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Normal flow of video card. Gaming tests: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky

The graphic card is the most loaded component inside your computer when it comes to games. It processes millions of instructions that perform various operations during games, and because of this it is heated. Like a processor, an overheating of the graphics processor can occur on the graphics card, which can lead to a variety of problems, including a video card failure. The GPU graphics card is the main component in which overheating can occur. The memory of the graphics card can also be heated, but it does not go beyond the level of danger. Overheating can lead to a decrease in the life of the graphics processor, and may also lead to immediate damage to the graphics card.

What temperature of the video card is considered normal

The answer to this question will depend on both the manufacturer and from specific model Video cards, but in general, something above 80 degrees Celsius is a sign of anxiety. If the GPU graphics card temperature exceeds 80 ° C, you must take appropriate measures to reduce it, preferably in the range of 70 ° C - 75 ° C or below.

If you have any problems with the performance of your computer, especially when editing video, video processing, or when playing a video starts to stutter, brake, hang, then the first thing you need to do is, it is video cards and compare it with the testimony of the table below.

Permissible temperature Video card NVIDIA

Video card	Distoping temperature	Permissible temperature	Maximum temperature
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti	42	55-80	91
GeForce GTX 1080.	42	60-84	94
GeForce GTX 1070.	41	83	94
GeForce GTX 1060.	38	55-75	94
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti	35	55-80	97
GeForce GTX 1050.	35	55-80	97
GeForce GT 1030.	35	65-82	97
GeForce GTX Titan X	42	83	91
GeForce GTX Titan (Z, Black)	41	81	95
GeForce GTX 980 Ti	42	85	92
GeForce GTX 980.	42	81	98
GeForce GTX 970.	44	73	98
GeForce GTX 960.	37	50-78	98
GeForce GTX 950.	30-35	75	95
GeForce GTX 780 Ti	42	83	95
GeForce GTX 780.	43	83	95
GeForce GTX 770.	36	60-77	98
GeForce GTX 760.	36	82	97
GeForce GTX 750 Ti	33	55-70	95
GeForce GTX 750.	33	76	95
GeForce GTX 690.	34	77	98
GeForce GTX 680.	37	80	98
GeForce GTX 670.	36	55-80	97
GeForce GTX 660 Ti	34	78	97
GeForce GTX 660.	32	63	97
GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost	38	69	97
GeForce GTX 650.	35	66	98
GeForce GTX 645.	-	-	97
GeForce GT 640.	34	75	102
GeForce GT 630.	35	75	98
GeForce GT 620.	-	-	98
GeForce GTX 590.	37	81	97
GeForce GTX 580.	42	81	97
GeForce GTX 570.	44	81	97
GeForce GTX 560 Ti	33	76	99
GeForce GTX 560.	34	76	99
GeForce GTX 550 Ti	36	67	100
GeForce GT 520.	37	75	102
GeForce GTX 480.	44	96	105
GeForce GTX 470.	30-40	92	105
GeForce GTX 465.	-	90	105
GeForce GTX 460.	30	65-80	104
GeForce GTS 450.	-	65-80	100
Nvidia Titan Xp.	-	80	94
Nvidia Titan X.	-	80	94

Measures to reduce the temperature of the graphics processor

Here are all possible measures that you can take to lower the temperature of the GPU video card.

Turn off overtaking GPU

If you have overclocking on your video card, then you must return the GPU to the original settings to prevent it from increasing the GPU temperature. If you plan to make overclocking again, then you must make sure that the card will remain with the safe temperature range in the future. Below you can read how to prevent the card overheating.

Clean fan and radiator

Dust can be accommodated on the radiator and fan, thereby reducing their performance and efficiency. Open the PC housing, and then remove the video card. After that, with a small brush and vacuum cleaner, carefully remove the dust from the video card. Put the video card again, and then monitor the temperature using the GPU monitoring tools.

Change thermal stas

Perhaps the thermalcase between the graphics processor and the heat sink dried and crackdled and thereby lost its effectiveness. You will have to remove the fan and the radiator, and remove the remains of the old thermal paste, and gently apply a new thermal path. Read in more detail how to replace the thermal plaister.

Faulty fan

If the video card fan is not working or maybe it rotates very slowly, this may be associated with increasing the temperature of the GPU. Here the only thing you can do is replace a faulty video card fan to a new one or try it.

Install a more productive cooling system

You can also set a good more productive third-party aftermarket GPU cooler on your video card. And if you think that the Fan Cooler / Fan Radiator (HSF) is not well coped, then you can install the water cooling system for the card in order to confuse the GPU temperature.

Note: Aftermarket The coolers work only with reference video cards or with video cards having standard size PCB.

Increase air flow inside PC housing

Incorrect or bad air flow inside the computer case can also lead to an increase in the temperature of the video card. To improve the airflow inside the PC housing, you can install additional exhaust fans.

Introduction The year was for NVIDIA extremely difficult - the company had to endure defeat for defeat, retreating in all sectors of discrete three-dimensional graphics Under unexpectedly powerful Natios from a suddenly activated graphic division Advanced Micro Devices. At the same time, all that happened cannot be written off on evil accidents - in a chain of failures in many ways, NVIDIA itself, initially chosen the wrong strategy for the development of its graphic processors and invested all the forces in the creation of G200. He played his negative role and unlimitedly long delay in transfer to a more subtle technical process even the kernel of the previous generation, G92, not to mention the flagship of the lineup, desperately in this in need.

Although the G200 and had good maps, with the 65-nm technical process, he was not able to reveal his abilities to full, because, being extremely difficult (1.4 billion transistors), could not work at high frequencies. It is enough to remember that even the flagship model of a new family, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280, the frequency of the sider processor domain was limited to 1.3 GHz, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 was at all forced to be content with modest 1242 MHz. For comparison, there was almost the same as the frequency of functioning of computing blocks in the original version of NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS, which used the 90-nm core G80! With all this, in some cases, the novelty did not provide a decisive advantage over much simpler ATI RV770.

