# ASUS GTX 780 DirectCU II OC 3 GB



## W1zzard (Jun 12, 2013)

With the GTX 780 DirectCU II OC, ASUS introduces a new cooler design with upgraded heatpipes capable of carrying even more heat and two new fans that optimize airflow. The card is also overclocked out of the box and comes with a 10-phase power design.

*Show full review*


----------



## Ikaruga (Jun 12, 2013)

Such a nice card (it's even best P/W@1600p). +20% OC is also really great.


----------



## Jack1n (Jun 12, 2013)

I would love to see what it does once you add some voltage.


----------



## KashunatoR (Jun 12, 2013)

Frankly I don't understand why it's 7% more performant than the reference. The OC is not that high. My reference goes to a stable 1228/6800 in games and 1241mhz in benchmarks. All I did to attain that was setting the fan a little agressive. This way the temps never get higher than 76 degrees and the card is still reasonably quiet.


----------



## dj-electric (Jun 12, 2013)

Ikaruga said:


> Such a nice card (it's even best P/W@1600p). +20% OC is also really great.



20% above already overclocked GTX780 yeah...


----------



## W1zzard (Jun 12, 2013)

KashunatoR said:


> Frankly I don't understand why it's 7% more performant than the reference. The OC is not that high. My reference goes to a stable 1228/6800 in games and 1241mhz in benchmarks. All I did to attain that was setting the fan a little agressive. This way the temps never get higher than 76 degrees and the card is still reasonably quiet.



As I wrote in every single review, once the card reaches 80°C, it will do additional throttling (happens on the reference design). Card below 80°C = extra performance.


----------



## d1nky (Jun 12, 2013)

makes me want to go green!


----------



## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 12, 2013)

What a sweet card. If I was going for a red and black themed build that would be the card id get for sure.


----------



## radrok (Jun 12, 2013)

Beast card, love how the cooler looks and the VRM section too.

Would kill to have a Titan with that PCB 

Also W1zzard any note on voltage tweaking? Have you tried going over 1.2v?

Could be a Titan killer if this goes atleat to 1.35v-1.4v 

Thank you for the review.


----------



## BorisDG (Jun 12, 2013)

Controller chip looks like CHiL, not uPI.


----------



## W1zzard (Jun 12, 2013)

BorisDG said:


> Controller chip looks like CHiL, not uPI.



indeed. fixed


----------



## douglatins (Jun 12, 2013)

damn it that much power and 15fps in crysis3? I know its three displays but damn it

And cant it go a little higher on the OC? volts etc?


----------



## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 12, 2013)

douglatins said:


> damn it that much power and 15fps in crysis3? I know its three displays but damn it



Its Crysis 3? Even with one monitor is hell to run on most GPUs. Bring 3 in, and have fun. Do I even need to say it........slideshow!?


----------



## radrok (Jun 12, 2013)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> Do I even need to say it........slideshow!?



Yap that game is nuts


----------



## LAN_deRf_HA (Jun 12, 2013)

Were the fans running at a faster rpm than previous direct cu cards or were the fans themselves noiser? I think I'd grab the evga given the lower price.


----------



## OneCool (Jun 12, 2013)

W1z can I have it now that your finished


----------



## W1zzard (Jun 12, 2013)

LAN_deRf_HA said:


> Were the fans running at a faster rpm than previous direct cu cards or were the fans themselves noiser? I think I'd grab the evga given the lower price.



Same RPM doesn't mean same noise level. Check the noise measurements in my reviews, I think I've reviewed every recent DirectCU card.


----------



## Vlada011 (Jun 12, 2013)

This card will be cheap in Belgrade but I don't like at all and I will pay more for EVGA 780 Classified, that is my final decision. ACX Cooler 10000000 times nicer than DirectCU... I thought before year about twin cooler for my taste. Because I'm fan of closed cards like 
GTX580 Classified and EAH5870 V2, not stock but closed...
But twin cooler card for my taste is almost 100% ACX.


