{"id":35753,"date":"2013-06-25T14:00:32","date_gmt":"2013-06-25T13:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=35753"},"modified":"2013-06-30T17:16:19","modified_gmt":"2013-06-30T16:16:19","slug":"760-ti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/760-ti\/","title":{"rendered":"Nvidia&#8217;s GTX 760 arrives to take direct aim at the HD 7950"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[ google_ad_client = \"pub-7021221536180758\"; \/* 468x60, created 11\/11\/09 *\/ google_ad_slot = \"1949837292\"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Today Nvidia is announcing its brand new $249 replacement for the $299 GTX 660 Ti which is now taking direct aim at the HD 7950. The GTX 760 is a new GPU with 6 SMX units and 1152 Cores which is less than the GTX 660 Ti&#8217;s and GTX 670&#8217;s 7 SMXes and 1344 cores.\u00a0 However, the GTX 760 is on a 256-bit memory bus making it potentially faster than the 192-bit width bus of the GTX 660 Ti, and only slightly less powerful than the GTX 670 due to its faster clocks. \u00a0 There are also new additions to the 700 series incorporated in the new GTX 760 which include the Titan&#8217;s and the GTX 7&#215;0&#8217;s Boost 2.0 controls, and adaptive fan controls.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35909\" alt=\"NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr.jpg?resize=720%2C585\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr.jpg?resize=720%2C585 800w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr-300x243.jpg 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr-220x180.jpg 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The GTX 760&#8217;s design is very similar to the GTX 600 series as it does not share the reference industrial design of the GTX 770 and 780 which uses more expensive cooling.\u00a0 Although these other cards are aimed at the very highest end of PC gaming, the GTX 760 is a video card that attempts to exceed the performance of the GTX 660 Ti and is aimed at the upper-midrange end of the mainstream PC gamers; Nvidia&#8217;s &#8220;sweetspot&#8221; for 1920&#215;1080 gaming.\u00a0\u00a0 The GTX 660 Ti was aimed at the Radeon HD 7870 while the GTX 760 is designed to take on the HD 7950.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">At $249, Nvidia is attempting to offer more than the performance of the GTX 660 Ti which launched at $299 and to nearly equal the performance of the GTX 670 which launched at $399 last year.\u00a0 With the launch of this card, here is Nvidia&#8217;s line-up until the Fall, then depending on how AMD responds, we may see further additions to their lineup.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/nV-lineup2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35927\" alt=\"nV-lineup2\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/nV-lineup2.jpg?resize=720%2C441\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/nV-lineup2.jpg?resize=720%2C441 778w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/nV-lineup2-300x183.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 778px) 100vw, 778px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Two years ago, the GeForce GTX 560 Ti launched at $249 and became a popular graphics upgrade option for gamers.\u00a0 Like the GeForce GTX 760, it features a 256-bit memory interface, but with its 1GB frame buffer, the GTX 560 Ti has half the memory of the GTX 760 and considerably less memory bandwidth. We will use our modern 25-game benchmark suite to see if Nvidia has succeeded in bringing higher performance to this important $250 price segment of the market.\u00a0 We already witnessed how the older DX10 <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/an-upgraders-guide-from-8800-gtx-to-gtx-650-ti-boost-pt-2\/\">8800-GTX and GTX 280 have aged<\/a> (badly) in a DX11 gaming world.<\/p>\n<p>The specifications of the GTX 760 are quite impressive as Nvidia&#8217;s new fourth card in their lineup and what is especially impressive is the $249 price, if the performance is there.\u00a0 We have been benching and playing games with the GTX 760 for the past week under NDA and it has been a very good experience that we would like to share with you.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx760specs.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35928\" alt=\"gtx760specs\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx760specs.jpg?resize=651%2C622\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx760specs.jpg?resize=651%2C622 651w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx760specs-300x286.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 651px) 100vw, 651px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We have continued benching right where <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/770\/\">our recent GTX 770 testing left off<\/a> &#8211; adding the GTX 760 as well as the Fermi GTX 560 Ti, and the Kepler GTX 660 Ti it is replacing.\u00a0 Here is our complete testbed of competing cards, and we shall test modern 25 games and 5 synthetics using Core i7-3770K at 4.5GHz, EVGA&#8217;s Z77 FTW motherboard and 16GB of Kingston &#8220;Beast&#8221; 2133MHz HyperX DDR3:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>GTX 760 <\/strong><strong><em><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>GTX 760<\/strong> <strong><em>Overclock<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>GTX 770<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>GTX 780<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>GTX Titan<\/strong> (GK110 current special purpose Kepler &#8211; gaming multi-display\/compute)<\/li>\n<li><strong>GTX 690<\/strong> (GK114 &#8211; current dual-GPU Kepler flagship)<\/li>\n<li><strong>GTX 680<\/strong> (GK114, single-GPU Kepler flagship &#8211; recently replaced by the GTX 780)<\/li>\n<li><strong>GTX 670<\/strong> (GK114, single-GPU Kepler 2nd in the lineup &#8211; recently replaced by the GTX 770)<\/li>\n<li><strong>GTX 660 Ti<\/strong> (GK114, single-GPU $299 Kepler &#8211; now being replaced by the $249 GTX 760)<\/li>\n<li><strong>GTX 580<\/strong> (GF110 &#8211; former single-GPU Fermi flagship)<\/li>\n<li><strong>GTX 570<\/strong> (GF110, single GPU second card in the Fermi lineup)<\/li>\n<li><strong>GTX 560 Ti <\/strong>(GF110, single GPU $249 card in the Fermi lineup)<\/li>\n<li><strong>GTX 590<\/strong> (GF110 &#8211; former dual-GPU Fermi flagship<strong>)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>HD 7970 GHz Edition<\/strong> (Tahiti &#8211; current AMD single GPU flagship)<\/li>\n<li><strong>HD 7970<\/strong> (Tahiti &#8211; mainstream original AMD single-GPU flagship)<\/li>\n<li><strong>HD 6990<\/strong> (Cayman &#8211; former AMD dual-GPU flagship)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Although AMD&#8217;s Catalyst drivers have shown good performance improvements last year, Nvidia has retaken the single-GPU performance crown away from AMD with their new mainstream $650 flagship GTX 780 and also beat or equaled the HD 7970 GHz edition with the $399 GTX 770.\u00a0 In response, we have witnessed AMD drop the pricing on the HD 7970s and offer large game bundles.\u00a0 Now Nvidia is aiming at the $250 HD 7950s and the slightly more expensive Boost and overclocked versions.\u00a0 We are going to use our PowerColor reference HD 7970 to stand in for a highly overclocked Boost Edition of the HD 7950.<\/p>\n<p>This evaluation will primarily pit the stock and overclocked GTX 760 against against our PowerColor reference design HD 7970 at stock speeds, using 25 modern games and 5 synthetic benchmarks at 1920&#215;1080 and 2560&#215;1600 resolutions.