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

Gigabyte GTX 275 896MB

Manufacturer Product Page: Gigabyte GTX 275 896MB
Product Number: GV-N275UD-896H
Warranty: 3 years
Price: Click here to compare prices



The box for the Gigabyte GTX 275 is typical of other cards we have seen from this manufacturer but this time the layout of the design is in an upright orientation. Within the main sleeve is a secondary box that holds the well-protected card and all of the accessories.

When it comes to accessories, Gigabyte usually serves up a full menu and this time things aren’t any different. You get a software / driver CD, an amazingly complete instruction manual, a DVI to VGA dongle and an S/PDIF cable. Unfortunately, there are two hiccups with this list; the first of which is the lack of a DVI to HDMI dongle. Without this adaptor, the inclusion of an S/PDIF cable is largely pointless as audio pass-through requires a HDMI interface. Also, Gigabyte included one of the oddest power adaptors I have ever seen: a male to male PCI-E cable. If anyone has any idea whatsoever about this thing’s use, please post in the comment thread.


Above we can see the three primary benefits of Gigabyte’s Ultra Durable VGA technology: reduced GPU temperatures, better overclocking and higher efficiency. We will be putting all of these claims to the test a bit later in this roundup so we hope that Gigabyte can pull all three off.


Once again we see what looks to be a reference-based card from Gigabyte with the full length heatsink shroud and dual slot cooling design. However, there is more to this graphics card than what first meets the eye…


Yes that’s right; what looked to be a reference design is actually anything but. Not only does the Gigabyte card have a blue PCB but upon closer inspection, the underside of the card reveals a completely different component layout when placed next to a reference product. This is abundantly evident on the rearmost portion of the PCB where the Gigabyte GTX 275 seems to have a different power distribution section. Unfortunately, due to time restrictions, we were able to take off the heatsink for further investigation. Could this be a by-product of the Ultra Durable VGA initiative? That’s definitely a possibility.


Other than the modified PCB, everything else on this GTX 275 stays the same. There are a pair of PCI-E 6-pin power connectors as well as an accompanying S/PDIF header while the backplate gets a pair of DVI connectors and a single HDTV Out connector.