ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DirectCU II OC Review
Category : NVIDIA
Published by Marc Büchel on 30.05.13
Today the NDA regarding NVIDIAs new GeForce GTX 770 is ending. In this context ASUS was kind enough to provide us with a custom card and obviously, we've had to check what this thing is actually capable of. The GTX 770 is based on NVIDIA's GK104 chip, which is made from 3.54 billion transistors. In case of the GTX 770 there are eight SMX units activated. Overall one can expect this card to be faster than the GTX 680 and even the price tag should be interesting.



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On the following pages we will show you the strengths and weaknesses of the ASUS GTX 770 DirectCU II OC.


Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Technical Data / Specifications


With the ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DirectCU II OC you get a card which features a custom PCB as well as a custom cooler. The ASIC quality measured on our sample was 77.7 % which is high considering the average being at 73 % on the cards we had in our hands.
About ASIC quality:



ASUS is using the latest NVIDIA Kepler GK104-425-A2 chip, which is manufactured by TSMC using the latest 28 nanometer process technology. With the GeForce GTX 770 you get eight SMX units which results in 1'536 CUDA cores. Following the specs further, there are 128 TMUs, 32 ROPs, a 256 bit wide memory interface and 2 Gigabyte of GDDR5 memory, which is clocked at 7'000 MHz. In the end there is a memory bandwidth of 224.4 Gigabyte per second. Concerning the GPU's clock speeds it runs at a base clock of 1059 MHz and a boost clock of 1111 MHz. During our tests the highest boost clock we measured was 1149 MHz, which was the same as the average boost clock.

The GTX 770 also supports GPU Boost 2.0. The very first version of GPU Boost stopped overclocking the GPU when a certain power target was hit. This new second version of GPU Boost stops overclocking the card, when a certain temperature is being reached. This makes sense since the temperature is the bigger inhibitor than the power target in most cases. In this case the temperature target is 80 degrees Celsius. In other words, as long as the GPU runs at less than 80°C it will keep overclocking until the maximum frequency has been reached. This is why in our case the average boost clock was 38 MHz higher than the typical boost clock ASUS advertises.



nVidia GeForce

GeForce GTX Titan

GeForce GTX 780

ASUS GTX 770 DCU 2 OC

GeForce GTX 680

Chip GK110 GK110 GK104-425-A2 GK104
Process 28 nm 28 nm 28 nm 28 nm
Transistors 7.10 Billion 7.10 billion 3.54 billion 3.54 billion
GPU clock 837 MHz 863 MHz 1'059 MHz 1'006 MHz
GPU Boost clock 876 MHz 900 MHz 1'111 MHz 1'059 MHz
Memory 6'144 MB GDDR5 3'072 MB GDDR5 2'048 MB GDDR5 2'048 MB GDDR5
Memory clock 1'502 MHz (6'008 MHz) 1'502 MHz (6'008 MHz) 1'750 MHz (7'000 MHz) 1'502 MHz (6'008 MHz)
Memory interface 384 Bit 384 Bit 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory bandwidth 288'400 MB/s 288'400 MB/s 224'400 MB/s 192'300 MB/s
TMUs 224 192 128 128
Shader Cores 2'688 (14 SMX) 2'304 (12 SMX) 1'536 (8 SMX) 1'536 (8 SMX)
ROPs 48 48 32 32
Maximum board power 250 Watt 250 Watt 230 Watt 195 Watt
PCB Type Reference Design Reference Design Custom Design Reference Design
Lenght (PCB - Total) 27.0 - 27.0 cm 27.0 - 27.0 cm 27.0 - 27.0 cm 25.6 - 25.6 cm
Cooler NVIDIA Reference NVIDIA Reference ASUS Direct CU II NVIDIA Reference
MSRP $999 $649 $XXX $499


ASUS decided to equip the GeForce GTX 770 DirectCU II OC with their famous DirectCU II cooler. In this case you get three heatpipes which all have a diameter of eight millimeters. Soldered to the heatpipes you find the fin stack which es being provided with fresh air via two fans. Overall this version of the DirectCU II cooler was able to impress. In 2D the fans are inaudble and in 3D the card is still very silent.



A closer look at the PCB shows that ASUS equipped this card with a digital eight phase power design regardin the GPU. When it comes to the memory, you find an analog two phase design. Once more ASUS is using super allow chokes, which provide lower operating temperatures as well as a longer lifespan. 

Checking the voltage regulation chip we find a digital multi-phase buck controller ASP1212 from IR (International Rectifier). Furthermore there is an unidentified Richtek 2-phase PWM labelled 02=EL WON taking care of a stable current supply for the the memory.



The memory chips used are made by Samsung and carry the model number K4G20325FD-FC28. They are specified to run at 1'750 MHz (7'000 MHz effective).




Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Preview



   


   


   


   


Delivery

   


The card ships well bolstered in a foam made mold. Bundled with the graphics card there is a user guide, a driver CD that includes the overclocking tool GPU Tweak too and a power converter (2x6-Pin-PCIe to 1x8-Pin-PCIe). If you're looking for game vouchers or something like that you'll be disappointed, since there is absolutely nothing like this in the box.


Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Test Setup

Hardware

Mainboard
  • ASUS Maximus V Gene (BIOS 1604)
CPUs
  • Intel Core i7-3770K @ 4.0 GHz (Turbo On / HT On)
Memory
  • G.Skill RipjawsZ Dual Channel 4x4GB CL9-9-9-24-DDR3-1600 MHz
Graphic Cards (Driver)
  • nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN
  • nVidia GeForce GTX 780
  • ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC
  • nVidia GeForce GTX 770
  • nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI
  • nVidia GeForce GTX 680
  • nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI
  • nVidia GeForce GTX 670
  • nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI
  • AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition CF
  • AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
  • AMD Radeon HD 7970
Drivers
  • Windows 7 x64 (up to date)
  • NVIDIA ForceWare 320.18
  • AMD Catalyst 13.5 Beta2
  • Intel Chipset Driver 9.3.0.1026
Games and OS
  • Windows 7 x64 (Up to date on the 22/05/2013)
  • All games were up to date on the 22/05/2013)
HDD
  • OCZ Technology Octane 512 GB SSD
PSU
  • Seasonic Platinum SS-1000XP / 1000 Watts



Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

3DMark 11 Performance





 
Graphics Cards Score Graphics Score
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 15'687 19'411
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 14'918 18'303
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 14'256 16'676
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 13'064 14'742
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 12'784 14'177
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 11'565 12'291
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 10'518 10'887
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 10'265 10'561
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 9'972 9'924
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 9'712 9'855
AMD Radeon HD 7970 9'153 8'912
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 8'553 8'497
More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2


Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

3DMark - Fire Strike Performance





 
Graphics Cards Score Graphics Score
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 11'535 15'177
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 10'426 13'412
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 9'390 11'669
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 9'290 10'642
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 8'071 9'937
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 8'341 9'344
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 6'949 7'761
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 6'904 7'719
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 6'759 7'538
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 6'380 7'102
AMD Radeon HD 7970 6'476 7'063
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 5'712 6'231
More is better





3DMark - Fire Strike Extreme





 
Graphics Cards Score Graphics Score
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 6'160 6'905
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 5'456 6'092
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 4'927 5'400
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 4'737 4960
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 4'150 4'544
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 4'198 4'330
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 3'426 3'592
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3'432 3'549
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 3'343 3'497
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 3'125 3'245
AMD Radeon HD 7970 3'153 3'216
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 2'818 2'896
More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2


Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Unigine Heaven 4.0 Extreme Preset





Graphics Cards Graphics Score FPS
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 2'431 96.5
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 2'238 88.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 2'040 81.0
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 1'809 71.8
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 1'744 69.2
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 1'567 62.2
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 1'368 54.3
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 1'339 54.3
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 1'274 50.6
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 1'124 44.6
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 1'058 42.0
AMD Radeon HD 7970 1'024 40.6
More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2


Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

BattleField 3





High Preset, 1980x1080, 4xMSAA, Ultra, SSAO Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 135.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 114.2
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 107.6
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 99.4
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 95.4
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 93.2
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 79.4
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 79.4
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 77.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 72.4
AMD Radeon HD 7970 71.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 68.4
More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Borderlands 2





