NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Review

The latest member of the GeForce graphics card family is here – the GTX780 3GB GDDR5. Join us as we put the first 700 series NVIDIA GPU through its paces.

Product on Review: GeForce GTX 780 3GB GDDR5
Manufacturer and Sponsor: NVIDIA
Price: £549.99

With AMD driver enhancements, the HD7970 had stolen back the performance crown from the GTX 680. That was until the advent of the extraordinary NVIDIA GTX TITAN. The GTX TITAN was however out of many enthusiasts reach because matching that extra ordinary performance was an extra ordinary price. Performance enthusiasts were left with a very difficult choice, save the pennies and look on with envy or go for broke (literally) and stump up the £900 it costs to pay for the TITAN. NVIDIA have never been a company to leave a market untapped though and to plug the gap between the GTX680 and the GTX TITAN we today sample the GTX 780, a new member to the GeForce family.

Based on the same GK110 core found on the formidable NVIDIA GTX TITAN, the GTX780 is the latest high end card from NVIDIA to hit the market. As with all new graphics cards expected to hit the market, the rumors run rife, some with surprisingly accurate information, others less so. We can confirm today that the card has 3GB of GDDR5, 50% more CUDA cores than the GTX680 and encompasses a 384-bit memory controller. This equates to a 34% increase in performance over the GTX680 and a whopping 70% over the GTX580 (source: NVIDIA).

For the overclockers, you will be happy to hear that the GTX780 utilises GPU Boost 2.0 complete with overvoltage unlocking. GPU BOOST 2.0 changes it’s restrictions away from power vs. clockspeed to temp vs. clockspeed so instead of a defined power target determining the GPU clockspeed, overclocking is now dependent on a defined temperature target. This makes cooling even more important and thankfully NVIDIA have this covered with the same cooling taken from the GTX TITAN – high performing yet whisper quiet.

About NVIDIA

Founded in 1993, NVIDIA has continuously reinvented itself to delight users and shape the industry. From our beginnings in PC graphics, we expanded into professional graphics to become the standard bearer in visual computing. We later harnessed the parallel computing capabilities of the GPU to advance high-performance computing. Our move into mobile put us at the center of one of the industry’s fastest-growing segments. With the invention of the virtual GPU, we’re accelerating cloud computing for consumers and enterprises.

Specification

As you can see from the specifications above, the GTX780 has an increase of SMXs over the GTX680 from 8 to 12, 2 less that of the GTX TITANs 14 SMXs (1 less than the ‘full fat’ 15 (5×3) available on GK110). We also see a 50% increase in CUDA cores over the GTX680 to 2304 which sees the texture unit total rise to 192. Raster Operations are also enhanced by a third to 48, again matching the GTX TITAN. Interestingly the GTX780 is clocked slightly higher than the GTX TITAN but this isn’t quite enough to enable the GTX780 to match the TITANs 187.5 GT/s count although 165.7 GT/s is well above the GTX680’s 128.8.

The GTX780 also ‘makes do’ with half the memory of the GTX TITAN but still 1GB more than the GTX680. The good news however is that the GTX780 has inherited the 384-bit memory interface (6x64bit) which gives the GTX780 a healthy memory bandwidth of 288.4 GB/s.

The architecture of the NVIDIA GTX GTX780 core; the GK110, is an evolution of the GTX680’s GK104 Kepler core but is trimmed back from the GTX TITAN’s GK110, losing 2xSMX. So doing the math 2688-384 = 2304 Cuda Cores. All cores are based on Kepler architecture and all are built upon the 28nm ASIC. However the GK110 features 7.1 billion transistors compared to the 3.54 billion found in the GTX680 and the 4.4 billion of the AMD HD7970.

Above we can see a breakdown of an individual SMX. We were happy to see NVIDIA increasing the memory size to 3GB of GDDR5 along with the 384-bit memory controller. This gives a healthy boost over the 2GB found on the GTX680. 3GB is plenty for todays gaming however with games becomming increasingly demanding, we would have liked to have seen 4GB of GDDR5 which would have positioned the GTX780 neatly between the outgoing and flagship models.

