PNY GeForce GTX 950 XLR8 OC Gaming Graphics Card Review

John Williamson / 8 years ago

A Closer Look

The PNY GTX 950 XLR8 OC Gaming features a stunning two-tone red and black colour scheme which should suit a wide range of system builds. Furthermore, the paintball style finish is quite unusual and emphasises the graphics card’s industrial look. Additionally, the unit’s plastic shroud feels sturdy and is more substantial than most GTX 950 custom cards. Of course, PNY hasn’t gone overboard and opted for a fin array which helps leverage extra performance from the GPU’s very modest TDP. This means it’s still fairly light at 2lbs and measures a respectable 9.65″ x 4.38″.

PNY decided to use a custom PCB consisting of 8-layers to uphold excellent reliability. From this image, we can also see two copper heat pipes which dispel heat in an effective manner. This is more than ample for the thermal loads created by the GTX 950 even when a manual overclock is applied. Ideally, I’d like to see a backplate because the exposed PCB doesn’t look very attractive. Nevertheless, you can’t grumble at the price point and target market the GTX 950 is aimed towards.

The graphics card includes two high-performance fans which automatically switch off during low-power states. This 0dB mode contributes to a superb desktop experience and limits the noise output when browsing the web or performing other basic tasks. The fans also have LED illumination around the motors which adds a more flamboyant appearance.

The PNY GTX 950 XLR8 OC Gaming really looks fantastic and is possibly my favourite version of the GTX 950 thus far.

As expected, the GPU requires a single 6-pin PCI-E connector and is incredibly efficient. Some alternative options on the market such as the Gigabyte XTREME GAMING GTX 950 employ an 8-pin connector to improve overclocking headroom. However, this isn’t the case here and I highly doubt it’s going to bottleneck the card’s overclocking abilities in a significant manner.