Guru3D.com
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • Channels
    • Archive
  • DOWNLOADS
    • New Downloads
    • Categories
    • Archive
  • GAME REVIEWS
  • ARTICLES
    • Rig of the Month
    • Join ROTM
    • PC Buyers Guide
    • Guru3D VGA Charts
    • Editorials
    • Dated content
  • HARDWARE REVIEWS
    • Videocards
    • Processors
    • Audio
    • Motherboards
    • Memory and Flash
    • SSD Storage
    • Chassis
    • Media Players
    • Power Supply
    • Laptop and Mobile
    • Smartphone
    • Networking
    • Keyboard Mouse
    • Cooling
    • Search articles
    • Knowledgebase
    • More Categories
  • FORUMS
  • NEWSLETTER
  • CONTACT

New Reviews
Razer Leviathan V2 gaming soundbar review
Guru3D NVMe Thermal Test - the heatsink vs. performance
EnGenius ECW220S 2x2 Cloud Access Point review
Alphacool Eisbaer Aurora HPE 360 LCS cooler review
Noctua NH-D12L CPU Cooler Review
Silicon Power XPOWER XS70 1TB NVMe SSD Review
Hyte Y60 chassis review
ASUS ROG Thor 1000W Platinum II (1000W PSU) review
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 WIFI6E router review
Backforce One Plus Gaming Chair review

New Downloads
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 22.6.1 Windows 7 driver download
ReShade download v5.2.2
HWiNFO Download v7.26
7-Zip v22.00 Download
CrystalDiskInfo 8.17 Download
GeForce 516.40 WHQL driver download
Intel ARC graphics Driver Download Version: 30.0.101.1736
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 22.5.2 WHQL driver download
Corsair Utility Engine Download (iCUE) Download v4.24.193
Intel HD graphics Driver Download Version: 30.0.101.1994


New Forum Topics
6900xt red devil for 830eur Extreme 4-Way Sli Tuning FSR Thread PubG Latest Insider Build 11 Windows 10 monitor does not go to sleep (ignores power setting) Windows 11 will now tell whether your computer is DirectStorage capable. NVIDIA RTX 40 Series Might Get 800 Watts TBP Samsung Unveils ISOCELL Image Sensor With Industry’s Smallest 0.56μm Pixel (200MP) AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 22.6.1 - Windows 7/10 (Legacy ASICS) - Driver download & discussion The 13th Generation Raptor Lake ES CPU from Intel is Benchmarked




Guru3D.com » Review » Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 G1 Gaming review » Page 1

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 G1 Gaming review - Introduction

by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 01/22/2015 03:47 PM [ 3] 64 comment(s)

Tweet

Gigabyte G1 Gaming GeForce GTX 960

In this review we check out the Gigabyte G1 Gaming GeForce GTX 960. This product is gorgeous as it is the most silent of all the cards we tested. Next to some fantastic looks including a proper backplate, the product comes factory overclocked, has a WindForce based cooler and was the best overclocker as well. The mainstream graphics card has 2 GB graphics memory and is definitely capable of playing games in 1080P really well.

So, it's Nvidia who is releasing the GeForce GTX 960 based products. The GM206 GPU empowering the card has been a topic of much discussion over the past few months, and let's face it... everybody expected this GPU to be based on the GPU being used in the GTX 970 and 980. Then there were delays, and the product got pushed backwards to even after Christmas. Yes, somebody made the decision that the GTX 960 should be a cheaper fab product opposed to using the more expensive GM204 that you know from the GTX 970/980. Nvidia now bakes the GM206 for the GTX 960 series, the product has been castrated and stripped of everything that is sexy with the GTX 970/980. You'll see the memory cut down to 2 GB of memory on these puppies, that memory runs on a 128-bit wide bus, the shader processors have been halved to 1024 Shader/Stream/Cuda cores. Let me quickly table that up for you:

Model GeForce GTX 980 GeForce GTX 970 GeForce GTX 960
GPU GM204 GM204 GM206
CUDA cores 2048 1664 1024
Texture Units 128 104 64
Raster Devices 64 64 32
Memory Bus 256-bit 256-bit 128-bit
Amount of memory 4 GB GDDR5 4 GB GDDR5 2 GB GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth 224 GB/s 224 GB/s 112 GB/s

So yes, you take a GTX 980, chop it in half in every way and that is the GeForce GTX 960. A lot of you guys will feel that this is a bridge too far. Especially the 2 GB and 128-bit wide bus seem to be a nag, then again Maxwell makes efficient use of memory color compression. But hey, you haven't read this review just yet so let's not draw any conclusions right now. However it is abundantly clear that the Geforce GTX is a 1080P card at best with its 2 GB of graphics memory. The new product will be based on Maxwell architecture, yes, named after the mathematical physicist. The Maxwell family of GPUs is actually the 10th generation of GPU architecture for Nvidia. With several design goals in mind (higher performance and lower power consumption) Nvidia was hoping to reach 20 nm by the time their high-end product would be released. It is now January 2015 and it is abundantly clear that the 20 nm fab nodes are a huge yield mess, as no manufacturer dares to use it. Nvidia went with plan B and stuck with a 28 nm process, this makes their silicon sizeable, in relative proportions of course. Nonetheless, Nvidia has moved forward and today the 3rd Maxwell based product (GTX 750 was actually the first trial) is being released as a GM206 based GPU. Armed with voltage, power and load limiters, Nvidia these days can harvest massive performance out of chips when you think about it. Today is about the GeForce GTX 960 range of performance. The base clock speed of the GeForce GTX 960 is 1126 MHz. The typical Boost Clock speed is 1178 MHz. The GPU used thus is still on 28 nm. 

Gigabyte made the G1 Gaming the best SKU within the GTX 960 range, and as you are about to find out, the product is just really good. It'll tick all the right boxes. The G1 gaming models not only look great, they are silent and show high cooling levels under the 60 Degrees C range! Despite the low GPU temps, these puppies are factory overclocked at some impressive frequencies as well. The core clock frequency for example is set at 1241 MHz, the dynamic boost clock can go up-to 1304 MHz. The memory clocks in at 7 Gbps. With that dark design and triple fan cooler, the GeForce GTX 960 G1 gaming edition will get all the cooling it needs, and the noise levels are low overall as well.

Have a peek as to what we'll test, meet the Gigabyte Geforce GTX 960 G1 Gaming.

 




27 pages 1 2 3 4 next »



Related Articles
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Gaming OC review
Gigabyte has released their GeForce RTX 3090 'Ti' Gaming OC. The new flagship was fitted with faster memory, a boost frequency of 1905 MHz, more shaders, and a TGP passing 450 Watts. This review ben...

Gigabyte RTX 3050 Gaming OC review
We analyze Gigabyte's new GeForce RTX 3050. In specific, the Gaming OC model has 8GB of memory, 2560 Shader processors, and a factory boost speed of 1822 MHz (1770 MHz reference)....

Radeon RX 6600 (Gigabyte Eagle 8G) review
Gigabyte's new Eagle is spreading its wings for the first time, meet the youngster called Gigabyte Radeon RX 6600 Eagle 8G. This is the non-XT version of NAVI23, still offering quite some performanc...

Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC review
Let's review the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. This card has been factory tweaked, has a custom-design PCB, components, a Windforce 3X cooler, and a trick or two more as...

© 2022