Based on the situation described, it becomes clear that the new, more subtle technical process was needed by NVIDIA G200 as the air, if the company was going on, to use it as a shock weapon. First, the translation of the G200 on the 55-nm technical process made it possible to significantly raise its frequency potential while maintaining power consumption and heat levels at an acceptable limits, and secondly, opened the way to creating an answer to ATI Radeon HD 4870 x2, a two-type NVIDIA card. The latter was unlikely to be possible with the 65-Nm version of the G200 - a map on the basis of two such GPUs would probably be too hot and uneconomical.

Obviously, it understood well and NVIDIA itself, a pretty victim from a powerful pressure from the graphic division of Advanced Micro Devices. There was an alternative to continue to lose the already shameless position in the discrete schedule market, and after all, it is easy to lose an impact in this sector, but then the retractation of each percent is given with great difficulty, which is called, then and blood. Therefore, the necessary works were carried out, and the result was the creation of the 55-nm version of the G200, also known under the code names of the G200B, GT200B, GT206 and some others. For convenience, we will call it G200B. Nothing new in the architectural plan G200B is not, remaining all the same G200 containing 240 unified shader processors, 80 blocks of texture operations and 32 RBE, but produced using 55-nm production standards. Therefore, it should be expected to be expected either less than hot gear and greater efficiency, or, with comparable levels of energy consumption and heat dissipation, greater performance than from the 65-nm version of the G200.

Of course, GeForce GTX 260 is still used chips with a truncated configuration: 216 ALU, 72 texture processor and 28 RBE blocks. But even in the 55th embodiment, the complexity of the G200 remains the same, which means high and cost, so it is logical to assume that part of the kernels installed on the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 or did not pass the frequency control or has defective blocks that does not allow These chips are more profitable for the company - in the production of GeForce GTX 285 and 295.

The first company, which submitted to the public, graphics cards based on the new version of the G200, became EVGA, one of the main partners NVIDIA. This may mean the presence of certain privileges, a peculiar award for loyalty to the "green" camp - EVGA delivers to the market exclusively solutions based on NVIDIA chips, but the appearance of similar products of the remaining manufacturers is now only a matter of time. However, thanks to EVGA, we got a unique opportunity among the first to explore the capabilities of the G200B. This will help us EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked.

Packaging and equipment

At first glance, the packaging of the described product is not something unusual, representing a standard box of medium sizes.

An orange strip on a black background - that's, practically, all the elements of the design, however, against the background of the robots, dragons and full-rod girls in frank armor managed to fill, such a minimalist approach looks solid and does not irritate the eyes. Nevertheless, we again see a common mistake - the inscription in the upper left corner says "896MB DDR3", while in fact the card, of course, is equipped with a small GDDR3 memory with DDR3 in general and architecturally similar DDR2. The inscription SuperClocked reports the factory overclocking, and the sticker under it - about the presence of a complete version of the popular shooter Far Cry. 2.

On the back of the box there is a transparent window, through which the video adapter printed circuit board is visible with a sticker with a serial number. Under the window there is a second sticker and an inscription, a warning buyer that serial numbers On both stickers should coincide. This is important for a lifelong warranty provided by EVGA, as well as to participate in the EVGA STEP-UP program, allowing for 90 days after the purchase replaced the purchased card more powerful, of course, with payment differences in the cost between them. Frankly, it makes sense in this a bit, because, as a rule, few people think about replacing a recently purchased graphics adapter to a new one for three months - especially since we are talking about the map already productive and inadequate.

The packaging quality is traditionally high; Instead of a cardboard box, EVGA uses a transparent plastic container, in which the video adapter is reliably fixed. It protects it from possible damage in the process of transportation and storage. In addition to the video adapter, the next set of accessories was found in the box:

DVI-I → D-SUB
DVI-I → HDMI adapter
2 adapters 2XPATA → PCIE
Connecting Cable S / PDIF
Summary Installation Guide
User's manual
2 branded stickers with EVGA logo
CD with drivers and utilities
DVD S. complete version Far Cry 2.

Even taking into account the recommended price producer, which is quite high and amounts to over $ 250, the completion of the described product deserves a flight assessment, especially considering the full version of the full version of the popular three-dimensional Far Cry shooter 2. Several saddens the absence of a software player capable of working with modern formats Video high-resolution, but taking into account the fact that EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked is clearly positioned as a game solution, it is not a fatal disadvantage, especially since this is the vast majority of other manufacturers.

On a drive with drivers, in addition to them, the electronic version of the user's manual, you can find a pair of useful utilities, one of which is known to all players. EVGA Precision is a convenient utility for overclocking a graphics adapter, which is most likely lies with the rivatuner kernel. In addition to controlling the clock frequencies of the graphics core and memory, it allows you to manually adjust the speed of rotation of the cooling system fan and track the temperatures up to four GPUs in the system.

In addition, EVGA Precision allows you to create up to 10 profiles with a destination for each of them with its hot key, and also knows how to output the data, including frame rate, not only on the main monitor, but also on the screen of the popular Logitech G15 game keypad. It cannot be said that EVGA Precision is indispensable, but, unlike some similar software products Other manufacturers, it has a simple and functional design, which makes it suitable for everyday use in everyday overclocking.

As for Far Cry 2, this game, being the heir to the legendary Far Cry who has ever established new standard The qualities of graphics for shooters overlooking the first person, in the presentation does not need, since familiar to all lovers of this genre and is used by us as one of the tests. This is a really good gift to the potential buyer, and for the inclusion of it in the package. We can only climb out EVGA - few of the suppliers of graphic cards supplies their products as "fresh" games.

