The Verdict
The reference performance of the GTX 768MB looks a little bit pale in contrast to all the pre-overclocked products we've seen and tested. That doesn't mean though that this card is a diamond in the rough. Polish it a little and you'll have a gem of a stone. See, fact is that a lot of you guys purchase a pre-overclocked model as you do not want to overclock yourself. But what if your budget is set at say 200 USD maximum. Well, the answer is simple, pick up a card as tested today. The baseline performance is good, but the overclocking potential is as good as any other card we tested. Without any added GPU voltage you will pass 800 MHz on the core clock frequency. The memory will pass 2000 (4000 MHz effective as well) and when you accumulate and combine these factors the one answer here is value ...
What about memory partitions you might wonder. Performance wise it remains difficult to justify an extra 256MB memory and 8 ROP clusters over the cheaper 768MB models. The difference is not huge but can definitely be measured. In the long run the extra 256MB memory however will be a much safer bet. Especially with upcoming DX11 titles long shaders and huge textures might benefit from some more frame buffer.
For the money you need to put down you can expect to get what you pay for, a lovely mid-range product that will play your games up-to 1600x1200, and in most cases 1920x1200 quite well. What keeps surprising us is the tremendous overclocking potential, pretty much any and every card we tested to date has shown a lot of reserve and room for overclocking, and they scale really well while doing so.
Another factor we need to weigh in is that the reference cooler on this 768MB is just shockingly good - over with a nice big phat overclock you can barely hear it. And that makes it an even more attractive purchase.
At this point in time we have tested over twelve GTX 460 class graphics cards, and this card once overclocked is as good as any card we tested. A graphics card like this allows you to play any game to date with high image quality settings up-to 1600x1200 and in most scenarios 1920x1200 as well. If you can pick up the Axle GeForce GTX 460 768MB at 200 USD, don't hesitate as it is just really good value -- and once overclocked you'll get that really big smile on your face.
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