ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DirectCU II Video Card Review @ [H]

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FrgMstr

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ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DirectCU II Video Card Review - We break down the first custom GTX 770 video card from ASUS. We compare the ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DirectCU II to a GeForce GTX 680 and Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition in today's most demanding games. With a competitive price, a custom cooler, and vast overclocking capabilities, this just may be the upgrade you have been waiting for.
 
Thanks for the review guys, but I was wondering how quiet the card was, it's my understanding that this cooling setup usually performs well in this area, but results vary from model to model.

I'd like to get me a quiet video card without sacrificing too much performance, so I'm curious to know about this.
 
A noise comparison would be interesting, one of my concerns with upgrading my card was that the stock hsf on the GPU would be a lot louder than my old aftermarket solution. I got the EVGA 770 w/ ACX and it's pretty much just as quiet as my old thermalright shaman cooler.

Reviews of new cards are always kind of a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, it's great to see how they stack up against previous releases, but on the other I'm more curious to see how they compare against others of the same generation.
 
Hardocp reviews are becoming less and less important (to me) because they assume all Hardocp readers are either running 2560x1600, SLI, Triple cards, triple monitors. Well that's really a very low percentage of gamers. I find that when I read a Hardocp review, even though there is info, I always have to read others because Hardocp doesn't have the information I'm looking for. IMO Hardocp has forgotten the avid gamer and now caters to the elite gamer. Not nearly as many in the latter as the former.
 
Mike89, the entire point of these reviews is to push the cards to their limit. They assume you have the ability to extrapolate based on their findings to discern what best suits you.

They cannot cater to every single configuration in a review - if they attempted to do so, they would never put out reviews in a timely manner.
 
Mike89 said:
Hardocp reviews are becoming less and less important (to me) because they assume all Hardocp readers are either running 2560x1600, SLI, Triple cards, triple monitors. Well that's really a very low percentage of gamers. I find that when I read a Hardocp review, even though there is info, I always have to read others because Hardocp doesn't have the information I'm looking for. IMO Hardocp has forgotten the avid gamer and now caters to the elite gamer. Not nearly as many in the latter as the former.
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What information are you looking for that you can't find?

You may also be missing some of the content that is included in each article. Most single card reviews do not touch triple monitor or SLI/Crossfire configurations and the higher end cards that are capable of game play at 2560 will get pushed to that level. However, if you look at the Apples to Apples section of each game, most of the time, you should see a 1920x1080 at a high AA level run on the card in order to cover a more common resolution. In general, if a card can max out 2560x1600 with everything plus some MSAA turned on, then it won't have any trouble doing the same or better at 1920.

The evaluation that I'm working on right now is for a 7790 based card. Don't expect to see anything run at 2560x1600 in that...
 
Mike89 said:
Hardocp reviews are becoming less and less important (to me) because they assume all Hardocp readers are either running 2560x1600, SLI, Triple cards, triple monitors. Well that's really a very low percentage of gamers. I find that when I read a Hardocp review, even though there is info, I always have to read others because Hardocp doesn't have the information I'm looking for. IMO Hardocp has forgotten the avid gamer and now caters to the elite gamer. Not nearly as many in the latter as the former.
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What is the point of testing at 1920x1080 with a $400 GPU, exactly?
 
Mike89 said:
Hardocp reviews are becoming less and less important (to me) because they assume all Hardocp readers are either running 2560x1600, SLI, Triple cards, triple monitors. Well that's really a very low percentage of gamers. I find that when I read a Hardocp review, even though there is info, I always have to read others because Hardocp doesn't have the information I'm looking for. IMO Hardocp has forgotten the avid gamer and now caters to the elite gamer. Not nearly as many in the latter as the former.
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I suggest techpowerup.. they've only recently stopped including 1024x768 review benchmark comparisons
 
Rizen said:
What is the point of testing at 1920x1080 with a $400 GPU, exactly?
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I prefer high frame rate to maximum IQ, so 19x12 or 19x10 is important to me.