GPU Boost 2.0

GPU Boost caused a bit of a stir when it was first introduced because it did away with the traditional ‘absolute’ method of dictating MHz. Rather it worked by overclocking the card by different means. To achieve an overclock using GPU Boost, one increased the MHz and Voltage as per usual however the card would then ‘Boost’ when placed under load. So rather than having a fixed clockpseed, the GPU adjusts the clockspeed depending on load, ensuring the power is there when you need it rather than it being full on all of the time, thus saving power consumption and heat production by having the card overclock dynamically.

GPU Boost 2.0 is an evolution of this idea. The techs at NVIDIA have determined that GPU power was unnecessarily limiting performance when GPU temperatures was low. Instead of boosting GPU performance based on a power target, it is now based upon temperature with this temperature threshold being 80 degrees Celsius.

Because the boosting is now determined by temperature, noise levels are also reduced as NVIDIA claim the GTX TITAN delivers a better acoustic profile.

So to summarise, overclocking the card using GPU boost 2.0 means adjusting the temperature threshold, for example from 80c to 85c. The GPU clockspeed will then gradually increase until it reaches this new temperature and will be dynamically adjusted on-the-fly to stay within this threshold. Because of this it is much more difficult to claim one GPU is faster than another without having both working under precisely the same operating conditions.

It therefore should go without saying (but we will say it anyway) that the colder your card runs, the faster it should theoretically operate as a colder card allows overvolting and thus even higher clockspeeds.

GPU Boost 2.0 also features overvoltage control. NVIDIA make no bones that enabling this function will damage the long term operability of the graphics card and as with AMD’s overdrive, you have to acknowledge this fact before you can unlock the cards voltage control. We applaud NVIDIA for this because they have acknowledged that enthusiasts, like us here at Vortez, like to push hardware to the max and without voltage control, the whole process becomes so much more uninteresting and much more difficult.

So, because GTX780’s boost clock and voltage level are now tied to the GPU’s temperature, the voltage can be dialled higher which in turn will allow the GPU to attain higher clockspeed values. Obviously, increasingly board voltage, as with most other products, will gradually degrade the GPU through electron migration causing a premature death of the GPU. Voltage support will be offered on a board partner by partner basis however, we would be extremely surprised if it wasn’t enabled in every GTX780’s VBIOS.

We will see how GPU Boost 2.0 performs in our overclocking section later in the review.

GeForce Experience

GeForce Experience is a new application from NVIDIA that optimizes your PC in two key ways. First, it maximizes your game performance and game compatibility by automatically downloading the latest GeForce Game Ready drivers. Second, GeForce Experience intelligently optimizes graphics settings for all your favorite games based on your hardware configuration.

Some enthusiasts will view (excuse the pun) altering settings to get the very best from a game one of the ‘fun’ elements of owning a powerful graphics card. Others just want to play their game of choice without the endless testing and benchmarking to determine what settings work best. Many don’t have the inclination or indeed the time to learn what effect each setting has upon the games visual elements.It soon becomes a bind when upon a new driver release those settings which were great before can be bettered (or lowered) for a better gaming experience. FXAA, TSAA, MMAA or simply AA. Low, medium, high, ultra texture settings along with overall visual settings can be all too confusing when configuring a games visuals and while it would be easy to just crank everything up to maximum and hoping for the best, this all too often results in choppy, unplayable gaming ruining the gaming experience.

NVIDIA’s GeForce Experience removes much of the guess work when configuring a game thereby giving users the means to jump straight into the game with the best optimised settings for there hardware.

This handy utility will also keep your GPU updated with the latest driver that can be set to automatically download, ready to be installed as soon as they are available and also it gives you access to the beta drivers.

How does it work?
GeForce experience requires an internet connection which, once connected to the NVIDIA Cloud datacenter will download optimal game settings that are tailored to your PC based upon CPU, GPU and monitor resolution.

Low end hardware will have the visuals reduced to improve framerates while high end hardware will inevitably have higher settings assigned. This is all done with a click of a button which ensures that the game not only looks great but perhaps more importantly, plays smoothly.