\u00a0 We shall also pay particular attention to the rest of Nvidia&#8217;s lineup including the card that the GTX 760 is replacing &#8211; the GTX 660 Ti; and also to the $249 Fermi GTX 560 Ti from just one generation ago to see how much performance has increased &#8211; or not.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/collection.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-33867\" title=\"collection\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/collection.jpg?resize=384%2C362\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/collection.jpg?resize=384%2C362 1000w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/collection-300x282.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And we will also look very closely at the next generation graphics in <em>Metro: Last Light<\/em> to compare PhysX &#8216;on&#8217; versus &#8216;off&#8217; to see if the $249 GTX 760 can run it on Very High.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">What&#8217;s New with the GTX 760?<\/h3>\n<p>Nvidia&#8217;s marketing buzzwords for the original GTX 600 series launch were, <em><strong>&#8220;Faster. Smoother. Richer.&#8221; <\/strong><\/em>The GTX 760 is also designed for extreme efficiency and high performance and we note that it&#8217;s TDP is 170W requiring two 6-pin PCIe power connectors. However, one thing that we have noted is that the GTX 760 is noticeably noisier than the GTX 770\/780 and although its fan speed is more consistent, it is very similar to the reference GTX 670.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">Faster<\/h3>\n<p>The GTX 770&#8217;s Kepler architecture is SMX-based with 1152 CUDA cores.\u00a0 Although it\u00a0 has less cores than the GTX 670 or GTX 660 Ti, it retains the 256-bit memory interface of the GTX 670 which is higher than the 192-bit interface of the GTX 660 Ti.\u00a0 We also see the GTX 760 has higher clocks than the GTX 660 Ti or the the GTX 670, with a base clock of 980MHz and a boost clock to 1033MHz.\u00a0 In addition, Nvidia brings &#8220;GPU Boost 2&#8221; &#8211; a more dynamic way to boost clocks speeds and maximize performance for each game, now based on temperature also instead of just on assumed power draw as in the original Boost.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">Smoother<\/h3>\n<p>New kinds of anti-aliasing &#8211; FXAA and TXAA &#8211; now compete with MSAA in terms of IQ while not sacrificing as much performance. And there is a new &#8220;Adaptive VSync&#8221; that helps to reduce tearing and stuttering associated with regular VSync.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">While average frames per second (FPS) are the most popular and also an important performance measurement for comparing videocards, the smooth delivery of frames is just as crucial. Great hardware needs great software to support it, and Nvidia is also a software company. They claim to give a lot of attention to how the frames are delivered with a special eye on reducing lag and input delay and thus minimizing jitter.\u00a0 We have noted this in <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/exploring-frame-time-measurement-part-3-the-gtx-680-versus-the-hd-7970-ghz-ed\/\">our own Fraps frame time latency benching<\/a>.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/boost-2.0.jpg?resize=560%2C313\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Nvidia gives more voltage unlocking options with the GTX 760 than with the rest of the Kepler 600 series GPUs. The new GeForce GTX 700 series GPUs feature their second generation GPU Boost technology \u2013 the cooler the GPU operates, the faster it performs. Boost 2.0 also gives gamers more powerful controls for tweaking their GPU. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/overvolt-3.jpg?resize=560%2C288\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Now users can set a target temperature, and for enthusiasts who wish to overclock their GPU, Boost 2.0 also supports overvoltage which can stabilize higher clocks for overclocking.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">Richer<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;\">With GTX 760\/770\/780 as with the rest of the GTX 600 series plus Titan, it is possible to play games spanning 3 displays in Surround or in 3D Surround from a single GeForce GPU, something Fermi could not manage. And the GTX 700 series brings two dual-link DVI connectors plus HDMI and a DisplayPort for a 4th accessory display.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/SURROUND-4disp.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-28912\" title=\"SURROUND-4disp\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/SURROUND-4disp.jpg?resize=458%2C235\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/SURROUND-4disp.jpg?resize=458%2C235 763w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/SURROUND-4disp-300x153.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 458px) 100vw, 458px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>There are even more features launched with the GTX 700 series.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Quieter<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>How about quieter? The 700 series together with Titan introduces a new adaptive fan controller that uses a better algorithm to minimize fan speed fluctuations which result in a quieter experience without the fan constantly revving up and down.\u00a0 In actual practice, this works great for the GTX 770 and above, but the fan noise is more noticeable on this card &#8211; it&#8217;s about equivalent to a GTX 670 and a little noisier than a GTX 680.<a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adaptivetemp-fan.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35320\" alt=\"adaptivetemp-fan\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adaptivetemp-fan.jpg?resize=600%2C326\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adaptivetemp-fan.jpg?resize=600%2C326 600w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adaptivetemp-fan-300x163.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">New Software &#8211; Shadowplay and GeForce Experience<\/h3>\n<p>The GeForce Experience (GFE) came out of beta with the launch of the GTX 770 and became a regular feature for Nvidia gamers. No longer does one have to (although many of us love to) fiddle with settings to find the best combination for our own particular PC hardware combination.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Just one optimize button customizes the settings for a &#8220;best playable experience&#8221; for your particular hardware.<a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/optimizze.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35318\" alt=\"optimizze\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/optimizze.jpg?resize=581%2C363\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/optimizze.jpg?resize=581%2C363 600w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/optimizze-300x187.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 581px) 100vw, 581px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>Shadowplay is touted as a better alternative to Fraps when it comes to recording video. The compression is much better and the overhead from recording ones own game is much lower.<a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/shadowplay.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-35319\" alt=\"shadowplay\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/shadowplay.jpg?resize=563%2C236\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/shadowplay.jpg?resize=563%2C236 820w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/shadowplay-300x125.