GIGABYTE GTX260 OC

GIGABYTE’s latest overclocked graphics card.

NVIDIA. You have to admire its brilliant scheme to sell graphics cards – simply rename existing ones or change them slightly, and people will be convinced that the cycle is moving forwards at an astounding pace. But with this new version of the GTX260, is it worth looking at over a vanilla offering?

Inside this card is a GT200 core, the same that has been used with both the GTX260 and the GTX280. This one, however, has bridged the gap in the amount of stream processors, offering 216 of them instead of the usual 192 (though still not close to the current highest at 240). This is essentially the only difference between the new GTX260, and the old one. So now we have the original card, in an overclocked version, the newer card, and again in an overclocked version, as well as the GTX280 in stock and overclocked versions!
Core speed remains at stock settings of 576MHz, and the memory sits at a comfortable 999MHz on a 448-bit memory bus. 896MB of GDDR3 memory provides a goodly amount of space for game textures, and has a decent amount of bandwidth to keep those ones and zeroes flying along.

Speaking of long, the card itself is rather lengthy – double check your case innards before you buy! Covered in the black plastic framing that is indicative of a stock cooler (and adorned with a GIGABYTE sticker), it manages to keep a hold of temperatures and noise. Idle is 56dBA, with a temperature of only 42 degrees, while load is a louder 63dBA and 54 degrees. This is plenty of headroom to allow further overclocking, though don’t expect miracles.

Performance over a vanilla GTX260 is improved across the board, with good benchmark results returned in most games. This isn’t enough to spur an upgrade for those already with one of these cards, since performance is only a few frames per second faster, and it scores only a few hundred points more in both 3DMarks. For people with much lesser cards, this is a great choice, and does offer improved performance.

Unfortunately, the bundle is very light. You get the card, molex to PCIe power cable, manual, and driver CD (as well as the component video out cable), but no game or other accessory is included. We would have really liked to see something extra added here, even if it’s only a copy of Neverwinter Nights 2. Or even... ugh, Company of Heroes.

This isn’t really a bad card, and has decent performance – certainly enough to push a cavalcade of pixels at your screen – but for the price and severely malnourished bundle this really isn’t a great choice. When you take into consideration that the vanilla GTX260 can be grabbed for as little as $350, we really can’t suggest that you grab this card. If prices come down, this might be a real contender.