High Preset, 1980x1080, FXAA, no PhsyX, High Average FPS
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 137.4
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 134.6
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 134.2
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 133.4
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 132.4
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 129.2
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 123.4
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 121.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 120.0
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 115.6
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 113.8
AMD Radeon HD 7970 105.4
More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Bioshock Infinite





Graphics Cards FPS
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 162.70
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 160.33
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 152.08
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 128.40
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 126.96
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 111.74
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 107.32
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 105.89
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 99.50
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 99.20
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 92.17
AMD Radeon HD 7970 87.39
More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Crysis 3





High Preset, 1980x1080, 8xMSAA, Very High Average FPS
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 43.6
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 39.4
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 36.6
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 35.2
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 32.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 31.6
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 25.6
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 25.4
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 23.6
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 21.6
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 19.4
AMD Radeon HD 7970 17.8
More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Call of Duty Black Ops 2





High Preset, 1980x1080, 8xMSAA, High Average FPS
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 196.0
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 193.6
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 175.0
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 154.4
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 145.2
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 131.4
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 115.0
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 112.0
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 107.0
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 103.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 96.0
AMD Radeon HD 7970 94.0
More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

DIRT Showdown - Benchmark





High Preset, 1980x1080, 8xMSAA, Ultra Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 127.74
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 106.22
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 94.44
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 89.86
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 85.76
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 83.44
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 79.66
AMD Radeon HD 7970 72.66
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 70.28
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 69.37
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 66.58
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 58.08
More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Far Cry 3





High Preset, 1980x1080, 8xMSAA, Ultra Average FPS
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 71.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 65.0
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 60.6
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 56.6
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 55.4
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 51.6
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 40.4
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 39.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 36.4
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 33.0
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 33.0
AMD Radeon HD 7970 29.8
More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Max Payne 3





High Preset, 1980x1080, 8xMSAA, Very High Average FPS
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 72.2
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 66.2
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 65.6
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 57.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 53.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 52.6
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 40.4
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 39.4
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 37.2
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 36.6
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 34.4
AMD Radeon HD 7970 33.6
More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Sleeping Dogs - Benchmark





High Preset, 1980x1080, Extreme, High-Res Textures Average FPS
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 84.5
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 83.1
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 75.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 66.3
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 60.2
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 56.2
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 51.7
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 50.4
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 49.4
AMD Radeon HD 7970 47.1
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 45.0
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 39.5
More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim





High Preset, 1980x1080, 8xAA, Ultra Average FPS
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 132.9
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 132.0
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 131.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 131.2
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 130.8
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 116.4
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 114.4
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 112.4
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 109.8
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 106.2
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 98.6
AMD Radeon HD 7970 98.4
More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Metro: Last Light






Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Power Consumption





Power Consumption Idle* Watts
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI (non ref design) 69
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI (non ref design) 69
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 68
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (non ref design) 65
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 59
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 (non ref design) 57
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire (non ref design) 56
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 55
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 55
AMD Radeon HD 7970 54
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 52
*Entire system Less is better


Power Consumption Load (FurMark)* Watts
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire (non ref design) 473
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 380
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI (non ref design) 370
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI (non ref design) 363
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 315
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 292
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (non ref design) 262
AMD Radeon HD 7970 238
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 224
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 220
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 (non ref design) 210
*Entire system Less is better


Difference Idle/LoadDifférence Idle/Charge Watts
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire (non ref design) 417
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 312
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI (non ref design) 301
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI (non ref design) 294
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 260
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 240
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (non ref design) 197
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 165
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 165
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 (non ref design) 153
AMD Radeon HD 7970 184
  More is better






Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Fan Speed / Noise Level


Fan Speed




Noise Level




For the noise level results, we measured the noise level using a decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) located at 1 meter away from the graphics card.


Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Idle / FurMark / BF3


Idle Temperature



Idle, temperature is taken after 15 minutes @ 30 %, 50 % and 100 % fan speed.
Room Temperature: 25°C

Temperature under Furmark



For FurMark, temperature is taken after 15 minutes of GPU Burn test @ 30 %, 50 % and 100 % fan speed.
We stopped the test when the GPU temperature hit 90°C.
Room Temperature: 25°C

Temperature and fan speed under BattleField 3



For BattleField 3, temperature and fan speed values taken, are the highest achieved after 1 hour gaming @ auto fan speed.


Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Performance/Watt



Graphics Cards Performance Index Power C. (Watts)* Performance/Watt*10
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 76.66 224 3.42
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 71.30 220 3.24
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 (non ref design) 65.56 210 3.12
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 87.78 292 3.01
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 94.13 315 2.99
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 111.58 380 2.94
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI (non ref design) 103.55 370 2.80
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (non ref design) 72.91 262 2.78
AMD Radeon HD 7970 65.80 238 2.76
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI (non ref design) 93.67 363 2.58
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire (non ref design) 111.44 473 2.36
*Entire system More is better Less is better More is better


The "Performance Index" value is calculated as the sum of all benchmarks results divided by the amount of games (3DMark and Ungine not included into the calculation).

Performance/Price



Graphics Cards Performance Index Price (€) Performance/€*10
ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DC2 OC 76.66    
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 75.33    
AMD Radeon HD 7970 65.80 243 2.71
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 65.56 278 2.36
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 72.91 345 2.11
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti SLI 93.67 452 2.07
nVidia GeForce GTX 670 SLI 103.55 556 1.86
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 71.30 385 1.85
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Ed. CrossFire 111.44 690 1.62
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 87.78 590 1.49
nVidia GeForce GTX 680 SLI 111.58 770 1.45
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN 94.13 890 1.06
More is better Less is better More is better


For the price we took the lowest price available on geizhals.eu, on the day the review has been published.


Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]

Conclusion


General + -
ASUS’ brand new GeForce GTX 770 DirectCU II OC is a really nice piece of hardware. This custom card is not only quite a bit quicker than the GTX 680 it also comes at a interesting price point and the DirectCU II cooler makes it silent. It's just a pity there there are no games in the bundle when you buy an ASUS OC card these days. Apart from that this thing is excellent.   - Performance
- Cooling
 
       
Cooling / Noise Level   + -
GPU Temperatures were good with a maximum of 80°C under heavy FurMark load with the fans locked at 30 % fan speed. The DirectCU II cooler is really a good and powerful piece of hardware. In Idle the noise level is inaudible, and when there is heavy load applied the fans are still very silent. Overall this custom cooler was able to convince us and we definitely like it.   - inaudible in 2D
- Very silent in 3D
 
       
Performance   + -
A closer look at overall performance shows that the GTX 770 DirectCU II OC is 9 % faster on average in games than its predecessor, the GTX 680. 
Taking a look at the clock speed shows that this card clocks at 1149 MHz on average, when applying heavy 3D loads. At this point one can really see GPU Boost 2.0 doing it's job, since it always tries to get the maximum clock speeds out of the card, without overstepping the 80°C temperature target. 
A closer look at power consumption shows, that our test system, equipped with the GTX 770 DirectCU II OC, burns 59 Watts under idle conditions and 224 Watts under load. Compared to the reference GTX 680 this is only a mere four watts more in both cases.
  - Performance/Watt
- Power consumption under load
- Power Consumption in idle
       
Recommendation / Price   + -
Should you be looking for a seriously quick graphics card with an excellent cooler, then the GTX 770 DirectCU II OC from ASUS is a great choice. Sure, there is there are faster cards out there but this one even comes with a competitive price tag. In fact, NVIDIA is able to offer more frames per buck then AMD does with the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition.   - High-End Gaming  
 
We gave the GTX 770 DirectCU II OC from ASUS the very good 4.5 out of 5 stars.
 





Page 1 - Introduction Page 13 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - Technical Data / Specifications Page 14 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Preview & Delivery Page 15 - Max Payne 3
Page 4 - Test Setup Page 16 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 5 - 3DMark 11 Page 17 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 6 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 18 - Metro: Last Light
Page 7 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 19 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - BattleField 3 Page 20 - Fan Speed / Noise Level
Page 9 - Borderlands 2 Page 21 - Temps - Idle / FurMark / BF3
Page 10 - Bioshock Infinite Page 22 - Performance/Price & Performance/Watt
Page 11 - Crysis 3 Page 23 - Conclusion
Page 12 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2



Discuss this article in the forums


Author: Marc Buechel (rewarder) m.buechel@ocaholic.ch