NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216: EVGA, Zotac

For the purposes of this article, we got our hands on two GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 cards, one from EVGA and the other from Zotac, both of which are factory overclocked models that offer higher GPU, shader, and memory frequencies than NVIDIA's reference specifications call for.

  

  
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition

Save for its Core 216-branded decal on the fan shroud, EVGA's new GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition looks essentially identical to the first-gen GeForce GTX 260.  They have the same cooler, PCB, and same dual, dual-link DVI outputs.  The GPU on this card, however, is clocked at 626MHz, with a 1350MHz shader clock, and 896MB of 1053MHz (2106MHz DDR) memory.  The increased number of stream processors in conjunction with the card's higher clock speeds should give it a nice performance boost over the original GeForce GTX 260.  EVGA bundles their card with a user's manual and driver CD, a DVI to VGA adapter, a DVI to HDMI adapter, an SPDIF audio cable for feeding digital audio into the card, and two Molex to 6-pin PCI Express power adapters.  EVGA also includes a copy of their Precision Overclocking Utility and when users register the card, a free copy of 3DMark Vantage Advanced Edition is also made available for download.  We should also note that this card is covered by EVGA's excellent lifetime warranty as well.

  

  
Zotac GeForce GTX 260 AMP^2 Edition

Aesthetically speaking, the Zotac GeForce GTX 260 AMP^2 Edition looks just like the EVGA card above but with a different decal affixed to its fan shroud.  The two cards do have different specifications, however.  Zotac outfits their card with a slightly higher 650MHz GPU clock, with a 1400MHz shader clock, and 1050MHz (2100MHz DDR) memory.  Included in the Zotac GeForce GTX 260 AMP^2 Edition's accessory bundle, we found a similar assortment of items to EVGA's, which included a user's manual and driver CD, a DVI to VGA adapter, a DVI to HDMI adapter, an SPDIF audio cable, and two Molex to 6-pin PCI Express power adapters.  In addition to those items though, Zotac also includes an HD component output dongle, and a full version of the driving game GRiD.  If you haven't seen GRiD in action, do yourself a favor and download the demo--it's a very cool game.  Kudos to Zotac for including it with their card.

As for its other features and specification, the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 cards pictured here require two 6-pin PCI Express power connectors and have a max power of 182 watts.  Like first-gen GTX 260 cards, they also sport of pair of SLI edge connectors and support two-card and three-way SLI configurations.