Gigabyte GTX 780 GHz Edition 3GB Graphics Card Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

In the UK the Gigabyte GTX 780 GHz Edition is currently an Overclockers UK exclusive and is being sold by them for £439.99 (though it is on offer for this week only for £419.99, so that is a bargain if you can grab it quick!). By my rough estimates that is about 11% over the baseline UK starting price of £394.99 for the GTX 780. In the USA a normal GTX 780 fetches $499 while this model sells for around $530-550. For reference the GTX Titan costs from $999/£799, the GTX 780 Ti from $699/£559 and the GTX 770 from $320/£250. On the AMD side the R9 290X costs from $549/£439, the R9 290 costs from $399/£319 and the R9 280X costs from $300/£230.

Overview

Gigabyte’s GTX 780 GHz Edition is a super impressive performing video card. We can only assume it is based off a new(er) stepping of the GTX 780 GPU because for its high clock speed the power consumption was tame and for the clock speed it seemed to be clock-per-clock faster than older GTX 780s we tested even on the same driver packages. Gigabyte’s GTX 780 GHz Edition is an absolute monster of a graphics card: it is a GTX Titan killer and it manages to match the R9 290X as well as come close to the GTX 780 Ti. Of course when non-reference R9 290Xs arrive that will be a different story but at this point in time, if you’re looking to go Nvidia, I see no reason to even consider spending more on a GTX 780 Ti or GTX Titan when the Gigabyte GTX 780 GHz Edition has all the performance you need at a comparatively attractive price point.

If we set performance aside the graphics card is equally as impressive. Gigabyte’s WindForce cooling solution is highly effective, allowing you to constantly achieve and maintain the maximum core frequency (and resultantly maximum performance) all the time, even in extended gaming sessions. The noise was lower than a stock GTX 780, and so were the temperatures, which is impressive given the clock speed is a staggering 20% higher than a reference GTX 780. The WindForce cooling solution also looks really nice, unlike some previous revisions that had a slightly dubious looking glossy plastic shroud or a blue PCB. We also think the backplate is a lovely addition which sets the whole design off with some finesse and gives the card some improved structural rigidity.

What is there to say in the way of negatives? Well I think the obvious point is that “all Gigabyte have done” is taken their GTX 780 WindForce OC graphics card, overclocked it a bit, and then added on a backplate. This modification adds about 10% to the overall cost. The prudent buyer might say,  I could surely just buy a normal non-reference GTX 780 and overclock it myself, plus I don’t really need a backplate. Indeed you could do that and it would save you money. However, you have to consider not all GTX 780s will even reach that speed and as far as we know they aren’t all designed to. The reason this one is so capable is because it could be based on a new stepping of the GTX 780, though I can’t be 100% sure if that’s the case as our GPU-Z stated A1 stepping (which is the older stepping) not B1 stepping (the supposed newer one). If it isn’t based on a new stepping then it is at least based on cherry picked speed-binned GTX 780s. In essence this is what you’re paying for, the best GTX 780s Gigabyte can find and a backplate. Much like how you’d pay more for an ASUS Direct CU II TOP or EVGA Superclocked graphics card versus the “normal” equivalents – this is on a similar level, except Gigabyte have pushed those clock speeds even further than anyone else has.

An additional negative to consider again draws on the question of overclocking. Since the card is already pushed close to the limits of what a GTX 780 can do, you’ll find that overclocking headroom is relatively small. We managed 40MHz, with some voltage tuning maybe 55MHz might of been possible but even so that’s a tiny amount – only 5%. A final point to note is power consumption is going to be comparatively high to a GTX 780 Ti or GTX Titan. Undoubtedly this is to be expected because overclocking always reduces the performance-per-watt efficiency of a GPU. The general rule of thumb, for Nvidia cards, is that more CUDA cores of the same architecture at a lower clock speed will give lower power consumption than less CUDA cores at higher clock speeds – this is because power efficiency declines with clock speed. However, you save so much money in buying the card compared to a GTX Titan or GTX 780 Ti, that lost power efficiency is a small price to pay.

Pros

• Performs almost as well as the GTX 780 Ti
• Runs constantly below the GPU Boost 2.0 threshold even when overclocked further
• Great thermal and acoustic performance of the WindForce cooling solution
• Comes with a backplate
• Memory overclocks very well

Cons

• 3 year warranty may not be seen as enough by many
• Relatively high power consumption vs the GTX 780 Ti or GTX Titan
• Limited core overclocking headroom

“What Gigabyte have done with their GTX 780 GHz Edition is impressive. They’ve taken a stock GTX 780, given it a massive 20% overclock, then added their highly effective WindForce cooling solution. To make it that little bit more special they’ve also thrown a backplate into the equation and all of this costs you just 10% more than a “normal” GTX 780. While additional overclocking headroom is not that impressive, it doesn’t need to be because the GTX 780 GHz Edition from Gigabyte essentially guarantees you a capable GTX 780 overclocker as it has to run at a 20% overclock out of the box. If you’re looking for a viable alternative to the GTX 780 Ti or GTX Titan, then we think this just might be it, and for a much smaller price. Well done Gigabyte!”

Thank you to Gigabyte for providing this review sample.