Colorful GeForce GTX 760 iGAME 2GB OC Video Card Review

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Introduction and Package

Colorful while a new name to the review section of TweakTown, isn't a new name to us here. They've been around for a while now and they've popped up a bit when it comes to press releases. We've never had a chance to look at a video card from the company till today.

One of the main reasons you might've not seen the brand around too much is due to the fact that they're mostly known more in Asia. While jumping on Google and searching for the name, you'll find a lot of results on English speaking sites when it comes to press releases, but not a whole lot when it comes to reviews and pricing.

Today, though, we're finally getting a chance to see what Colorful is up to when it comes to video cards. With new GPU models coming out from NVIDIA, it was the perfect opportunity to see just what the company has to offer.

The particular model we're looking at today is the GeForce GTX 760 which is part of the iGAME series from Colorful. While we've heard of the series, it's not one we've looked at before, so we're excited to see just what's on offer.

Package

Checking out the box we don't have a lot of information being shown. The front gives us the model along with mention that this video card is part of the iGAME series. If we turn over to the back of the box, you can see just the typical run down of NVIDIA specific features.

Like most video cards these days, we've got a fairly standard setup when it comes to the bundle. Alongside the manual and driver CD, you can see we've got two Dual Molex to 6-pin PCIe express power connectors.

We must note that the quality of the connectors are excellent with individual braids on the cables.

The Card and Specifications

The Card

Moving away from the bundle, you can see we've got a big dual fan cooler, which like most these days, takes up majority of the video card. You can see across the top a couple of heat pipes and a massive heatsink sitting behind the black shroud with red highlights. Something that really stands out for us, though, is the black PCB that Colorful has opted for. While you don't see a ton of the PCB from the front, you do from the back and we always appreciate when companies make this positive aesthetic change.

Down towards the back we've got two 6-pin PCIe power connectors, while moving closer to the front, you can see two SLI connectors. We also get a closer look at the heat pipes.

Heading over to the I/O side of things, we expected the normal connectivity setup. Looking above, though, you can see we've got something a little different.

From a connectivity standpoint, we've got the normal connections including two Dual-Link DVI connectors in the form of a DVI-D and DVI-I. Along with those you can see the typical HDMI and DisplayPort connector to round things off. Along with all this, though, you can see a button to the top left corner with "Turbo" written above it.

This button allows switching between two BIOSs that are installed with different clock speeds. We'll cover what speed each BIOS hits below.

Specifications

Looking below you can see just exactly what the difference between the two are. With the Turbo switch not engaged, you can see that the out of the box clocks are the same as a reference GTX 760. That means the core comes in at 980MHz, which is boosted up to 1033MHz via Boost 2.0. As for the 2GB of GDDR5, that comes in at the standard 6008MHz QDR.

On the right you can see what happens when we have the Turbo button pressed. Looking at the core, you can see it's been pushed up to 1020MHz and then pushed even higher again via Boost 2.0 to 1085MHz.

As for the memory, you can see like most companies, Colorful chose to do nothing. Instead it comes in with the same standard 6008MHz QDR clock.

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.

We've got a bunch of video cards in our graphs today as you'd expect with a heavy focus being on NVIDIA offerings due to the many new models that have arrived lately.

On the NVIDIA side we've got the MSI GTX 660 HAWK 2GB, along with the reference GTX 760 running at stock and overclocked to 1105MHz on the core and 6808MHz QDR on the memory. Along with those three setups we've also got the reference GTX 770 2GB to round things off.

As for the AMD side we've got the Sapphire HD 7790 1GB Dual-X OC, PowerColor PCS HD 7950 2GB overclocked to over 1100MHz on the core and the reference AMD HD 7970 GHz Edition to round off our collection of video card setups today.

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 between the stock and reference card that there isn't too much difference, with only a little fluctuation being seen. Moving to the higher resolution, we see the Colorful offering come out a little faster, but not by a major amount.

Benchmarks - 3DMark Fire Strike

3DMark Fire Strike

Version and / or Patch Used: 1

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

Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark

Buy It Here

Fire Strike is our new showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for high-performance gaming PCs. It is our most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today. Fire Strike will only be available in the Windows editions of 3DMark initially.

Checking out Fire Strike performance you can again see the reference clocked and Colorful offering are quite close. With not a huge difference in clock speeds, we didn't expect a major change.

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.

Checking out Heaven we can see that the Colorful GTX 760 iGAME is starting to separate itself from the reference card.

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.

Getting into our game line up we start with PSO2 and again see the Colorful GTX 760 iGAME separate itself a little.

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, like our last couple of tests, sees little movement across the board when comparing the Colorful GTX 760 iGAME to the reference GTX 760.

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 nice jump in performance. Looking above, you can see the Colorful GTX 760 iGAME scores 64 FPS, a strong and handy jump from the 59 FPS that the reference card scored.

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.

F1 2012 sees a nice jump across the board when comparing the Colorful GTX 760 iGAME to the reference one. Overall we see strong FPS at all resolutions here.

