Galaxy’s GTX 760 GC Mini – overclocking in a small package

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Test Configuration – Hardware
• Intel Core i7-4770K (reference 3.5GHz, HyperThreading and Turbo boost is on to 3.7GHz; overclocked to 4.0GHz; DX11 CPU graphics), supplied by Intel.
• ECS GANK Domination Z87H3-A2X motherboard (Intel Z87 chipset, latest BIOS, PCOe 3.0 specification, CrossFire/SLI 8x+8x) supplied by ECS

• Kingston 16GB HyperX Beast DDR3 PC2133 RAM (2×8 GB, dual-channel at 2100MHz, supplied by Kingston)
• Galaxy GTX 760 GC Mini, Galaxy factory overclock and also further overclocked, on loan from Galaxy
• GeForce GTX 750 Ti, 2GB reference clocks and also further overclocked, supplied by Nvidia
• Nvidia GTX 760, 2 GB reference design and clocks, supplied by Nvidia
• Nvidia GTX 770 2GB reference design and clocks, supplied by Nvidia
• Nvidia GTX 780 Ti, 3GB reference design and clocks, supplied by Nvidia
• PowerColor R9 290X PCS+, 4GB reference designs at Uber clocks.
• PowerColor R9 280X PCS+, 3GB, 1000MHz/1500MHz, supplied by PowerColor
• PowerColor R9 270X PCS+, 2GB 1100/1500MHz, supplied by PowerColor
• Two 2TB Toshiba 7200 rpm HDDs
• Thermaltake ToughPower 775W power supply unit supplied by Thermaltake
• Thermaltake Water2.0 Pro watercooler, supplied by Thermaltake
• Onboard Realtek Audio
• Genius SP-D150 speakers, supplied by Genius
• Thermaltake Overseer RX-I full tower case, supplied by Thermaltake
• Philips DVD SATA writer
• HP LP 3065 2560×1600 thirty-inch LCD

Test Configuration – Software

• Nvidia GeForce 337.50 beta drivers. High Quality, prefer maximum performance, single display.
• AMD 14.3 Beta 1 Catalyst drivers; latest CAPs. High Quality – optimizations off; use application settings
• Windows 7 64-bit; very latest updates
• Latest DirectX
• All games are patched to their latest versions.
• VSync is off in the control panel.
• AA enabled as noted in games; all in-game settings are specified with 16xAF always applied; 16xAF forced in control panel for Crysis.
• All results show average, minimum and maximum frame rates except as noted.
• Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games.
• Windows 7 64, all DX10 titles were run under DX10 render paths; DX11 titles under DX11 render paths.

The Benchmarks

Synthetic

• 3DMark 11
• Firestrike – Basic & Extreme
• Heaven 4.0

• The Witcher 2
• Borderlands 2
• Aliens: Colonial Marines

• Crysis

• STALKER, Call of Pripyat
• Civilization V
• Max Payne 3
• the Secret World
• Sleeping Dogs
• Sniper Elite V2
• Hitman: Absolution
• Far Cry 3
• Tomb Raider: 2013
• Crysis 3
• BioShock: Infinite
• Metro: Last Light
• GRID 2
• Splinter Cell: Blacklist
• Total War: Rome II
• Batman: Arkham Origins
• Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
• Thief

Before we get to the Galaxy GTX 760 GC Mini performance charts, let’s look at overclocking, power draw and temperatures.

Overclocking, Power Draw, Noise and Temperatures

Overclocking the Galaxy GTX 760 GC Mini is just as easy as overclocking any other GTX 700 series card. Our Galaxy GTX 760 GC Mini edition is already overclocked +49MHz over the Nvidia reference clocks. We were able to overclock a further +90MHz with complete stability even though we did not adjust the voltage nor our fan profile. We also managed +600MHz on the memory clocks.

Our maximum observed stock boost was 1188MHz which increased to 1267MHz when we overclocked its core 90MHz. Temperatures were very good with 75C as the maximum observed temperature. With the fan profile at automatic, the Galaxy GTX 760 GC Mini remained quiet, the fan never exceeding 68%. Even with overclocking further, temperatures generally stayed below 78C and the fan rarely exceeded 70%. Because of it’s custom fan design, the Galaxy GTX 760 GC Mini is a quiet card, noticeably quieter than the reference version.

For our testing of the Galaxy GTX 760 GC Mini, we usually move the temperature target to its maximum 95C and the power target to 131%. The power adjustments are slightly higher than for the reference version. In this way, we do not allow lack of power nor moderate temperatures to throttle performance. Likewise, we also max the PowerTune slider for AMD cards.

Let’s head to the performance charts to see how the Galaxy GTX 760 GC Mini compares with the reference GTX 760 and fits into Nvidia’s lineup as well as compares with the R9 270X and with the other Radeons.