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 563px) 100vw, 563px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>Shadowplay should be available to Kepler owners this Summer and we will bring you details of it when it launches.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">How does the GTX 760 compare with its rival, AMD&#8217;s HD 7950 at $280+ and its game bundles, and is it worth $249?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Here is the big question: <em>How does the GTX 760 which is launching today at $249 compare with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newegg.com\/Product\/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&amp;N=-1&amp;IsNodeId=1&amp;Description=gtx%20660%20ti&amp;bop=And&amp;Order=PRICE&amp;PageSize=100\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.newegg.com\/Product\/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&amp;N=-1&amp;IsNodeId=1&amp;Description=gtx%20660%20ti&amp;bop=And&amp;Order=PRICE&amp;PageSize=100', 'the GTX 660 Ti starting at $280 bundled with Metro: Last Light']);\" >the GTX 660 Ti starting at $280 bundled with Metro: Last Light<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newegg.com\/Product\/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&amp;IsNodeId=1&amp;Description=hd7950&amp;bop=And&amp;Pagesize=50\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.newegg.com\/Product\/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&amp;IsNodeId=1&amp;Description=hd7950&amp;bop=And&amp;Pagesize=50', 'the HD 7950 also starting out at about $280 with a 4-game bundle']);\" >the HD 7950 also starting out at about $280 with a 4-game bundle<\/a>? <\/em>This is an interesting situation that may prove disruptive to pricing as the GTX 760 appears to promise to beat the HD 7950 and even the more expensive Boost editions.<\/p>\n<p>First, let&#8217;s take a closer look at the new GTX 760 and directly compare it to the GTX 660 Ti as well as the GTX . First of all, in the &#8220;looks&#8221; department, the GTX 770 looks very much like the 600 series cards, not the more expensive 700 series cards.\u00a0 However, looks are superficial and we need to look deeper.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--pagetitle: Introduction--><!--nextpage--><!--pagetitle: Architecture &amp; Features--><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">Architecture and Features<\/h3>\n<p>We have covered Fermi&#8217;s GF100 architecture in a lot of detail previously. You can can read our articles <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=14600\">here <\/a>and also in our coverage of NVIDIA&#8217;s GPU Tecnology Conference 2010 that we reported on it for you <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=11661\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=11825\">here<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=11911\">here<\/a> in a three-part series. The Kepler architecture builds on Fermi architecture with some important improvements and refinements.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/680-Chip-shot.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-28915\" title=\"680-Chip-shot\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/680-Chip-shot.jpg?resize=300%2C214\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/680-Chip-shot.jpg?resize=300%2C214 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/680-Chip-shot.jpg 579w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><strong>SMX architecture<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/SMX.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-28916\" title=\"SMX\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/SMX.jpg?resize=471%2C302\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/SMX.jpg?resize=471%2C302 785w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/SMX-300x192.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 471px) 100vw, 471px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As Nvidia&#8217;s slide indicates, the Kepler architecture is called SMX and it emphasizes 2x the performance per Watt of Fermi. Their multi-threaded engine handles all of the information using four graphics processing clusters including the raster engine and two streaming multi-processors.<\/p>\n<p>The SM is now called the SMX cluster. Each SMX cluster includes a Polymorph 2.0 engine, 192 CUDA cores, 16 texture units and a lot of high-level cache. To add it all up, 2 SMXs each times 16 SMXs each including 192 CUDA cores, equal 1536 CUDA cores in the GPU used for the GTX 680 and the GTX 770.<\/p>\n<p>The GTX 670 and the GTX 660 Ti each have 7 SMX clusters and 1344 CUDA Cores while the GTX 760 has 1152 CUDA Cores.\u00a0 The GTX 670 and the GTX 760 are built on a 256-bit memory interface while the GTX 660 Ti&#8217;s is 192-bit.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/680-Chip-Diag-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-28925\" title=\"680-Chip-Diag-1\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/680-Chip-Diag-1.jpg?resize=365%2C620\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/680-Chip-Diag-1.jpg?resize=365%2C620 405w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/680-Chip-Diag-1-176x300.jpg 176w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 365px) 100vw, 365px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The GTX 760&#8217;s 96 Texture units are part of 32 ROPs but the rest of the chip is cut down from the GTX 680\/770 128 Texture Units and 8 SMX units downscaled to 3 or 4.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/KEPLER-BlockDiag.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-28926\" title=\"KEPLER-BlockDiag\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/KEPLER-BlockDiag.jpg?resize=529%2C316\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/KEPLER-BlockDiag.jpg?resize=529%2C316 756w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/KEPLER-BlockDiag-300x178.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 529px) 100vw, 529px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Nvidia significantly improved their memory controller over the Fermi generation as the GTX 680 uses a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface at 6Gbps declared throughput.\u00a0 The GTX 660 Ti\/GTX 670 and GTX 680 share this interface and memory.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/6gbpsDDR5.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-28958\" title=\"6gbpsDDR5\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/6gbpsDDR5.jpg?resize=300%2C239\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/6gbpsDDR5.jpg?resize=300%2C239 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/6gbpsDDR5.jpg 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The above is a very brief overview of Kepler architecture as presented to the press at Kepler Editor&#8217;s Day in San Francisco last year and adapted for the 700 series.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Adaptive VSync<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Traditional VSync is great for eliminating tearing until the frame rate drops below the target &#8211; then there is a severe drop from usually 60 fps down to 30 fps if it cannot meet exactly 60. When that happens, there is a noticeable stutter.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/AdaptiveVSynch-stutter.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-28931\" title=\"AdaptiveVSynch-stutter\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/AdaptiveVSynch-stutter.jpg?resize=480%2C274\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/AdaptiveVSynch-stutter.jpg?resize=480%2C274 800w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/AdaptiveVSynch-stutter-300x171.