Testing of the settings are done by NVIDIA themselves who benchmark the game, set a framerate target to ensure smooth gameplay then adjust the settings to ensure both framerate and smooth gameplay are optimised.

In our own tests, the utility worked well and is great for those who want to jump straight into the game with the minimal of fuss and furore of adjusting GPU settings.

Our one complaint is that the supported games list requires expanding. While most of the popular games are supported, many, especially some older but very popular titles are not.

First Look

GTX780 or GTX TITAN? We wondered the same as the cooler is near identical to the flagship card save for the GTX780 instead of TITAN moniker at the end of the card. This is no bad thing though because we loved the TITAN cooler so our feelings are mirroed with the GTX780 aesthetics being the best looking reference cooler to date. We don’t know at present whether board partners will be utilising their own cooling designs however, we would advise against it as the reference design is more than sufficient both in terms of looks and performance.

Sadly, the back of the card also mirrors the TITAN in that there is no backplate protection. While this isn’t uncommon with the majority of today’s GPU’s, we do like high end cards to have that ‘little extra’, especially given the cost. The black PCB is attractive enough but we prefer a matt finish over glossy. A minor point for sure and certainly a matter of personal preference.

The shroud appears to be aluminium and given the weight of the card you would be forgiven for thinking so however it is actually plastic. The cooler is a 3 part design with an acrylic window, plastic shroud attached via Allen screws to an aluminium mid plate. The window is a neat addition as it allows the users to see how dirty the aluminium finned cooling array beneath is getting after a period of time and thus when it requires cleaning.

Like the GTX Titan, the side of the card will illuminate in bright green ‘GeForce GTX’ when powered. We do like this little feature of the card however, it would also be good to be able to turn off the illumination as green may not be to everyone’s PC case colour scheme.

Measuring 267x100x39mm, the GTX 780 is half an inch longer than a GTX680, matching the GTX TITAN in length while a little smaller than an AMD HD7970.

Closer Look

The fan is located towards the front of the card which draws air in and pushes the cool air over the heatsink, out towards the GPU vent at the I/O end of the card. We were thoroughly impressed with the GTX TITAN’s acoustics so we see no reason, being that this cooler is identical, why this card should be any different.

The I/O area features a standard set of connections including DVI-I, DVI-D, HDMI and a DisplayPort. This is totally adequate however, we would perhaps also like to see a mini-dp as with many AMD cards on the market.

It should could as no surprise that the GTX780 is fully SLI capable having dual SLI tabs. Up to four cards can be linked for some quad SLI action. Only those with multiple monitors making use of NVIDIA Surround would likely see any benefit from such a monster setup. 2 or 3 cards would be the most efficient multi card setup for a single, large display.

The GTX780 utilises a 8+6pin design which thankfully has reverted to a horizontal configuration from the odd vertical designs seen with the GTX680. NVIDIA recommend a PSU capable of 600W to power this card.

Overall, we love the design of the GTX780. GTX TITAN users will not be happy though as the design mirrors that of the flagship card especially from a side view; the two GPUs looking near identical. While it is admirable of NVIDIA to use the same cooler as the flagship offering, we can’t help but feel sympathy for TITAN users who spent so much on a card that is likely to become indistinguishable from the new range of NVIDIA high end GPU’s. Perhaps a different colour or changing the side illumination to separate the look of each card in the family would have been a better road to go down. We can however see the merits of using identical coolers across the range to keep manufacturing costs to a minimum. Just don’t tell that to someone who bought a TITAN!

Let’s take a look a closer, more detailed look at today’s review sample…

Detailed Look

As with the GTX TITAN, NVIDIA have take the strange choice of utilising both Phillips and Torx (Star) key screws. You will therefore need both to remove the cooler from the PCB. You will also need a further two different sized Allen keys should you wish to clean the insides of the cooling design which negates the point of having a window. Surely it would make more sense to make it easy to clean the cooler by using a simple design rather than the complex configuration NVIDIA have opted for. Thankfully, we had the required tools to remove the cooler which is unsurprisingly, identical to the GTX TITAN design beneath as well as atop.

The design comprises of a finned array welded to a nickel plated copper vapor chamber. This design is extremely efficient and because it is a fully enclosed unit, all of the hot air is pumped out of the exhaust, outside of the case at the rear. The vapor chamber is framed by the black aluminium baseplate which makes direct contact to both the memory chips and VRM areas.

We have stated thus far that the design of the GTX780 is near identical to the GTX TITAN. What we didn’t expect was the PCB design to continue this trend. Both the GTX780 and GTX TITAN are identical! The IC’s, VRM, memory, everything apart from the core itself matches that of the GTX TITAN.

The PCB itself is of course black which we like here at Vortez. Everything is where you would expect to find it with the GPU core being framed by 12 memory chips and the VRM being closest to the power inputs. Interestingly there is a ‘spare’ 8pin power block which is redundant on this model but perhaps gives the option to board partners making exclusive editions?

The VRM is made up of a 6+2 design as opposed to the GTX680’s 4+2. The 6 main phases are dedicated to the GPU which may seem a little low for the overclockers but as we will see later in the review, this didn’t seem to affect our overclocking efforts. The power phase is controlled by the ON Semiconductor NCP4206 controller which we have seen a few times previously on other GPU’s and uses the Texas Instruments INA3221 which is a three-channel, high-side current and bus voltage monitor with an I2C interface.

The memory IC’s carry the model number K4G20325F0-FC03 and hail from Samsung and are specified to run at 1500MHz (6000Mhz effective).

As stated previously, the core is essentially the same GK110 used in the TITAN with a couple of SMX’s disabled. Interestingly, the GTX780 core is labled GK110-300-A1 as opposed to the GK110-400-A1 found on the GTX TITAN. We suspect the additional 2 SMX’s found on the GTX TITAN are physically disabled on the GTX780 because of the core name change which will allow a higher yield rather than being locked simply by vBIOS but cannot confirm this at this time.

Test Setup

How we test graphics cards

Testing a graphics card is an extremely lengthy process. We sometimes see reviews where a graphic card has been tested using out of date equipment, out of date games and out of date drivers. While the latter can be excused due to the sheer amount of driver updates making a thorough review impossible we will however notify the reader when we have used a different driver to the normal for example a pre-release driver. For the most part however we will always use the same hardware and where possible the same drivers unless a newer driver rectifies an issue we have encountered or significantly improves performance to such an extent that continuing with an outdated driver is not feasible.

We have also seen the emergence of frame time analysis. We covered this in a separate article here: GPU Reviews: Why Frame Time Analysis is important so we won’t go into the reasoning again but to summarise, our testing comprises both FPS testing and perhaps arguably more importantly, frame time analysis. We also look at overall performance by equating averages across the games and finally before concluding our review we take a look at value for money.

HardwareWith the latest Intel chipset release we decided to update our ageing X58 setup to the new X79 chipset. Not only that but we will be using the flagship Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition processor clocked to 4.5GHz to ensure we have no CPU bottlenecks. With 16GB of ram on board there should be minimal paging so the benchmarks we run today will hopefully give a true reflection of the graphics card’s performance.

High End Graphics cards on test:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 3GB GDDR5
(Forceware 320.18) *New Release Driver*
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 4GB GDDR5 (Forceware 314.22)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN 6GB GDDR5 (Forceware 314.22)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN SLI 12GB(2x6GB) GDDR5 (Forceware 314.22)
NVIDIA GTX680 2GB GDDR5 (Forceware 314.22)
AMD HD7970 3GB GDDR5 (AMD CAT 13.3 beta)

Motherboard: ASUS P9X79 Pro
CPU: Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition @ 4.5GHz
RAM – 16GB (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance (Red) DDR3 @ 1866MHz 9-10-9-27
Power Supply – Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W
Hard Drive – Kingston HyperX 240GB
Cooler – Corsair H100

Benchmarks
If you are a regular reader of our reviews you will know we like to test the latest hardware with the latest games and benchmarks on the market. Here are the games we have chosen:

Battlefield 3
Crysis 3
Far Cry 3
BioShock Infinite
DiRT: Showdown
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

