Conclusive Thoughts

Even though ATI has launched its next generation 58XX series card, this Gigabyte GTX 260 SOC is really a card that you must have a look at when you are in for a new graphics card. Budget wise it won't leave a hole in your wallet. (~€170). Yet it can pack some serious punch and is able to trash some higher rated Nvidia cards. The latter sometimes retailing at a double price. Of course you can also unleash more potential on eg the GTX 275 by overclocking it. But this little Giga card has got some monster rams on board, clocked at 250mhz over the reference clocks. The handpicked GPU doing very well under air and assuring some nice OC potential. The SOC is perfectly balanced between maximum stable clocks and heato utput. We will be benching the card at [M] day on water or maybe even on LN2 (being voltmodded then) and might add a little LN2 action later on. But that's for the near future.




So to sum it up

I'm really impressed with this Gigabyte offering. Anyone that's going to shop for a new card, while being on a budget, can't overlook the potential this card has, especially now with the shortage of HD 5850 cards (whose price shot upwards), while this GTX 260 card remains widely available at significantly less cost. Competitively priced, performance on par and even beyond its bigger Nvidia brothers. Don't be fooled by the GTX 260 name, this card is THE works and will be able to power many gamer rigs for some time to come without breaking a sweat.

It's like buying a 16V 3 liter supercar and tagging it with Turbo diesel. This is not just another overclocked GTX 260 card, this is THE fastest out of the box GTX 260 you can get

As always I end with a Folding@home session to check stability when using the GPU for other things beside gaming:


(click to zoom)

Let's hope Gigabyte continues this GPU Gauntlet in 2010 and can create some more lovely powerhouses for the community.

Tested And Approved

Just a small word on the achieved recommendation. We had a lengthy discussion between the staff members if this card could qualify for a performance or value logo. Main reason why you're not seeing one is the existence of the ATI Radeon 4890 card. Which is cheaper and generally a better performer than a GTX 280 GPU. With the Tested and Approved Award we do like to point out that we really like the card's performance and reliability during our lengthy test sessions, and that this Gigabyte Super Overclock GTX 260 is Nvidia's best value card at the moment.

Pros
+ Fastest Geforce GTX 260 216 out there
+ GTX 275/280 performance at an inferior price
+ Very good bang for the buck
+ Super fast rams onboard, overclock friendly

Contras
- Maybe an aftermarket cooler could make the SOC series even better...
- AMD Radeon HD 4890 gives this card a run for its money at lower price point

I would like to thank Bernice and Sibren from Gigabyte for having me at the TweaKing event and giving us, the reviewers, an opportunity to hang around with the big boys.