In general, packaging and equipment EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked, definitely, deserves ratings "excellent." The box itself looks solid and attractive, and in it, in addition to the video adapter itself, there is everything necessary for its full operation. At the same time, in the kit there are no obsolete cables and adapters, but as a free addition of deliveries a truly modern and popular game.

PCB design

At first glance, an externally map is no different from the 65-nm version of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 / GTX 260 Core 216. However, EVGA has tried to add its originality to its product, and without limiting the cooling system with a sticker - the side of this casing is painted in red Colour.

PCB length EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked is 27 centimeters, so this product does not suit the owners of most compact buildings. With the fact that his direct competitor is ATI Radeon HD 4870, using a 23 centimeter long board, this is a rather significant drawback.

Now about the differences, which, in fact, much more than it may seem at first glance. It would be difficult to expect that for the 55-nm version of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 will be developed new design PCB, because such an enterprise is the most expensive and, in the light of the fact that the card is essentially a truncated version of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280, rather meaningless. However, it is worth only to dismantle the cooling system, as it becomes apparent that NVIDIA still decided on this step - the differences detects very and very much.

Firstly, it is immediately striking that all memory chips are now located on the front side of the printed circuit board, and their 14, that is, this design initially provides a 448-bit memory bus without expanding to 512-bit. It is difficult to say that the NVIDIA promoted to develop a new board; Most likely, this is a desire to reduce the cost of production at any cost, although it is unlikely that the winnings will be essential - even in an updated form, the board looks quite complex and expensive in production. Interestingly, the GeForce 8800 line developed at the same way: then in most cases an increase in clock frequencies has successfully compensated for a decrease in the width of the memory bus during the transition from the G80 chips to G92.

Old GeForce GTX 260 PCBNEW GeForce GTX 260 PCB

Significant processing and subsystem of nutrition - if in the old version there was a five-phase stabilizer obtained by truncated by the original seven-phase stabilizer NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280, then in the 55-nm version of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260, the total number of phases of the GPU power stabilizer is equal to four, and others are used in them. Power transistors. Bad news for owners of liquid cooling systems or non-standard air coolers: Systems developed for the 65-Nm of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 200 series, for 55-nm cards will not suit at least monolithic models designed for cooling not only GPU and memory chips, But also the elements of the system of the system, it is due to the other location of the latter.

The heart of the stabilizer is the four-phase PWM-controller NCP5388, located on the reverse side of the printed circuit board. Next to it, a unknown chip microscopic sizes, marked as "Br \u003d Al U07", and, apparently, responsible for controlling a separate two-phase power stabilizer. Connectors for connecting external food, as before, two. Both connectors are six-contact PCIE 1.0 with load capacity up to 75 W. From other differences, it is possible to note the presence of a metal frame around the graphics processor, and here the left part of the board, where the interface connectors and the NVIO microcircuit are located, remained almost unchanged.

As a memory chip, this product uses GDDR3 Samsung K4J52324QH-HJ1A chips with a capacity of 512 Mbps (16mx32), calculated on the frequency of 1000 (2000) MHz and supply voltage of 1.9 V.

14 such chips form a local video memory bank with a capacity of 896 MB with a 448-bit access bus. According to the official NVIDIA specifications, the GeForce GTX 260 memory, regardless of the GPU version used, should operate at a frequency of 1000 (2000) MHz, providing throughput At the level of 112 GB / s, but EVGA dispersed memory up to 1053 (2106) MHz, which increased the bandwidth to 117.9 GB / s.

This is even slightly higher than the similar indicator of ATI Radeon HD 4870, which is 115.2 GB / s, but, taking into account the use of chips, initially calculated on 1000 (2000) MHz, practically does not leave space for further overclocking, which will, however, will be checked in The corresponding chapter of the review.

We visually assess how much the transition to the 55-nm technical process allowed to reduce the area of \u200b\u200bthe G200B crystal, failed - the new version of the chip is also equipped with a metal cover-heat distributor, as is the old one. We did not risk this lid to shoot this cover, because the card is still useful to us later. However, the numbers speak for themselves - the new version of the G200 has an area of \u200b\u200b470 square millimeters against 576 square meters of the old technology produced by 65-nm technology. It is not too impressive against the background of the compactness of ATI RV770, having the area of \u200b\u200bonly 260 square meters, but do not forget that the latter is almost one and a half times easier, if we talk about the number of transistors. Chip marked as G200-103-B2, which immediately allows you to distinguish it from old versionhaving marked G200-100-A2.

The official NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 kernel frequencies are 576 MHz for the main domain and 1242 MHz for the computing part, but in today's article we are talking about the product subjected to factory overclocking, and these parameters are 625 and 1350 MHz, respectively. Not too significant an increase that clearly does not allow to judge whether the G200B frequency potential increased in comparison with the G200 - in our practice there were 65-nm versions of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216, overclocked by the manufacturer to higher frequencies. That is why EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked will be attempted further overclocking. As for the configuration of the graphics core, it is standard for NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216: 216 universal shader processors, 72 processor of texture operations and 28 RBE blocks. Theoretically, if further acceleration proves successful, you can expect performance at the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 level or even higher.

The map is supplied standard set connectors that include two dual-channel DVI-I ports with permission support to 2560x1600 inclusive, universal port of analog video output, two SLI connectors allowing to combine in unified system Up to three cards, as well as a two-pin S / PDIF connector, which serves to organize the external S / PDIF audio stream in HDMI, for which the delivery kit includes an appropriate cable.

Design of cooling system

In many ways, the design of the cooling system 55-nm variant NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 remained, but there are also significant changes dictated as a new design of the printed circuit board and using a more economical version of the graphics core.

