Conclusion: EVGA GTX460 For The Win!
If nothing else, EVGA’s GTX460 FTW shows us what the GF104 GPU is capable of. It’s crystal clear why the GeForce GTX 460 was given a relatively conservative reference core and shader clock relative to its limits, along with a single disabled Shader Multiprocessor. After all, it can go toe-to-toe with the GeForce GTX 470 when everything is dialed up. It'd be nice if Nvidia released a card sporting GF104 GPU and all eight streaming multiprocessors enabled, just to see what it can do.
Despite the excellent factory overclock, value always comes down to a balance between price and performance. It’s been a couple of months since the Radeon HD 6800 launch, so let’s have a look at the current market, as represented on Newegg. At the time of writing, most of the Radeon HD 6850s hover around the $190 range. The GeForce GTX 460 1 GB can be found for $180-250. EVGA’s overclocked GTX460 FTW sells for $230, a $50 premium over the cheapest GeForce GTX 460 1 GB available. The Radeon HD 6870 is readily available around $240. Finally, the GeForce GTX 470 sells for around $250.
Here’s where the decision gets dicey: do you want an EVGA GTX460 FTW, a Radeon HD 6870, or a GeForce GTX 470? With a $10 spread between these options, it’s very hard to call a clear winner here. Frankly, any one of these cards is going to provide excellent service. A typical user is never going to regret having chosen one of these options over the other, as performance is practically identical and they all have their own strengths and weaknesses once you move past the average frame rates. The GeForce cards have CUDA and 3D Vision, while the Radeon boards have Eyefinity. Pick the value-adders that're important to you.
The bottom line is that EVGA’s GTX460 FTW offers something that I’ve never before seen in a card with an extreme factory overclock: excellent performance relative to its price. With GeForce GTX 470-class gaming ability combined with lower power usage, noise, and heat, EVGA’s option truly lives up to it's name and surpasses other GeForce GTX 460 cards for the win.
