AMD Radeon R7 350 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost Comparison

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents a clear picture: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost outperforms the AMD Radeon R7 350 in both available compute tests, securing 2 wins against 0 for the AMD card. The most decisive margin appears in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the GTX 650 Ti Boost scores 10,041 against the R7 350's 7,057, a delta of 42.3%. This substantial gap indicates that the NVIDIA card delivers significantly better performance in Vulkan-based workloads, which typically benefit from efficient driver overhead and hardware scheduling.

In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the GTX 650 Ti Boost again takes the lead, scoring 9,302 versus the R7 350's 7,792, representing a 19.4% advantage. While this margin is narrower than the Vulkan gap, it still demonstrates a comfortable lead for the NVIDIA card in general-purpose compute tasks. The OpenCL result is particularly telling because it reflects raw shader throughput and memory bandwidth utilization, areas where the GTX 650 Ti Boost's specifications suggest an inherent advantage.

Looking at the broader benchmark context, the GTX 650 Ti Boost's average benchmark score of 8,067 places it in the 42nd percentile of all GPUs, while the R7 350's average of 7,425 sits at the 40th percentile. This modest percentile difference (2 points) understates the per-test deltas, as the Vulkan result alone contributes a significant spread. The GTX 650 Ti Boost's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GRID K2 (average 8,080, delta -0.2%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti (8,053, delta 0.2%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M (8,040, delta 0.3%). The R7 350, by contrast, sits near the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (7,441, delta -0.2%), the AMD Radeon HD 8850M (7,447, delta -0.3%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (7,472, delta -0.6%). These rival clusters illustrate that the GTX 650 Ti Boost competes in a higher performance tier than the R7 350, despite both cards being end-of-life products.

The absence of a Geekbench Metal score for the R7 350 means the GTX 650 Ti Boost's 4,858 Metal result cannot be directly compared. However, the presence of this additional benchmark for the NVIDIA card suggests broader API coverage in testing environments. For users prioritizing Vulkan or OpenCL performance, the data consistently favors the GTX 650 Ti Boost with margins that range from roughly one-fifth to nearly half.

# FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost achieves an average benchmark score of 8,067, compared to the AMD Radeon R7 350's 7,425. This represents a difference of 642 points, placing the GTX 650 Ti Boost in the 42nd percentile versus the R7 350's 40th percentile.

Q: How large is the Vulkan performance gap between the two cards?

A: In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the GTX 650 Ti Boost scores 10,041 while the R7 350 scores 7,057, yielding a 42.3% advantage for the NVIDIA card. This is the largest margin across all comparable benchmarks.

Q: Does the AMD card win any benchmark comparison?

A: No. The head-to-head data shows the GTX 650 Ti Boost winning 2 out of 2 tests, with the AMD Radeon R7 350 recording zero wins. The NVIDIA card leads by 19.4% in OpenCL and 42.3% in Vulkan.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 350 has a higher transistor density at 12.2M per mm², despite having fewer total transistors (1,500 million versus 2,540 million). The GTX 650 Ti Boost's larger die size of 221 mm² results in a density of 11.5M per mm², while the R7 350's smaller 123 mm² die achieves the higher density figure.

Q: Which card has better memory bandwidth?

A: The GTX 650 Ti Boost provides 144.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth, nearly double the R7 350's 72.00 GB/s. This difference stems from the NVIDIA card's wider 192-bit memory bus compared to AMD's 128-bit bus, with both cards using 2 GB of GDDR5 memory.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The GTX 650 Ti Boost has a TDP of 134 W and requires a 300 W suggested PSU, while the R7 350 draws only 55 W with a 250 W suggested PSU. The NVIDIA card also needs a single 6-pin power connector, whereas the AMD card requires no external power connectors.

# Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures from their respective manufacturers. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost utilizes the Kepler architecture with the GK106 chip, while the AMD Radeon R7 350 employs GCN 1.0 with the Cape Verde chip. Both are fabricated on the same 28 nm process node at TSMC, but their design philosophies diverge significantly.

The GTX 650 Ti Boost packs 2,540 million transistors into a 221 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 11.5M per mm². The R7 350, by contrast, contains 1,500 million transistors on a much smaller 123 mm² die, achieving a slightly higher density of 12.2M per mm². This means the AMD chip is more efficient in terms of transistor packing, but the NVIDIA chip has substantially more total compute resources at its disposal.

In terms of compute units, the GTX 650 Ti Boost features 768 shading units, 64 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 24 raster operation units (ROPs). The R7 350 offers 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. These numbers directly explain the performance differences: the NVIDIA card has 50% more shading units, double the TMUs, and 50% more ROPs. The shading unit count translates to a theoretical FP32 performance of 1.585 TFLOPS for the GTX 650 Ti Boost, while the R7 350 manages only 819.2 GFLOPS — less than a third of the NVIDIA card's peak.

