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Hi I'm Bard and I recently had the chance to do another graphics card review for our sponsors over at NVIDIA. Today I will be reviewing the Gainward GTX 760 2GB. This is a little different to the review I did last time on my GTX 780 since this card is aimed at gamers with a smaller budget who still want high end graphics. However, for its price, the results as shown below are still impressive.

Because the card is from NVIDIA and Gainward, its chipsets use the full range of software and support from NVIDIA. This includes all the updates and settings from the GeForce Experience, Shadowplay and will allow you to stream games to an NVIDIA Shield.


Specifications:

• Product name: Gainward GeForce GTX 760 2GB
• Barcode: 426018336-3002
• GPU: GeForce GTX 760
• GPU Clockspeed: 1033 MHz (boost) / 980 MHz (Base)
• Memory: 2048 MB GDDR5 (256 Bits)
• Memory Clockspeed: 3004 MHz (DDR6008)
• Bandwidth: 192.3 GB/s
• Ramdac: 400 MHz
• Bus: PCI Express 3.0 x 16
• Cooling: 2 Slot Fan cooler
• Video-Features: HDMI
• Connectivity: Dual DVI, DisplayPort
• Product Size: 247mm x 112mm
• Power Connector: 2 6-pin connectors

*Specifications from the Gainward website http://www.gainward.com/


Features:

• Kepler architecture
• NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0
• NVIDIA Adaptive Vertical Sync
• NVIDIA TXAA and FXAA technology
• NVIDIA SHIELD gaming portable Ready
• Microsoft DirectX 11.1 API (feature level 11_0) with DirectComputer 5.0 support
• NVIDIA PhysX technology
• NVIDIA CUDA technology
• NVIDIA 3D Vision and NVIDIA Surround Ready
• NVIDIA SLI Ready
• PCI Express 3.0 support
• OpenGL 4.3 and OpenCL Support
• Support for four concurrent displays

*Specifications from the Gainward website http://www.gainward.com/


NVIDIA GeForce 2.0

As you can probably tell from the title, this is NVIDIA’s upgrade to the previous GeForce Experience. The main updates are to do with Shadowplay, The NVIDIA SHEILD and adding streaming functionality to laptops with inbuilt NVIDIA GPU’s. Despite these changes the 2.0 version will still do everything the original did. From updating your drivers, optimizing your games to changing the LED effects on your rig.

Shadowplay update

I also want to touch on the recent updates to Shadowplay. As I think you can probably tell from my previous review, I think Shadowplay is amazing. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, Shadowplay is a streaming/recording program that runs directly from your GPU. You don’t need third party software to stream, nor do you need capture cards. In the most recent update they have added desktop capture, increased the sound/microphone quality and added several twitch options and functions. For me this is the major selling point of NVIDIA cards. While I don’t stream as regularly as Exile 5’s PiG or Doombie I still love to when I have the time. If you are interested in checking out Shadowplay in further depth you can head to http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/art...experience-2-0.

A closer look at the 2, 6-pin connectors.

Overclocking

As stated earlier in the specs the card comes with a base clockspeed of 980 MHz which can be boosted up to 1033 MHz. Like any other card from NVIDIA, overclocking is relatively straight forward. By utilising NVIDIA’s GPU Boost 2.0 along with the custom Gainward EXPERTool II, you can easily and safely overclock your card to the maximum allowed settings.

Benchmarking

For benchmarking I will be comparing the Gainward GTX 760 to the stock GTX 660, GTX 680 and the GTX 780. I thought it would be an interesting to compare the last generation of cards to the new generation and seeing what the performance gains from the previous generation where.

Titanfall

Titanfall is a lot of fun, from piloting the mecha-like “Titans” to simply parkouring along walls. Since the game was only released a couple of months ago I thought it would be an excellent title to test the card on. Unfortunately I was unable to do proper benchmarking since the framerates for Titanfall are capped at 60. Also aesthetically I did not really feel the game was all that great. Even older games such as BF3 looked far better which was a little disheartening. Overall I had a great time playing Titanfall on the Gainward GeForce GTX 760. The gameplay was smooth and I certainly did not have any performance issues while playing.


Skyrim

I have always enjoyed the Elder Scrolls series since playing Morrowind as a kid, but Skyrim takes what was previously fun about Morrowind to a whole new level. The graphics are simply amazing. The forests, mountains and even the water are incredibly well done. In this respect the GTX 760 really does this game justice, not only giving you consistently high framerates but also allowing you to explore the game as it was meant to be. This is very important because even though it’s a mid–range card, it is still able to hold its own on one of the more GPU hungry games. Thus, from a price to power ability, the card matches both needs well.

Benchmarking done at 1920x1080 resolution and maximum ingame settings

I was quite interested to see that there was little difference in framerates across the 660,760 and 680 were very similar with the GTX 760 perfoming roughly 9% higher than the GTX 660 and 8% lower than the 680. The GTX 780 of course was well and truly higher, performing around 24% than its predecessor the GTX 680 and 27% higher than the GTX 760. You can honestly tell the difference with a game like Skyrim, since most of the processing goes into the surrounding world rather than the immediate vicinity.

Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm


I have included Starcraft 2, simply because I play and manage the Starcraft 2 division at Exile 5. While benchmarking this game is not entirely relevant since the game has been out for a while now, it still allows a comparison between the different cards.

Benchmarking done at 1920x1080 resolution and maximum ingame settings

Similar to the Skyrim results the GTX 760 is around the same as the GTX 680 and more importantly about 25% faster than its predecessor the GTX 660. While not relevant to this review the GTX 780 is also around 25% faster than its previous generation counterpart. Due to personal preference I do not play SC2 on max graphics, however one of my greatest limitations was streaming with both players supply capped. I frequently remember losing my Mothership against Broodlord/Infestor back in Wings of Liberty due to simply lagging out before I could get off the required vortexes. This is no longer a problem since 1. Blizzard removed this frustrating endgame and 2. Because the card can handle it! Playing on high end graphics does have its joys though, my Zealots literally kicked a Queen corpse around like a Soccer ball for a while, something I had never seen before and quite enjoyed!

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls


While not graphically demanding, I thoroughly enjoy Diablo 3. With the new expansion, Reaper of Souls and Blizzard’s much improved loot system 2.0 I have sunk quite a few hours in! This is really all I have been playing lately and while the graphics do not affect the gameplay it is really noticeable when you turn them up. One of my favourite things to do is chain a few exploding palms (you can see one up in the picture!) and just watch everything explode in a gory mess. This is even more noticeable on classes like the Witch Doctor where Piranhas are just awesome/amusing to watch under max settings.

Benchmarking done at 1920x1080 resolution and maximum ingame settings

Again a standard is becoming apparent, with the GTX 760 performing at a slightly lower standard to the GTX 680 and around 20% higher than the GTX 660. While the GTX 780 is not performing 25% better than the GTX 680 here, it is probably due to the absurdly high framerates.

Conclusion

The main reason I use NVIDIA cards is because of the software and support, ShadowPlay in particular. Retailing for around $250-$280 AUD (depending on sales) on http://www.pccasegear.com, the Gainward GTX 760 is around half the price of the GTX 780 which go for around $500+. This is considerably cheaper considering you are getting similar performance with the same software support. So if you are looking at a new build or upgrading from a GTX 500 series or equivalent, I would definitely recommend this card. It’s an affordable workhorse and while it may not have the bells and whistles of its 780 counterpart, unless you are planning to play extremely taxing games such as BF4 it will definitely do the job required.