Conclusion
Conclusion
We mentioned at the beginning of this review that – be it a processor family or GPU series- as an architecture matures and manufacturers get a better handle on what it is capable of, they are able to push things to new heights. Gigabyte did just that with their GTX 260 Super Overclock while showing us how to add value by way of overclocking.
To say that we were impressed with the performance of Gigabyte’s flagship GTX 260 is a massive understatement. It simply wowed us again and again. While it may not be the fastest single-chip card on the face of the planet, the Super Overclock certainly made a name for itself in our testing. For a GTX 260, this thing is balls-to-the-wall fast to the point where it leaves skid-marks all over the face of a reference-clocked GTX 275. In some benchmarks it even comes close to the mighty GTX 285.
In all reality, it would be an insult to compare Gigabyte’s Frankenstein of a card to a reference GTX 260 because they just aren’t even in the same league. There were some tests where the Super Overclocked showed results that were a “mere” 15% more than a reference card but other than those few and far between situations, we were looking at twenty and sometimes even thirty percent performance increases. We have said in the past that many pre-overclocks we see on cards are just window dressing and won’t mean a thing when it comes to perceptible real-world gaming increases. Well, in this case the card totally bucked that trend and that in itself is damn well impressive.
We also saw that Gigabyte’s pimping of their Ultra Durable Video’s component selection and PCB manufacturing process may be much more than just smoke and mirrors. Naturally, the GPU Gauntlet binning process did wonders for the achievable overclocks but it seems like a combination of other factors contributed to this card having noticeably lower temperatures when compared apples to apples against a stock GTX 260. This meant the fan was able to run at lower levels resulting in an extremely quiet gaming experience. Power consumption proved to be interesting as well since we were expecting significantly lower efficiency than what we ended up seeing.
Some of you may be questioning the use of such a card when next-generation products are right around the corner. While we can’t tell you exact pricing, what we can tell you is that none of the upcoming cards will hit anywhere near the price the GTX 260 Super Overclock will go for. Honestly, it will be months until we see a next-generation card priced under $275USD. This may give the GTX 260-series a shot in the arm with Gigabyte’s card leading the pack when it comes to value for your money in the sub-$250 price segment. And yes, it still has some overclocking headroom for yet more performance.
Gigabyte had a lot they had to live up to with this card since it seemed they were promising more than they could actually deliver. Well, deliver they did and then some. It is hard not to get excited because it breathes some much-needed air into the lungs of the GTX 260 line up at a time when new cards from ATI are about to steal the limelight. Because of its performance, additional overclocking headroom, near-silent running fan and a whole list of other reasons, the Gigabyte GTX 260 Super Overclock wins our Dam Good Award.
Pros:
- Very high performance
- Cool running
- Quiet
- Additional overclocking headroom
- Perfect connector selection
Cons:
- Stringent GPU binning may mean limited availability