Memory architecture also differs. The GTX 650 Ti Boost uses a 192-bit memory bus with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, delivering 144.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The R7 350 uses a narrower 128-bit bus with the same 2 GB of GDDR5, but its bandwidth drops to 72.00 GB/s — exactly half. The NVIDIA card's memory runs at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective), while the AMD card's memory operates at 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective). Clock speeds for the GPU cores themselves are notable: the GTX 650 Ti Boost has a base clock of 980 MHz and a boost clock of 1032 MHz, while the R7 350's base and boost clocks are not specified in the data.

API support shows minor differences. The GTX 650 Ti Boost supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The R7 350 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The Vulkan version difference (1.2.175 versus 1.2.170) is minor but could contribute to driver-level optimization variances. Neither card features ray tracing cores or tensor cores, consistent with their older generations.

The GTX 650 Ti Boost is part of the GeForce 600 generation, succeeding the GeForce 500 series and preceding the GeForce 700 series. The R7 350 belongs to the Pirate Islands (R7 300) generation, succeeding Volcanic Islands and preceding Arctic Islands. Release dates differ substantially: the GTX 650 Ti Boost launched on March 25, 2013, while the R7 350 arrived on July 5, 2016. Both cards are now end-of-life products.

# Specification Differences

The physical specifications highlight the GTX 650 Ti Boost's more demanding requirements. The NVIDIA card measures 241 mm (9.5 inches) in length and occupies a dual-slot form factor, while the R7 350 is a compact 168 mm (6.6 inches) single-slot card. Power delivery reflects this disparity: the GTX 650 Ti Boost draws 134 W TDP and requires a 1x 6-pin power connector with a 300 W suggested PSU, whereas the R7 350 consumes only 55 W, needs no external power connectors, and runs on a 250 W suggested PSU.

Display outputs show minor differences. The GTX 650 Ti Boost offers 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2. The R7 350 provides 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2. Both cards use a PCIe 3.0 x16 bus interface, so connectivity is otherwise identical.

Pixel and texture rates favor the NVIDIA card substantially. The GTX 650 Ti Boost achieves 16.51 GPixel/s and 66.05 GTexel/s, while the R7 350 manages 12.80 GPixel/s and 25.60 GTexel/s. The texture rate difference is particularly stark — the NVIDIA card processes textures at over 2.5 times the rate of the AMD card, which directly impacts gaming performance in texture-heavy scenes.

The GTX 650 Ti Boost has a launch MSRP of 169 USD. The R7 350 has no launch MSRP listed in the data. Both cards are end-of-life, meaning neither is currently in active production.

# The Verdict

The benchmark data leaves little room for ambiguity: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost is the superior performer in every measured category. With a 19.4% lead in OpenCL and a 42.3% lead in Vulkan, the GTX 650 Ti Boost delivers substantially better compute performance than the AMD Radeon R7 350. Its average benchmark score of 8,067 versus 7,425 confirms this across the board, and its 42nd percentile ranking versus the R7 350's 40th percentile reinforces the gap.

Users who prioritize raw performance should choose the GTX 650 Ti Boost. Its 768 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, combined with 144.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth, provide a clear hardware advantage. The card's 1.585 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is nearly double the R7 350's 819.2 GFLOPS, and its higher pixel and texture rates (16.51 GPixel/s and 66.05 GTexel/s versus 12.80 and 25.60) translate to better real-world rendering capabilities.

However, the R7 350 has its own merits that the data cannot ignore. At 55 W TDP with no external power connectors and a single-slot design, it offers a significantly lower power footprint. The 134 W TDP and dual-slot footprint of the GTX 650 Ti Boost demand more from the system in terms of cooling and power delivery. For users with small form factor builds, limited power budgets, or systems with minimal PSU headroom, the R7 350's efficiency could be decisive.

The R7 350's smaller die (123 mm² versus 221 mm²) and higher transistor density (12.2M per mm² versus 11.5M) indicate a more compact implementation, though this does not translate to performance advantages in the benchmark data. Its newer release date (2016 versus 2013) suggests more recent driver support, but the measured scores do not reflect a performance benefit from this chronological advantage.

The verdict is straightforward: the GTX 650 Ti Boost wins on performance metrics across the board, making it the choice for users who need maximum compute throughput. The R7 350 appeals to users who prioritize low power consumption and compact physical dimensions. Neither card is currently in production, so availability and system compatibility will ultimately guide any purchasing decision. The data, however, is unambiguous — the NVIDIA card outperforms the AMD card in every comparable test, with margins ranging from 19.4% to 42.3%.