My first GFX card review, kind of.

Gainward GTX260 1792mb Golden Sample SLi review, well more of a story.

First up im not going to add card pics, simply a link to one of Wizards reviews, as my cards as physically idential.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Palit/GeForce_GTX_260_Sonic_216_SP/3.html

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So, coming around to a full year after GT200's release, we have a huge smattering of choice when it comes to model, clock speeds, custom coolers and the like. with people even choosing 65nm cards over their 55nm counterparts just for control over voltage regulation, the market starts to get really interesting when nifty features and perks are thrown into the mix.

enter the Gainward GTX260+ 1792mb, as i understand it, its a rebranded Palit custom GTX260 55nm model, and it doesn't disappoint. With a non-reference pcb for a 55nm GT200, a custom cooling solution and double the reference memory amount for a nose-bleed 1792mb all to one GPU. Interestingly they do this by emplying double density memory chips, as oppose to populating the outer pcb. this seems logical to me as the physical amount of parts required is less, and no back plate is required to cool the chips. I am a fan of back plates on any card, and my reference GTX260 65mn still looks sleek and sexy like a puma with its stock one, but this card does not need it at all. Sporting excellent temperatures due to the custom cooler, and no card bending/drooping thanks to the frontal plastic should, its perfect just the way it is.

Its lighter than a 65nm GTX260 considerably, the pcb weighs what you'd expect but the cooling solution itself is more minimal than pictures give it credit for. the fins section is barely half the width of the 2 slot card, and only spans about 1/2-2/3 of the width of the card. however it was chosen wisely, as temperatures are more than reasonable. Personally i lock 60% fan speed, which is easily noticeable over the rest of my antec 900 two on high fans, but not by much. at 80-100% the whine is quite obnoxious and distracting, the cooling rendered is above and beyond expectations, but its not worth the noise. overclocked, in SLi and at 60% constant fan cycle, i enjoy load temps maxing out at 65-68 degrees, with even GRID and Crysis taxing both GPU's up to only 58-60 degrees each, and even milder games like Team Fortress 2 only taxing them up to about 52-55 Degrees C. The top card in my configuration idles at a solid 5 degrees higher at idle, no matter what ambient temp, usual temps are 40 and 45, however that difference tightens during load to a 1-2 degree difference.

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Separately the cards clocked a little differently, one to 702/1512 stable, so i left it there and popped in the second to reach a wall at around 1460-1500 shaders. In SLi I run both cards at 680 core, 1440 shaders, and 2214 memory, which represents a very nice performance boost all in itself.

The speed increases buy me around 10-15% extra performance in pretty much all situations, and i was very surprised to see the whopping 1792mb of memory overclock at all, let alone on both cards! Having researched the buy, i noticed in reviews 1792mb GTX260's memory chips tended not to fare well in terms of oc'ability, with most ones i read topping out at or below 1050mhz. I was in awe to see the slider effortlessly glide to 1107 on both cards, and remain completely gaming and furmark/benchmark stable. My suspicion is these cards may indeed be packing 0.8ns memory, but with everything working so beautifully, i am hesitant to take one apart, or overclock much further on the risk they are 1.0ns chips, already overclocked beyond spec.

The result, total satisfaction, I was waiting for a good buy, and with the MSI GTX260 Lightning hard to come by in Australia, i had to really search for my custom models, and coming from a GTX295 i wanted to be able to represent its relative performance, but give me much lower temps, and the awesome double memory wank factor. Another note I remembered just now is the cards do not buzz, at all. Many, if not the majority of my high cards over the past 1-3 years have emitted a high pitch electronic buzz, none of the cards ever died, and I take it its fine, but its lovely to have cards that don't buzz for once hahah.

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I will go on to post actual benchmark numbers, but on the fly ill give my system specs and some quick numbers on how she goes

Brand new (for this build) Antec 900 "two" gaming mid-tower
Asus P5N32-E SLi, Bios 1801 - Thermaltake extreme Spirit 2 NB cooler
4x2048mb Patriot Viper DDR2 1066 @ 5-5-5-15
Intel Core 2 Duo E4700 @ 3466mhz - 266x13
Gainward GTX260+ GS 1792mb in SLi @ 16x/16x Gen 1.0/1.1
WD caviar Blue 500gb - 16mb cache sata2
Zalman ZM850HP - 850w - 6x12v rails, absolutely silent.

Fallout 3 - 1920x1200 Max settings, 8xAA, 15xAF, 2048x2048 texture pack.