Benchmarks - Metro Last Light

Metro Last Light

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://enterthemetro.com/ /

Metro: Last Light takes place one year after the events of Metro 2033, proceeding from the ending where Artyom chose to call down the missile strike on the Dark Ones. The Rangers have since occupied the D6 military facility, with Artyom having become an official member of the group. Khan, the nomad mystic, arrives at D6 to inform Artyom and the Rangers that a single Dark One survived the missile strike. Khan believes the Dark One is the key to humanity's future, and wants to make peace with it, while Ranger leader Colonel Miller wants to kill the creature due to its potential threat. Miller sends Artyom to the surface with a mission to kill the Dark One; he is accompanied by Anna, Miller's sarcastic daughter and the Rangers' best sniper.

Looking at Metro Last Light, our most recent addition to the lineup of games at TweakTown, you can see we unfortunately don't have anything to compare the Colorful GTX 760 iGAME against.

Saying that, we can take away the fact that the GTX 760 isn't able to hit the 60 FPS number we need at any resolution to be able to provide a solid gaming experience.

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.

Dirt Showdown sees a little movement across the board, but nothing major. You can see at 1920 x 1200 we just scrape into the 60 FPS realm with 62 FPS, while 2560 x 1600 continues to be too intensive for the GTX 760 on a whole.

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.

Just as you'd expect, Nexuiz continues to be unplayable at all resolutions on the Colorful GTX 760 iGAME and everything else in the graph. We also see very little change in FPS with the difference being in the .X range verse a whole FPS.

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.

We again see a nice little bump in FPS on the Colorful GTX 760 iGAME over the reference card. You can see at the highest resolution the extra three FPS pushed us to a solid 60 FPS - a number we love to see.

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.

Sleeping Dogs sees some performance increase across the board. Overall, though, we continue to just see strong numbers at all resolutions.

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.

You can see a little bit of movement across the board, but as you'd expect, this card manages very strong FPS at all resolutions.

Please Note: We still include Far Cry 2 in our benchmarks (we know it's old) as a way for our readers to get a general representation of how older games perform on new hardware.

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).

Checking out Hitman Absolution performance, you can see that the reference GTX 760 and Colorful GTX 760 iGAME perform very close across all resolution with not too much changing. At the highest resolution, you can see while we've got a strong minimum, the average just isn't where we'd want it to be.

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.

At the lowest resolution we don't see any change between the two main video cards here. As we move up, though, we see a couple of extra FPS here and there. Once we hit 1920 x 1200, though, the averages just aren't where we want them to be.

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.

We see very little change here with just a single FPS being the difference. At 1920 x 1200, though, that extra FPS is the one that takes us from the 50 FPS range to the 60 FPS number we're always on the hunt for to provide a good gameplay experience.

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.

Turning on AA and AF you can see that the performance is very strong still for the Colorful GTX 760 iGAME. We see a little bit of positive movement at both resolutions.

With our non-AA and AF tests proving 60 FPS was difficult to get, we knew that once we turned on AA and AF, it would be impossible, as you can see above.

Just Cause 2 sees a nice FPS bump at both resolutions. You can see that we've got strong playable FPS at 1920 x 1200. Moving to 2560 x 1600, though, you can see the 48 FPS we're getting is just too low.

Like Metro Last Light, you can see that with AA and AF on, we just can't get performance at a point that we'd consider playable.

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.

Looking at the temperature numbers from our Colorful GTX 760 iGAME, you can see the numbers are very impressive.

Compared to the reference card, the Colorful GTX 760 iGAME is a massive 20c cooler. Considering the video card is also overclocked during this test, it's fantastic.

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 also a few dB down, which is nice.

The Colorful GTX 760 iGAME really has an excellent quality cooler attached to it.

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 on the model is pretty standard coming in at 367 watt under load. Most good quality power supplies won't have an issue with a setup like this.

Pricing, Availability and Final Thoughts

Two areas that are hard to cover are pricing and availability. With the video card not really being one that's available in much of the western world, it is clearly available to large parts of Asia. Saying that, though, the Colorful GTX 760 iGAME is a quality video card, as you saw today in this review. While it might not be available now, it doesn't mean that in time the company won't have representation in other parts of the world.

Pricing, though, we can say would line up with other non-reference cards. If testing so many non-reference cards has told us anything, it's that most companies see little change in pricing. It's only when we see companies offer extremely large overclocks or extra features on the card. Series' like the Lightning and Matrix ones from MSI and ASUS are prime examples of why a higher price is included.

Moving onto the performance of the GTX 760 iGAME, though, it ultimately sits about where you'd expect. We don't have a huge overclock on hand, but you do at times see that the extra 40MHz that is offered by Colorful when the "Turbo" switch is enabled, really gives an important boost in performance. At times you can see that the extra MHz gave us the bump we needed to hit the all-important 60 FPS realm or just end up with slightly more breathing room, ensuring better gameplay.

Talking about that Turbo button, the addition is cool. We're not sure how helpful it is as Colorful could've just essentially given us the one BIOS and had that clocked at 1020MHz. We're not quite sure why you would choose the non-Turbo BIOS, as heat, noise and power draw would show a small difference and that extra 40MHz comes in handy at times.

Overall the Colorful GTX 760 iGAME is a great video card. The performance is strong, the cooler performs exceptionally well and the addition of the Turbo button, while not the most useful extra, is a nice addition, if not for the pure fun factor of telling people your video card is in turbo mode. Buying one of these video cards might prove to be an issue for you though, depending on where you live.