeForce GTX 950, and 32% faster than the Radeon RX 460.

Rise of the Tomb Rider

Rise of the Tomb Rider is an adventure/action game launched in January of 2016, based on Foundation engine. In order to measure the performance using this game, we ran the benchmark included on it, using Full HD resolution and graphics quality “medium”.
The results below are expressed in frames per second.

On Rise of the Tomb Rider, the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) was 9% faster than the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 (ZT-P10500A-10L), 9% slower than the GeForce GTX 960, 9% faster than the GeForce GTX 950, and 32% faster than the Radeon RX 460.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an open-world RPG released in May of 2015 and based on the REDengine 3 engine. In order to measure the performance on this game, we walked around at the first scene of the game, measuring the frame rate with FRAPS three times. We ran the game at Full HD with image quality set to “medium.”

The results below are expressed in fps and they are the mean between the three collected results.

In this game, the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) was 8% faster than the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 (ZT-P10500A-10L), 7% slower than the GeForce GTX 960, 12% faster than the GeForce GTX 950, and 20% faster than the Radeon RX 460.

Like the GeForce GTX 1050, the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is an entry video card with excellent cost/benefit ratio, low consumption, high compatibility, and enough performance to run recent games in Full HD and medium or high quality at a good framerate.
Altough it will not impress enthusiasts or serious gamers, it will fit the needs of most casual gamers, or even devoted gamers with a limited budget.
Compared to its more inexpensive sister, the GTX 1050 Ti is only a little (typically around 5%) faster, but it is really faster than its competitor, the 4 GiB Radeon RX 460.
We can say that the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti can replace both the GeForce GTX 950 (it costs the same and it 1is faster) and the GeForce GTX 960 (it costs less and it is almost as fast) in the market.
About the Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) card, it is a small card, with simple and robust construction. It worked cold and quiet during all our tests.
Maybe the best highlight of the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, compared to the GTX 1050, is the amount of VRAM. The performance difference is small (at least in a budget setup like the one we used) to justify the price difference, but newer games will probably require more video memory and the 1050 Ti, with its 4 GiB, may have a longer longevity.