Gigabyte GTX 260 (216SP) 896MB Super Overclock Review

Specifications

Gigabyte promises a lot with this card and judging by these somewhat ludicrous specifications, they seem to be more than set to deliver. Every clock speed on the Super Overclock edition is pushed to stratospheric levels when compared to a stock GTX 260 216 and it even seems to have enough gusto to eclipse a reference GTX 275. Granted, the 275’s additional shader cores will probably come into play in some benchmarks but as it stands, Gigabyte’s card has one of Nvidia’s top cards beat when it comes to pure clock speeds.

What impresses us the most is the memory speeds. Sure, that 104Mhz overclock on the core and the additional 224Mhz for the shaders are nothing to sneeze at but the extra 502Mhz on the memory is drool worthy.

Packaging and Accessories

A limited edition card such as the GTX 260 Super Overclock deserves a unique package and that is just what Gigabyte has given it. They have moved away from their usual anime-oriented theme and used a predominantly black color scheme with a faintly holographic finish. Personally, I love the new look.


On the back of the box there are some numbers that boast about what UDV technology is supposed to add to this card. Increased overclocking, higher efficiency and lower temperatures are sure tempting points but we will have to see if these claims are carried over into real-world differences.


The exterior of the box is nothing more than a sleeve that covers an additional black package in which resides the card and all its accessories. Gigabyte is well known for giving their graphics cards copious amounts of protection and this one is no different with high density foam and an anti-static bag protecting its precious contents.


The accessory packaging isn’t anything to write home about but it does have all the necessary extras which you would expect with a higher-end card. You get the usual DVI to VGA dongle and Molex to PCI-E adaptors but where this package differs is with the inclusion of an S/PDIF cable and a HDMI to DVI dongle.