GIGABYTE Launches The Ultimate Powerful GeForce® GTX TITAN Z, Dual-GPU Gaming Graphics Card

The unprecedented fastest gaming monster for the super gaming PC!

Taipei, Taiwan, 28th May 2014 – GIGABYTE, the world’s leading premium gaming hardware manufacture, is pleased to introduce the latest super gaming graphics card, GV-NTITANZD5-12GD-B.



Built with the GeForce® GTX TITAN Z Dual GPU architecture, GV-NTITANZD5-12GD-B utilizes the latest 28nm fabrication process, features 12GB of 7Gbps GDDR5 memory and a massive 5760 CUDA cores. GIGABYTE GV-NTITANZD5-12GD-B is designed with the highest-grade components to deliver the best experience—incredible fast, cool and quiet performance—all in a stunningly crafted aluminum case. Plus, it is loaded with advanced technologies like NVIDIA ShadowPlay™ to capture and share every moment of gaming domination, groundbreaking G-SYNC™ display technology, and NVIDIA GameStream™ to stream games to the NVIDIA SHIELD™ portable. With the use of GIGABYTE OC GURU II software, GV-NTITANZD5-12GD-B can increase the overclocking capacity by unlocking the hardware limitation and brings hardcore gamers an ultimate gaming experience base on the GPU Boost 2.0 technology.

OC GURU II, liberates the overclocking limitation

According to the latest NVIDIA® technology “GPU BOOST 2.0”, GV-NTITANZD5-12GD-B provides gamers an unlimited overclocking capability by using GIGABYTE OC GURU II to adjust maximum core voltage and synchronize the GPU temperature and power consumption. These main features not only increase the overclocking ability, but also deliver an extremely performance to make gamers enjoy the amazing gaming experience.

4K Ultra HD Gaming Experience

The GV-NTITAND5-12GD-B uses the new dynamic power balancing technology which ensures peak performance across two GPUs with optimal power delivery. This means you can game on multi-monitor displays and hyper PCs at high setting and super-fast frame rates. With support for NVIDIA SLI®, you can even add a second card and immerse yourself in graphically intense games in full 4K Surround.

For more details of GIGABYTE GV-NTITANZD5-12GD-B, please visit the GIGABYTE VGA website at: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/list.aspx?s=43&p=52,53@53@53,62&v=1,8@1@2,19

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GIGABYTE.VGA

About GIGABYTE

GIGABYTE, headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, is known as a global leading brand in the IT industry, with employees and business channels in almost every country. Founded in 1986, GIGABYTE started as a research and development team and has since taken the lead in the world's motherboard and graphics card markets. On top of Motherboards and Graphics cards, GIGABYTE further expanded its product portfolio to include PC Components, PC Peripherals, Laptops, Desktop PCs, Network Communications, Servers and Mobile Phones to serve each facet of the digital life in the home and office. Everyday GIGABYTE aims to “Upgrade Your Life” with innovative technology, exceptional quality, and unmatched customer service. Visit www.gigabyte.com for more information.

ASUS GTX 750 Performance Review

ASUS' PC components are widely known and much endorsed by PC enthusiasts around the globe for their exceptional quality, durability and performance. Despite of all the high-end offerings from ASUS, today we take on the opportunity to get our hands dirty on the value oriented ASUS' GeForce GTX 750 OC that utilizes Nvidia's latest GPU architecture Maxwell (GM107).  Huge thanks to ASUS Malaysia for providing us this sample unit, making today's review a great success.

SRP of RM 519.00 might not sounds like a sweet spot price at first, but let us dive further in exploring what features has been offered by this card in determining the yay or nay factor. 

Technical Specifications

Technical Specs	ASUS GTX750-PHOC-1GD5
Dimensions	184.9mm x 115mm x35.8mm
CUDA Cores	512
Base Clock	1059 MHz
Boost Clock	1137 MHz
Bus Standard	PCI Express 3.0
Video Memory	1024 MB
Memory Clock	5010 MHz
Memory Interface	128-bit
Display Output	D-Sub Output : Yes x 1 DVI Output : Yes x 1 (DVI-D) HDMI Output : Yes x 1 HDCP Support : Yes
Highlights	·         Factory overclocked ·         Power consumption up to 75W without additional PCI Express power required ·         ASUS GPU Tweak

CUDA and PhysX support delivers better experience in overall

Overview

Some highlight on the prominent features can be found on the aesthetic looking front packaging, as Super Alloy Power being the most notable feature.

