GeForce GTX 275 Roundup (Gigabyte, EVGA, MSI, Sparkle, BFG)

Conclusions

EVGA GTX 275 1792MB

If there is one type of card out there that always has us wondering about performance it is those which double or sometimes even triple the amount of memory seen on the reference card. Many times we have found the performance of these cards to be left wanting due to the fact that they usually use lower memory clock speeds. EVGA’s GTX 275 1792MB goes about things a bit differently since it doubles the memory of the stock card yet retains the same memory clock speeds.

All of the specifications looked like a surefire way to success but it was all for naught because those nasty ram latencies came back to bite the 1792MB card in its butt. Through nearly every single one of our tests this card performed comparably to and in some tests even offered less performance than the stock 896MB card. For a product that is priced within a few bucks of the godly FTW, this just isn’t acceptable.

It is unfortunate we weren’t able to show you that 1.7GB will lead to Grand Theft Auto IV’s idiotic Graphics menu unlocking higher detail settings and there may be some advantage in high resolution, high AA DX10 gaming. This is because the simple fact of the matter is that in some rare cases, close to 2GB of memory will benefit the end user. Like we said; for the time being these situations are few and far between and the premium price this card goes for will prove to be a waste for most end users.



Gigabyte GTX 275

If there was a card that had us hoping for something special, it was the GTX 275 from Gigabyte. Their box is basically used as a billboard for their Ultra Durable VGA movement (how many times have we said this now?) and we have had tons of success with these “UD” boards in the past. Indeed, the thought of a better overclocking, more efficient GTX 275 had us hoping that once again, against all odds Gigabyte would deliver on their marketing hype. They didn’t.

Honestly, a company can blow a summer’s worth of sunshine up the rear ends of its die-hard fans but the competition in the GPU market is fierce and if you can’t back up marketing with tangible results, you had best try again. From a consumer’s standpoint; overclocking was in line with other cards, heat production was identical to stock products and there wasn’t any savings on power consumption. There may be some fanciful song and dance going on behind the scenes we could see with a $4000 FLIR thermal imager but in our testing it seemed that the Gigabyte GTX 275 was a slightly modified reference card with some spiced up memory.

Speaking of memory, that is one thing about this card that came as a pleasant surprise for us. There is not one mention on the box or marketing materials that the supposedly “stock” Gigabyte GTX 275 sports overclocked memory. This allowed it to compete directly with both the Sparkle and BFG cards in terms of performance. With that kind of performance, a generous accessory package and widespread availability, our unassuming Gigabyte card could actually become a real threat if its price comes down. We just wish they would ditch the “Ultra Durable” marketing for this card.