Today, NVIDIA releases their GeForce GTX 760 using the same GK104 graphics processor as on cards like the GTX 660 Ti, GTX 670, GTX 680, and GTX 770. Gigabyte has overclocked their GTX 760 WindForce 3X OC out of the box for a meager 5% performance improvement over the reference design. The new card not only an impressive 24% performance improvement over the GTX 660, but is also priced $50 higher. The GTX 760 will replace GTX 660 Ti in the product stack, with the GIGABYTE GTX 760 WindForce OC providing 11% higher performance at $30 less. Compared to AMD's lineup, we see the card 13% faster than the Radeon HD 7950; the HD 7950 Boost variants should almost be able to match its performance, but costs more.
Gigabyte is using their WindForce 3X OC cooler which we've seen on other cards before. It does a good job at keeping the card cool and improves noise levels over the reference design. However, given that load temperatures are just 68°C, I would have wished for something in the 75°C range, which is still far enough from the 80°C limit at which Boost 2.0 starts throttling the card, as it would have provided an even quieter gaming experience.
While AMD's HD 7950 comes with 3 GB of VRAM, the GTX 760 "only" uses 2 GB, which is plenty considering both cards are just too slow to play any game at resolutions that require more than 2 GB of VRAM. Overclocking works well and provides an easily accessible performance boost of around 18%, which makes the card faster than the GTX 680 and HD 7970 GHz Edition. Pretty nice for a $250 card.
Gaming power consumption ends up higher than the GTX 670, but with the overclock out of the box, the card can at least deliver better performance / watt results than the GTX 680. Overall, the GTX 760 is not the most efficient GK104 based design.
Gigabyte says their card will retail at the reference design price of $250, which is quite nice since you get a decent overclock out of the box for free, and get to enjoy the improved WindForce 3X cooler. When looking at cards for serious gaming, this is the card offering the most bang for the buck. The cheapest AMD HD 7950 retails at $20 more, is 12% slower, but comes with three games. If you absolutely must keep cost down, the HD 7970 is the cheaper option after you sell off those game coupons.