GTX 460/465 Superclocked/non-superclocked

[JonBeam]

I was looking at the EVGA GTX line (they seem to be the manufacturer with the most positive reviews):

GeForce GTX 460 with 675 MHz core clock
PCI Express 2.0
1024 MB 256 bit 2.5ns GDDR5 memory
3600 MHz memory clock and 1350 MHz shader clock

GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked with 763 MHz core clock
PCI Express 2.0
1024 MB 256 bit 2.5ns GDDR5 memory
3800 MHz memory clock and 1526 MHz shader clock

GeForce GTX 465 with 607 MHz core clock
PCI Express 2.0
1024 MB 256-bit 2.5ns GDDR5 memory
3206 MHz memory clock and 1215 MHz shader clock
NVIDIA 2-way and 3-way SLI ready

GeForce GTX 465 Superclocked with 625 MHz core clock
PCI Express 2.0
1024 MB 256-bit 2.5ns GDDR5 memory
3250 MHz memory clock and 1250 MHz shader clock
NVIDIA 2-way and 3-way SLI ready

These are all at about the 200 dollar mark. What confused me was benchmarks from videocardbenchmark lists GTX 460 at 2,325 and GTX 465 at 2,472. It appears the 460's are better, though, in their core clock speed and their memory/shader clocks. So was the point of 465 the SLI? I don't have a SLI capable mobo, so it'd be easy to scratch those 2 off if that's the case.

Then it's just down to superclocked vs non-superclocked. Any thoughts on that?

 

[JonBeam]

By the way, this is by no means a comprehensive list. If I'm missing a better card at the $200 mark, let me know. This just seemed to be it according to amazon.

 

[nforce4max]

Avoid the GTX465 as it is a poor performer even against the GTX460 and if you are considering such a card then you would be better off getting a GTX470. The GTX 460 SC is a good card and have one from Gigabyte. You can read my reviews there (debase) and performance wise the GF104 is one of the few decent Fermi cards. The Evga GTX460 SC is faster than the GTX465 due to both improved architecture as well clocks.

 

[JonBeam]

So 460 SC is the way to go unless I shell out another 65 bucks for a 470? Not sure $270 is worth the performance increase.

 

[nforce4max]

It is if you buy the right sample then you can push it and gain yet even more performance than you would have had with a single gtx 460. It is either a GTX460 or a GTX470 or a similar performing ati card. Personally the GTX 460 is a good card and the one that I have is rock solid. Also you can sli later if it is needed.

 

[alandjackson]

I just had to make the same decision as you and I went with the 460 1gb SC from EVGA. At $180-$200 (after mail in rebates) they seem to be in a price/performance sweet spot. The 470 didn't seem fast enough to justify the extra price and the radeon cards are going for way over MSRP right now (at least they made nvidia lower their prices!).

Unless you are considering the 480 SLI ($1000?), the 460 seems like an awesome deal because you can SLI the 460 1gb down the road and get 10% - 25% better performance than a single 480 and still be under $400 total.

 

[17seconds]

The SC has better chips. Those chips that don't pass the higher level testing process get placed in the regular non-SC models. Both are still good, and differences may be minimal.

 

[JonBeam]

Best answer selected by JonBeam.

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar