Best EVGA GTX 760

http://www.evga.com/articles/00757/#2763 gtx 760 with acx cooling

The best GTX 760 is the MSI Twin Frozr one.

However, if you're sticking to EVGA, the ACX one is best.

the op said that "with no OC/SC features"

EVGA offers 4 different versions at the GTX 760 on their website -

http://www.evga.com/Products/ProductList.aspx?type=0&family=GeForce+700+Series+Family&chipset=GTX+760

1. The reference GTX 760

2. Their GTX 760 2GB with blower style cooler

3. Their GTX 760 at stock speeds with ACX cooling

4. Their GTX 760 4GB with blower style cooler.

If you need to the blower style in order to exhaust the hot air from the card either for SLI purposes or because of low air flow concerns in your case either the reference 2GB or their 2GB blower model is a toss-up. The ACX cooling solution exhausts hot air into your case but should offer lower temps and noise. The 4 GB solution is not recommended at its price because there are other options that perform better.

Therefore based on your cooling and noise preferences choose #2 or #3 above. Both are at stock (reference) speeds and can be overclocked later as all the cards are capable to overclock but have not been.

I read up a little on the R5 and it looks like there's plenty of airflow or if there is not you can add the fans to get the airflow up if needed. Therefore, the EVGA GTX 760 with ACX cooling would provide the lower temps on the GPU and quite operation. Here it is listed at PCPartPicker for $249.99+ at various retailers.

All four of the cards I listed are not overclocked by EVGA due to the original posting request to not have "no OC/SC features on it." They all should perform nearly identical across the board at stock speeds at 1080p, including the 4GB model. The only differential in this case for performance is the coolers.

Yes. The fans would just expel hot air from the card into the case, so you'd need to have good airflow in your case.

No, 4gb is not necessary. 2gb is fine.

As for the case, I'd recommend the CM Storm Scout 2 advanced. The "regular" version only comes with one fan, but the "advanced" version comes with 3 fans.

Another good case is the Zalman Z12 Plus, which comes with 3 fans. It's quite cheap, but looks great.

Most people go with the twin fozer cooling, but I just think most of them are personal preference.

The EVGA Geforce GTX 760 4GB has the "blower-style" reference cooler. That design on the reference card has a target temperature of 80°C, which is also the target on the GTX 760 boost clock. Anything below 80°C and the boost clock maxes out. Once it hits that threshold the boost algorithm scales back performance. This target can be adjusted up when overclocking which from the OP does not seem like you want to do.

The ACX cooling solution has the benefit to generally have lower temperatures on the GPU but comes at the cost of exhausting the heat into the case. The "blower-style" cooler has the benefit of exhausting the heat from the GPU out of the back of the case but generally carries higher temps than the ACX cooling solution.

As far as 4GB of VRAM on a card with a 256-bit Memory Bus is concerned, the general consensus by reviews and many on this board is that unless you are running the very specific case of running a game like Skyrim with ultra-high texture packs the VRAM will not be worth the premium of purchasing this card. A card with more RAM like the AMD Radeon 7950 with 3GB of RAM and a 384-bit bus can use the RAM a lot better and has more advantages at resolutions higher than 1080p.

I am going to state this even though it goes against the OP's question - the best performance of all the EVGA cards is the EVGA GeForce GTX 760 SC w/ ACX Cooler. The card comes from EVGA overclocked with their 3 year warranty for only $259.99 per PCPartPicker in the link above. The ACX cooling solution, while not the best, will keep the card cooler to achieve the maximum boost for the longest period of time when at load. TechPowerUp shows that this model has a nice 6% performance advantage over the reference GTX 760 and is virtual tied with the more expensive GTX 670:



Since that card is covered by warranty I am not sure why you would not want to purchase it for $10 more. Since that was your original request the second best card would be the EVGA GeForce GTX 760 w/ ACX Cooling for $249.99. The same cooling solution will allow mazimum boost to be achieved for the longest time gaming due to lower GPU temps. Any other card with a "blower-style" fan will not have the lowest heat on the GPU.

To address brethm's comment - The MSI GTX 760 with Twin Frozr cooling is reviewed as one the quietest, coolest GTX 760's on the market right now. Its Military Class IV components are supposed to ensure that it lasts a long period of time. Gigabyte also has a nice GTX 760 with 3X windforce cooling that's reviewed as achieving temps as low as the MSI with a little more noise but with a larger overclock out of the box, closer to the EVGA. The EVGA superclocked has the highest performance out of the box of the three but is noisier and warmer. MSI seems to be the coolest and quietest. EVGA is the top performer. The Gigabyte is the best of both worlds. Here's some charts showing the temperatures and noises from Tom's for the MSI and Gigabyte -





TechPowerUp reports the temperatures and noises for the three as follows:

MSI GTX 760 Twin Frozr Gaming
Fan noise at load: 27 dbA
Temperature at load: 69°C

Gigabyte GTX 760 Windforce
Fan noise at load: 34 dbA
Temperature at load: 68°C

EVGA GTX 760 SC w/ ACX Cooling
Fan noise at load: 38 dbA
Temperature at load: 72°C

It doesn't seem like a lot of difference but the results seem to be consistant across all review sites.

I think I was confusing - The MSI and Gigabyte cards are overclocked and don't meet your criteria.

To answer your question -
1. Best - since all non-overclocked boards run at reference speeds, there is little to separate the cards from one another. The only card running at reference speeds with a non-reference cooler is the EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB. That cooler should provide you with better performance with lower temperatures on your GPU.

2. The EVGA with ACX cooler uses 2 fans with dual ball bearings. Here's what wikipedia has about them in computer applications:

Though generally more expensive, ball bearing fans do not suffer the same orientation limitations as sleeve bearing fans, are more durable at higher temperatures, and are quieter than sleeve-bearing fans at higher rotation speeds. The lifespan of a ball bearing fan may be over 60,000 hours at 50 °C.

Click to expand...

One of the first thing to fail is the fan on a GPU; therefore, the added benefit of high-quality fans should provide long-term performance. EVGA even throws in a 3 year warranty on the card for insurance.

3. See #1

The Rosewill R5 has been reviewed favorably including on this site. It should have 2 120mm intake fans in the front and one for exhaust. There should be decent airflow in the case, if not there should be solutions out there to increase the airflow.

It appears that the 120 mm intake fans should be pulling in air to your GPU. You can always move things around in your case to increase airflow or get fans that move more air if they fit. The specifications indicate the case can handle 10 fans total allowing you to add 7 more.