Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 review

Not only does the GTX 780 look very similar to the breathtakingly beautiful Nvidia GTX Titan, it also uses the same GPU, the Kepler GK110. Here, the GK110 runs at a base clock speed of 863MHz and a boost clock speed of 900MHz. Although it shares the same GPU as the GTX Titan, the GTX 780 has 2,304 CUDA cores rather than the GTX Titan’s 2,688 cores. It also has less memory than the GTX Titan, although the GTX 780’s 3GB of GDDR5 RAM should be enough memory to last the next few years.

To power the GTX 780, you’ll need both 6-pin and 8-pin power connectors. As for graphics outputs, the GTX 780 provides single HDMI and DisplayPort connections as well as two DVI ports.

TITANIC PERFORMANCE?

When tested with Dirt Showdown at a resolution of 1,920×1,080 with 4x anti-aliasing and graphics quality set to Ultra, the GTX 780 provided an excellent average frame rate of 88.7fps. This compares well with the GTX Titan, which provided an average frame rate of 91.2fps. It also produced a very similar result to the GTX Titan when we ran the Dirt Showdown benchmark at 1,280×720 with 4x anti-aliasing and graphics quality set to High, scoring an average frame rate of 112fps. The GTX Titan scored 113.3fps under the same conditions, which is so close as to be negligible.

Our Crysis 2 Benchmark told a similar story, with the GTX 780 providing an average frame rate of 48.3fps at a resolution 1,920,1080 with 4x anti-aliasing and graphics quality set to Ultra quality. Again, the GTX Titan produced a slightly higher frame rate, scoring 49.6fps under the same conditions.

SURROUND GAMING

Given the power of the GTX 780, it’s perhaps unsurprising that it performs well in three-monitor Nvidia Surround mode, although you may have to reduce graphics quality settings to achieve the best frame rates. We saw an average frame rate of 24.3fps at 5,760×1,080 with 4x anti-aliasing at Ultra quality, for example, which isn’t quite smooth enough for comfortable play, but reducing the graphics settings to Very High produced a suitably smooth 46.6fps.

The GTX 780 performed much better in Dirt Showdown, where it provided an average frame rate of 43.2fps at 5,760×1,080, Ultra quality and 4x anti-aliasing. Reducing the graphics quality to High produced a much higher frame rate of 84.5fps. Although the GTX Titan produced a similar frame of 44.9fps under the former conditions, it produced a much higher frame rate of 96.9fps under the latter conditions.

There’s no doubt that the GTX Titan is a powerful graphics card, but our results show that it’s only slightly better than the GTX 780 at resolutions of 1,920×1,080 at the highest quality. The GTX Titan certainly produces higher frame rates for multi-monitor and ultra-high resolution gaming, but the GTX 780’s frame rates are still high at 5,760×1,080. If you don’t have the vast funds needed to buy a GTX Titan, the GTX 780 is a better value alternative.