----------



## LAN_deRf_HA (Jun 12, 2013)

W1zzard said:


> Same RPM doesn't mean same noise level. Check the noise measurements in my reviews, I think I've reviewed every recent DirectCU card.



Yes, fin arrangement, bearing type, rpm, and blade design. The bearings are probably the same but unfortunately I see now the fin density is higher so even knowing the rpm I can't tell if these new blade designs have merit. I'll just assume they do and that the noise spike is because of the temperature focus which I agree I wish they had backed off about 5-8c for the sake of noise.


----------



## Animalpak (Jun 13, 2013)

W1zzard said:


> Same RPM doesn't mean same noise level. Check the noise measurements in my reviews, I think I've reviewed every recent DirectCU card.



I think is that hybrid turbine fan type the cause of the higher noise... 

The fan works well with small heatsinks and is designed for that kind of size.


----------



## diopter (Jun 13, 2013)

LAN_deRf_HA said:


> Yes, fin arrangement, bearing type, rpm, and blade design. The bearings are probably the same but unfortunately I see now the fin density is higher so even knowing the rpm I can't tell if these new blade designs have merit. I'll just assume they do and that the noise spike is because of the temperature focus which I agree I wish they had backed off about 5-8c for the sake of noise.



Just set your own fan profile. You aren't stuck with what they give you, you know.


----------



## bim27142 (Jun 13, 2013)

Sorry, but is there any reason why the fans are not identical?


----------



## mascotzel (Jun 13, 2013)

The exterior heatpipes don't make contact with the GPU. Not a well thought cooling.


----------



## Warrgarbl (Jun 13, 2013)

The noise levels of the new DCII-cards are indeed disappointing. My build is optimized for low noise and I own a GTX570 DCII. I wanted to upgrade to a 7x0 card, but so far there have been none that I would call quiet, which is especially sad after seeing the phenomenally quiet GTX670 DCII.


----------



## Tatty_One (Jun 13, 2013)

Warrgarbl said:


> The noise levels of the new DCII-cards are indeed disappointing. My build is optimized for low noise and I own a GTX570 DCII. I wanted to upgrade to a 7x0 card, but so far there have been none that I would call quiet, which is especially sad after seeing the phenomenally quiet GTX670 DCII.



Take a look at the Windforce 3x as an alternative then, after exclusively using DCII cards I by chance bought a Windforce 3X and have never looked back since, to be honest I love both and would not use anything else now.


----------



## buggalugs (Jun 13, 2013)

Warrgarbl said:


> The noise levels of the new DCII-cards are indeed disappointing. My build is optimized for low noise and I own a GTX570 DCII. I wanted to upgrade to a 7x0 card, but so far there have been none that I would call quiet, which is especially sad after seeing the phenomenally quiet GTX670 DCII.



 Its just the default fan profile!! You can change it to whatever you want, you can make it 100% silent if you want to optimise for low noise.

 Maybe Asus have optimised for cooling performance. Wizzards load test shows the card running 67 degrees. Even with overclocking, it stays about the same at 68 degrees so there is plenty of head room to adjust the fan speed down before you hit the 80 degree throttling point.


----------



## Warrgarbl (Jun 13, 2013)

I have to admit that I have never looked at any GPU-related software. I prefer to have as little background processes and programs running as possible, but I will look into that, thanks.

Good point with the Gigabyte cards. Thanks for that, too.


----------



## Lagittaja (Jun 13, 2013)

Warrgarbl said:


> I have to admit that I have never looked at any GPU-related software. I prefer to have as little background processes and programs running as possible, but I will look into that, thanks.
> 
> Good point with the Gigabyte cards. Thanks for that, too.



Just use MSI Afterburner or something equilevant.
If you're really that concerned about background resources being drained you can change Afterburner's fan speed update period and hardware polling period.
But if you're looking at a GPU like this, then I'd assume you have a modern processor as well 
P.S. I've got AB running in the background, mem usage less than four megabytes..


----------



## Warrgarbl (Jun 13, 2013)

Well, I have a modern processor, yes, but I suppose it is an old habit to minimize the number of programs and processes that autostart 

I'll have a look at it when I get home.