Further details on the prominent features are described at the back of the packaging. Not only that, there's a preview image of the actual appearance of the card so end users can get the idea of how the card looks like.

We're surprised by the content as first as there were no traces of any DVI to VGA converter, nor any of the 4pin molex to 6pin PCI Express adapter. 

The card is equipped with a dust proof fan for an increased lifespan and a large chunk of gold colored heatsink in the same color scheme as the Z97-Deluxe of ASUS' latest motherboard line up that we have previously reviewed.

It's good to see that this card still comes with the good-o VGA port as this benefits those who are still using monitors has VGA input as the only available option.

In place of the usual SLI finger, we've noticed there's a ready slot for a 6pin PCI Express connector. The question then arises as how far can we push this card if there's a 6pin PCI Express connector available and external power source is supplied to the card via the 6pin PCI Express connector.

Back layout of the card.


Performance Test

Test will be conducted using a card from the red camp at similar price range - the R7 260X. Both cards is installed to our test rig with the following configuration and room temperature of 31C°.

Test Rig Configuration
CPU Cooler	Corsair H100i
CPU	I7 4770K @4.3 GHz
Motherboard	ASUS Sabertooth Z87
Memory	Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB
Primary Hard Drive	Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB
Power Supply	Corsair AX650
Chassis	Bitfenix Ronin
Display Monitor	Dell U2312HM

Performance

Result of our performance test is presented in the graph above, ran with several graphically demanding games and synthetic benchmark in our possession at the resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 4x Anti-aliasing. 

The GTX 750 from the green camp did a surprisingly good job throughout the test, owning the red camp with ease. Even with limited power source, we're able to push the GPU base clock to 1215 MHz and Memory clock to 5600 MHz without any signs of choking. 

Temperature

Both cards are stressed with FurMark gpu stress test utility for maximum heat output and the outcome is presented in the graph above. 

Do note that purpose of this GPU stress test is to check on the highest temperature both cards will reach and this doesn't represent the temperature you will be getting during gaming session or any other daily usage.

Condition of the dust proof fan after days of our test, you can see more dust particles gathered around the shroud and the side of the ASUS fan sticker instead of the fan blades.


Verdict
ASUS GTX750 OC delivers exceptionally well performance and value, much more than our initial expectation - owning the R7 260X in performance without external power source supplied. 

Pros
- Solid build quality 
Factory overclocked yet still can be overclocked slightly for a little extra performance
- Delivers good performance with no extra power connectors required
- Comes with VGA port that gives much convenience to users with monitor with VGA connector
- Dust-proof fans, less accumulated dust particles on fan blades
- Suitable for middle ranged small form factor gaming machine

Cons
- Price is a little expensive
- No SLI support
- Limited overclocking capability


Performance wise, the ASUS GTX750 OC did exceptionally well and we don't have much to complain about.  Still, we would say that the price tag of RM519 might be a little expensive but we will not hesitate to recommend it to those who wish to build a middle range gaming PC and has a slightly little extra budget to go for, in exchange for better efficiency. ASUS GTX750 OC is hereby awarded with our Tech Critter Silver Award. 

Asus GTX 760 DirectCU II OC Review

Introduction

Before I begin, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Low Chern Lin (aka Lucidlts) who has invited me aboard Tech-Critter. Such a great pleasure to be able to share my passion together with my other brothers-in-arms. :) Today we will take a look on Asus GTX 760 DirectCU II OC. It is a trademark non-reference model from Asus, bearing the renowned Direct CU II heatsink, in which flattened heatpipes are in direct contact with the GPU, enhancing heat dissipation. The Asus GTX 760 DirectCU II OC is a factory overclocked rendition of the GTX 760. It comes clocked at 1006 MHz (1072 MHz boost clock), with memory speed running at a default 1502MHz (6008MHz effective GDDR5).

For this review, I will compare it with the Zotac GTX 760 AMP! Edition which we first had a look here not too long ago. Let’s see how the Asus card bearing a small factory overclock (OC) can fare against one of the highest overclocked GTX 760 in the market.

First looks

Pretty basic bundle, consists of a speed setup guide, driver disc and power adapter cable.

Here we can see the Asus GTX 760 DirectCU II OC in all its glory. Notice how it is quite reminiscent of its bigger brother, the GTX 780 DirectCU II OC. It is based on the similar 17 cm long PCBA that first made its debut on the Asus GTX 670 Direct CU Mini, which is very suitable for those looking for small builds. Overall card length is roughly 22 cm long and it takes up two slots in your system. It requires only a single 8-pin power connector, as compared to the reference model which requires two 6-pins.

We can see a glimpse of the proprietary DirectCU II cooling solution employed on the card. It utilizes two 6mm + two 8 mm nickel plated heatpipes which is in direct contact with the GPU. In a short while, we're going to see how significantly superior the cooling solution is.

The card is now plugged in and ready to be powered up.

Test Setup

Hardware

• Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K @ 3.4 GHz
• Mainboard: Intel DZ68DB
• HSF: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
• RAM: Team Elite DDR3 1333MHz RAM (2 X 4GB)
• GPU: Asus GTX 760 DirectCU II OC / Zotac GTX 760 AMP! Edition
• SSD: Intel 330 Series 120GB
• HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB
• PSU: Corsair GS600 600W
• Casing: Thermaltake V3 Black Edition
• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
• Monitor: Dell U2312HM 23” Monitor
• Driver: Nvidia 320.49
• Softwares: MSI Afterburner, GPU-Z, FRAPS

Game Settings

• Metro Last Light: DX11, 1920 x 1080, Very High, 2 x SSAA, 16 x AF, Physx On
• Crysis 3: DX11, 1920 x 1080, Very High, 4 x SMAA, 16 x AF
• Tomb Raider: DX11, 1920 x 1080, Ultimate, 4 x SSAA, 16 x AF
• Hitman Absolution: DX11, 1920 x 1080, 4 x MSAA, FXAA, Ultra Quality
• Batman Arkham City: DX11, 1920 x 1080, 8 x MSAA, Extreme, Tessellation High, Physx Off
• Unigine Heaven 4.0: DX11, 1920 x 1080, 8 x AA, Ultra Quality, Tessellation Extreme

Testing is carried out in a non air-conditioned room.

GPU-Z screenshot

Testing

All tests are carried out at the card’s default speed and no overclocking is done.

Basically, we see neck-to-neck performance with the Zotac GTX 760 AMP! Edition.

 Synthetic benchmark results, nothing unusual.

 

This is where the DirectCU II cooler is starting to show its potential.

Conclusion

In summary, I find that the Asus GTX 760 Direct U II OC is on average only 1.59% slower than the faster clocked Zotac GTX 760 AMP! Edition. In terms of gameplay experience, this isn't something tangible that you are going to experience anyway. The superior DirectCU II cooler managed to keep the max load temperature well below Nvidia's default temperature target of 80°C (getting only 68°C). The card managed to hit a max boost clock speed of 1150 MHz, which is pretty high despite its lower base clock speed of only 1006 MHz. To further add on to my initial conclusion on the Zotac GTX 760 AMP! Edition that I first reviewed here, this card can only manage to hit its guaranteed boost clock speed of 1176 MHz, while temperature hit a high of 81°C. In some ways, I believe this holds true to Nvidia’s new GPU Boost 2.0 algorithm, whereby the GPU will try to boost as high as possible within its defined thermal envelope of 80°C.