The most important difference is perhaps a substantially decreased area of \u200b\u200bthe radiator - he lost the section located directly in front of the fastener, due to which it became noticeably shorter. One of the heat pipes disappeared, which previously ensuring the transmission of the heat flux from the power elements of the power system, and the base in contact with the GPU surface became significantly less.

Apparently, all these measures are also aimed at reducing cost, since other objective reasons to cut the configuration of well-proven designs we do not see. Of course, the effectiveness of the new cooling system should significantly fall, but, as a result, its fall can be compensated by a smaller level of heat generation of the G200B. This is the situation in fact, will be verified in the next chapter of the review.

Otherwise, as already mentioned, the overall concept remained the same - a copper heat exchanger, selecting heat from the GPU, transmits it to the radiator using heat pipes. As a thermal interface, a familiar dark gray thick thermal panel is used. The radial fan corresponds to the radiator; The heated air is thrown out of the system housing through a row of slots in the video adapter's fastener. Other elements requiring cooling, such as memory chips, NVIO crystal and power transistors of the power stabilizer, are in contact with the aluminum base of the system through its protrusions, equipped with fibrous pads impregnated with a white thermal storage.

The design as a whole looks quite successful, although it is somewhat simplified in comparison with the original option, originally designed for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 200 family. In this regard, we should expect slightly less high efficiency of its work, but, taking into account the use of the 55-nm version of the G200 The difference may be insignificant or not to manifest at all. In the event that the thermal regime does not deteriorate, the simplification of the structure can be considered justified.

Energy level, thermal mode, overclocking and noise

Since the 55-nm version of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 fell into our test laboratory for the first time, we did not fail to measure its power consumption and find out whether it became more economical in comparison with the old, 65-nm version, and how big the winnings are. To do this, a test bench was used with the following configuration:

Intel Pentium 4 560 processor (3.6 GHz, LGA775)
DFI LANPARTY UT ICFX3200-T2R / G system board (ATI CROSFIRE XPRESS 3200)
PC2-5300 memory (2x512 MB, 667 MHz)
Western Digital Raptor WD360ADFD Hard Drive (36 GB)
CHIEFTEC ATX-410-212 power supply unit (410 W Power)
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 32-bit
Futuremark PCMark05 Build 1.2.0
Futuremark 3DMark06 Build 1.1.0

According to the adopted method, to create a load in 3D mode, the first SM3.0 / HDR test of the 3DMark06 package, started in the cycle in the resolution of 1600x1200 with FSAA 4x and AF 16x forced, is used. The emulation of the PEAK 2D mode is carried out by the 2D Transparent Windows test, which is part of PCMark05. The last test is quite relevant in the light of the fact that the window windows interface Vista Aero uses graphic processor capabilities.

The transition to the 55th-nm technical process the most beneficial effect affected the efficiency of the G200 as a whole and GeForce GTX 260 in particular. Although there was no significant gain in idle mode, under load in 3D mode, it was 34 W, so the crown of the championship is rightfully moving from ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB to the cards based on the G200B. This is a pretty serious blow to ATI, which, we believe, should be seriously thinking about the level of energy consumption of their products, especially built according to the two-processor scheme.

As for the layout of the power lines, then in the new version of GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 the load on the external connectors is uneven, unlike the old, using the PCB design and the power system circuitry developed for GeForce GTX 280. Middle to the end of the board The connector is noticeably loaded. 10-13 W, stronger; However, taking into account indicators, very distant from the limit value (75 W), this is not a reason for concern.

As you know, the 55-nm version of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 works at the same frequencies as the 65-nm version - 576 MHz for the main domain GPU and 1240 MHz for the sider processor domain. Described in this review EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked has previously overclocked by the manufacturer up to 625/1350 MHz, however, we decided to go further and find out how much the frequency potential of the G200 has grown after the translating it into 55-nm technical process. Without the use of any additional funds, such as replacing the cooling system or modifications of the power system, the result was 715/1541 MHz for the graphics core and 1150 (2300) MHz for memory. A completely good result for a chip consisting of 1.4 billion transistors, especially considering that a similar instance of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216, using the 65-nm version of the G200, managed to accelerate only to 650/1400 MHz. In the percentage ratio of the winnings amounted to about 10%, but it already allows you to hope for performance at the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 level, which has 240 ALU, 80 TMU and 32 RBE versus 216, 72 and 28 similar blocks at NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216.

The temperature of the temperature regime using RivaTuner showed the following picture:

With the same clock frequencies, the maximum temperatures of 65-nm and 55-nm versions of the G200 are also the same, which, apparently, is due to a slightly simplified design of the cooling system in the latter. However, with further acceleration of the EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked, the maximum GPU temperature did not exceed the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 indicator. Note that in 2D mode, all representatives of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 200 family automatically reduce the GPU clock frequencies to 300/600 MHz, and Memory frequency - up to 100 (200) MHz, which helps them maintain low temperature and noise level.

Despite some constructive changes in the cooling system EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked, noise level measurements did not reveal significant differences from the reference cooling system NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280. Not least, this is due to a relatively high noise level generated by our test platform as a whole - Even with a fully passive cooling of the graphics card, it is 43 dBa, which in itself is quite a lot. Nevertheless, it is necessary to recognize that the design of the CO, used by NVIDIA still remains one of the most successful discrete graphics in the industry, combining high cooling efficiency with comfortable noise characteristics. It does not have to talk about full pecklessness, but the acoustic composition of noise is favorable, since the main attitude in it makes a rustle of the air flow, almost not irritating hearing.

Test Platform Configuration and Testing Methodology

A comparative study of the performance of EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked was carried out on a test platform with the following configuration:

CPU Intel Core I7-965 Extreme Edition (3.2 GHz, 6.4 GT / S QPI)
ASUS P6T DELUXE (Intel X58) system board
CORSAIR XMS3-12800C9 (3x2 GB, 1333 MHz, 9-9-9-24, 2T)
MaxTor MaxLine III 7B250S0 Hard Drive (250 GB, SATA-150, Buffer 16 MB)
ENERMAX GALAXY DXX EGX1000EWL Power Supply (1 kW Power)
Dell 3007WFP (30 "monitor, maximum resolution [Email Protected] Hz)
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit
ATI Catalyst 8.12 for ATI Radeon HD
NVIDIA GeForce 180.48 WHQL for NVIDIA GeForce

Graphic card drivers were configured in such a way as to ensure the maximum possible quality of texture filtering with a minimum effect of the default software optimizations. The smoothing of transparent textures was included, at the same time, multisampling mode was used for both architectures, since ATI solutions do not support SuperSampling for this function. As a result, the list of settings of the ATI Catalyst and Nvidia GeForce drivers took the following form:

ATI Catalyst:

SmoothVision HD: Anti-Aliasing: Use Application Settings / Box Filter
Catalyst A.I.: Standard
MIPMAP DETAIL LEVEL: HIGH QUALITY
Wait for Vertical Refresh: Always OFF
Enable Adaptive Anti-Aliasing: ON / QUALITY

NVIDIA GeForce:

Texture Filtering - Quality: High Quality
Texture Filtering - Trilinear Optimization: OFF
Texture Filtering - Anisotropic Sample Optimization: OFF
VERTICAL SYNC: FORCE OFF
AntialiaSing - Gamma Correction: ON
AntialiaSing - Transparency: MultiSampling
Other Settings: Default

The composition of the test package was significantly recycled for better compliance with current realities. As a result of the revision, the next set of games and applications was included in it:

Three-dimensional shooters overlooking the first person:

Call of Duty: World At War
Crysis Warhead.
ENEMY TERRITORY: QUAKE WARS
Far Cry 2.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky

Three-dimensional shooters overlooking the third person:

Dead Space.
Devil May Cry 4
Grand Theft Auto IV

RPG:

Fallout 3.
Mass Effect.

Simulators:

Race Driver: Grid
X³: Terran Conflict

Strategies:

Red Alert 3.
Spore
World in Conflict.

Synthetic tests:

Futuremark 3DMark06
Futuremark 3DMark Vantage.

Each of the test set software The games were configured in such a way as to ensure the maximum possible level of detail, and used exclusively tools available in the game itself to any uninitiated user. This means a fundamental refusal to manually modify configuration files, since the player is not obliged to be able to do this. For some games, exceptions were made dictated by those or other considerations of necessity; Each of these exceptions is mentioned separately in the relevant section of the review.

In addition to the EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked, the following graphic cards were included in the test participants:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 (G200, 602/1296/2214 MHz, 240 SP, 80 TMU, 32 RBE, 512-bit bits of the memory bus, 1024 MB GDDR3)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 (G200, 576/1242/2000 MHz, 216 SP, 72 TMU, 28 RBE, 448-bit Tire of memory, 896 MB GDDR3)
ATI Radeon HD 4850 x2 (2xRV770, 650/650/2000 MHz, 1600 SP, 80 TMU, 32 RBE, 2x256-bit of the memory bus, 2x1024 MB GDDR3)
ATI Radeon HD 4870 (RV770, 750/750/3600 MHz, 800 SP, 40 TMU, 16 RBE, 256-bit Tire of Memory, 1024 MB GDDR5)

Testing was carried out in permissions 1280x1024, 1680x1050, 1920x1200 and 2560x1600. The latter was used only for the main characters of today's review, as well as for ATI Radeon HD 4850 x2. In all cases, when it was possible, the standard anisotropic filtering of 16x complemented the smoothing MSAA 4X. The activation of the smoothing was carried out either by means of the game itself, or, if they were absence, was forced using the appropriate settings of the ATI Catalyst and NVIDIA GeForce drivers. As already mentioned, no additional means Settings did not apply.

To obtain productivity data, built-in means of means with a mandatory recording of original test rollers in the presence of such an opportunity. In all other cases, the FRAPS 2.9.6 utility was used in manual mode with a three-time test passage and the subsequent averaging of the final result. If possible, the data is recorded not only about the average, but also on minimal performance.

Game Tests: Call Of Duty: World At War

The factory overclocking undertaken by EVGA is clearly not enough to compete on equal from NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280, but additional overclocking allows you to achieve this even in a resolution of 2560x1600, despite the narrower tire of the memory. Moreover, in the latter case, the minimum performance is high enough for a comfortable game, and, in general, the discerned EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SupeClocked is practically not inferior to ATI Radeon HD 4850 x2 with a significantly lower level of energy consumption and noise.

Game Tests: Crysis Warhead

The same can be seen in Crysis Warhead - additional acceleration displays the EVGA card to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 level. However, in this case, the resolution of 2560x1600 becomes exception, in which the smaller width of the memory access bus starts, as well as the smaller memory itself - 896 against 1024 MB.

Game tests: Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

ET: Quake Wars contains an average performance limiter fixed at 30 frames in a second, because in the network game all events are synchronized with a frequency of 30 Hz. For more complete data on graphics card performance in Quake Wars, this limiter was disabled through gaming console. Since when testing, the internal capabilities of the game are used, there is no minimum performance information.

The difference between the various representatives of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 200 family in this game is minimal, however, the EVGA card acceleration allows it to reach one level with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280, and in the resolution of 2560x1600 even a slightly concerned it. In all cases, the productivity supply is very high and much overlaps the requirements of the game.

Game tests: Far Cry 2

In the original version of EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 is somewhat inferior, but the GPU acceleration is up to 715/1541 MHz, and the memory to 1150 (2300) MHz allows you to almost overcome the gap, except for some lagging in minimal performance.

