Again, I didn't have access to any of Chris' GeForce GTX 780 Tis, so I tuned a GeForce GTX Titan to approximate its performance in our benchmarks. With a 384-bit memory interface, the Titan offers the same amount of bandwidth as the 780 Ti with matching clock rates. Where you'd notice a difference is overrunning the 780 Ti's 3 GB of memory. The GPU overclock is trickier since the Titan's GK110 has one of its SMX partitions disabled. I tried to compensate with an approximate clock rate increase. At any rate, the match-up isn't exact, but it's close.
Otherwise, I have a GeForce GTX 690, a Radeon R9 290X, a Radeon HD 7990, and two Radeon HD 7950 Boost cards in CrossFire to show a broad range of competition for the Mars 760.
I'm generating two sets of benchmarks. In the first one, I have a single QHD panel with a native 2560x1440 resolution. The second set employs three FHD screens at 5760x1080.
| Test System | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i5-2550K (Sandy Bridge), Overclocked to 4.2 GHz @ 1.3 V | ||||
| Motherboard | Asus P8Z77-V LX. LGA 1155, Chipset: Intel Z77M | ||||
| Networking | On-Board Gigabit LAN controller | ||||
| Memory | Corsair Performance Memory, 4 x 4 GB, 1866 MT/s, CL 9-9-9-24-1T | ||||
| Graphics | Asus Mars 760 1006 MHz GPU, 2 x 2 GB GDDR5 at 1501 MHz (6004 MT/s) GeForce GTX Titan 837 MHz GPU, 6 GB GDDR5 at 1502 MHz (6008 MT/s) also tested at overclock to simulate GeForce GTX 780 Ti: to 994 MHz GPU, 6 GB GDDR5 at 1750 MHz (7000 MT/s) GeForce GTX 690 915 MHz GPU, 6 GB GDDR5 at 1502 MHz (6008 MT/s) XFX Radeon R9 290X 1000 MHz Peak GPU Clock, 4 GB GDDR5 at 1250 MHz (5000 MT/s) 2 x Radeon HD 7950 Boost in CrossFire 850 MHz GPU, 2 x 3 GB GDDR5 at 1250 MHz (5000 MT/s) XFX Radeon HD 7990 950 MHz GPU, 2 x 3 GB GDDR5 at 1500 MHz (6000 MT/s) | ||||
| Hard Drive | Samsung 840 Pro, 256 GB SSD, SATA 6Gb/s | ||||
| Power | XFX PRO850W, ATX12V, EPS12V | ||||
| Software and Drivers | |||||
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8 Pro x64 | ||||
| DirectX | DirectX 11 | ||||
| Graphics Drivers | AMD Catalyst 13.11 Beta 9.5, Nvidia GeForce 332.21 WHQL | ||||
We've almost completely eliminated mechanical storage in the lab, and instead lean on solid-state drives to alleviate I/O-related bottlenecks. Samsung sent all of our offices 256 GB 840 Pros, so we standardize on these exceptional SSDs.
Naturally, discrete graphics cards require a substantial amount of stable power, so XFX sent along its PRO850W 80 PLUS Bronze-certified power supply. This modular PSU employs a single +12 V rail rated for 70 A. XFX claims that this unit provides 850 W of continuous power (not peak) at 50 degrees Celsius (a higher temperature than you'll find inside most enclosures).
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Metro: Last Light | Version 1.0.0.14, Built-in Benchmark, FCAT |
| Grid 2 | Version 1.8.85.8679, Built-in Benchmark Scene D6, FCAT |
| Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag | Version 1.05, Custom THG Benchmark, 40-Sec, FCAT |
| Battlefield 4 | Version 1.0.0.1, Custom THG Benchmark, 90-Sec. Fraps |
| BioShock Infinite | Version 1.1.24.21018, Built-in Benchmark, FCAT |
- Two GK104s On A Card For $650
- The Mars 760 Bundle And Software
- Test System And Benchmarks
- Results: Battlefield 4, 2560x1440
- Results: Assassin's Creed IV, 2560x1440
- Results: Metro: Last Light, 2560x1440
- Results: BioShock Infinite, 2560x1440
- Results: Grid 2, 2560x1440
- Results: Battlefield 4, 5760x1080
- Results: Assassin's Creed IV, 5760x1080
- Results: Metro: Last Light, 5760x1080
- Results: BioShock Infinite, 5760x1080
- Results: Grid 2, 5760x1080
- Overclocking
- Power, Temperature, And Noise Benchmarks
- Asus Mars 760: We Dig The Innovation, But There Are Smarter High-End Buys


That's why we included an OC'd titan to represent 780 Ti performance.
Read the article. The memory was clocked identical to 780 Ti, and the core overclock was even calculated to simulate it as closely as possible.
It's a valid representation. I see some of you don't agree and you certainly reserve the right to do that, but I'm quite satisfied with the results.
780 is not the same price point. The 780 Ti is, and we overclocked a Titan to simulate as per above.
Really?
780 is not the same price point. The 780 Ti is, and we overclocked a Titan to simulate as per above.
Thanks, I stand corrected, and the 770, 780, and 780ti is what I would like to see compared to the Mars.
My qualm with using a Titan for comparison is 1) The titan costs $300 more than the 780ti, and 2) The titan is slower.
I usually read these type of articles from a perspective of "if I was going to purchase this Mars 760 or a comparitive other card at the $700 price point, what would I buy?"
So I wouldn't buy a Titan for 300$ more and overclock it to try to get 780ti performance out of it. I would want to see how a 780ti overclocked compares to an overclocked Mars 760 - then make a choice from that.
But, from strictly a performance consideration, I understand where you are coming from.
Those of us who don't get the Nvidia sample cards to play with have to consider the price/performance factor
My qualm with using a Titan for comparison is 1) The titan costs $300 more than the 780ti, and 2) The titan is slower.
The point is, is overclocked to *match* the 780 Ti.
We tested it at stock, ***and then again overclocked to represent the 780 Ti***.
It goes over this in detail in the article. Check the test system page
You are paying for the complexities of sticking two GPU's and the SLi bridge on one card together with the larger HSF this requires, it shouldn't be that difficult to work that out surely?
Plus stability is always worst on dual GPU card
Not my thing