The Asus GTX 760 DirectCU II OC certainly does pack a whole load of surprises despite its diminutive appearance. I could really find no flaw with its design and I highly recommend this customized GTX 760 to anyone looking for a quieter and higher performing card, right out of the box. Best of all, it comes in an all black PCBA and coupled with a nice cooler with a hint of red; I am sure it would go well with any build. However, it is not really cheap here in Malaysia, as it bears a SRP of RM1199. A reference GTX 760 from either Leadtek or Zotac could be obtained from as low as RM799, so that really does make a whole lot of difference. Well, that does it and I hope all of you had a good time reading up on my review once again. :)

Pros:
   • Performance is on par with one of the highest overclocked GTX 760 (Zotac AMP! Edition), despite its lower base clock speed
   • Very silent and efficient cooler
   • Suitable for small builds

Cons:
   • Expensive for a GTX 760, especially in the current local Malaysian pricing (RM)

Reviewed by: rav3n82

GTX TITAN, GTX 770 & GTX 760 Roundup, Latest 7 series offerings from Nvidia

This was long overdue, even some of the cards tested were under the older drivers, 320.18. But nevertheless, better late than never, eh lads?  

Here we have Nvidia's strongest single GPU contender, the mighty GTX TITAN. It is based on the bigger GK110 chip, boasting 2688 CUDA cores, 224 texture units and 48 ROPs. For this review, we have Asus' version of the GTX TITAN, which is literally the official Nvidia reference design. It clocks in at 837 MHz, with GPU Boost 2.0 boosting the speeds up to 876 MHz. Memory speed clocks in at 1502MHz (6008MHz effective GDDR5). All this comes enclosed in a very stylish and elegant industrial design cooler. Thumbs up to Nvidia for such a classy design.  

On the other side, we have the GTX 770. Upon initial impressions, this card is nothing new as it's also based on the same GK104 chip found in the previous generation flagship, the GTX 680. However, it does come clocked higher at 1046 MHz (with boost up to 1085 MHz). Memory speed is now at an all time high of 7012 MHz. With a slightly higher clock and memory speed, I'm sure we will see some performance gain over the GTX 680. For this review, we have Palit's Jetstream version of the GTX 770, which comes factory overclocked at 1150 MHz (with boost up to 1202 MHz). Memory speed is left untouched, running at stock.

Lastly, we have Nvidia's latest release, the GTX 760. This is also another card based on the GK104 chip, but with lesser 1152 CUDA cores. We have here Zotac’s GTX 760 AMP! Edition, which is a factory overclocked version of the GTX 760. It clocks in at 1111 MHz (1176 MHz boost clock), with memory speed also slightly overclocked to 1552MHz (6208MHz effective GDDR5). Without further ado, let's move on to some snippets of the respective cards shall we? And then we can get to work on the testing.  

:: TITAN-nic ::

:: Three fans you say? ::

:: Size matters not ::

P.S: Bear with me as there are no DSLR-quality images here  

Test Setup

Hardware

• Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K @ 3.4 GHz

• Mainboard: Intel DZ68DB

• HSF: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo

• RAM: Team Elite DDR3 1333MHz RAM (2 X 4GB)

• GPU: Asus GTX TITAN 6GB GDDR5 / Palit GTX 770 Jetstream 2GB GDDR5 / Zotac GTX 760 AMP! Edition 

• SSD: Intel 330 Series 120GB

• HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB

• PSU: Corsair GS600 600W

• Casing: Thermaltake V3 Black Edition

• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit

• Monitor: Dell U2312HM 23” Monitor

• Driver: Nvidia 320.18 (GTX Titan & GTX 770), 320.49 (GTX 760)

• Softwares: MSI Afterburner, GPU-Z, FRAPS

Game Settings

• Metro Last Light: DX11, 1920 x 1080, Very High, 2 x SSAA, 16 x AF, Physx On

• Crysis 3: DX11, 1920 x 1080, Very High, 4 x SMAA, 16 x AF

• Tomb Raider: DX11, 1920 x 1080, Ultimate, 4 x SSAA, 16 x AF

• Hitman Absolution: DX11, 1920 x 1080, 4 x MSAA, FXAA, Ultra Quality

• Batman Arkham City: DX11, 1920 x 1080, 8 x MSAA, Extreme, Tessellation High, Physx Off

• Unigine Heaven 4.0: DX11, 1920 x 1080, 8 x AA, Ultra Quality, Tessellation Extreme

Testing is carried out in a non air-conditioned room.