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Nvidia&#8217;s solution is to dynamically adjust VSync &#8211; to turn it on and off instantaneously. In this way VSync continues to prevent tearing but when it drops below 60 fps, it shuts off VSync to reduce stuttering instead of drastically dropping frame rates from 60 to 30 fps or even lower. When the minimum target is again met, VSync kicks back in. In gaming, you never notice Adaptive VSync is happening; you just notice less stutter (in demanding games, especially).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/AdaptiveVSynch.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-28932\" title=\"AdaptiveVSynch\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/AdaptiveVSynch.jpg?resize=480%2C269\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/AdaptiveVSynch.jpg?resize=480%2C269 800w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/AdaptiveVSynch-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Adaptive VSync is a good solution that works well in practice.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Specifications<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Here are the specifications for the GTX 760:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx760specs22.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35917\" alt=\"gtx760specs22\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx760specs22.jpg?resize=544%2C611\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx760specs22.jpg?resize=544%2C611 544w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx760specs22-267x300.jpg 267w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 544px) 100vw, 544px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now let&#8217;s look at the GTX 670 specifications. Remember, however, the GTX 670 formerly at $399 is being replaced by the GTX 770 (which is faster than the GTX 680) which also launched at $399.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx670specs.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35906\" alt=\"gtx670specs\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx670specs.jpg?resize=462%2C513\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx670specs.jpg?resize=462%2C513 462w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx670specs-270x300.jpg 270w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now let&#8217;s look at the $299 GTX 660 Ti&#8217;s specification<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx-660-ti.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35907\" alt=\"gtx 660 ti\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx-660-ti.jpg?resize=480%2C565\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx-660-ti.jpg?resize=480%2C565 480w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/gtx-660-ti-254x300.jpg 254w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>First, we notice that everything is identical between the GTX 670 and the GTX 660 Ti except for the wider memory bus. \u00a0 Using the GTX 670&#8217;s 256-bit bus, the increased base core speed, from 915MHz of the GTX 670\/660 Ti to 980MHz of the GTX 760 allows it to nearly catch the GTX 670&#8217;s performance.<\/p>\n<p>We note that the original Boost of the GTX 670 and GTX 660 Ti has been increased also and replaced with the improved Boost 2 of the 700 series. The TDP of the GTX 760 GPU has gone up from 150W of the GTX 660 Ti to match the 170W for the GTX 670 which all requires 6+6 pin PCIe power connectors.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s take a closer look at the GTX 760.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><!--pagetitle: A Closer Look at the GTX 760--><\/p>\n<h3><strong>A look at the GTX 770<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Nvidia has redesigned their GEFORCE logo in all caps in this professionally rendered image beginning with the GTX 690.<a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35929\" alt=\"NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr1.jpg?resize=720%2C585\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr1.jpg?resize=720%2C585 800w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr1-300x243.jpg 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr1-220x180.jpg 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/logo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35930\" alt=\"logo\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/logo.jpg?resize=600%2C451\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/logo.jpg?resize=600%2C451 600w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/logo-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a> You can see the 6+8 pin PCIe power connectors used for the GTX 770.<a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_F.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35911\" alt=\"NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_F\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_F.jpg?resize=720%2C395\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_F.jpg?resize=720%2C395 1000w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_F-300x164.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We can also see that there are two dual link DVI ports, a HDMI 1.4a port. and a DisplayPort in the closeup below.<a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_brac.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35912\" alt=\"NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_brac\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_brac.jpg?resize=720%2C285\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_brac.jpg?resize=720%2C285 800w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_brac-300x118.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a> To run 3 panel Surround off of a single GTX 770, we used two DVI connectors and a passive DisplayPort to DVI adapter.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>SLI and Tri-SLI<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The GTX 760 is set up for SLI and Tri-SLI. We hope to cover SLI performance of the GTX 770 in an upcoming article. You can see the SLI connectors on the obverse shot of the card.<a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_Back.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35910\" alt=\"NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_Back\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_Back.jpg?resize=720%2C367\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_Back.jpg?resize=720%2C367 1000w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_Back-300x153.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The specifications look extraordinary with incremental but solid improvements over the GTX 660 Ti. Let&#8217;s check out performance after we look at our test configuration on the next page.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><!--pagetitle: Test Configuration--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Hardware <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Intel Core i7 3770K (overclocked to 4.5GHz); Turbo is on.<\/li>\n<li>EVGA Z77 FTW motherboard (Intel Z77 chipset, latest BIOS, PCIe 3.0 specification; CrossFire\/SLI 16x+16x using Plex chip.)