EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked review

EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked

Alright, so we've told you everything there is to know about the GPU. We got some more shader processor loving and hey .. we did receive the Superclocked edition, and didn't that dude called Hilbert mention in the introduction that 216 shader cores really like faster clock frequencies. Yep he sure did. Basically what EVGA is doing is simple. They add a step in their quality and analysis test and see if certain set's of cards come from the golden yield ... and thus can be clocked faster. Some of them do, some of them don't. So this is unnatural selection. By buying a regular GTX 260 Core 216 you probably also have lesser chance of a good overclock, as that's the lesser yielded batch.

But the good ones .. well they end up in the product we review today. The Zupaaahclocked edition. [Ed - Technical term... I looked it up]

Let's break down EVGA offering in the Core 216 products, they released three of them:

• GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 (576 MHz Core / 1242 MHz Shaders / 2000 MHz memory)
• GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked (626 MHz Core / 1350 MHz Shaders / 2106 MHz memory)
• GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 HC16 (water-cooled) (648 MHz Core / 1404 MHz Shaders / 2106 MHz memory)

Okay the water-cooled version definitely has bitching nice clocks. But that Superclocked edition, definitely does not suck. It will only be a small bit slower than the HXC16 version, yet a good amount faster than the reference based products.

So this Superclocked version is clocked fairly faster, at a privileged 626 MHz Core, 1350 MHz Shader domain and 2106 MHz memory on that GDDR3 memory.

As our tests will show, it's definitely a good amount faster than the reference product. Obviously EVGA will sweeten the deal with some additional goodies. Let's have a look at the boxed bundle.

Packaging and Accessories then, included in the box ye shall find:

• EVGA GeForce GTX 260 896MB Superclocked edition
• Driver CD / manual / quick install guide
• 6-pin to Molex power cable (x2)
• VGA->DVI dongle
• HDMI adapter
• SP/DIF cable

Pretty sober bundle really, yet we do receive the HDMI adapter and small SP/DIF cable. You hook it up to your mainboard/soundcard SPDIF lead, then connect the wire to the SP-DIF input on the card and now you'll have multi-channel audio over the HDMI HDCP v1.3 connection we just made. Other than that, though not physically in the box, the after sales in the form of warranty and step up program.

Warranty
EVGA will intro this product overclocked for you at default. Yet high-end or not, it comes with the luxuries that they always offer. Inside the USA you'll receive a full life-time warranty, which is just a really nice feature. Outside the US you are limited to 10 years warranty; which is still bloody fantastic. Mind you that if you purchase a EVGA product then please within 30 days register yourself at the EVGA website in order to activate that warranty. This is a new policy recently introduced. Don't forget to do so.

Step-Up program
One of the nice things about buying an eVGA product is the ability to trade in your product and buy a better one. The last thing we have to mention here is something that is just really lovely. eVGA's Step Up upgrade program.

With the Step Up program you are allowed to trade in your eVGA graphics card for a faster EVGA model under the one condition that you upgrade within 90 days of the original card purchase. You’ll get the full value of your original card, so if you paid $150 for your old card and you want to upgrade to a $250 card, you merely pay the difference of $100. It's as simple as that. We often read about nasty stories in our forums from people that just invested money in a new card only to find out that four weeks later a new generation product was introduced... which quite frankly that user really wanted to have. So now you can. You can only use Step Up once though.