Hardware details
The GeForce GTX 1050 series is currently the cheapest entry to Nvidia's Pascal architecture. With the GTX 1050 Ti, a slightly more expensive variant of the GTX 1050 has appeared, which has a video memory that is twice as large as well as an uncut GP107 graphics chip. In contrast to the trimmed GP107-300 with 640 shader units, the GP107-400 offers a total of 768 shader units.
The Colorful GTX 1050 Ti iGame U that we tested with dimensions of 24.6 x 12.4 x 4.2 cm is equipped with a "Blaze Duo" heat sink, which is supplied with fresh air via two 90 mm fans. The card also has a 6-pin power connection for power supply, so that nothing stands in the way of overclocking. The connection options amount to an HDMI 2.0b socket, a DisplayPort 1.4 connection and a DVI-I dual link socket.
The base clock rates are 1.290 MHz and the boost is 1.392 MHz. A feature of the Colorful graphics card is the "OC button", which is located next to the connection options. If you press this, the graphics card is automatically overclocked. In the base clock, the GTX 1050 Ti then runs with 1.380 MHz and in boost with 1.493 MHz. The memory clock of the 4GB GDDR5 video memory effectively remains at 7.000 MHz.
Benchmarking
The test system is equipped with a Gigabyte EX58-UD5 motherboard, an Intel Core i7 920 @ 4GHz and 20GB of RAM. The test was carried out in several runs with default, OC and high OC clock rates. The resolution was 1920 x 1080 pixels. The texture settings were left at the default settings (high).
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- Nvidia system information
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- GPU-Z graphics card values
3DMark Time Spy
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- Standard
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- Boost
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- overclocked
3DMark Fire Strike
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- Standard
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- Boost
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- overclocked
Heaven 3D benchmark
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- Standard
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- Boost
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- overclocked
field test
The Colorful GTX 1050 Ti iGame U was tested in the games Battlefield 1, Witcher 3 and GTA V. The resolution was set to 1920 x 1080 pixels in all games. The clock rate of the graphics card was set to the manufacturer's OC clock.
Battlefield 1
In Battlefield 1 (DX11), the average FPS number with high details was consistently at 58 FPS. Even on Ultra, the FPS went down only slightly, averaging 53 FPS. Only with effective scenes were smaller picture breaks below the 45 FPS detectable.
Witcher 3
Witcher 3 achieved average 46 FPS with high detail. Nvidia's HairWorks was switched off. On Ultra settings, the FPS fell significantly and were only at average 38 FPS. The lowest value measured was 31 FPS.
GTA V
The GTA V game is not a hurdle for the Colorful GTX 1050 Ti. High details are consistently achieved via 70 FPS. With Ultra settings, the average FPS was 64 FPS. The low point was 42 FPS.
Temperature and volume
The temperature was measured both in idle and under full load with an automatically controlled fan speed. The temperature measured with the MSI Afterburner while idling was 38 ° C. The graphics card reached a maximum temperature of 58 ° C under full load.
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- Idle temperature
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- Full load temperature
Measuring the fan volume is probably the most difficult part if you don't have a soundproof test environment at hand. I therefore carried out the volume test subjectively to my own liking and with the help of a dB meter. The measuring distance was 50 cm, the housing was closed. The Colorful GTX 1050 Ti is imperceptible under normal everyday conditions, i.e. normal desktop work. With a measured 29 dB, it was so quiet in the test environment that you don't even notice that a PC is running. The fan speed was consistently 22% in idle.
Even when the graphics card was fully loaded, I was only able to measure 32 dB and a slight hum in the background was audible. The fan speed was 45% under full load.
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- GPU-Z Idle
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- GPU-Z Burst
power consumption
The GTX 1050 Ti is currently one of the most economical graphics cards on the market. Nvidia itself specifies a “Thermal Design Power” (TDP) of 75 watts. I determined the power consumption of the Colorful GTX 1050 Ti based on the power consumption of the entire test system. The graphics card is particularly economical when idle and consumes around 8 watts. Depending on the benchmark or game, values between 65 and 73 watts were achieved.
Overclocking capabilities
Although Colorful's GTX 1050 Ti already runs at a higher clock rate, the graphics card still offers significantly higher overclocking potential. In the test, the base clock could be increased to a stable 1.530 MHz without any problems. As a result, the graphics card reached a whopping 1.643 MHz in the boost. The memory clock could also be increased by a further 700 MHz to an effective 8.408 MHz.
MSI Afterburner
Despite the lavish overclocking, neither the temperature nor the volume were noticeable. The highest measured temperature was 61 ° C, the fan speed was 51%. There was no difference in volume to the load value mentioned above. In the closed case, the Colorful GTX 1050 Ti iGame U can only be heard by a very slight hum.
Colorful GTX 1050 Ti iGame U
Low energy consumption
Large 4GB GDDR5 video memory
Low volume
Overclocking capabilities
Good cooling performance
OC button
Low performance with AA
Comparatively large
If you do not want to spend a lot of money on a graphics card and you consider yourself a casual gambler who does not always demand the ultimate, the Colorful GTX 1050 Ti iGame U is a low-priced entry into Nvidia's current chip generation. In the test convinced the Colorful GTX 1050 Ti mainly by the high overclocking potential, the low volume despite good cooling performance and good energy efficiency. Games such as Battlefield 1, Witcher 3 or GTA V pose no problem for the graphics card and are consistently fluid playable. For high-resolution 4K, however, the entire GTX 1050er graphics card series is not suitable.