<\/li>\n<li>16GB Kingston DDR3 2133MHz Kingston HyperX &#8220;Beast&#8221; RAM (8&#215;2 GB, dual-channel at 2133MHz; supplied by Kingston)<\/li>\n<li>Noctua NH-DH14 CPU cooler and 7 case fans, supplied by Noctua<\/li>\n<li>Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 (2GB reference design and clocks 980\/6008MHz; and also overclocked) supplied under NDA by Nvidia<\/li>\n<li>Nvidia GTX 770 (2GB; 1046\/7010MHz, reference clocks and overclocked) supplied by Nvidia<\/li>\n<li>Nvidia GTX 780 (3GB; 863\/6008MHz, reference clocks and overclocked) supplied by Nvidia<\/li>\n<li>Nvidia GTX Titan (6GB, 836\/6008MHz, reference clocks), supplied by Nvidia<\/li>\n<li>Nvidia GTX 680 (2GB, 1006\/6008MHz, reference clocks), supplied by Nvidia<\/li>\n<li>GTX 670 (2GB, 1006\/6008MHz, reference clocks), supplied by Nvidia<\/li>\n<li>EVGA GTX 660 Ti (2GB; at reference clocks), supplied by evgA<\/li>\n<li>Nvidia GTX 690 (4GB, 1006\/6008MHz, reference clocks), supplied by Nvidia<\/li>\n<li>Nvidia GTX 590 (4GB, 1607\/1707MHz, reference clocks), supplied by Nvidia<\/li>\n<li>Nvidia GTX 580 (reference clocks) supplied by Nvidia<\/li>\n<li>Nvidia GTX 570 (reference clocks) supplied by Nvidia<\/li>\n<li>Nvidia GTX 560 Ti (1GB, reference clocks) supplied by Nvidia<\/li>\n<li>Power Color Radeon HD 7970 (3GB, stock and overclocked to GHz edition boost speeds 1050\/6000MHz)<\/li>\n<li>AMD HD 6990, reference clocks, supplied by AMD<\/li>\n<li>Onboard Realtek Audio<\/li>\n<li>Genius SP-HF 800A speakers, two pairs in 4.0 Quadraphonic configuration, supplied by Genius<\/li>\n<li>Two identical 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 hard drives configured and set up identically from drive image; one partition for Nvidia GeForce drivers and one for ATI Catalyst drivers<\/li>\n<li>Cooler Master Platinum Pro 1000W PSU<\/li>\n<li>Thermaltake Overseer RX-I full tower case, supplied by Thermaltake<\/li>\n<li>Philips DVD SATA writer<\/li>\n<li>HP LP3065 2560&#215;1600 thirty inch LCD.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium; color: #000000;\"><strong>Test Configuration &#8211; Software<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>ATi Catalyst 13-6 Beta 2 drivers; highest quality mip-mapping set in the driver; use application settings; surface performance optimizations are off. 13-5 CAP 1. The <a href=\"http:\/\/support.amd.com\/us\/kbarticles\/Pages\/amdcatalyst13-6winbetadriver.aspx\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/support.amd.com\/us\/kbarticles\/Pages\/amdcatalyst13-6winbetadriver.aspx', '13.6 Beta drivers']);\" >13.6 Beta drivers<\/a> were released May 29, 2013<\/li>\n<li>NVIDIA GeForce 320.30 launch drivers for the GTX 760, GTX 660 Ti and the GTX 560 Ti.\u00a0 The same family of drivers, 320.18 were used for the GTX 570\/580\/590\/670\/680\/690\/TITAN as well as for the GTX 770 and the GTX 780. High Quality; Single-display Performance mode; Prefer Maximum Performance<\/li>\n<li>Windows 7 64-bit; very latest updates<\/li>\n<li>Latest DirectX<\/li>\n<li>All games are patched to their latest versions.<\/li>\n<li>vsync is forced off in the control panels.<\/li>\n<li>Varying AA enabled as noted in games; all in-game settings are specified with 16xAF always applied; 16xAF forced in control panel for <em>Crysis<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>All results show average frame rates<\/li>\n<li>Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games.<\/li>\n<li>Windows 7 64, all DX9 titles were run under DX9 render paths, DX10 titles were run under DX10 render paths and DX11 titles under DX11 render paths.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>The Benchmarks<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Synthetic<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Vantage<\/li>\n<li>3DMark 11<\/li>\n<li>3D Mark 2013 Firestrike\/Firestrike Extreme<\/li>\n<li>Heaven 4.0<\/li>\n<li>Valley 1.0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><strong>DX9<\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Serious Sam 3 BFE<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Alan Wake: Ameican Nightmare<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>The Witcher 2<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Borderlands 2<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Aliens: Colonial Marines<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><strong>DX10<\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Crysis<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><strong>DX11<\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><em>BattleForge<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Alien vs. Predator<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>STALKER, Call of Pripyat<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Metro 2033<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><\/em><em>Lost Planet 2<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Total War: Shogun II<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><\/em><em>Crysis 2<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><\/em><em>Dirt 3<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><\/em><em>Batman: Arkham City<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Battlefield 3<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Max Payne 3<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Sleeping Dogs<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Sniper Elite V2<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Hitman: Absolution<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Assassin&#8217;s Creed III<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Crysis 3<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Tomb Raider 2013<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>BioShock: Infinite<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Metro: Last Light<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The above is our test bench. Let&#8217;s check out overclocking next.<\/p>\n<p>Before we get to the GTX 760&#8217;s performance in gaming, let&#8217;s look at overclocking, power draw and temperatures.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><!--pagetitle: O\/C'ing. Power Draw &amp; Temps--><\/p>\n<h2>Overclocking, Power Draw &amp; Temperatures<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Overclocking<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Overclocking the GTX 760 beyond the stock clocks are easy. No one should let the boost clocks intimidate them. Using EVGA Precision tool, simply push the sliders to the right as far as you dare and set the clocks and apply. No more shader clocks to adjust as the vRAM and the core clocks are easy to set.<\/p>\n<p>The only differences with Boost 2 from the 600 series are in setting a temperature target. We found in practice that Nvidia&#8217;s default choice of 80C is too low for Summer gaming and we experienced variability with our initial runs performing higher than later runs when the performance is throttled when Boost 2 lowers the clockspeeds in response to hitting the thermal limit.<\/p>\n<p>We solved these issues by setting the power draw and temperature sliders to maximum &#8211; +106% power target and 94C for the temperature target &#8211; much as we do for AMD cards with PowerTune. In this way, we find uniformity in our benchmark runs and less of a chance for Boost to throttle down clocks in response to a low thermal limit. The maximum overvoltage which is allowed is +.12mV which we did not use at all in our benching.<a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/PrecisionX.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35933\" alt=\"PrecisionX\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/PrecisionX.jpg?resize=720%2C460\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/PrecisionX.jpg?resize=720%2C460 971w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/PrecisionX-300x191.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 971px) 100vw, 971px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As usual, we are not looking for the ultimate overvolted overclock with our VGA fan screaming along at 100%. We always test with our cards at stock voltage and with the stock fan profile so that our reader may have a good idea of midrange overclocking.