Min FPS 56 - max FPS 92
Avg Min 64 - Avg Max 80
Perceptible average: 64-80

GRID - 1920x1200 Max settings, 4XMSAA

Min FPS 55 - Max FPS 109
Avg Min 62 - Avg Max 75
perceptible average: 60-70

Team Fortress 2, 1920x1200 Max MAx MAx, HDR, 16xQAA, 16xAF, Multicore on.

Min FPS 59 - Max FPS 299
Avg Min 60 - Avg Max 150++
Perceptible average: 60-90+

Crysis Warhead - 1920x1200 Enthusiast, 4xAA

Min FPS 18 - Max FPS 55
Avg Min 22 - Avg Max 40
Perceptible average: 22-30

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Needless to say its an adequate solution, crysis still shits me but my 295 fared basically the same on this dual core. all in all its an interesting thing, selling a GTX295 and buying GTX260 SLi, having owned a GTX260 65nm before... yes I'm crazy, but i think there's method in my madness.

To sum up my GTX295, awesome single card, the absolute win, with a light overclock you're at GTX275 SLi performance, which rocks, but what really got to me was noise and heat, and a solution that has multiple options. these cards run cooler, Much quieter, have nifty double memory which may pay dividends later on. not to mention i can SLi or move to any other of my 3 rigs. And i couldhave bought 3 of these babies for Tri SLi for about the cost of a new GTX295, but for me its all about the experiences, and hardware i come to love. I had the 295, it rocked, but im over it, and wanted to tweak something new, this filled that gap, i broke even, and for my situation and needs i reckon i came out on top this time.

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I would rate this card 9/10

Performance per Dollar - 8.5 -> value is a tad down as the cost of additional memory has yet to show benefits. Price at time of purchase, $345 Aud per card + shipping.

Heat - 9/10 -> a perfect choice for the card, however a quieter blade design on the fans or even a lower max speed would be fine.

Looks - 8 -> looks aren't everything, and this card isnt ugly, i just hoped for maybe a backplate, and a different PCB color

Drivers 10 -> what can i say

Overclocking 9.2 -> with both cards clocking in at 680/1440/2214 Rock solid, I am very pleased, but i was hopeful of 700/1500+ so a tiny mark-down.

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I've had a blast with these cards so far, and some hard numbers and photo's of the rig to come. I hope you enjoy the review.

Special thanks to DrPepper, i drew a heap of inspiration from your review bud, cheers

Thanks for liking the review!, my GTX295 was in a system with a Q6600 @ 3ghz, lately Ive been plagued by my core 2 chips not wanting to oc.

seems the Q6600 only does 3-3.2 odd now, and literally wont budge from stock on this 680i SLi board, thats why the dualie is in there atm, cos 2 cores @ 3466 mhz is better gaming than 4 @ 2.4ghz

honestly im thinking within 2 months ill be on an i7 rig, 920, 6gb DDR3, then i can reaaaallllly stretch their legs.

dont get me wrong, i know the move from the 295 is either lateral or a slight downgrade, but thats what i wanted, what i already had in a different form, and like always, the friends that i sell hardware to always offer me first buybacks down the track

In any case, THIS setup games better than my Q6600 @ 3ghz and the GTX295 @ 24/7 oc of 633/1404/1133 - oh and ive gotten these 260's to 700/1440/1133 stable now too

pics of the complete build to follow in adequate light

i started writing the review after sundown this evening.

check back soon hehehehe

JATownes said:

That is what I like to hear. Officially subscribed. Can't wait for pics.

And BTW...Cheers on a sick rig!!!

Click to expand...

cheers for the interest dude, I wont disappoint, pics/benchmarks and updates to follow. suffice to say since I wrote the review the cards have been pushed even further hahahah.

every mhz I squeeze out of the E4700 counts big time too, so when it comes to bench runs ill be going as fast as i possibly can.

This weekend in Perth Australia every single night its going to be about 3-4 degrees C, so I'm thinking an outdoor cold temp bench run is in order

as promised, some crap quality pics of the rig

Cheers man and definitely more to come

next up are some benchmark runs, and perhaps some high quality screenshots, and of course final overclocks

when i wrote the review, the clocks i was @ were 680/1440/1107, now im up to 729/1458/1133, so i should be squeezing more out of them, and naturally a higher CPU-OC for bench runs

your i7 rig should really let them loose, best of luck, and naturally, tell us all how they go

cant wait to get these babies on an i7 rig... reallllly open them up

I bit the bullet, and went i7, so the benchmarks i had prepared can serve as a good comparison

updates soon to follow