ABT evaluates Galaxy’s GTX 780 V2

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, PCIe 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 780 V, 3GB, reference clocks and also further overclocked; on loan from Galaxy
• GeForce GTX 780 reference design, 3GB reference clocks, supplied by Nvidia
• Nvidia GTX 780 Ti, 3 GB reference design and clocks, supplied by Nvidia
• Nvidia GTX 770 2GB reference design and clocks, supplied by Nvidia
• Nvidia GTX 760 2GB reference design and clocks, supplied by Nvidia
• PowerColor R9 290X PCS+, 4GB reference designs at Uber clocks.
• VisionTek R9 280X, 2GB, reference clocks
• PowerColor R9 270X PCS+, 3GB, 1000MHz/1500MHz, supplied by PowerColor
• Two 2TB Toshiba 7200 rpm HDDs
• Cooler Master Silent Pro Platinum 1000W power supply unit supplied by Cooler Master
• 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
• ASUS 12X Blu-ray burner
• HP LP 3065 2560×1600 thirty-inch LCD

Test Configuration – Software

• Nvidia GeForce 340.52 WHQL and 340.43 Beta drivers for the GTX 780s (performance is identical for all 26 games and synthetic benches tested in single-GPU and also with SLI). GeForce 337.50 used for the GTX 760/770/780 Ti.  High Quality, prefer maximum performance, single display.
• AMD 14.7 RC Beta 7 Catalyst drivers for R9 290X; other Radeons are benched with Catalyst Beta 14.4. 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 panels.
• 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
• CoD: Ghosts
  
• Tomb Raider: 2013
• Crysis 3
• BioShock: Infinite
• Metro: Last Light
• GRID 2
• Splinter Cell: Blacklist
• ArmA 3*
  
• Total War: Rome II
• Batman: Arkham Origins
• Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
• Thief
• Sniper Elite 3
• Watch_Dogs

This is the first time that we are benching with CoD: Ghosts, ArmA III, and Sniper Elite 3.  We are still using Sniper Elite V2 as a comparison for the last time as it has been replaced by Sniper Elite 3 as part of ABT’s regular 26 game benchmark suite.  Before we get to the Galaxy GTX 780 V2 performance charts, let’s look at overclocking, power draw and temperatures.

Overclocking, Power Draw, Noise and Temperatures

Overclocking the Galaxy GTX 780 V2 is just as easy as overclocking the reference version. We were able to overclock a further +200MHz to the core with complete stability  even though we did not adjust the voltage nor our fan profile.  The only exception was with GRiD 2 where we had to drop the OC a notch or increase the voltage to complete the benchmark loop. We also managed +500MHz on the memory clocks with complete stability.

Our maximum observed stock boost was 979MHz which increased to 1215MHz when we overclocked its core by 200MHz. Temperatures were very good with 82C as the maximum observed temperature at stock clocks and voltage and only rose another 5C to 87C at maximum clocks and with added voltage. This was with Summer temperatures and a hot testing room at 80F.

With the fan profile at automatic, the Galaxy GTX 780 V2 remained quiet, the fan never exceeding 63%. Even with overclocking to our maximum in a very warm testing environment, the fan rarely hit 73%. Because of it’s custom fan design, the Galaxy GTX 780 V2 is a quiet card, probably as quiet as the reference version to this editor’s ear.

For our testing of the Galaxy GTX 780 V2, we usually move the temperature target to its maximum 95C and the power target to 105%. The power adjustments are the same as for the reference version, and all for all other Nvidia video cards. In this way, we do not allow lack of power nor moderately warm temperatures to throttle performance. Likewise, we also max the PowerTune slider for all AMD cards.

We used EVGA’s PrecisionX this time as we had used it before to test the EVGA reference GTX 780.  As a comparison, we were able to add +150MHz core/+500MHz memory to the EVGA reference version to reach 1163MHz boost at stock fan profile and voltage, and we were able to add a further +25MHz (+175MHz) to the core with the maximum voltage (1.2V) to top out at 85C with the automatic fan profile kicking up the speeds to 70%.

Of course, the testing conditions then were not the same as they were for testing the Nvidia reference and the V2 GTX 780 this week.  In fact, the reference version originally supplied by Nvidia could no longer reach its high memory clocks without artifacting in our now warm test room, and we settled on a +300MHz offset to the memory for our highest overclock.

Here is the comparison of the characteristics of the two reference cards, the original Nvidia GTX 780 reference version and the Galaxy GTX 780 V2 reference edition.  EVGA’s reference version characteristics are as noted above, overclocking a notch better than Nvidia’s reference version ABT sample.  Please note that Nvidia’s base reference clock is 863MHz and the boost clock is a guaranteed minimum of 900MHz.  In all three cases, the reference version samples tested significantly higher.

As you can see, the V2’s cooler is up to the task of cooling the GK110 GPU much the same as Nvidia’s original reference design.  It has a slightly different fan profile and it ramps up a bit differently, but the end results are the same – a cool and quiet-running, powerful GTX 780.

Let’s head to the performance charts to see how the Galaxy GTX 780 V2 compares with the reference GTX 780 and fits into Nvidia’s lineup, as well as how it compares with the R9 290X and with the other high-end to medium-powerful Radeons.