<\/p>\n<p>We finally settled on increasing the base clock by +110MHz over the base clock of 980MHz and we witnessed 1110MHz as the regular maximum boost but 1215MHz as the boost when overclocked.\u00a0 We were able to get +400MHz on the memory clocks.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Temperature<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The GTX 760 fan speeds stayed moderate up to 60% with temperatures right up to 82C under load at stock which is unusual as it should throttle at 80C. \u00a0 It definitely gets toasty with the Power and Temperature sliders set to maximum as we saw 88C under load when overclocked and the fan ran up to 80% automatically which is definitely more noticeable than our GTX 780, GTX 770 and even the GTX 680; it is similar to our GTX 670 reference design.\u00a0 Our sample of the GTX 760 was quite loud when we first got it and it &#8220;settled in&#8221; after use which leads us to think that ours is a little louder than average.\u00a0 We hope to get a second GTX 760 to test later on this week and we shall also give SLI results.<\/p>\n<p>We always use EVGA&#8217;s Precision overclocking tool which recently added further over-volting for Titan and 700 series. Moving up the power slider to 106% and the temperature up to the maximum 94C using EVGA&#8217;s Precision showed some performance gain over simply setting the temperature limit to 85C as we regularly saw 86-88C.<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p>Our ambient (room temperatures) were fairly moderate from 72-76F so as to approximate a cool late Spring day. Be aware that we used our Thermaltake Overseer RX-I case which has excellent airflow for even a full tower. The GTX 760 runs moderately warm at our overclock, in the high-80s C under load. If we did not increase our temperature target to at least 88C, we found that we often saw Boost throttle the clockspeeds to lower the temperatures.<\/p>\n<p>We eventually settled on +110MHz core\/+400MHz memory as absolutely stable across all benchmarks in all situations.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Noise<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>All the modern Nvidia cards are generally quiet for high-end flagship cards. The Fermi GTX 580 was already reasonably quiet for a powerful card, but the GTX 680 is noticeably quieter and the GTX 770 is quieter still. Unfortunately, the GTX 760 does not share the same coolers as these cards, but is much closer to the reference GTX 670&#8217;s fan noise.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s head to the performance charts and graphs to see how the GTX 760 compares to the HD 7970 as well as to the GTX 660 Ti and the GTX 670. We also added the GTX 560 Ti to our testing bench for this evaluation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><!--pagetitle: Performance Summary Charts--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Performance summary charts &amp; graphs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Here are the summary charts of 25 games and 5 synthetic tests. The highest settings are always chosen and it is DX11 when there is a choice; DX10 is picked above DX9, and the settings are ultra or maxed. Specific settings are listed on the Main Performance charts. The benches are run at 1920&#215;1080 and 2560&#215;1600 with separate charts to make comparisons easier, as well as dividing games up into easy-to-read charts by their DX pathway and by resolution.<\/p>\n<p>Here is the main summary chart that we call &#8220;The Big Picture&#8221; as it includes all 15 configurations that we tested and with all 30 benchmarks:<a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/BigPicture2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35920\" alt=\"BigPicture\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/BigPicture2.jpg?resize=720%2C738\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/BigPicture2.jpg?resize=720%2C738 1150w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/BigPicture2-292x300.jpg 292w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/BigPicture2-998x1024.jpg 998w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1150px) 100vw, 1150px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>All results, except for Vantage, Firestrike and 3DMark11, show average framerates and higher is always better. In-game settings are fully maxed out and they are identically high or ultra across all platforms.<\/p>\n[**<em>BattleForge<\/em> had flashing textures with the HD 7970 that was not present in the other cards, including the HD 6990]\n<p>Before we post the graphs, let&#8217;s break up the charts a bit. First up, lets compare the GTX 760 to the GTX 660 Ti, the GTX 670, GTX 680, GTX 780 as well as to the Fermi GTXes 560 Ti, 570 and 580.<a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/vs.GeForce.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35918\" alt=\"vs.GeForce\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/vs.GeForce.jpg?resize=720%2C1106\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/vs.GeForce.jpg?resize=720%2C1106 834w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/vs.GeForce-195x300.jpg 195w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/vs.GeForce-666x1024.jpg 666w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In every single case, the GTX 760 is faster than the GTX 660 Ti and overclocked it even generally outperforms the GTX 670 that it replaces not to mention that it dominates over the Fermi-based last generation GTX 560 Ti which also launched at $249, as well as the GTX 570 and the GTX 580.<\/p>\n<p>It is interesting to see the ($249 launch price) GTX 560 Ti compared with the $249 GTX 760 as there is a huge improvement that Nvidia claims.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, let&#8217;s see the GTX 760 at stock and at our maximum +110MHz core\/+400MHz memory overclocked clocks, compared with AMD&#8217;s HD 7970 which is about ten percent faster than the Boost edition of the HD 7950<a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/vs.7970.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35919\" alt=\"vs.7970\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/vs.7970.jpg?resize=450%2C1281\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/vs.7970.jpg?resize=450%2C1281 450w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/vs.7970-105x300.jpg 105w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The $250 GTX 760 beats the $350 HD 7970 in almost one third of our 25 games. Looking at all of the benchmarks, overclocking the GTX 760 as many of Nvidia&#8217;s board partners will do, nearly shifts the performance ratio in its favor as overclocking just +110MHz makes the GTX 760 the near-equal of the HD 7970. As Nvidia&#8217;s fourth single-GPU card in their line-up, even coming in cheaper than the $300 AMD HD 7950 Boost Edition may also prove disruptive.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s look at the individual charts. As usual, we begin with the synthetics.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Futuremark &amp; Heaven synthetic tests<\/h2>\n<p>3DMark 2013 Firestrike is Futuremark&#8217;s latest DX11-only benchmark, 3D Mark 11 is also DX11 and Vantage is DX10. Unfortunately, scores are completely meaningless when they are presented in this way but they do offer supporting data to accompany our game benches. Vantage provides some interesting data on the GTX 760.\u00a0 It seems that the memory bandwidth made a solid improvement in bandwidth over the GTX 660 Ti. Here are all of the synthetics compared to all of our benchmarked cards:<a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/synthetic.