{"id":39488,"date":"2013-11-12T19:14:59","date_gmt":"2013-11-12T19:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=39488"},"modified":"2013-12-03T23:03:06","modified_gmt":"2013-12-03T23:03:06","slug":"evgas-reference-gtx-780-meets-290x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/evgas-reference-gtx-780-meets-290x\/","title":{"rendered":"EVGA’s reference GTX 780 meets the R9 290X OC"},"content":{"rendered":"

We received a reference 3GB EVGA GTX 780 video card on loan from EVGA so that we could build our GeForce GTX 780 SLI Battlebox<\/a>.\u00a0 \"SLI-Battlebox\"<\/a>The reference GTX 780s are preferred for SLI configurations where there is no extra space between the cards.\u00a0 We also had a month to game almost exclusively with this card while we watched Nvidia adjust the price down from $649 to $499<\/a> in response to AMD’s R9 290X release.<\/p>\n

Last Thursday, we saw Nvidia release its new $699 flagship.\u00a0 The GTX 780 Ti<\/a> is Nvidia\u2019s brand-new single-GPU flagship video card based on GK110 just as the $1000 Titan and the GTX 780 are.\u00a0 The GTX 780 Ti replaces the GTX 780 as flagship, and both are offered with a 3-game Holiday Bundle including Assassin\u2019s Creed IV\u2013Black Flag<\/em><\/a>, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist<\/em> and Batman: Arkham Origins<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 EVGA also offers Rise of the Triad<\/em><\/a> as an additional bonus.\u00a0 In view of AMD’s new releases and focusing particularly on the reference $549 R9 290X and the $579 PowerColor OC <\/a>(overclock) BF4 edition, we want to see if the $519 EVGA<\/a> reference GTX 780 is a good value.<\/p>\n

Please refer to our launch article to see the specifications and features of the reference GTX 780<\/a>.\u00a0 We are going to focus on its performance and especially on overclocking it beyond its base clocks as we set it against the GTX 780 Ti ($699) as well as versus the R9 290X\/OC ($549\/$579).<\/p>\n

The EVGA GTX 780 Reference edition<\/h2>\n

There are many varieties of the GTX 780 with their suggested base price starting at $499 which also include some factory overclocked SKUs. Here are comparisons of some EVGA GTX 780 pricing, remembering that we chose the reference version for its ease of use in pairing with another in SLI:\"2x780\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00b7 EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB with ACX cooler – $499.99<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00b7 EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB SC Superclocked – $529.99<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00b7 EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Reference Edition – $519.99<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Currently the EVGA GTX 780 3GB ACX cooler version is $499.99 at Newegg and at Amazon. We need to ask, is the EVGA GTX 780 3GB reference version worth $519 and how does it compare to the more expensive 290X ($549) and to the 780 Ti ($699)?<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong>For this evaluation, you will see us pit the EVGA reference GTX 780 3GB at factory clocks (863\/6000MHz) and also further overclocked, against our PowerColor overclocked R9 290X (Uber 1030\/1500MHz), and also with stock Uber and with Quiet modes at speeds of up to 1000MHz\/1500MHz. \"r9-290x0C\"<\/a>We are also going to compare with the reference GTX 770 2GB plus 7 other enthusiast-class cards to give the reader ABT’s “Big Picture”.<\/p>\n

For this evaluation, we are benching with 30 modern games and 4 synthetic benchmarks at 1920×1080 and 2560×1600 resolutions.\u00a0 Since we do not want any chance of our CPU “bottlenecking” our graphics, we are testing all of our graphics cards by using our Ivy Bridge Intel Core i7-3770K<\/a> at 4.50GHz, 16 GB Kingston “Beast” HyperX<\/a> DDR3 at 2133MHz, and an EVGA Z77 FTW<\/a> motherboard. The EVGA Z77 FTW motherboard features 16x + 16x PCIe 3.0 specification for CrossFire\/SLI. \"\" The Core i7-3770K at 4.5GHz is more than enough to differentiate even high-end video cards at high resolution and at high detail settings. \"\"<\/p>\n

Before we look at our test bed and run benchmarks, let’s unbox our EVGA GTX 780 3GB reference edition and look at its specifications.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The EVGA GTX 780 3 GB<\/h2>\n

The EVGA GTX 780 3GB is an interesting card but there is nothing fancy to see from the box. The card arrives in a large EVGA box that advertises the card without its specifications on its outside. It emphasizes 3GB of GDDR5 memory and mentions GPU Boost 2.0 and 3-way SLI. EVGA is proud to remind everyone that they are Nvidia’s number one partner in the USA.\"box-1\"<\/a>The back of the EVGA box goes into more detail about support for 4 concurrent displays with the card’s connectors, and we see the key features of the card as well as EVGA’s premium 3 year warranty are highlighted:\"box-obv\"<\/a>Great utilities are included, including EVGA’s PrecisionX<\/a> overclocking utility which includes an improved GPU voltage tuner.\u00a0 The video card comes well-protected in anti-static plastic shell. We prefer to reuse, recycle and store static bags although we understand EVGA decision for the dual-purpose packing which keeps the card both safe and static free.\"packing\"<\/a>Inside the box with the new GTX, we find a driver CD, manual, plastic EVGA decal, DVI to VGA connector and a dual Molex to 6-Pin PCI-E power connector. There is a really nice full-sized poster included which is beyond our ability to photograph and display properly here.\"2x780-2\"<\/a>The EVGA GTX 780 3GB uses the same PCB as the reference version.\u00a0 We see Nvidia’s reference GTX 780 pictured above alongside the EVGA 780.\u00a0 There are far more details on EVGA’s website<\/a>.\"evga-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The EVGA GTX 780’s SLI connectors and the ports arrive covered with plastic protectors. EVGA’s GTX 780 3GB is set up for 3-way SLI with one or two other GTX 780s. You can mix cards from different vendors with different clock speeds but you cannot mix cards with different amounts of cores or different framebuffers as you can with AMD’s competing multi-GPU solution, CrossFire.<\/p>\n

Here are the connectors: 2 dual-link DVI, 1 HDMI 1.4a and 1 DisplayPort 1.1a\"connectors\"<\/a>Let’s turn it over.\"NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_770-pcb\"<\/a>Below is the card from another angle which shows SLI connectors as well as the 6-pin plus 8-pin PCIe connectors.\"1x780-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The only visible difference from our reference GTX 780 is EVGA lettered on the PCB above the PCIe slot.<\/p>\n

\"1x780\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The EVGA GTX 780 3GB is a handsome card using the “industrial design” of the Titan\/GTX 690.\u00a0 The reference cooler is extraordinary for its ability to keep the GK110 GPU cool yet it runs very quiet.\u00a0 The gamer using a GTX 780 or Titan gets treated to less-perceptible noise than a GTX 680, for example. When you listen to the fan alone – even running over 60 percent, it\u2019s clean and smooth – and this is especially contrasted with the R9 290X, a very noisy card in Uber mode, and to a lesser extent even in Quiet mode.<\/p>\n

Specifications & Features
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u00a0Here are the GTX 780 3GB’s features as found on EVGA’s site:\"features\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are Nvidia’s specifications for the reference GTX 780:\"Specs-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The EVGA GTX 780 3GB uses Nvidia’s reference design and it is perfect for SLI in cramped quarters.\u00a0 Nvidia has a new lighted bridge for Tri-SLI which complements the lighted GeForce logo.\u00a0 EVGA even includes a utility to synchronize the lights for a customized light show experience.\"sli-bridge\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Why EVGA?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at what EVGA offers us over other reference versions with their 3GB GTX 780:<\/p>\n