ASUS GTX760-DC2OC-2GD5 Pro Reviews

In actual performance terms, little has changed. The fact that the high clockspeed barely translates into any actual fps performance gains is indicative of a second round of cards based on the same silicon. This GK104 is running at its limits in terms of the geometry it can toss about, so neither overclocked card is really worth it for any perceived improvements in overall performance. But when the card is already performing this well that's not such a problem - and as Asus's card is only a little more expensive, you're simply getting a smaller card with a much more impressive cooling array in return. In fact, the DirectCU II cooler is noticeably quieter in operation, too. Even if space isn't at a premium, this smaller GTX 760 still gets the nod from us.

In actual performance terms, little has changed. The fact that the high clockspeed barely translates into any actual fps performance gains is indicative of a second round of cards based on the same silicon. This GK104 is running at its limits in terms of the geometry it can toss about, so neither overclocked card is really worth it for any perceived improvements in overall performance. But when the card is already performing this well that's not such a problem - and as Asus's card is only a little more expensive, you're simply getting a smaller card with a much more impressive cooling array in return. In fact, the DirectCU II cooler is noticeably quieter in operation, too. Even if space isn't at a premium, this smaller GTX 760 still gets the nod from us.

With the 760 now rounding out the 700 Series GeForce lineup for the foreseeable future we do have to say that Nvidia did a very good job of filling in gaps with cards built for just the right performance in that segment, and the 760 is a shining example of this. ASUS takes Nvidia’s designs and GPUs, and always finds ways to pump them up or improve even on their own custom designs as evidenced by the direct power bus bar. We cannot say with any measurable certainty as to how much effect it has but in the end, it is a neat solution and even makes for a quite nice looking card. The fan solution is overkill for a cool running GPU like the 760, but we’re not complaining. Overall, for the price premium you pay the special innovations are a huge plus. Features such as the need for only a single 8 pin will definitely help with cable clutter, and make this one efficient card that can also clock very well. With the performance, overclockability, thermals and overall innovation the ASUS GTX 760 DirectCU II OC deserves nothing less than top honors as an awesome entry into the mainstream performance category.

Today, NVIDIA releases their GeForce GTX 760 using the same GK104 graphics processor that we've seen on cards like the GTX 660 Ti, GTX 670, GTX 680, and GTX 770. ASUS has overclocked their GTX 760 DirectCU II out of the box, but only with a relatively small overclock that provides a meager 3% performance improvement over the reference design. The new card delivers not only an impressive 22% performance improvement vs. GTX 660 but is also priced $60 higher. In the product stack, the GTX 760 will replace the GTX 660 Ti against which the ASUS GTX 760 DC II OC provides a 9% higher performance at $20 less. Compared to AMD's lineup, we see the card 11% faster than the Radeon HD 7950; the HD 7950 Boost variants should roughly able to match its performance--at higher pricing. ASUS is using a new DirectCU II cooler with two fans and heatpipes that make direct contact with the GPU surface. Our testing shows that the cooler is very capable, delivering amongst the lowest temperatures of all GTX 760s we tested today. Idle noise levels are fantastic and noise during gaming is good too, but I expected better. Given the low temperatures, it would have been easy to improve a bit.