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35921\" alt=\"synthetic\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/synthetic.jpg?resize=720%2C101\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/synthetic.jpg?resize=720%2C101 1150w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/synthetic-300x42.jpg 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/synthetic-1024x144.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1150px) 100vw, 1150px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Synthetic tests are interesting but they are not necessarily indicative of real world gaming performance. In all three cases, the GTX760 &#8220;wins&#8221; over the mainstream cards.<\/p>\n<p>Next up, let&#8217;s look at DX9\/DX10 games.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>DX9\/DX10 Games<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>We test fairly demanding DX9 games: <em>Serious Sam 3, BFE <\/em>and<em> Alan Wake<\/em> at completely maxed out settings. We have also added <em>Borderlands 2<\/em> with high PhysX, and <em>the Witcher<\/em> with maxed out settings including &#8220;ubersampling&#8221;. <em>Aliens: Colonial Marines<\/em> is our latest benchmark. The original <em>Crysis<\/em> is the only DX10 game that we are benching.<a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dx9-10.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35922\" alt=\"dx9-10\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dx9-10.jpg?resize=720%2C146\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dx9-10.jpg?resize=720%2C146 1150w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dx9-10-300x60.jpg 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dx9-10-1024x207.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1150px) 100vw, 1150px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now on to DX11 games.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>DX11 Games<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Most of our testing emphasizes DX11 games. Since the charts get too long, we break them up into charts of 6 or 7 games each.<a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/olderDX11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35923\" alt=\"olderDX11\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/olderDX11.jpg?resize=720%2C146\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/olderDX11.jpg?resize=720%2C146 1150w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/olderDX11-300x60.jpg 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/olderDX11-1024x207.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1150px) 100vw, 1150px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n[**<em>BattleForge<\/em> had flashing textures with the HD 7970 that was not present in the other cards, including the HD 6990]\n<p>Now the newer DX11 games<a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/newerDX11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35924\" alt=\"newerDX11\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/newerDX11.jpg?resize=720%2C123\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/newerDX11.jpg?resize=720%2C123 1150w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/newerDX11-300x51.jpg 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/newerDX11-1024x175.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1150px) 100vw, 1150px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now let&#8217;s check out our newest DX11 games:<a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/newestDX11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35925\" alt=\"newestDX11\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/newestDX11.jpg?resize=720%2C190\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/newestDX11.jpg?resize=720%2C190 1150w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/newestDX11-300x79.jpg 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/newestDX11-1024x270.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1150px) 100vw, 1150px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We ran <em>Sniper Elite V2<\/em> with the maximum in-game settings including 2.25X SuperSampling which is incredibly demanding but looks awesome compared to running with it off.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>PhysX<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>AMD has no answer to PhysX except perhaps TressFX which involves hair, although they have promised physics support for years. Nvidia has developed their own proprietary PhysX which is used in some games to create extra immersion with particle, fluid and other physics calculations that previously usually required a separate video card just dedicated to geometry and PhysX calculations.<\/p>\n<p>Due to enhancements in Kepler&#8217;s SMX architecture as well as higher clocks, it is now easier to run PhysX on high with the GTX 770 than with the older cards such as the Fermi GTX 580. Unfortunately, the way the official benchmark in <em>Borderlands 2<\/em> is set up does not allow for an accurate comparison of PhysX on versus PhysX off.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Borderlands-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28950\" title=\"Borderlands-2\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Borderlands-2.jpg?resize=550%2C312\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Borderlands-2.jpg?resize=550%2C312 550w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Borderlands-2-300x170.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For a proper PhysX comparison, we turn to <em>Metro: Last Light<\/em> and we can see the performance hit each of our configurations take.<a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/physX.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35926\" alt=\"physX\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/physX.jpg?resize=720%2C49\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/physX.jpg?resize=720%2C49 904w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/physX-300x20.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 904px) 100vw, 904px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As you can see the GTX 760 is significantly faster than the Fermi cards and especially the GTX 560 Ti which becomes a slideshow at 2560&#215;1600. Of course, the Radeon cannot run PhysX so the CPU has this task which really makes it unplayable in the game although it appears optimized enough to run the benchmark.<\/p>\n<p><em>Metro: Last Light<\/em> makes great use of PhyxX and it is a shame to play it without it. In both cases, turning on PhysX, although affecting the frame rate, it is enough to play the game with fully maxed out details and AA (but not SSAA) with our GTX 760 at 1920&#215;1080, especially when overclocked. Playing with SSAA enabled in <em>Metro 2033: Last Light <\/em>looks spectacular but is reserved for only for SLI at 2560&#215;1600, and for the very fastest single-GPU cards at 1920&#215;1080.<\/p>\n<p>The HD 7970 has improved smoothness in running the <em>Metro: Last Light<\/em> benchmark and game, although playing with PhysX disabled is a must outside of just running the benchmark.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s head for our conclusion.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><!--pagetitle: The Conclusion--><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>GTX 770 Availability<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Nvidia GTX 760 is shipping today and it will also be immediately available for order from leading OEMs and from etailers and retailers. It replaces the GTX 660 Ti at $50 lower than its $299 launch price and it edges it out in performance as well as beats the more expensive HD 7970 in more benches than it loses, to say nothing of what it will do compared to the less powerful and more expensive HD 7950 Boost edition.