Gigabyte GTX 960 OC 2 GB Review

Name: Gigabyte GTX 960 OC 2 GB
Brand: GIGABYTE

W1zzard

on Apr 28th, 2015,

in Graphics Cards.

Manufacturer: GIGABYTE

(28 Comments) »

Introduction

The GeForce GTX 960 is one of NVIDIA's recently released graphics card (only the Titan X is more recent). With the GTX 960, NVIDIA brought their super power-efficient Maxwell architecture to the mainstream.

This card is based on a new silicon codenamed GM206. NVIDIA's third chip based on "Maxwell", the GM206 is supposed to be a successor to the GK106 on which NVIDIA built the GeForce GTX 660. The new GTX 960, however, is meant to replace the GTX 660 and GTX 760 in the product stack as it offers slightly higher performance at much less power draw and noise, with greater room for price-cuts. It also brings some of the new features introduced with "Maxwell" to the masses, such as real-time voxel illumination, MFAA (multi-frame sampled anti-aliasing), Dynamic Super-Resolution, VR Direct, Turf Effects, and PhysX Flex, along with community favorites like G-Sync and ShadowPlay.

In this review, we have with us the Gigabyte GTX 960 OC, an overclocked custom design of the GTX 960. It is more cost effective than the Gigabyte GTX 960 G1 Gaming, but still features the same amazing power consumption and noise levels as its bigger brother.

The Gigabyte GTX 960 OC currently retails at $199, which is about as low as you can find a GTX 960.

GTX 960 Market Segment Analysis
	Radeon R9 270X	GeForce GTX 760	GeForce GTX 960	GIGABYTE GTX 960 OC	Radeon R9 285	GeForce GTX 770	Radeon R9 280X
Shader Units	1280	1152	1024	1024	1792	1536	2048
ROPs	32	32	32	32	32	32	32
Graphics Processor	Pitcairn	GK104	GM206	GM206	Tonga	GK104	Tahiti
Transistors	2800M	3500M	2940M	2940M	unknown	3500M	4310M
Memory Size	2048 MB	2048 MB	2048 MB	2048 MB	2048 MB	2048 MB	3072 MB
Memory Bus Width	256 bit	256 bit	128 bit	128 bit	256 bit	256 bit	384 bit
Core Clock	1050 MHz	980 MHz+	1127 MHz+	1216 MHz+	918 MHz	1046 MHz+	1000 MHz
Memory Clock	1400 MHz	1502 MHz	1753 MHz	1753 MHz	1375 MHz	1753 MHz	1500 MHz
Price	$165	$210	$195	$200	$200	$300	$260

Packaging

Package Contents

You will receive:

Graphics card
Documentation
2x PCIe power cable

The Card

Gigabyte's cooler uses a dual-fan approach that fits neatly into the space defined for standard PCI-Express cards. It does look a bit plasticky at times, but the matte color helps. Dimensions of the card are 25.0 cm x 11.5 cm.

Installation requires two slots in your system.

Display connectivity options include two DVI ports, one HDMI port, and three DisplayPorts, a unique output configuration Gigabyte calls "FlexDisplay". Gigabyte put an automatic TMDS switch chip on the board, so you may run 2x DVI, 1x DP and 1x HDMI or 3x DP, 1x DVI and 1x HDMI at the same time. This setup provides additional flexibility while allowing for a triple-monitor-surround gaming setup with a single card.

The GPU also includes an HDMI sound device. It is HDMI 2.0 compatible, which includes HD audio and Blu-ray 3D movies support.