Also, I'd really like to know how this product delivers on the noise front. Does it have the slow ramp up feature on the fan to prevent large fluctuations in noise? Is the fan noise a pleasant one? Capacitor whine?
 
Mike89 said:
Hardocp reviews are becoming less and less important (to me) because they assume all Hardocp readers are either running 2560x1600, SLI, Triple cards, triple monitors. Well that's really a very low percentage of gamers. I find that when I read a Hardocp review, even though there is info, I always have to read others because Hardocp doesn't have the information I'm looking for. IMO Hardocp has forgotten the avid gamer and now caters to the elite gamer. Not nearly as many in the latter as the former.
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I disagree completely. 1080p is becoming increasingly relegated to the budget gamer (unless you really want 120hz), in which you can find a card in the 200-300$ price range to be appropriate. In this case, testing at 2560x1600 is *very valid* because it is powerful enough to do so, and the product itself (GTX 770) is catered towards high resolution gamers. Let's also not forget that 1080p is a very dated resolution, and I feel that PC gamers should move forward instead of being stuck in a 2006 resolution. Just my opinion - I mean, if you're buying a top of the line product, it's not unreasonable to think that you will also have a high end monitor to pair with that expensive GPU. If you're pairing a 400-650$ GPU with a cheesy 100$ 1080p TN panel, there are OBVIOUS problems here. The monitor is 75% of your experience and you're shortchanging yourself when the GPU can do so much more.

Aside from this, you can easily extrapolate 2560x1600 results into 1080p results. If a card is fast relative to the competition at 2560x1600, you can be rest assured that the same will be applicable at 1080p .
 
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As far as the product itself: as usual, excellent product from Asus. I'm really excited about the GTX 780 DC2, hopefully that gets reviewed here soon as well :)
 
2560x1440 is likely to become the new norm very soon, so I think that showing results at 2560x1600 is still very valid. Given the GPU power of some of these cards, showing 1080P in terms of what it will allow you to play as far as graphical settings would likely not show you much variation. You really do not need a $400 video card for a 1080P setup in general.
 
These 770 cards are a little frustrating for me. Like the review says at the end - if you already have a gtx680 - this is not really a good upgrade - I am not really sure what I will do next.

As far as the discussion on the reviews here - I've been gaming with a 30in 2560x1600 monitor for years and Hard OCP has become my most relevant review page over the years. While I certainly read other reviews, I really like how they focus on the experience over pure frame rates. My last 3 GPU decisions (5870, Sapphire Toxic 6950, and my current GTX680) were all heavily influenced by the reviews here.

Like the previous folks are saying - if you are gaming at 1080p, you don't really need one of these high end cards to have a good gaming experience. I will say that for me, these cards are finally delivering a good 2560x1600 gaming experience.
 
If you already have the top tier of the last generation, moving to the 2nd tier of the current generation doesn't sound like you should logically expect much gain. You kinda have to stay in the top tier or skip a generation before dropping down one, otherwise you're probably wasting your time.

I think reviewers are going to be in a tough spot for a while. You won't be able to show much difference between cards at the mainstream level as most of this hardware will max out current games. Thus the only way to find a difference is to crank the resolution or detail. It's worse for CPU reviews when you relate it to gaming, even older processors end up being GPU limited before the CPU makes much difference.

Maybe this will all change when the next gen of consoles are out and games are developed for those platforms, but even then I wouldn't expect too much out of needing specialty hardware. Figure the consoles are going to max at probably 1080p and you are really at the same level many of us game at now. Until the next big thing comes out in terms of tv resolutions, and becomes mainstream, I wouldn't expect this trend to change much for the next few years.

PC hardware is years ahead of consoles. This is both the good and bad thing about being a PC gamer. Until consoles make their next evolution, and games are coded accordingly, it just isn't going to be easy to show a difference in PC hardware at the mainstream level.
 
I live near one, so I'd be paying state tax, but no shipping. My loving wife had a few credits at Amazon so I paid no tax, and no shipping and got it out the door for $346.00 I guess I could put the difference in change towards a decent monitor.:D
btw, whats a decent gaming monitor these days? I see posts here about this card being underwhelmed by 1080p. Looking for solid bargain. Not going to be designing anything. Just gaming.
 
I'm sorry if I'm asking a question that's been asked before, but when you guys measure the length of a videocard in a review, where exactly are you measuring to? (Working on a SFF build right now. ;) ).
 
todlerix said:
I prefer high frame rate to maximum IQ, so 19x12 or 19x10 is important to me.

Also, I'd really like to know how this product delivers on the noise front. Does it have the slow ramp up feature on the fan to prevent large fluctuations in noise? Is the fan noise a pleasant one? Capacitor whine?
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Can you not extrapolate which card is a better choice based on the results at 2560x1600? There are almost no scenarios where one card will perform better at 1080p but worse at 2560x1600.
 
This is my favourite review site because of the their highest playable settings method. This site is what inspired me to move to the 1600p res hehe... how sad is that :)

My only suggestion would be that for the apples to apples (and you do this sometimes) would be to compare the cards at the "best" cards playable settings for games where there is a difference. That would provide a little more incite as to how the lesser cards perform and give us an idea as to whether we might reach that next level with an OC. From my perspective that would be a lot more useful than seeing how they do at settings that none of them are playable at. That said for the times when they all play at the same settings, then going all out makes more sense, or going the other way by stepping down a res for ultra AA or something.

All said and done, still the best review site on the Net :)
 
todlerix said:
Also, I'd really like to know how this product delivers on the noise front. Does it have the slow ramp up feature on the fan to prevent large fluctuations in noise? Is the fan noise a pleasant one? Capacitor whine?
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While we don't measure the sound with a microphone, we will comment on it at some point in the review (usually in the temp/power page for me, sometimes the OC page). We test on open air benches where the cards are less than 2 feet from our head/ears while we are gaming, so we are very in tune to the noise that is produced by the cards. For all of the cards that I've reviewed in the past year, there haven't been any that have stood out as dust busters, even when overclocked that have been loud enough for me to get upset about. I have encountered the occasional coil whine, but that has always been at game menu/loading screens where FPS has shot into the thousands (and of course, I would note it somewhere in the review).
 
Installed my just arrived ASUS GeForce GTX 770 DirectCU II tonight and I'm very impressed with it's performance.
Upgraded from an Asus EAH6970 DirectCUII/2DI4S/2GD5
Battlefield 3 with all settings maxed out and it doesn't even skip a beat.

The Asus EAH6970 DirectCU II will go into my HTPC rebuild.
 
Excellent review, but I think it would've been nice to have thrown in a GTX780 so we can see how the OC'd 770 measures up to its bigger brother.
 
Awesome.. I just picked up this card today. Didn't even notice there was a review yet.
 
I just picked it up as well! Got it Tuesday. So far, 1920x1200 performance is awesome, I can max everything. My temps however are a bit higher than seen in the review, but that's probably because of my case (Fractal Define R4) with only two fans on low inside. My idle temps are around 34C and loads are 75 to 78C. A bit higher than you quoted (granted you are using an open air rig I think for reviews)
 
PerfectCr said:
I just picked it up as well! Got it Tuesday. So far, 1920x1200 performance is awesome, I can max everything. My temps however are a bit higher than seen in the review, but that's probably because of my case (Fractal Define R4) with only two fans on low inside. My idle temps are around 34C and loads are 75 to 78C. A bit higher than you quoted (granted you are using an open air rig I think for reviews)
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My temps are not near that high... 65C with stock fan curve... 62C with custom fan curve... both with stock clock. Sounds like your case isn't breathting
 
Copyright said:
My temps are not near that high... 65C with stock fan curve... 62C with custom fan curve... both with stock clock. Sounds like your case isn't breathting
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Well if you've seen the Fractal Define R4 it's super quiet and it doesn't breath a ton :) Only two fans in the case.
 
PerfectCr said:
Well if you've seen the Fractal Define R4 it's super quiet and it doesn't breath a ton :) Only two fans in the case.
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Yeah, my setup is dead silent at idle but I do allow the case fans to spin up to ~1000rpm when gaming.. still really quiet. I've had "silent cases" for years but found you can get a nice silent rig at idle with proper fan control. Hell at idle I even shut a few of them off thanks to Asus software. Considering your case and airflow 65C isn't bad. That card puts the heat inside the case and barely exhausts any.
 
Copyright said:
Yeah, my setup is dead silent at idle but I do allow the case fans to spin up to ~1000rpm when gaming.. still really quiet. I've had "silent cases" for years but found you can get a nice silent rig at idle with proper fan control. Hell at idle I even shut a few of them off thanks to Asus software. Considering your case and airflow 65C isn't bad. That card puts the heat inside the case and barely exhausts any.
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Mine isn't 65C. More like 75 - 80C on load. Hopefully that's still within range. :)
 
Just picked up 2 of these cards at my local Micro Center last night before I had seen this review. Only $399/piece and no shipping costs seemed like a pretty good deal not to pass on. Got two of the free Metro:LL coupons to boot.

Nice review [H], validated that made I good choice on these cards. Can't wait to get them installed and fired up soon.
 
Anyone know when MSI Afterburner will support this card? I am not a fan of the Asus utility. The fan curve is annoying as hell. Does'nt seem to to an actual curve.. I have to do lots of steps with it. Plus it keeps losing my fan profile which is really annoying.
 
Copyright said:
Anyone know when MSI Afterburner will support this card? I am not a fan of the Asus utility. The fan curve is annoying as hell. Does'nt seem to to an actual curve.. I have to do lots of steps with it. Plus it keeps losing my fan profile which is really annoying.
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Afterburner 3.0 beta 10 works with it. I use it on the 780.
 
Just got it from Amazon for $420. Replacing an old 8800 Ultra that I've been running for ages. Going to drive a pair of 1440p monitors. Shouldn't be an issue at all. Probably going to watercool it too.
 
Ordered one of these yesterday from Amazon for $409, no tax and free 2 day shipping with Amazon Prime trial. Will be replacing my old 9800GTX. Just upgraded my super old E6400 rig to 4770K/Maximus VI Hero/16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3-2400. Can't wait!
 
So according to EK watercooling configurator, this card/PCB is the same one they have for the GTX680? Is that right?
 
xoleras said:
Let's also not forget that 1080p is a very dated resolution, and I feel that PC gamers should move forward instead of being stuck in a 2006 resolution. Just my opinion - I mean, if you're buying a top of the line product, it's not unreasonable to think that you will also have a high end monitor to pair with that expensive GPU. If you're pairing a 400-650$ GPU with a cheesy 100$ 1080p TN panel, there are OBVIOUS problems here.
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I agree that 1080p is rather dated at this point, but I can't really consider it budget level yet. Sure, you can get a 1080p monitor dirt cheap these days, but you really can't max every game out there with a budget video card. A $300+ video card will struggle maxed out in at least 5 or so newer titles. I would consider a $150- video card as budget. Unless you are playing straight console ports with limited pc enhancements, a budget video card won't do at 1080p. Of course, you can tweak options with most of those hardcore titles and find a happy medium, but you know what I mean.....
 
Great review of the GTX 770 from Asus.

I picked up this card here in India and it costed me a bombshell, nearly, US$480.00 (INR 30,500.00 lots of taxes and import duties in my country).
I was planning to buy 2 GTX 760's and use them in SLI but after seeing the performance of this single card I opted for this and it costed much less compared to the 2 760's.

I wanted a card for my Dell 1920x1200 display and also make it future proof so that major game releases work great with all settings maxed out. So, finally decided and took the plunge. The card is great and the performance is exceptional.

The only concern I have is the temps... ideal temp is around 30-35C and full load is 75-80C. I do have 4 fans (2 front, 2 side) which pushes cool air into the case and 3 fans (2 top, 1 back) as exhaust to take out hot air from the case.
In spite of this config of fans the temps do not drop.

When I think of OC'ing the card, I am just worried about the temps. Any way around to bring down the temps from this card.
 
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