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>However, the big question is not what does it bring over the GTX 660 Ti, but what it brings over the GTX 650 Ti and even older GPUs like the top and upper-midrange Fermi video cards. Well, it is about 15% faster than the GTX 660 Ti which it is replacing and considerably faster than the last generation GTX 560 Ti.<a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-35909\" alt=\"NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr.jpg?resize=300%2C243\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr.jpg?resize=300%2C243 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_760_3gtr.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Best of all, the GTX 760 comes in at the same $249 launch prices as the GTX 560 Ti and $50 cheaper than the GTX 660 Ti. We anticipate that the GTX 660 Ti will come down in price as it is EoL&#8217;ed by Nvidia and it has been surpassed in every way by the less expensive GTX 760. It will be interesting to see how AMD responds. Currently, AMD is bundling 4 games with its HD 7970s and HD 7950s although they are now older and rather steeply discounted from the &#8220;up to $185&#8221; that AMD claims the bundle is worth.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We see good overclockability at stock voltage and fan profile. Overclocked, it catches and often surpasses the stock GTX 670 rather easily and often it at least matches the HD 7970&#8217;s performance. The temperature limit is set too low in our opinion at 80C, but it is easily changed.<\/p>\n<p>The GTX 760 appeals to the enthusiast who wants a very fast video card without paying the premium of the GTX 780 or even the GTX 770. At $249 it offers more performance value than the $299 GTX 660 Ti or arguably more value than the HD 7950 which is also priced about fifty dollars more if you do not count game bundles.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\">Pros<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Overall. The $249 GTX 770 is faster and more fully-featured and comes with a better cooler than the $299 GTX 660 Ti which it replaces. \u00a0 It also does very well against the more expensive HD 7970 which starts well above $300<\/li>\n<li>TDP and power draw are still very good. Performance per watt is excellent and it is similarly quiet in comparison to the GTX 670.<\/li>\n<li>Overclockability is good for the core and very good for the memory &#8211; GPU Boost 2.0 works as advertised.<\/li>\n<li>It is possible to use three of these cards for extreme Tri-SLI performance<\/li>\n<li>3D Vision 2 and PhysX enhance gaming immersion and both are improved using the GTX 770 compared to the last generation.<\/li>\n<li>New AA allows for high performance without jaggies in deferred shading lighting engines<\/li>\n<li>Adaptive VSync reduces stuttering while retaining the advantages of minimizing tearing.<\/li>\n<li>The GTX 760 is available in a 2GB or 4GB configuration<em><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Cons<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The temperature limit is set somewhat low at 80C and will often hold back boost with the stock fan profile.\u00a0 Our GTX 760 ran a little hot and noisy.<\/li>\n<li>Voltage adjustments are still pretty narrow and may not please the extreme overclocker.<\/li>\n<li>There is no game bundled with the GTX 760.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>The Verdict:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>If you are buying a $250 video card right now and looking for the good bang-for-buck performance in a single GPU, the GTX 760 is an excellent choice. We feel it deserves ABT&#8217;s &#8220;Great Value&#8221; award because it is offers a solid performance improvement over the more expensive GTX 660 Ti for about fifty dollars less and it nearly equals the much more expensive GTX 670.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/t3.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRxfBInukmNMVXQcYJY0wCMOdhHwRU0JTDjOyJ9ndAkl47y1hm2mW-KUQ\" width=\"120\" height=\"200\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We do not know what the future will bring, but the GTX 760 brings an excellent performer to the GeForce family and it establishes itself as the fourth fastest single-GPU video card in Nvidia&#8217;s lineup. With great features like PhysX and the second generation of 3D Vision, one can be assured of immersive gaming by picking this card for 1920&#215;1080 or even for 2560&#215;1600 or even for Surround and\/or for 3D Vision.<\/p>\n<p>If you currently game on an older generation video card such as Fermi, you will do yourself a favor by upgrading. The move to a GTX 760 will give you higher performance in the $249 price point from a GTX 560 Ti and you are no doubt thinking of SLI if you want to get nearly the ultimate in gaming performance without paying for Titan or GTX 78o pricing.<\/p>\n<p>The competition is hot and AMD offers their own set of features including Eyefinity and HD3D and some large 4-game bundles. We have seen steep discounting where the HD 7970 has dropped close to $300 with the GTX 770 launch and perhaps we may see a similar strategy with the HD 7950.<\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned, there is a lot coming from us at ABT. Next up is an evaluation of WildBlue satellite ISP versus Exede satellite service. And don&#8217;t forget to check our forums! Our tech discussions are becoming among the best to be found anywhere!!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 60px;\">Mark Poppin<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 60px;\">ABT Senior Editor<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px; text-align: left;\">Please join us in our <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/abt\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\">Forums<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px; text-align: left;\">Become a Fan on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142', 'Facebook']);\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px; text-align: left;\">Follow us on <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech', 'Twitter']);\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px; text-align: left;\">For the latest updates from ABT, please <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?feed=rss2\" target=\"_blank\">join our RSS News Feed<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px; text-align: left;\">Join our Distributed Computing teams<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 120px;\">\n<li>Folding@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 164304<\/li>\n<li>SETI@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 138705<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1', 'World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech']);\" target=\"_blank\">World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Today Nvidia is announcing its brand new $249 replacement for the $299 GTX 660 Ti which is now taking direct aim at the HD 7950. The GTX 760 is a new GPU with&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":35929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7814,3330],"tags":[72,6740,6741,6742,5012,6535,121,539],"class_list":["post-35753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-featured-content","tag-amd","tag-gtx-760","tag-gtx-760-review","tag-hd-7950","tag-hd-7970","tag-metro-last-light","tag-nvidia","tag-physx"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}