----------



## Abzug86 (Jun 13, 2013)

I somehow could'nt figure out why _w1zzard_ stated that he's disappointed with the noise level of the card. Especially compared with the Windforce 3X.

Gigabyte's Windforce might be 3db quieter in idle, but thats pointless anyway since both card are nearly unaudible in idle anyway. Under load then, the Asus is 2db quieter while being 5°C cooler (which is quite a bit). Even under full OC - that is higher on the Asus' then on the Gigabyte - it's 6°C cooler.

So all in all some easy win in terms of the cooling solution - why then dissapointment the for the Asus, but not for the Gigabyte? Any idea?


----------



## radrok (Jun 13, 2013)

Probably because ASUS cooler is so capable it had the chance to run a couple of degrees hotter while blowing out of the water other AIB's offerings with lower than reference dB figures


----------



## Abzug86 (Jun 13, 2013)

radrok said:


> Probably because ASUS cooler is so capable it had the chance to run a couple of degrees hotter while blowing out of the water other AIB's offerings with lower than reference dB figures



Thats why it has a factory-utility to set up a fan curve.... don't see the point in complaining about that if its just a 3-click-action to change it.


----------



## radrok (Jun 13, 2013)

You make it sound easy, and it is, for the minority of us that bother tweaking things.

w1zzard also has to take into perspective the plug and play aspect of what he reviews, there are many people that just install the card, or make someone install it for them and just play.


----------



## Adamar (Jun 13, 2013)

Abzug86 said:


> I somehow could'nt figure out why _w1zzard_ stated that he's disappointed with the noise level of the card. Especially compared with the Windforce 3X.
> 
> Gigabyte's Windforce might be 3db quieter in idle, but thats pointless anyway since both card are nearly unaudible in idle anyway. Under load then, the Asus is 2db quieter while being 5°C cooler (which is quite a bit). Even under full OC - that is higher on the Asus' then on the Gigabyte - it's 6°C cooler.
> 
> So all in all some easy win in terms of the cooling solution - why then dissapointment the for the Asus, but not for the Gigabyte? Any idea?



The previous generation of DCUII (on the 670, 660ti et al, but not the 680) was noted as being _immensely_ quiet (less than 30dB on the TPU tests under load), so that the revision is that much noisier is bound to be a disappointment.


----------



## BorisDG (Jun 14, 2013)

I have a simple question. Which of these are better? The first one with the bigger cooling surface or the right one and why?


----------



## haswrong (Jun 14, 2013)

*hmm only 8+6 pci-e power*

i wonder what will be the next asus matrix brand..


----------



## douglatins (Jun 14, 2013)

These are the only non reference coolers that seem to be worth a damn, and about the noise, if you want true quiet why dont WC?


----------



## cowie (Jun 15, 2013)

BorisDG said:


> Controller chip looks like CHiL, not uPI.



Seems to be same as the 680DCII controler but a rebrand maybe? since the layout is identical just comparing 
looking at the board closely in the power area if like 680dcii it should be able to deliver up to 1.599v(if the gk110 can take it) under subzero and up to 1.35v with stock cooling....
well at least thats my limit


----------



## LAN_deRf_HA (Jun 15, 2013)

So was it truly buzz free?


----------



## Yohannas (Jun 16, 2013)

How long do you guys think it'll take til we can buy this? I'm about to build a pc, have all the other components... Just waiting for this!


----------



## LAN_deRf_HA (Jul 7, 2013)

Just noticed the fan update. Now that it goes over 70c does it throttle and lose performance?


----------



## Xaser04 (Jul 9, 2013)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> Its Crysis 3? Even with one monitor is hell to run on most GPUs. Bring 3 in, and have fun. Do I even need to say it........slideshow!?



Turn down a few settings and it is very playable. 

At 3600x1920, High Settings (VH Textures) & Medium shadows my setup* is able to pull nearly 50FPS (49.7) average (34FPS min). 

*i7 3770K @ 4.4Ghz / GTX780 @ 1189/7000

The 780 really does stretch its legs at higher resolutions.


----------