Gaming tests: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky

To ensure an acceptable level of performance in this game, it was decided to abandon the use of FSAA, as well as resource-intensive options such as "Sun Rays", "Wet Surfaces" and "Volumetric SMOKE". When testing, "ENHANCED FULL DYNAMIC LIGHTING" (DX10) mode was used, DirectX 10.1 mode was used for ATI cards.

Similarly, it behaves dispersed to the limit of the EVGA product and in Clear Sky - elevated clock frequencies allow it not to yield NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 in average performance, but fewer function blocks and a narrower tire of memory cannot be compensated by winnings in frequencies that negatively affects minimal performance.

Gaming tests: Dead Space

The fact that the backlog in the amount of ALU, TMU and RBE is not so easy to compensate for the clock frequencies, confirmed in Dead Space: if the average indicators are the maximum overclocked EVGA card and ahead of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 by 2-5%, depending on permissions, then minimal performance remains the same. Moreover, the resolution of 2560x1600 one acceleration is not enough, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 again goes first. Taking into account the relatively modest requirements submitted by the game, the overall level of performance is very high and the difference described above is impossible to notice the naked eye.

Gaming tests: Devil May Cry 4

Approximately the overclocked EVGA card in Devil May Cry 4, demonstrating superiority over NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 in medium performance and parity in the minimum. An exception is the resolution of 2560x1600, where she can significantly exceed the latest flagship model of the family.

Gaming tests: Grand Theft Auto IV

Since, with a standard video memory of 512 MB, the game does not allow using the value of the "Texture Quality" option above "Medium", and the maximum secure value of the "View Distance" option is 32, all tests were carried out with such settings. For other options, the maximum possible values \u200b\u200bwere exhibited. Since the testing of the game is used for testing, there is no minimum performance information.

Because of the above features, essential discrepancies in the results between testing participants managed only in 1920x1200 and 2560x1600 permissions. In the first case, the acceleration of the EVGA card made it possible to achieve average performance at the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 level, and in the second and at all brought it to the first place, leaving behind not only the flagship model NVIDIA, but also ATI Radeon HD 4850 x2. Also, judging by the results of ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB, it can be assumed that the game favorably refers to a large number of textural processors in NVIDIA solutions.

Starting from the next review, the testing technique in GTA IV will be shown to the new minimum value of the volume of video memory, which is 896 MB.

Game tests: Fallout 3

ATI solutions are out of competition, however, the NVIDIA G200 cards feel quite confident in all permits, including 2560x1600. Interestingly, even with the factory overclocking EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked is not inferior to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280, and even with an additional acceleration is even noticeable, 8-10%, it exceeds it.

Game tests: Mass Effect

The situation has already been repeatedly seen in other tests, repeats - the maximum acceleration of the EVGA card allows it to easily compete on equal from NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280, and both in the middle and minimal performance. Alas, ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB is not a competitor to the G200 / G200B database solutions in this game; There was only much more hot and very noisy ATI Radeon HD 4850 x2 to surpass them.

Gaming tests: Race Driver: Grid

It is impossible not to note the victory of the maximum overclocked EVGA card in the resolution of 2560x1600, where it lost only by a two-processing monster ATI. In all other cases, the picture is common - factory overclocking is not enough to compete with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 and in order to achieve similar indicators, it has to be resorted to a further increase in GPU clock frequencies and memory, and the minimum performance is practically not growing.

Game Tests: X³: Terran Conflict

The game is clearly prefers to ATI solutions, it is enough to look at the minimum indicators in permissions over 1280x1024. Even the additional acceleration of the EVGA card helps weakly - in the resolution of 1680x1050 minimum performance, it is possible to raise only up to 22 frames per second, which is clearly not enough to ensure the smoothness of the gameplay. It is curious to note that in the 1920x1200 and 2560x1600 permissions, a relatively modest factory overclocking, undertaken by EVGA, allows GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked to auginate NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280.

Gaming tests: Red Alert 3

The game contains an unconnected medium performance limiter, fixed at 30 frames per second.

While the situation with the performance of NVIDIA cards in Red Alert 3 is far from perfect - when using FSAA 4X, they all demonstrate unacceptably low indicators. It remains to place hopes for the new version of the GeForce drivers, perhaps this problem will be eliminated. However, the behavior of the overclocked EVGA card is not fundamentally different from the one that could be observed in previous tests.

Game Tests: Spore

The game contains an unconnected medium performance limiter, fixed at 30 frames per second. FSAA is not supported.

There was no information from any information, because all the graphics cards participating in testing reached the average performance limiter. Consequently, they are equally suitable for use in Spore. Since in most cases this test does not allow you to get any meaningful information, we stop using it - it will be replaced by one of the popular and more informative games.

Gaming tests: World in Conflict

Further acceleration of EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked gave impressive results - in the resolution of 1680x1050, the card was able to overtake even ATI Radeon HD 4850 x2, and the 1920x1200 resolution was the only other than the aforementioned two-processor decision ATI, a video adapter providing a comfortable level of performance. The maximum gain with additional acceleration in comparison with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 amounted to almost 14%, which can be rightfully considered an excellent result, given the lag in the number of functional blocks, as well as productivity and volume of video memory.

Synthetic tests: Futuremark 3DMark06

None of the tests of the 3DMark06, the EVGA card showed outstanding results, both with factory overclocking, and with an additional, undertaken by us. Apparently, it rushed into the ceiling, dictated by the GEFORCE GTX 260 Core 216 hardware configuration.

