Gigabyte GTX 780 WindForce OC Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

In the UK we’re seeing pricing of £399.99 and £409.99 for the Gigabyte GTX 780 WindForce OC graphics card from a couple of our preferred retailers. Interestingly this makes the Gigabyte GTX 780 WindForce OC priced more or less identically, if not cheaper than some reference based Nvidia GTX 780 graphics cards. In the USA we are seeing this card for around $509.99 which again makes it one of the cheapest GTX 780s you can get, cheaper than many reference cooled solutions. In Canada it can be had for CAD$519.99. In this sense Gigabyte have not added a premium to the MSRP of the graphics card and have actually managed to save some costs which is commendable.

Final Thoughts

As we’ve already reviewed the GTX 780 previously this isn’t a conclusion about the GTX 780 but instead about what Gigabyte have done with the GTX 780 design. Since we’ve had a reference GTX 780 to compare it to the design wins of the Gigabyte solution are pretty obvious. Gigabyte’s GTX 780 WindForce OC performs better because it comes overclocked – bit of a no-brainer but definitely worth pointing out because if you don’t like to overclock then this card does make sense – it costs the same but performs better. Next is that the card runs both quieter and cooler than the reference solution. This is great because the graphics card is whisper quiet under typical gaming loads, only under extreme stress will it become audible. The excellent temperatures also reinforce that additional performance because the graphics card never reaches the GPU Boost 2.0 throttle speed, in our testing it hovered in the 60s during all forms of real games. This means performance is always at the maximum it can be in terms of the boost clock (if you understand how GPU Boost 2.0 works then this will make sense). I think the card’s overall design is worth commenting on. I haven’t always been a fan of WindForce VGA coolers from Gigabyte but I have to say this particular one looks pretty sharp and the black PCB helps immensely. To top things off the graphics card also comes with a 3 year warranty, which is above average by today’s standards, and it is part of the new Nvidia GTX game bundle program where you get a complimentary copy of three games (Batman Arkham Origins, Assassins Creed Black Flag  and Splinter Cell Blacklist) with your purchase, if you buy from a participating retailer.

Negatives are really few and far between. My only niggle would be that overclocking “only” got us 1054MHz while some more cherry picked SKUs from other Nvidia partners can get 1075-1125MHz, but this really doesn’t matter too much as the difference in performance is going to be minimal between 1054MHz and 1085MHz for example. It is also worth noting those cherry picked SKUs can cost as much as 5-10% more so Gigabyte’s option is definitely a sensible one even if it can’t overclock as far.

Pros

• Priced very well, matches or betters reference pricing in most cases
• Generous out of the box overclock
• Stylish design
• Great temperatures
• Runs quiet for a GTX 780
• 3 year warranty
• Batman Arkham Origins, Assassins Creed Black Flag  and Splinter Cell Blacklist game bundle promotion

Cons

• A little bit more overclocking headroom would of been desired
• Seems a little bit more power hungry than it should be

“The GTX 780 proves itself to still be one of the best graphics cards on the market for the enthusiast gamer once again. With the GTX 780 WindForce OC Gigabyte have managed to take Nvidia’s awesome GPU that one step further offering you more performance, more cooling, less noise and an awesome looking card – that’s all for the same price as the reference design. If you’re looking for one of the most affordable custom GTX 780 designs on the market then once again Gigabyte are offering this and the WindForce 3X cooling solution is a real ace card from Gigabyte. Prospective GTX 780 buyers – this is definitely one to strongly consider.”

Thank you to Gigabyte for providing this review sample.