[HWC]EVGA GTX 780 Classified Review

[Jaydip]

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...ews/63051-evga-gtx-780-classified-review.html

"...Much of the GTX 780 Classified’s overclocking headroom is accessible to everyday gamers because of EVGA’s excellent ACX cooling solution. It is both quiet and offers bucketloads of performance, keeping the core within acceptable temperature limits all the way past the 1.3GHz mark. Above that, you may want to look at EVGA’s Classified Hydro Copper water block.

Historically, EVGA has priced their Classified cards at levels that were out of reach to pretty much everyone but this iteration is blazing a new trail here as well. At $700, it still costs $50 more than the reference version and $20 more than alternatives from ASUS and Gigabyte but for a few bucks more you get what we believe is the best GTX 780 currently available.

The EVGA Classified may be one of the most expensive GTX 780 cards around but it is the first to truly push the outer limits of NVIDIA’s Kepler architecture. Not only does this make it a highly valuable commodity for overclockers and gamers alike but it points to a new direction for custom graphics card development. If you have $700 set aside for a GPU upgrade, this is the card you’ll want. Period."

 

[Piklar]

:thumbsup: Damn fine card, Classified voltage utility and BIOS that allows Power Target to a 200% + 14+3 phase all-digital PWM !! Imagine this thing under water?!

Alternately you could get a reference designed card put it under decent watercooling and use MSI afterburner with unlocked voltages and pray to the OCing gods!

 

[Jaydip]

:thumbsup: Damn fine card, Classified voltage utility and BIOS that allows Power Target to a 200% + 14+3 phase all-digital PWM !! Imagine this thing under water?!

Alternately you could get a reference designed card put it under decent watercooling and use MSI afterburner with unlocked voltages and pray to the OCing gods!

Is this the new MSI AB you are talking about? my version doesn't allow that.

 

[BrightCandle]

The problem with watercoolers is that most of them are designed for reference designs and come out when the initial cards come out. So while you have this lovely hardware that should in theory go further on water in practice it wont because no one will make a custom block for it - because the watercoolers already bought a 780 months ago when it was released along with the launch blocks.

 

[Face2Face]

I'm just gonna put this here......let you guys look at it for awhile...

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I'm going to assume that's on at least water, maybe even phase change?

My 7950's weep at seeing that... I should have sold them when they were still worth over $250 lolz.

 

[raghu78]

I'm going to assume that's on at least water, maybe even phase change?

My 7950's weep at seeing that... I should have sold them when they were still worth over $250 lolz.

obviously thats under water or phase change. if you are into that kind of setup you might want to wait till Hawaii. :biggrin:

 

[Face2Face]

I'm going to assume that's on at least water, maybe even phase change?

My 7950's weep at seeing that... I should have sold them when they were still worth over $250 lolz.

I know it's under water, but not sure about phase change? There are some Classifieds on air making it into the 1400Mhz range.

 

[Grooveriding]

I know it's under water, but not sure about phase change? There are some Classifieds on air making it into the 1400Mhz range.

He's under water and using EVBOT to go above 1.35V. Card is insane, I love mine. If you're buying a 780 there is no other card to get considering the modest premium you pay for the Classified.

I can do 1410/7200 game and benchmark stable with less than the 1.35V available with the software tool; 1.325V. I haven't even tried anything beyond that as I want to actually game with them and don't want to see any degradation. Over 1.3V already seems high enough to me.

For all the hype the HOF gets due to that [H] review, the Classified is really the card to get due to the voltage control as well as having the custom PCB. Thing is huge, probably the biggest single GPU card ever.

 

[Face2Face]

He's under water and using EVBOT to go above 1.35V. Card is insane, I love mine. If you're buying a 780 there is no other card to get considering the modest premium you pay for the Classified.

I can do 1410/7200 game and benchmark stable with less than the 1.35V available with the software tool; 1.325V. I haven't even tried anything beyond that as I want to actually game with them and don't want to see any degradation. Over 1.3V already seems high enough to me.

For all the hype the HOF gets due to that [H] review, the Classified is really the card to get due to the voltage control as well as having the custom PCB. Thing is huge, probably the biggest single GPU card ever.