Synthetic tests: Futuremark 3DMark Vantage

To minimize influence central processorWhen testing in 3DMark Vantage, the "Extreme" profile, which uses the resolution of 1920x1200, FSAA 4x and anisotropic filtering. For the completeness of the picture of the performance, the results of individual tests from this moment are removed in the entire range of permissions.

Testing in 3DMark Vantage has shown the opposite result: in the mode with an additional acceleration of EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SupeClocked not just was able to beat NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280, and ranked first among all testing participants!

The greatest gain from overclocking is observed in the resolution of 1280x1024; As permission increases, the gap between EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 is reduced - the latter still has a good co-memory of the memory subsystem and excellence in the GPU frequency can not be separated.

In the second test, the picture is somewhat different - in all permissions, the EVGA card is slightly inferior to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 as usual mode, and it goes to it in mode with additional acceleration. Apparently, the lack of texture processors is successfully compensated by a higher frequency of their work. Note that both NVIDIA solutions in this test are markedly inferior to ATI Radeon HD 4850 x2.

Conclusion

Let's summarize. Testing did not reveal differences in the performance of 55-nm and 65-nm versions of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216, having the reference frequencies of GPU and memory, however, the factory dispersal of the EVGA card provided it with a noticeable advantage that is on average, from 4.3% to 6.4%, depending on the permission. Additional overclocking allowed to add to this another 8-9%.

As a result, the main character Today's review, EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked, showed himself from the best side, demonstrating that it could be a decent opponent ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB. In many tests, the EVGA product turned out to be faster, but at the expense of a loss in games such as Fallout 3, Race Driver: Grid, X³: Terran Conflict and Red Alert 3 The average advantage was only about 5%, and then in permissions not higher than 1680x1050. Thus, the choice in this case is due to the exceptionally personal preferences of the player.

As for the attempt to catch up with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280, in the factory version, it was not crowned with success, however, thanks to the use of the new 55-nm version of the G200, the map demonstrated a good overclocking potential, and with the help of additional overclocking we managed to catch up and even overtake GTX 280 in almost All tests.

In standard permissions, the average advantage of EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216, overclocked to the frequencies of 715/1541/2300 MHz, was from 3.1 to 3.8%, and the greatest effect was observed in the games of Devil May Cry 4 (1280x1024, the advantage of 10.7 %), WORLD IN CONFLICT (1680x1050, the advantage of 10.8%) and X³: Terran Conflict (1920x1200 and 2560x1600, the advantage of 16.2% and 19.3%, respectively). More than not bad, especially with a significantly lower cost in comparison with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280. Thus, the expediency of acquiring the latter with the appearance of 55-nm versions of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 is questionable, especially since the appearance is not far from the mountains In mass selling GeForce GTX 285 video cards, also using the 55-nm version of the G200, and, accordingly, possessing higher frequency potential than GTX 280.

The product itself described in this review, EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked, deserves an exceptionally positive assessment. In addition to the attractive level of performance and good overclocking potential, it boasts a decent complete set, which includes the full version of the popular Far Cry 2 shooter and a convenient tool for overclocking, as well as a lifelong warranty and the ability to participate in the EVGA Step-Up program. The only thing that can scare potential buyer - A relatively high price, traditionally peculiar EVGA products, because at present the official value of ATI Radeon HD 4870, equipped with 512 MB of GDDR5 memory, has already fallen below 200 dollars, and a version with 1024 MB of memory is set at $ 239. Real prices in the Moscow retail, of course, above the official prices of manufacturers, however, they fully correlate with them - so when EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked cards will be available on sale, you should expect that they will also be more expensive than Radeon HD 4870 1 GB.

EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SuperClocked: Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages:

Using 55-nm version G200
High performance in modern games
In many cases, ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB is ahead.
With additional acceleration ahead of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280
Performance does not depend on software Multi-GPU
Wide selection of FSAA modes
Minimum effect of FSAA for performance
PHYSX acceleration support for GPU
HD-video decoding hardware support
S / PDIF Sound Output Support via HDMI
Relatively low level of energy consumption and heat dissipation
Comparatively low noise level
Good overclocking potential
Availability in the full version of Far Cry 2

Disadvantages:

Dissop of productivity in the direction of textural processors and RBE
No support for DirectX 10.1 and Shader Model 4.1
Incomplete hardware support for decoding VC-1
Lack of integrated sound kernel
Included no HD video player
High price

Main characteristics

Technology: 65 nm
Core frequency: 576 MHz
Memory Type: GDDR3
Memory frequency: 999 MHz
Own video adapter: 896 MB
Memory bus: 448 bits
Ratcher blocks: 28
Textural blocks: 64
Number of executive processors: 192
Videopacy bandwidth: 112 GB / s

Manufacturers

Reference from NVIDIA

The first and most basic video card manufacturer - NVIDIA.

It is interesting that this model was a marriage of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280, mainly due to the trimmed number of video card control modules, in connection with which the GTX 260 had, so to speak, a non-standard memory capacity - 896 MB, which contradicts the amounts of the number of video memory video cards, which it must be equal to a decend to any extent. In the GTX 280, in this direction everything is consistent due to the full set of control units and its size is 1024 megabytes, that is, two in the tenth degree. In addition, the trimmed version, that is, GTX 260, has a smaller:

Frequency of video memory (1998 MHz against 2214 MHz at GTX 280),
Bottomy of the memory bus (448 bits vs 512)
GPU frequency (575 MHz against 602)

Also, the video card has a smaller number of unified shader processors (192 against 240), textural blocks (64 versus 80), greater power consumption (500 watts against 550) and others.

At the expense of all this, GeForce GTX 280, naturally, wins performance, however, loses in power consumption, heat release (heating 100 degrees Celsius at GTX 280 versus 80 degrees GTX 260), significantly in value (price GTX 280 - 500 dollars at a time As GTX 260 costs $ 200 cheaper!).