GPU-Z screenshots

Testing 

All tests are carried out at the card’s default speed and no overclocking is done.

Conclusion

Overall, we can see that the GTX TITAN is on average 28% faster than the GTX 770 and 57% faster than the GTX 760. I would say the GTX 770, which is basically a 680 on steroids, did a pretty good job here. Gaming with both cards is basically lag free. The TITAN is likely held in reins here under an 1080p resolution monitor. On a 1440p monitor, I believe this is where the TITAN's true potential lies, due to the larger memory bandwidth. On the cooling solution, having tested the previous two flagships; GTX 580 and 680, I would say that the cooler on the TITAN is simply fantastic. Besides doing an awesome job thermally and acoustically, it simply looks stunning. The only card that I can think of which looks as good is only GTX 690. Kudos to Nvidia for an excellent job done in this aspect. 

Palit's GTX 770 Jetstream managed to hold out on its own here. The triple fan cooler had a slightly better performance compared to Nvidia's reference design, but that's just about it. Both coolers are equally silent, a testament to two very distinct and effective cooling solution. Visually, I do not think the Jetstream is as classy as TITAN's cooler though. But then again, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, so I shall just leave it at that. 

Last but not least, the GTX 760 is an interesting little card. Zotac’s AMP! Edition ships out with a very high factory overclock. At 1111 MHz, it is simply the highest factory overclocked GTX 760 available in the market today. This will only serve to benefit customers who prefer to enjoy the extra performance boost right out of the box, without any additional manual tweaking. The small cooler with twin orange fans did a reasonably good job in keeping the temperature within the limits, though I would have wished to see a better result, but the cooler was still very quiet on the whole. Perhaps due to the temperature being on the high side of 81 °C (Nvidia's temperature target is 80 °C), I somewhat see the boost clock speed of the card throttled at 1176 MHz, just barely meeting its guaranteed boost clock speed (see GPU-Z screenshot above). It will not go any higher than that. Palit's GTX 770 Jetstream on the other hand managed to hit a higher boost clock speed of 1241 MHz, despite its published rate of 1202 MHz.

At 1080p, the GTX 760 has proven itself to be a rather capable card. Though we see the FPS hovers around 30+ range, but do note that anti-aliasing is set to 4x / 8x for most of the games tested, hence reducing the overall performance significantly. To boost up the performance, simply use FXAA whenever possible, or turn it off all together. You can also use GeForce Experience to optimize your games. I personally found this software to be quite user friendly and relatively easy to use. The below chart will show you how GeForce Experience managed to improve on the FPS, improving gameplay significantly. It basically reduces the anti-aliasing setting, from 2 x SSAA to SSAA off in Metro Last Light, and from 4 x SMAA to 1 x SMAA in Crysis 3. Performance is increased by 41% and 52% in Metro Last Light and Crysis 3 respectively. Not bad at all.  

That does it, hope all of you had a good time reading up on my review.  

>> Asus GTX TITAN <<

Pros:
• Fastest single GPU card
• Excellent reference cooler, elegant and very silent

Cons:
• Very expensive
• A much cheaper, factory overclocked GTX 780 can easily match or surpass the TITAN

>> Palit GTX 770 Jetstream <<

Pros:
• Handles today's games in 1080p resolution well
• Overclocked out of the box
• Excellent and effective cooling solution, slightly better performance than Nvidia's elegant reference design

Cons:
• Doesn't look as good as Nvidia's reference design
• Memory speed is not pre-overclocked
• Takes up nearly 2.5 slots

>> Zotac GTX 760 AMP! Edition <<

Pros:
• Highest overclocked GTX 760 in the market
• Small size suitable for HTPC setup
• Additional 3 years of extended warranty, on top of 2 years local warranty

Cons:
• May need to reduce anti-aliasing (AA) settings on some games
• Cooling performance not as good as I would have expected


Reviewed by: rav3n82