PNY GeForce GTX 960 XLR8 OC Gaming Graphics Card Review

3D Mark

The graphics card fares pretty well during the Fire Strike benchmark and almost manages to dethrone the ASUS STRIX GTX 960. Evidently, the deficit is extremely small and showcases the slight performance boost from the ASUS STRIX GTX 960’s higher base clock.

Once the resolution is increased to 2560×1440, a similar pattern emerges and the GPU records solid numbers.

Throughout 4K testing, the graphics card leaps ahead of its nearest rival by a surprising margin. To be clear, the 2GB video memory and weak performance when paired with a 4K monitor can easily output some unusual results. This is certainly the case here and you’re not going to enjoy a better experience compared to the ASUS STRIX GTX 960 just because of a higher Fire Strike Ultra score.

Unigine Valley

Next up is Unigine Valley which offers a huge test for graphics cards especially on the maximum visual preset. The PNY GTX 960 XLR8 OC Gaming is capable of maintaining a good average frame-rate given the technical strain but it struggles to pull away from the GTX 950.

When the resolution is set to 1440P, the GPU’s average frame-rate dips well below 30 and it’s incredibly close between the bottom three results. Even though the ASUS STRIX GTX 960 just pulls ahead, it’s within a margin of error.

Once again, the unbelievably taxing 4K benchmark forms a wider gap between the graphics card and its competitor than you might expect. It’s fairly irrelevant though because both cards are not designed for 4K usage scenarios and you’re better off focussing on the 1080P data.

Compute Performance

In terms of compute capabilities, the GPU attains a very respectable score and outperforms the R9 380.