We also take into consideration the benchmarkers out there so have included 3 of the more popular synthetic benchmarks available:

Unigine: Valley
Unigine: Heaven 4
Futuremark 3DMark Firestrike

Let’s see how today’s graphics card performed…

Temperature, Acoustics and Power Consumption

Power Consumption

To test for power consumption we use the included iPower Meter found with our Thortech PSU. As system load figures obviously differ from idle it is extremely difficult to get an accurate figure of system draw and then simply take this figure away from the overall amount because each game will generate varying levels of CPU and hard drive activity. Dynamic power adjustments which fluctuate in game will also affect accurate power figures thus rendering any such power consumption calculations redundant at worst and approximate at best.

We will therefore take our system readings averaged over a benchmark run of Tessmark (100% load) and after 20 minutes of being idle in Windows 7. These can then be used as a comparison to other graphics cards to determine how much more or less power you can expect a GPU to consume.

The NVIDIA GTX 780 consumes a little more power than the card it replaces (GTX680) and around the same as it’s nearest competitor, the AMD HD7970.

Temperature

To test temperatures we measured idle temperatures after booting windows, letting all applications finish loading and ran a few benchmarks. Once the benchmarks were complete we left the card to reach a cooling plateau where we then took the idle temperatures. For the load tests, we would normally run Furmark for 20 minutes, taking the absolute maximum temperature attained however we found that this throttled the card and resulted in spurious results. So we set Heaven running continuously for 20 minutes and used this as a temperature result as the card did not throttle with this application.

We were surprised at the temperature of the GTX780 because despite the GTX TITAN being more powerful, the GTX780 ran hotter. Some of this extra heat could however be attributed to the slightly higher clockspeed of the GTX 780.

Acoustics

As with the GTX TITAN, we were very impressed with NVIDIA’s new cooling design. For anyone familiar with the Previous GTX 6XX reference GPU coolers, you will be happy to hear that the noise has been reduced to little more than a murmur under normal operating conditions and is unlikely to be heard above normal case fans. adjusting the fan speed profile decreases fan noise further but fan speed will obviously depend greatly on your case operating temperature as to which speed gives the greatest balance of cooling vs. acoustics.

Overclocking (GPU BOOST 2.0)

For overclocking our NVIDIA cards we will be using EVGA’s Precision too (ver 4.0) as this gives us all of the options we require.

Above is a screenshot of GPU-Z showing the reference speeds and reference boost clocks

Above is a screenshot of the actual overclock we achieved via Precision. A very impressive 237MHz increase resulting in an effective (and 100% stable) GPU Boost speed of 1201MHz. The memory also received a healthy 100MHz clock increase equating to an effective 6408Mhz GDDR5.

This is a fantastic result by any standards and goes some way to proving GPU BOOST 2.0 is an excellent method for overclocking, especially if you forgo the pop-up warning (above) that displays when unlocking the voltage adjustment increases which are very small, just 13, 25 or 38mv over stock being available.

After settling on our stable clockspeed which was verified by multiple runs of Unigine Heaven and 3DMark we benchmarked the overclock and compared it to stock results with Unigine Heaven 4.0. As you can see, this overclock gave our Heaven 4.0 score a sizeable boost by almost 500 points.

Futuremark 3DMark Fire Strike (Synthetic)

Fire Strike is the new showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for high-performance gaming PCs. It is Futuremark’s most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today.

Unigine: Valley (Synthetic)

Valley Benchmark is a new GPU stress-testing tool from the developers of the very popular and highly acclaimed Heaven Benchmark. The forest-covered valley surrounded by vast mountains amazes with its scale from a bird’s-eye view and is extremely detailed down to every leaf and flower petal. This non-synthetic benchmark powered by the state-of-the art UNIGINE Engine showcases a comprehensive set of cutting-edge graphics technologies with a dynamic environment and fully interactive modes available to the end user.

Unigine: Heaven 4 (Synthetic)

Heaven Benchmark with its current version 4.0 is a GPU-intensive benchmark that hammers graphics cards to the limits. This powerful tool can be effectively used to determine the stability of a GPU under extremely stressful conditions, as well as check the cooling system’s potential under maximum heat output. It provides completely unbiased results and generates true in-game rendering workloads across all platforms.

Battlefield 3 (FPS)

Battlefield 3 leaps ahead of its time with the power of Frostbite™ 2, the next installment of DICE’s cutting-edge game engine. This state-of-the-art technology is the foundation on which Battlefield 3 is built, delivering enhanced visual quality, a grand sense of scale, massive destruction, dynamic audio and incredibly lifelike character animations. As bullets whiz by, walls crumble, and explosions throw you to the ground, the battlefield feels more alive and interactive than ever before. In Battlefield 3, players step into the role of the elite U.S. Marines where they will experience heart-pounding missions across diverse locations including Paris, Tehran and New York.

Average and minimum frames per second were measured using Fraps during the parking lot scene on Operation Sword Breaker. High and Ultra presets were loaded at both resolutions.

Crysis 3 (FPS)

Crysis 3 from Electronic Arts is the fourth instalment of the Crysis franchise and sequel to Crysis 2. It uses the CryEngine 3 gaming engine which is perhaps the most advanced gaming engine to date and therefore the most demanding. The meme ‘Can it run Crysis’ has never been so apparent…

Far Cry 3 (FPS)

Far Cry 3 is a tropical survival shooter video game from Ubisoft Montreal and Massive studios. It’s open world design has similar traits to it’s forbear Far Cry 2 but it does it all so much better. With stunning visuals and settings to bring a PC to it’s knee’s, this game is so much more than the ‘just another console port’ it was reported to be.

BioShock Infinite (FPS)

Set in 1912 during the growth of American exceptionalism, BioShock Infinite is a thrid person shooter developed by Irrational games and published by 2K Games. It is the third instalment of the BioShock franchise. the game utilises the Unreal Engine 3, modifying it with their own lighting engine to present a visually stunning experience like no other.

DiRT: Showdown (FPS)

DiRT Showdown is the new arcade racing game from the team that brought you the award-winning DiRT series, uncaged in 2012. Pick up and play controls combine with electrifying events, frenzied crowds and stunning graphics to deliver high octane, dive in and drive thrills from event one.

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (FPS)

Skyrim is not a direct successor to the very popular Oblivion. Instead it takes place 200 years after the events of Oblivion. The non-linear playing that made the Elder Scrolls such a popular series does however make a return along with the beautiful scenery the encompasses the world of Skyrim.

Average and minimum frames per second were measured using Fraps during the drop down passage to Riverwood. V-sync was disabled to allow fluctuating (higher the 60) FPS for these runs. It is however recommended that v-sync is left enabled during normal gameplay due to the games dynamics.

Overall Performance (FPS)

We make a simple calculation for this set of results. For each game we add all of the resulting FPS totals together and then divide by the four sets to give us an overall performance figure. While the figures alone do not give you an accurate picture of how the card will perform in any given scenario, they do tell you, when averaged, which GPU is the more capable across all of the benchmarks and settings tested.

Value For Money

For those on a budget, this is perhaps the most important section of a graphics card review. For everyone else it will certainly make you think twice before calling the bank manager for an overdraft request. We calculate Value for money by taking the cost of the product and then dividing that figure by the overall performance figure which gives us a result in the guise of £ per frame – in effect how much every frame per second will cost you.

Gaming Experience (Frame Time Analysis)

Gaming experience is what we like to refer to as the Laymans term for Frame Time analysis. Frame time analysis is in its most basic sense how smooth your gameplay will be. Ever had a powerful card rendering at 100FPS with ease for it to stall for a split second before resuming? This is what Frame Time Analysis shows us: The peaks during an otherwise smooth gaming experience. This is presented to you in two ways, by showing you a line graph of a 60 second FTA capture using FRAPS and then by deducing the average and 99th percentile response times.

Some claim this should be the way graphics cards are tested and we won’t argue here because there is little point in having a card which churns out an average 100FPS if it has micro stutters lasting 50ms (GPU response time) which spoils the fluidity of the game.

Comment

The graphs above may appear very daunting however, what you want to see is a smooth line (not fuzzy) with very few peaks and troughs. While you are unlikely to notice peaks and troughs below 30ms, any peak above 30ms may be seen as a stutter during gameplay. This will however depend greatly on your own perceptions. Take the Battlefield 3 result as an example. The GTX690’s frame times are very irregular whereas the GTX780 is a lot more linear. Ergo the GTX780 would likely give the gamer a smoother gaming experience, especially if the GTX690 spikes were above the 30ms threshold. As it stands, you would be unlikely to notice the fluctuating latency of the GTX690 because of the sheer speed of the card.

Average and 99th Percentile response times (Frame Time Analysis)

Here we take a look at both average (black) and 99th Percentile (coloured) response times of the graphics cards. It is highly unlikely a user will notice any micro stutter (also incorrectly referred to as lag but the effect can be interpreted to be similar) at anything below 30ms but every gamers perception differs.

Comment

NVIDIA have clearly made some driver improvements with regard to performance in terms of gameplay ‘smoothness’ as the GTX780 exceeds that of both the GTX TITAN and GTX690! This is just one example of where frame time latency should be taken into account when making a purchase decision, not just raw FPS because where the GTX TITAN and GTX 690 are perceived to be faster in raw frames per second, the GTX 780 will give smoother game play in a number of popular gaming titles

Conclusion

GTX TITAN in disguise? You would be right to think so. While the GTX780 does have some fat trimmed from it, losing 2 SMX it is much closer to the GTX TITAN than the GTX 680 GPU it replaces both in terms of aesthetics and performance. We have continually compared the GTX780 to the GTX TITAN rather than the GTX680 it replaces throughout this review for this very reason. We have sympathy for those who broke the bank to pay for the GTX TITAN when a short time later a card with a small performance drop but £300 saving hits the scene. The GTX TITAN is STILL the fastest single core card available right now though so there is still exclusivity in that model but the cost of the flagship GTX TITAN became that little bit harder to justify.

At £550 the GTX780 is certainly not cheap, far from it costing over £150 more than the outgoing GTX 680 did a little more than 12 months ago. Is this justified? We don’t think so. Yes it looks great, yes it performs brilliantly, even more so when overclocked but even with the usual NVIDIA premium, £550 is a bitter pill to swallow. We could understand NVIDIA charging a premium for the GTX TITAN as it is an exclusive, premium card, created for the ‘ultra enthusiast’ market. The GTX780 we would like to think, is the workhorse of the family. The high end card that is within us mere mortals grasp. Sadly, if the current price hike every year is to continue, it won’t be long before the high end ‘family’ GPU’s are out of reach never mind the ‘exclusive’ graphics cards.

In terms of cost vs. performance it does bridge the gap between the GTX 680 and the GTX TITAN and to further the GTX780’s defence, the cost is closer to a GTX680 while performance is closer to a GTX TITAN so with that in mind, it’s not all bad news. It certainly offers much better ‘bang per buck’ when compared to the GTX TITAN and GTX690. How much you value that performance will depend greatly on how affluent you are and perhaps how forgiving your other half is!

Giving the GTX780 our Gold award was a difficult decision. On the one hand it has astonishing performance but, as we have repeatedly suggested, this performance comes at great cost. Were the price to match that of the outgoing GTX680 the GTX780 could well have been a platinum winner as it is truly a fantastic card however, because of the price hike we feel justified in knocking this down to a Gold. Many will complain that it doesn’t deserve Gold either because of the cost but when you factor in the cost vs. performance of the current GTX680 and also include the GTX TITAN and GTX 690 models in the same formulae, the GTX780 strikes a fair medium.

To summarise:
The GTX 780 is a formidable GPU. It surpassed our expectations in respect to raw power and while the cost will be an issue for many, those who can afford such a luxury will be impressed by everything this card possesses be it overclocking prowess, aesthetics, acoustics or simply its awesome performance.

Pros
+ Fantastic overclocking ability
+ Great performance
+ Sublime aesthetics
+ Low-noise

Cons
– Expensive for a ‘second best’ GPU