On The Bench: EVGA GeForce GTX 460 FTW

[LORD_ORION]

Turn the words around to WTF... why would you pay for an overclocked card that is nearly as expensive, more likely to die on you, and well, you really can overclock normal cards yourself with the included utilities.... just spend the extra $20 and buy the next class up and overclock that.

What is shocking is that these brands of factory overclocked cards must actually be selling for them to keep cranking them out. People are dumb.

 

[Guest]

There is a EE (external exhaust) version out there. How does it compare with the above tested in terms of temperature and noise??? That I would like to see.

 

[bstm400]

I must admit this review is quite "EVGA" biased, given that there are cheaper GTX 460's ($20-$30) that perform nearly as well as the FTW edition. Why would I spend $230-$240 for a FTW edition when I can get a Palit Sonic Platinum Overclocking Edition that has been priced at $209 for nearly week already and performs almost as well (maybe a 3% fps performance drop) in nearly every title you reviewed here? The reviewer should have also added the MSI cyclone, Gigabyte Super-clocked, and Sonic Platinum GTX 460 to the review.

 

[bstm400]

Also, how is averaging out the other GTX 460's on the market a fair representation of what other 460's are available? That doesn't make sense. In GPU sales, branding and image are everything. By taking away other brands and turning them into an average while showcasing EVGA's specific performance, you have biased your review towards them. You think the average consumer is supposed to somehow discern from that 460 average how the cheaper 460's compare to the FTW edition?

 

[Darkerson]

So are you guys going to further amend the article once factory overclocked versions of the 6850/6870 are out in full force?

 

[gbean02]

Dear Santa,
My Christams wish would be a sli/crossfire shootout with the same cards.

 

[gbean02]

Dear EVGA,
Santa is in need of another GTX460 FTW.
Merry Christmas, your fanboy.

 

[firebird]

Why wasn't the power draw from the stock 460 included to compare with the FTW edition?

 

[Guest]

Lord Onion, you posted "What is shocking is that these brands of factory overclocked cards must actually be selling for them to keep cranking them out. People are dumb."

Dumb is not knowing how Binned Chips work. The GPU Chips that have a higher propensity to actually like OC'ing get binned and used for the factory OC cards. Which means instead of trying to overclock a stock reference card to these levels (which is may or may not like), I can spend a few more bucks, buy a pre-OC'ed card, and then OC it even further than you could on your stock reference...

But apparently we're the dumb ones

 

[geekapproved]

Nvidia still can't compete with AMD's power efficiency though.

 

[LORD_ORION]

[citation][nom]Snuffie[/nom]Lord Onion, you posted "What is shocking is that these brands of factory overclocked cards must actually be selling for them to keep cranking them out. People are dumb."Dumb is not knowing how Binned Chips work. The GPU Chips that have a higher propensity to actually like OC'ing get binned and used for the factory OC cards. Which means instead of trying to overclock a stock reference card to these levels (which is may or may not like), I can spend a few more bucks, buy a pre-OC'ed card, and then OC it even further than you could on your stock reference...But apparently we're the dumb ones[/citation]

Dumb people are also functionally illiterate.

How about if I put it like this? Pay 20$ less for a downgrade in card class to get an overclocked card that performs slightly worse, is already tapped out and is adding more noise and heat to your chassis.

 

[JamesSneed]

Just Cause2 at 2560 x 1600 graph has a typo showing the 6800 getting 23.4 FPS. Messed with my head for a minute.

 

[megamanx00]

Oh I'm sure the 560 will basically be the 460 with higher clocks and the extra shader cluster enabled. nVidia will want to displace the 6870 and have something to compete directly with the 6950 after all. I suppose some of the improvements made to the GF 110 core could carry over to accomplish the latter, but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.

 

[RADIO_ACTIVE]

[citation][nom]nevertell[/nom]There is no point in buying these, you can overclock and overvolt pretty much any videocard, and you can get a better performing cooler for a lot less.[/citation]
Agreed I don't know why people buy factory OCed cards, it seems silly to me

 

[Guest]

I'm not a fan of Tom's indecisiveness lately (look at the best cards for the money). I can understand indecisiveness between the FTW and the 6870 -you can't go wrong either way- but the 470 should not be recommended under any circumstances- same performance, higher cost (not by much but with no other benefits it is a negative), loud and hot with huge power draw.

 

[rooket]

Too many popover ads, Tom's. I give up. Closing this window.

 

[hixbot]

[citation][nom]RADIO_ACTIVE[/nom]Agreed I don't know why people buy factory OCed cards, it seems silly to me[/citation]
Warranty and binning.

 

[fernandogmd]

I don´t get why you don´t oc the other cards, I don´t see the point in comparing an oc´ed card against others at factory clocks. I don´t think this is a complete article, is fairly easy to oc cards today with the bundled soft, i don´t understand why you didn´t do it, the economic analisys would change.

 

[-Fran-]

I would've loved to see the 6800's and even the GTX470 getting an OC in this article. Seems a little "focused" only in putting the EVGA GTX460 FTW in a bright light (i.e. little biased).

Could you guys do an update on a few of the tests (those with major improvements in drivers from AMD/ATI and nVidia), with SLI/XFire and OC'ing the rest of the pack, pretty please? 8)

Nice article non the less as usual, Mr. Don.

Cheers!

 

[Guest]

How come the radeon 6870 has a higher minimum than average performance...?

 

[senshu]

[citation][nom]LORD_ORION[/nom]Dumb people are also functionally illiterate. How about if I put it like this? Pay 20$ less for a downgrade in card class to get an overclocked card that performs slightly worse, is already tapped out and is adding more noise and heat to your chassis.[/citation]
Did you even read this article before posting? You certainly didn't read the page on power usage and temperature benchmarks, or you wouldn't have made that ludicrous comment. Here's a direct link for you so you can save yourself from further embarrassment.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/evga-geforce-gtx-460-ftw-01g-p3-1378-tr-overclocked,2795-14.html

 

[gm0n3y]

The 6870 seems to be the best for the $ here (though just barely) due to the higher min frames. They're all great value. I'd go for the 470 over the 460FTW even with the $20 difference.

 

[billj214]

I really like to see the performance per wattage drop from the 470 since I don't like buying a bigger power supply just to support the 470.
It would be nice to see graphics card manufacturers focus on energy savings similar to CPU manufacturer's. High end video cards are absolute power hogs, even when the PC is idle!

 

[senshu]

[citation][nom]billj214[/nom]I really like to see the performance per wattage drop from the 470 since I don't like buying a bigger power supply just to support the 470. It would be nice to see graphics card manufacturers focus on energy savings similar to CPU manufacturer's. High end video cards are absolute power hogs, even when the PC is idle![/citation]

ATI has been doing a good job focusing on energy efficiency in their latest offerings. The performance per watt is very good in the entire 6xxx line. As a result, they aren't quite as potent as what nvidia has to offer. Just depends on what's more important to you.

 

[gwg666]

[citation][nom]Bullheaded67[/nom]I received two of the FTW cards on Monday and it is nice to see the lab work documents what I was already thinking. These cards are beasts and well worth the price.I think you should do an article showing the FTW cards in SLI vs the competition.[/citation]
just went to Newegg to see pricing n reviews on people who purchased one (FTW EE or FTW) sure looks to me as i said before ATI/AMD has value ,performance and the consumer in mind...over 50% unsatisfied...go read for yourself...by the looks of most/lots/few whatever you want to hear...Tom's must have stock in Nvidia