Modification XFX GeForce GTX 260 from XFX

If you are frank, in specifications Nothing changed, but the video card was framed into a box with a beautiful design, a variety of new accessories relative to the NVIDIA model, as well as the full version of the Assasin's Creed game. The video card also includes installation and exploitation instructions, and on the box itself minimum requirements For the video card, such as a 500 W power supply with a current strength of 36 amps at 12 volt is 12 volt and so on. On the back of the box, the various advantages of the video card are described.

Modification of ZOTAC GeForce GTX 260 amp2! Edition from Zotac

When the company presented the first modification of GTX 260 (AMP1!), It was difficult to call her differences from the XFX modification, except for the other box with a dragon pattern and the game supplied with the packaging (Grid), but ZOTAC was rehabilitated and in the new version introduced an improved video card from 216 "Executive processors, which undoubtedly improves the rate of exchanging video card with RAM and, accordingly, greater speed. In addition, there is another difference from the products of competitors, namely, the presence of 2 cables for connecting additional nutrition (competitors have only one), otherwise the same as in similar GTX 260.

Comparison with analogs

Eternal Battle of Giants: Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 VS ATI Radeon HD 4870

When these video cards were the most powerful of the gaming, they were approximately the same - 300 dollars. But many know the emdiatory attitude AMD to their products and here it was not without it, since AMD was indifferent to the support of his brainchild and did not post new drivers for Radeon HD 4870, it caused a lot of negative responses, also had problems with excessive electricity consumption of this The video card relative to the above-mentioned release, therefore it fell and at the moment the video card costs about 6500 rubles while GTX 260 practically did not fell since 2009 and at the moment the cost of the video adapter is 17,000 rubles.

Differences GEFORCE GTX 260 video cards and Radeon HD 4870

	nVIDIA GeForce GTX 260	ATI Radeon HD 4870
Technological process	65 Nm	55 Nm
Number of transistors	956 million	1400 million
Frequency GPU.	750 MHz	602 MHz
Frequency of video memory	3600 MHz	2214 MHz
Volume of video memory	512/1024 MB	896 MB
Type of supported memory	GDDR5	GDDR3
Bottomy Tire Exchange with Memory	256 bits	512 bits
Number of executive processors	800	240
Number of textural blocks	40	80
Number of rasterization blocks	16	32
Bandwidth	115 GB / s	141 GB / s

Despite differences in the characteristics, in terms of performance, two video cards are practically similar, which showed their comparison in benchmarks and some games. But at the same time, you should not forget about the problem of energy consumption by the Radeon card and the absence of its support, therefore, despite differences in value and approximately equal performance, when buying, I would still prefer NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260.

Tests

Testing in benchmarks, acceleration gamesnVIDIA GeForce. GTX. 260 and without it.

In testing a video card behaves quite confidently and shows good results in both benchmarks and games. If we talk about the so-called video card optimization by replacing the cooling system and overclocking GTX 260, it is definitely not worth doing this. Performance will not grow strongly, which will clearly be shown below and spending on it will be in vain. At the same time, the risk of overheating increases, since the temperature of the video card and is 80 degrees Celsius, and during acceleration and it will grow to critical, with the result that GTX 260 will simply burn. This is what happened in testing with various benchmarks when overclocking NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 and without it.

Configuration of the system unit tested:

MP: Asustek P5K Deluxe / WiFi-AP (Intel P35), LGA 775, BIOS V0812
Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650, 3.0 GHz, 1.25 V, L2 2 x 6 MB, FSB: 333 MHz X 4, (Yorkfield, C0)
CPU cooling system: THERMALRIGHT SI-128 SE (SCYTHE ULTRA KAZE, ~ 1250 rpm);
RAM: 2 x 1024 MB DDR2 Corsair Dominator Twin2x2048-9136c5D (Spec: 1142 MHz / 5-5-5-18 / 2.1 c) + 2 x 1024 MB DDR2 CSX Diablo CSXO-XAC-1200-2GB-KIT (Spec: 1200 MHz / 5-5-5-16 / 2.4 c);
Drives: SATA-II 500 GB, SAMSUNG HD501LJ, 7200 rpm, 16 MB, NCQ;
Drive: SATA-II DVD RAM & DVD ± R / RW & CD ± RW SAMSUNG SH-S183L;
Power supply: ENERMAX GALAXY DXX (EGA1000EWL) 1000 watts (full-time fans: 135 mm on blowing, 80mm on blowing).
Monitor: 24 "BenQ (Wide LCD, 1920 x 1200/60 Hz)

In order to exclude the possibility of the performance of the GTX 260 performance from the speed of the rest of the PC hardware, it was decided to disperse the processor to the clock frequency in 4 GHz and increase its voltage up to 1.6 volts. Win Vista Ultimate Edition X64 Presp1 was selected for testing. In the video card itself, the GPU frequency from 602 to 738 MHz and the video memory frequency from 2214 to 2484 MHz was increased. The settings in the games were put on high, testing was carried out in the resolution of 1920 x 1200.

Results:

	GeForce GTX 260.	GeForce GTX 260 (acceleration)
3DMark 2006.	10000	11681
3DMark vantage.	4138	4989
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl	67 FPS.	80 fps
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare	98 FP.	110 FPS.
Crysis	35 FPS.	42 FPS.

Based on the results above, we can conclude: when the GeForce GTX 260 is accelerated, it does not give high productivity in benchmarks, although the games show an excellent performance increase, selected by the indicators to GTX 280, but whether it is the risk of overheating of the video card, to solve you.

P.S. In some modern games 2013-2017, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 2009 shows excellent performance! For example, in GTA 5 45 FPS on medium settings, 33 FPS in Skyrim on medium, 100 FPS in CS: GO on average, 40 FPS in DOTA 2 at maximum.