EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 (216 SP) Superclocked Edition Review

Conclusion

What a rollercoaster ride this review was. Without a doubt, there will be parallels drawn between the GTX 260 with 216 stream processors and the venerable HD 4870 but before we get to that, let’s sit down and take a look at this card EVGA sent us. The EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition is one hell of a performer in every single game and just like the HD 4870 before it, redefines what people thought they would have to pay for this type performance. It used to be ATI reacting to Nvidia releases but now it seems that Nvidia is doing everything they can to answer the challenge brought upon it from the HD 4850 and HD 4870. In the end, it is the consumer that benefits no matter how much ATI or Nvidia fans howl at the moon that their preferred card is faster.

However, the first thing you are probably thinking is why in the world Nvidia is not releasing a new card with a new name (GTX 265 maybe?). Honestly, we have no idea why and being vocal opponents to the past naming practices which completely fubar’d Nvidia’s lineup you can imagine what we think about letting every board partner name their own products something different. So far we have polled three board partners and each calls their “new” GTX 260 something different; Core 216, Max Core and 216SP. Will this confuse even the informed buyers? Hell yes and we hate it.

Funky naming conventions aside, when you take a step back and look at the EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked, it is more than apparent that you are getting a ton of value for you money. Believe it or not, when you line this card up next to a HD 4870 which retails for around the same price there is very little competition from the ATI card. Not only does the EVGA Core 216 come with a name known for high quality customer service and a lifetime warranty but it also boasts increased clock speeds over the stock 216 SP cards. These clock speed increases coupled with the additional shader muscle more than makes up for the older card’s faltering points when AA is turned on even though the HD 4870 was still able to best it in the odd benchmark. That being said, when looking purely at the benchmark numbers, you should remember that the EVGA card we tested in this review is pre-overclocked which means that it will naturally achieve higher framerates than a stock-clocked card. When taking that into account, it becomes pretty apparent that the “new” GTX 260 with 216 SPs is not significantly faster than the old one but it still has the balls to get the job done.

Other than the obscure name, the only things not to like about this card are its power consumption and heat output. When you have the EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 running at full tilt in a closed room it can nicely dub as a space heater which is great on those cold, lonely winter nights but will have you swearing up and down in the summer. Believe it or not, these are the only real faults we can find with this card which speaks volumes of the top-quality product EVGA brought to the table to compete against ATI.

Summing up a review like this is never an easy thing considering part of me wants to lambaste this card for having another needlessly obscure name while at the same time showering praise on it for raising the price / performance bar. Luckily the poise of the EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition in every game we tested along with its $299 price tag won me over and it gets both out Dam Good and Dam Good Value awards.


Pros:

Great performance
Quiet
Lifetime Warranty
Price
Included S/PDIF cable and DVI to HDMI dongle


Cons:

Yet another oddly named product to confuse the Nvidia lineup
Power consumption
Heat