NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card Overclocked

Introduction

Just before Computex 2013 last week we saw the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 2GB launch and found ourselves impressed with what NVIDIA was offering. As always we move from our review of a reference card into the overclocking side of things to see just what kind of performance we're able to get out of new models.

While we had hoped to do it much closer to launch, due to the craziness that surrounds Computex, we just didn't get a chance to do so. With that all died down now and with things returning to normal, we're able to step back into our office, sit in front of our computers and testbeds and get everything up and running again.

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While we've had a few GTX 770 video cards start to pile up around us over the last week, the first thing we really want to do before we get into them is check out the overclocking capabilities on the reference design model. With companies offering us some new coolers at launch, we're looking forward to seeing those load temperature numbers drop down like we saw on the EVGA GTX 780 SC a few weeks ago.

As always, because we've already looked at the reference card, which we linked just above, we'll get straight into our testbed and the overclocking before we check out the performance. If you want to take a closer look at the card we recommend you check out our launch review in the event you missed it.

Benchmarks - Test System Setup

We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASUS and Corsair.

You'll see an almost identical line up of video cards that you saw in our original GTX 770 2GB review today. On the NVIDIA side we've got the GTX 770 2GB clocked at its reference speeds along with the GTX 650 Ti Boost reference cards in SLI. We also have the reference clocked GTX 780 and the pre-overclocked GTX TITAN 6GB SC from EVGA.

On the AMD side we've got the PCS HD 7950 from PowerColor which we've overclocked to over 1100MHz on the core, alongside the reference clocked HD 7970 GHz Edition.

Looking above you can see we pushed the core up to 1153MHz or 1192MHz via boost. This is a nice increase from the stock 1046MHz or 1085MHz via boost clock. As for the memory, the 2GB of GDDR5 already came in at a very strong 7012MHz QDR, but you can see we managed to push it to 7664MHz QDR, which is a really high memory clock speed.

The FPS Numbers Explained

When we benchmark our video cards and look at the graphs, we aim to get to a certain level of FPS which we consider playable. While many may argue that the human eye can't see over 24 FPS or 30 FPS, any true gamer will tell you that as we climb higher in Frames Per Seconds (FPS), the overall gameplay feels smoother. There are three numbers we're looking out for when it comes to our benchmarks.

30 FPS - It's the minimum number we aim for when it comes to games. If you're not dropping below 30 FPS during games, you're going to have a nice and smooth gaming experience. The ideal situation is that even in a heavy fire fight, the minimum stays above 30 FPS making sure that you can continue to aim easily or turn the corner with no dramas.

60 FPS - It's the average we look for when we don't have a minimum coming at us. If we're getting an average of 60 FPS, we should have a minimum of 30 FPS or better and as mentioned above, it means we've got some smooth game play happening.

120 FPS - The new number that we've been hunting down over recent months. If you're the owner of a 120 Hz monitor, to get the most out of it you want to get around the 120 FPS mark. Moving from 60 FPS / 60 Hz to 120 FPS / 120 Hz brings with it a certain fluidity that can't really be explained, but instead has to be experienced. Of course, if you're buying a 120 Hz monitor to take advantage of 3D, an average of 120 FPS in our benchmark means that in 3D you will have an average of 60 FPS, which again means you should expect some smooth gameplay.

Why are some graphs incomplete?

Adding new game benchmarks is a long, tedious and time consuming task as every video card has to be re-tested in those new benchmarks. Because of that reason we have always just evaluated our benchmark line up every six months. To stay up to date and current with the latest benchmarks and games available, we've changed our approach to adding new benchmarks.

Our benchmark line up will progress and be updated as newer more intensive games with benchmarks comes to light. While this will mean that initially you may only see a single video card in those particular graphs, as the weeks go on and we test more and more video cards, the results will grow quickly. This will help keep our benchmark line up as up to date as possible as we introduce and remove games on a constant basis.

Benchmarks - 3DMark 11

3DMark 11

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmark11/

Buy It Here

3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world's most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC's gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

Starting off with 3DMark 11 you can see a nice little boost in performance in both areas. We don't really see it change the overall position of the cards in anyway, though.

Benchmarks - Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Version and / or Patch Used: 3

Developer Homepage: http://www.unigine.com

Product Homepage: http://unigine.com/press-releases/091022-heaven_benchmark//

New benchmark grants the power to unleash the DirectX 11 potential in the gift wrapping of impressively towering graphics capabilities. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is ensured within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.

Heaven sees a nice little bump at both resolutions, but again we don't really see any change when it comes to the overall ranking of the cards with the GTX 650 Ti SLI Boost setup still coming out slightly ahead at both resolutions.

Benchmarks - Phantasy Star Online 2

Phantasy Star Online 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.sega.com/?t=EnglishUSA

Product Homepage: http://www.pso2.com/us/html/index.html

Play Phantasy Star Online 2 and experience revolutionary combat in an action-driven, free-to-play multiplayer online RPG from SEGA. Take a journey into an immersive sci-fi fantasy narrative and explore mysterious worlds to unravel their secrets. Join fellow adventurers and fight against the legions of darkness to banish them from the galaxy.

Score explanation: Less than 2000: Please adjust your game settings because the processing load is quite heavy.

2000 through 5000: The game runs fine at the setting, if you have room, you can adjust some settings.

5001+: The game works wonderfully at this setting.

PSO2 sees a good 20% increase in performance with the overclock giving us some very strong performance numbers here.

Benchmarks - Lost Planet 2

Lost Planet 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark - Test A Scene 1

Developer Homepage: http://www.capcom.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.lostplanet2game.com/

Lost Planet 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the sequel to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition which is also made by Capcom, taking place ten years after the events of the first game, on the same fictional planet. The story takes place back on E.D.N. III 10 years after the events of the first game. The snow has melted to reveal jungles and more tropical areas that have taken the place of more frozen regions. The plot begins with Mercenaries fighting against Jungle Pirates. After destroying a mine, the Mercenaries continue on to evacuate the area, in which a Category-G Akrid appears and attacks them. After being rescued, they find out their evacuation point (Where the Category-G appeared) was a set-up and no pick up team awaited them. The last words imply possible DLC additions to the game, "There's nothing to be gained by wiping out snow pirates... unless you had some kind of grudge."

Lost Planet 2 sees a nice little bump across the board and you can see at the highest resolution our numbers are just slightly behind the GTX 650 Ti Boost SLI setup.

Benchmarks - Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Dark Tower

Developer Homepage: http://www.eidos.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.justcause.com/

Just Cause 2 employs the Avalanche Engine 2.0, an updated version of the engine used in Just Cause. The game is set on the other side of the world from the original Just Cause, on the fictional island of Panau in Southeast Asia. Panau has varied terrain, from desert to alpine to rainforest. Rico Rodriguez returns as the protagonist, aiming to overthrow the evil dictator Pandak "Baby" Panay and confront his former mentor, Tom Sheldon.

Just Cause 2 sees a little bit of an increase at all resolutions which see us come closer and closer to the GTX 650 Ti Boost SLI setup at the higher resolutions with the overclocked GTX 770 2GB coming out slightly ahead at the highest resolution.

Benchmarks - F1 2012

F1 2012

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com

In F1 2012 players will feel the unparalleled thrill of becoming a FORMULA ONE driver with a host of new features, wide-ranging technical and gameplay advancements and extensive competitive and co-operative multiplayer components. F1 2012 will feature all of the official teams, drivers and circuits from the 2012 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, including the debut of the 2012 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX at Austin, Texas and the return of Germany's famous Hockenheim circuit to the calendar.

At all resolutions we don't see too much of a change as we're sitting around the FPS wall at the lower resolution.

Benchmarks - Metro 2033

Metro 2033

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.4a-games.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.thqnordic.com/

Metro 2033 is an action-oriented video game with a combination of survival horror and first-person shooter elements. The game is based on the novel Metro 2033 by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. It was developed by 4A Games in Ukraine and released in March 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360.[3] In March 2006, 4A Games announced a partnership with Glukhovsky to collaborate on the game.[4] The game was announced at the 2009 Games Convention in Leipzig,[5] a first trailer came along with the announcement.[6] A sequel was announced, currently titled Metro: Last Light.

Metro 2033 sees some great gains and the extra 10% at the highest resolution is really appreciated as we move from 62 FPS to 68 FPS giving us a bit more breathing room and making sure the game runs smoothly.

Benchmarks - Dirt Showdown

Dirt Showdown

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/dirtshowdown/360/

DiRT Showdown is the new arcade racing game from the team that brought you the award-winning DiRT series, uncaged in 2012. Pick up and play controls combine with electrifying events, frenzied crowds and stunning graphics to deliver high octane, dive in and drive thrills from event one.

While Dirt Showdown manages to see some nice performance gains across the board, you can see at the highest resolution, we still fall shy of the 60 FPS number at the highest resolution by just a few FPS.

Benchmarks - Nexuiz

Nexuiz

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.alientrap.org/

Product Homepage: http://www.nexuiz.com/

Nexuiz is an Arena First Person shooter coming soon to consoles. Nexuiz is fast paced with extremely competitive game play. IllFonic brings Alientrap Software's Nexuiz to next-gen gaming consoles around the world while staying true to the game play refined over the years through development. IllFonic introduces a new Victorian influenced art style that is simultaneously futuristic and sophisticated. Nexuiz for consoles is powered by CryENGINE 3.

While Nexuiz sees some decent gains at all resolutions, you can see like most of our setups here, we're way below the 60 FPS number we want at most resolutions, for a solid gameplay experience.

Benchmarks - Sniper Elite V2

Sniper Elite V2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.rebellion.co.uk/

Product Homepage: http://sniperelitev2.com/us/age.html

Sniper Elite V2 features detailed sniping simulation with advanced ballistics, taking into account gravity, wind, velocity, bullet penetration, aim stability and more. Guaranteed to provide players with the most realistic simulation of military sharpshooting yet available.

Looking at Sniper Elite V2 you can see we've got a couple of extra FPS across the board which gives us a bit more breathing room at the highest resolution. You can see against the GTX 650 Ti Boost SLI setup performance is quite strong.

Benchmarks - Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://eu.square-enix.com/en

Product Homepage: http://www.sleepingdogs.net/

The core gameplay of Sleeping Dogs consists of giving the player an open world environment in which to move around freely. Sleeping Dogs is played as an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective action-adventure game with role-playing elements. The player controls Wei Shen, a Chinese-American police officer, as he goes undercover to infiltrate the Sun On Yee Triad organization. On foot, the player character has the ability to walk, run, jump, climb over obstacles and swim, as well as use weapons and martial arts in combat. Players also drive a variety of vehicles including cars, boats, and motorcycles.

Moving into Sleeping Dogs you can see the same trend of added performance being seen at all resolutions. The most appreciated as always comes at the highest resolution with those extra 5 FPS.

Benchmarks - Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.01

Timedemo or Level Used: Ranch Long

Developer Homepage: http://www.ubi.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.farcry2.com/

Buy It Here

The Dunia Engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2 by the award-winning Ubisoft Montreal development team. It delivers the most realistic destructible environments, amazing special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storm effects, real-time night-and-day cycle, dynamic music system, non-scripted enemy A.I. and so much more.

Far Cry 2 as always sees a bit of movement across the board, but going off the original numbers, you can see that the extra performance isn't really needed anyway.

Benchmarks - Hitman Absolution

Hitman Absolution

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.ioi.dk/

Product Homepage: http://hitman.com/

Hitman: Absolution is an action-adventure stealth game developed by I/O Interactive and published by Square Enix. It is the fifth entry in the Hitman game series, and runs on I/O Interactive's proprietary Glacier 2 game engine. Before release, the developers stated that Absolution would be easier to play and more accessible, while still retaining hardcore aspects of the franchise. The game was released on 20 November 2012, which is in the 47th week of the year (in reference to the protagonist, Agent 47).

At 1920 x 1200 and 1680 x 1050 you can see no change in performance due to the fact we hit a 54 / 69 FPS wall in the minimum / average department. At the highest resolution, you can see we've got a bit of a bump in both the minimum and average, though, with the average hitting that wonderful 60 FPS number we're always on the hunt for.

Benchmarks - Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.nixxes.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.tombraider.com/us/base/agegate?refer=184&

Tomb Raider is an action-adventure platform video game. Published by Square Enix, Tomb Raider is the fifth title developed by Crystal Dynamics in the Tomb Raider franchise. As the first entry in a new Tomb Raider continuity, the game is a reboot that emphasizes the reconstructed origins of the culturally influential lead character Lara Croft. Tomb Raider was released on 5 March 2013 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows to universal critical acclaim.

You can see moving to Tomb Raider we see a nice little bump in performance at all resolutions. The average increase at 1920 x 1200 to 59 FPS is good. While we'd prefer to be in the 60 FPS range, the fact we've got a 41 FPS minimum means that overall this is still a pretty good number that will bring some smooth gameplay.

At the highest resolution, you can see while we see an extra couple of FPS, performance is still too low to be considered playable.

Benchmarks - BioShock Infinite

BioShock Infinite

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://irrationalgames.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.bioshockinfinite.com

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter video game and the third installment in the BioShock series. Previously known as "Project Icarus", it is being developed by Irrational Games and was released worldwide on the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 platforms on March 26, 2013. BioShock Infinite is not part of the storyline of previous BioShock games but features similar gameplay concepts and themes.

While we get a nice bump across the board, you can see at the highest resolution, we're still a little shy of the FPS we need. Below that the extra FPS at 1920 x 1200 is appreciated as we move in to the top half of the 70 FPS region.

Benchmarks - High Quality AA and AF

High Quality AA and AF

While we test all our games with maximum in-game settings, turning on Anti-Aliasing (AA) and Antistrophic Filtering (AF) helps take the intensity of our testing to another level.

Here we see video cards go from playable FPS to an unplayable FPS and the real power houses continue to help break that 60 FPS mark we always aim for to provide a smooth gaming experience.

Looking at Far Cry 2 OC performance you can see we get a bit of a boost at both resolutions, but out of the box we already had some great performance coming from the new GTX 770 2GB.

Metro 2033 sees a nice bump at both resolutions and that extra performance at 1920 x 1200 is really nice as we move out of the 60 FPS realm into the 70 FPS area.

Again we see a nice bump in performance, but you can see at 2560 x 1600, we fall just a single FPS behind that 60 FPS number we're on the hunt for to provide a solid gaming experience.

While we see a small boost in performance, you can see at both resolutions our numbers are still too low.

Temperature Test

The temperature of the core is pulled from MSI Afterburner with the max reading used after a completed run off 3DMark Vantage and the Performance preset.

The GTX 770 2GB when overclocked runs at around that 80c mark. We're really looking forward to seeing the performance of aftermarket coolers.

Sound Test

Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.

After five minutes of that we get a bit more serious and place the device two CM away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode) and in load (3D mode).

Noise levels are slightly elevated, but you can see we still sit around the middle of the pack, which is good for a high-end video card.

Power Consumption Test

Using our PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01 or "Power Thingy" as it has become quickly known as to our readers, we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated graphics cards installed. Keep in mind, it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).

There are a few important notes to remember though, while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in particular tests the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time, therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.

The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum - only a SSD hard drive is used with a single CD ROM and minimal cooling fans.

So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.

Power draw is good sitting in the middle of the pack when it comes to load. Looking at the idle number, though, you can see NVIDIA have clearly done a great job with idle power draw.

Final Thoughts

Overclocking on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 2GB was fairly standard. You can see quite often we're sitting around that 10% mark when it comes to extra performance. Sometimes we see around 5%, while other times we can see as high as 20%. Of course it always comes down to how well a game is able to take advantage of the extra MHz on offer.

When it comes to heat and noise, you can see both areas are barely affected. The new GTX 700 series based video cards pretty much seem to run at 80c under load and then noise seems to just go in line with whatever it needs to be to make sure that the GPU runs no hotter than 80c.

What's going to really be interesting is the performance of GTX 700 series cards from other companies, especially as they move away from reference coolers. With companies like MSI, EVGA and ASUS all offering some excellent cooling solutions, what they're able to do with the new model will be interesting. While clearly 80c isn't a problem for the new series, we wouldn't complain about it sitting a good 10 - 15c lower than that.

With cards using the reference cooler coming in at $399 and non-reference cooler costing only $10 more, you're probably going to be more than likely picking up one of these particular versions. With cards from EVGA and MSI already in my Taipei lab, we'll be bringing you the performance of them ASAP.

For now, though, if you're looking at spending around that $400 mark, the GTX 770 2GB continues to look like an impressive model. Throw in a bit of overclocking and you can see some extra performance that ranges from 5% to 20% depending on the game. We're looking for those numbers to improve even further when we look at non-reference cooled video cards soon.