nVidia GeForce GTX260 mit 216 Shader
Category : NVIDIA
Published by Jean-Luc Hadey on 20.10.08
The revised GeForce GTX260 come with the same name like it's predecessor. The only difference one can find isa higher number of activated shader processors. Therefore the new card supports 216 shaders whereas the old supported 192.
EVGAs GTX260 Core 216 is a very slightly overworked GTX260 which should now be able to conquer AMD/ATIs Radeon HD 4870. The card still is 1.4 billion transistors heavy and totally there are 216 activated shader processors and 72 texture units. Also nVidia didn't touch the clock speed of the reference design. It still is 576 MHz. Even with the memory interface it's the same. It is 448 bit wide and is supported by 896 MBytes of GDDR3 memory. Furthermore it does a raw throughput of 111888 GByte/s.
Our review will show if nVidia succeeds in outperforming AMD/ATIs Radeon HD 4870.
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Specifications
| nVidia GeForce GTX260 216 Shader | nVidia GeForce GTX260 | nVidia GeForce GTX280 | Radeon HD 4870 | |
| Chip | G200 | G200 | G200 | RV770 XT |
| Clock | 576 MHz | 576 MHz | 602 MHz | 750 MHz |
| Process | 65 nm | 65 nm | 65 nm | 55 nm |
| Transitors | ca. 1.4 Mia. | ca. 1.4 Mia. | ca. 1.4 Mia. | ca. 956 Mio. |
| Memory clock | 999 MHz | 999 MHz | 1107 MHz | 1800 MHz |
| Memory | 896 MByte GDDR3 | 896 MByte GDDR3 | 1024 MByte GDDR3 | 512 MByte GDDR5 |
| Memory interface | 448 Bit | 448 Bit | 512 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory bandwidth | 111888 MB/s | 111888 MB/s | 141696 MB/s | 115200 MB/s |
| Shader units | 216 (1D) | 192 (1D) | 240 (1D) | 160 (5D) |
| ROPs | 28 | 28 | 32 | 16 |
| FLOPs | 805 GFLOPs | 715 GFLOPs | 933 GFLOPs | 1200 GFLOPs |
| Shader clock | 1242 MHz | 1242 MHz | 1296 MHz | 750 MHz |
| TAUs | 72 | 64 | 80 | 40 |
| TMUs | 72 | 64 | 80 | 40 |
| Shader model | SM 4 | SM 4 | SM 4 | SM 4.1 |
| Multi GPU | SLI | SLI | SLI | CrossfireX |
| Interface | PCIe | PCIe | PCIe | PCIe |
The EVGA model is based on nVdias reference design. To cool GPU, memory and voltage converters a dual-slot cooling solution is used which has two heatpipes and a 70 mm radial fan.
The card has a lenght of 28 cm and is therefore as long as it's bigger sister GTX 280. According to this complications when one installs the card in a small case can't be excluded.
Integrated into the slot plate one finds two Dual-Link DVI-I and a HDTV-7 connector. Vainly one is looking for a HDMI connector.