Lucky man :thumbsup: Have any pics of those beauties in SLI?

 

[Grooveriding]

Lucky man :thumbsup: Have any pics of those beauties in SLI?

There is a quick pic to give you a sense of the size of this thing. You can see how far above the PCIE bracket of the case the card rises, as well how it extends beyond the edge of my motherboard, which is EATX and already wider than most boards. If you look at the groove on the motherboard waterblock the card is running along you can see how it is sagging slightly because the card is too damn heavy.

My second card had to be RMAed and I just received the replacement yesterday. Won't have time to install it until the weekend. Hopefully it clocks like this one does.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

obviously thats under water or phase change. if you are into that kind of setup you might want to wait till Hawaii. :biggrin:

You mean GM100/110? The last few generations Nvidia's large die has walked away with the performance crown, this being one of the biggest gaps I've seen since probably G80.

Price is just too much to justify for me though, $700 with the excuse that it's $300 less than Titan makes my head spin.

 

[Face2Face]

There is a quick pic to give you a sense of the size of this thing. You can see how far above the PCIE bracket of the case the card rises, as well how it extends beyond the edge of my motherboard, which is EATX and already wider than most boards. If you look at the groove on the motherboard waterblock the card is running along you can see how it is sagging slightly because the card is too damn heavy.

My second card had to be RMAed and I just received the replacement yesterday. Won't have time to install it until the weekend. Hopefully it clocks like this one does.

Very nice looking rig you got there :awe: . Your right, that card is pretty huge, especially height wise. Oh how I would love to cool with water....

 

[Durvelle27]

Very nice looking rig you got there :awe: . Your right, that card is pretty huge, especially height wise. Oh how I would love to cool with water....

You should its awesome and gives you alot of OC headroom

 

[Jaydip]

I'm just gonna put this here......let you guys look at it for awhile...

Ownage :biggrin:

 

[RussianSensation]

I can do 1410/7200 game and benchmark stable with less than the 1.35V available with the software tool; 1.325V. I haven't even tried anything beyond that as I want to actually game with them and don't want to see any degradation. Over 1.3V already seems high enough to me.

:thumbsup: Nice card. Hope your 2nd one is as good. I am guessing your 780s are faster than your Titans at those clocks! Awesome "downgrade" from those Titans + money saved.

 

[Jaydip]

Guru's take
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/evga_geforce_gtx_780_classified_review,27.html

 

[Elfear]

Should have called it the 780 Hero Edition. Crazy overclocking results.

 

[aigomorla]

The problem with watercoolers is that most of them are designed for reference designs and come out when the initial cards come out. So while you have this lovely hardware that should in theory go further on water in practice it wont because no one will make a custom block for it - because the watercoolers already bought a 780 months ago when it was released along with the launch blocks.

says there is a hydro version which means there will be a waterblock. :biggrin:

Ownage :biggrin:

700 x 2 = 1400 cards
150 x 2 = 300 water blocks.

1400 + 300 = UGH... im still 200 over the 1500 dollar mark...

very expensive setups... if i had to even think about 1700 dollars in GPU's 5 yrs ago, id say your all crazy... but here i am actually contemplating it.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Guru's take
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/evga_geforce_gtx_780_classified_review,27.html

guru3d seemed down about having to do something other than move a slider.

 

[Jaydip]

guru3d seemed down about having to do something other than move a slider.

Lol yes, somehow guru was very conservative about this card.

 

[RobertR1]

I have the evga 780 sc acx. Any recommendation on what bios I can use and what's a safe voltage for these cards?

 

[Jaydip]

I have the evga 780 sc acx. Any recommendation on what bios I can use and what's a safe voltage for these cards?

If you are feeling adventurous you can use the "TI" one which disables boost and supposedly gives 300% power target.Don't you have a LN2 bios already?

 

[Zanovar]

Sweet jesus,nice clocks on these cards.me jealous.

 

[Smartazz]

Is Nvidia going to voltage lock these cards like they did with the 680 Lightning and 670 PE?