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Testsystem/Benchmarking
| Hardware | |
| Mainboard | Asus P5E3 Premium: Einzelkarte und Crossfire Asus Striker II Extreme 790i Ultra: SLI |
| CPU | Intel QuadCore Q9650, 3.00GHz |
| Speicher | DDR3: Corsair XMS3 Dominator 1800 MHz 7-7-7-20 |
| Grafikkarten ATI-Radeon | ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2x1024 MB GDDR5 ATI Radeon HD 4870 512 MB GDDR5 |
| Grafikkarten Nvidia | nVidia GTX280 1024 MB GDDR3 nVidia GTX260² 896 MB GDDR3 nVidia GTX260 896 MB GDDR3 |
| Festplatte | Western Digital 160GB RE16 |
| Netzteil | Corsair 1000 Watt |
| Software | |
| Betriebssystem | Windows VISTA Home Premium 64Bit SP1 |
| Grafiktreiber | Nvidia ForceWare 178.13 ATI Catalyst 8.9 mit CCC |
| Benchmarks:
| 3DMark Vantage |
| 3DMark 06 v1.1.0 | |
| F.E.A.R | |
| Prey | |
| World in Conflict | |
| Call of Juarez | |
| Crysis | |
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Benchmarking - Overclocking
| Futuremark 3DMark Vantage (GPU Score) | 1280x1024, no AA, no AF |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 14474 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 10127 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 8445 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 8166 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 8030 |
| 1600x1200 2xAA 8xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 9325 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 6890 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 5625 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 5431 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 5081 |
| 1920x1200 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 6190 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 4809 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 4012 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 3369 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 3096 |
| Futuremark 3DMark06 | Default (1280x1024 no AA, no AF) |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 17917 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 15723 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 15413 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 15200 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 14480 |
| 1280x1024 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 17083 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 13700 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 12603 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 12470 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 12096 |
| 1600x1200 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 16206 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 12089 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 10913 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 10896 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 10452 |
| 2048x 1536 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 13868 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 9673 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 8719 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 8702 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 8291 |
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DX9-Benchmarks
| F.E.A.R, Resulsts in (FPS) | 1280x1024 4xAA 16xAF |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 266 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 196 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 172 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 167 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 165 |
| 1600x1200 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 211 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 150 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 133 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 127 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 122 |
| 2048x1536 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 149 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 101 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 89 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 86 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 82 |
| PREY, Resulsts in (FPS) | 1280x1024 4xAA 16xAF |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 242 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 238 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 217 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 211 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 209 |
| 1600x1200 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 205 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 193 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 166 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 165 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 160 |
| 2048x1536 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 153 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 131 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 116 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 114 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 109 |
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DX10-Benchmarks
| Crysis, Resulsts in (FPS) | 1280x1024 4xAA 16xAF |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 49.8 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 44.7 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 42.6 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 41.7 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 40.1 |
| 1600x1200 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 32.6 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 28.1 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 22.9 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 21.3 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 19.8 |
| 2048x 1536 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 17.9 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 15.3 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 14.6 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 13.5 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 12.7 |
| World in Conflict, Resulsts in (FPS) | 1280x1024 4xAA 16xAF |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 59 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 58 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 53 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 51 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 49 |
| 1600x1200 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 57 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 53 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 49 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 44 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 41 |
| 2048x1536 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 50 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 35 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 32 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 31 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 29 |
| Call of Juarez, Resulsts in (FPS) | 1280x1024 4xAA 16xAF |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 91.4 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 38.3 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 38.1 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 33.1 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 31.9 |
| 1600x1200 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 87.1 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 35.4 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 32.5 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 29.6 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 26.2 |
| 1920x1200 4xAA 16xAF | |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 X2 | 74.8 |
| ATI-Radeon 4870 | 30.3 |
| Nvidia GTX 280 | 27.4 |
| Nvidia GTX 260² | 24.1 |
| Nvidia GTX 260 | 22.8 |
| Overclocked (707/1.486/1.152) | Standard (576/1.242/999 ) | |
| 3DMark 06 | 16173 | 15413 |
| Call of Juarez (1600x1200 4xAA-16xAF) | 38.1 FPS | 29.6 FPS |
| Crysis(1600x1200 4xAA-16xAF) | 27.4 FPS | 22.9 FPS |
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Conclusion
One can't criticise much witch the nVidias revised GTX 260. The card on average works four to six percent faster then it's predecessor and in pretty much the half the card is faster then AMD/ATIs Radeon HD 4870. Also the cooling solution isn't to noisy.
Overall the card gives you a lot of gaming performance and you can play games at high resolutions even with activated filtering options. The only problem is that with AMD/ATIs Radeon HD 4870 you get more frames per second for your money. On average the GTX 260 Core 216 is about CHF 50.- more expensive then it's strongest rival.
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Author: jl.hadey@ocaholic.ch
Revised by: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch