EVGA GTX 260 = Overclocked GTX 260 Core 216?

[Blacklash]

I ordered an EVGA 192SP card from Newegg for 220usd and received an overclocked Core 216 card instead. It has the vanilla cooler and came in the vanilla box. GPU-Z and EVGA precision report the same clocks. Here's my GPU-Z-



nVidia CP-



The stats on the card mirror this one exactly-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130400

Here's what I think. I seriously doubt EVGA messed up and put a single vanilla GTX 260 cooler on single overclocked GTX 260 Core 216. I think at least one batch of cards like this has gone out to Newegg. I ordered another one that should be here tomorrow to test my theory.

Below is the card I ordered both times-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130370

The second card is also coming from the NJ warehouse.

[HonestJohn]

Wow and Congrats. Sice they both use the same cooler, only the label is wrong. Usually when companies make a mistake like this it's not in your favor and since it was just a labeling mistake, it pretty much lets you off of any moral responsibilities as well. Good luck with the next one. I wonder how many GTX 216 SC cards went down Shoot A instead of Shoot B.

Penso che lei sa quello che sto dicendo.

[SIrPauly]

Great for you! Nice to receive a positive surprise.

[Meteor|WAR]

Lucky bastard.

Enjoy it.

[GanjaStar]

good stuff man. you got a christmas present from EVGA

[acroig]

Wow, lucky you. Enjoy!

[caveman-jim]

I demand you return those cards and request the paid for product.































bastage

[Blacklash]

The second card I got from the NJ warehouse isn't overclocked however it does have 216SP.





So if anyone wants to play the 216 lotto order the vanilla card for 220usd and try to get it from the NJ warehouse.

[Sweetz]

Not to make you paranoid, but it is possible that it was an overclocked candidate card that failed the tests and they forgot to flash the normal BIOS back onto it.

[Blacklash]

I'll let you know how it goes. I've dropped the BIOS from the overclocked card into the stock. So far I haven't tested a GTX 260 that wouldn't do 660 on the core.

EDIT: I got 10 runs of 3dmark06 @ 696|2300 under my belt with the new card so far. I'll let you know if I get anymore on the core.

EDIT Part Deux: I got it going @ 730 with a 1532 shader unlinked like the first card. The memory is weaker on the second card. It tops @ 2424, while the first card I received will do 2500. I'm going to run them both with the memory @ 2300 so it's not an issue.

[chrisdglong]

Yeah, you got a lucky one. My first 260 was supposed to be overclocked 216 at 626 and it showed up at vanilla clocks. I had to take it back 2 times to get one that ran at the advertised speed. I would suggest that everyone who buys a video card be sure to check that all speeds are running at the advertised speed.

Funny, I called tech support and they told me all I had to do was overclock it and it would run at those speeds... hmmmmm... NO! If I pay for it to come pre-OC'ed then I expect it to be.

[Sweetz]

Originally Posted by Blacklash

I'll let you know how it goes. I've dropped the BIOS from the overclocked card into the stock. So far I haven't tested a GTX 260 that wouldn't do 660 on the core.

EDIT: I got 10 runs of 3dmark06 @ 696|2300 under my belt with the new card so far. I'll let you know if I get anymore on the core.

EDIT Part Deux: I got it going @ 730 with a 1532 shader unlinked like the first card. The memory is weaker on the second card. It tops @ 2424, while the first card I received will do 2500. I'm going to run them both with the memory @ 2300 so it's not an issue.

Gah! I would be very hesitent to run those clocks. Stable for a few runs of 3D Mark doesn't mean stable for everything else.

I got a 7900GT back when the vendors were in a war to see who could be most irresponsible with factory overclocks. It was an XFX card with some fairly preposterous clocks given there were no cooling or power modifications. I could run benchmarks and stress tests for hours on end just fine, but several games would crash. Of course, I spent many hours bashing the game and bashing nVidia drivers, believing the clocks to be fine based on the benches. Then, once news that the 7900GTs had been pushed too far by a lot of vendors started to surface, I tried turned down the clocks and all the crashing disappeared. I still very much regret some of the erroneous accusations I made about some games. The moral being it's difficult to predict the myriad things overclocking can affect. Going that far over stock on the core would make me very nervous.

[Blacklash]

I've tested the first card extensively and am still working on two.

The first card's "brief benching speed" is up to 760 1548 unlinked. Anything over that = instant freeze.

I'd agree there is no reason to kill your card for a few FPS. I buy from Evga and XFX who both support end user overclocking under their lifetime warranties.

What I typically do is fine my max shader core and mem clock then back off about 10 on each.

Again, most people should be able to do 660 on the core with auto fan settings. We both know hardware overclocking is luck of the draw and I've been seeing the mentioned speed myself and from other users consistently.

I may decide to run them @ 696|2300 and save higher clocks purely for e-peen runs. That would be well below max stable and well below "brief benching speed".

If you want to see what these cards are capable of with vmods and extreme cooling try Xtremesytems. What I am doing is nothing compared to that.

EDIT:

I should add for a single card @ 1920x with AA overclocking can be meaningful in some titles. For example; in AoC at 1920x with 16xCSAA|16xAF all on I can see lows down to 25FPS @ stock. Overclocked I don't dip below 31FPS. It's not a huge deal and I like my mins to be no lower than 30. Mid 20s and below make a game start to feel sluggish.

If you're on a 1280x monitor overclocking is likely pointless with a GTX 260 save in all but a few titles. If overclocking is the difference between 60 and 70 FPS in a game I'd say skip it.

Folks that can't hold something like 680 on the core with their GTX 260 ought to try setting the fan manually to 70-75% when gaming before they give up.

[Dawg]

From what I heard NVidia is shipping 216 core instead of 192 the last few months, so it's not an EVGA mistake.

I just got an EVGA SC 260, but haven't installed it yet to see if it's 216.

[Blacklash]

Originally Posted by Dawg

From what I heard NVidia is shipping 216 core instead of 192 the last few months, so it's not an EVGA mistake.

I just got an EVGA SC 260, but haven't installed it yet to see if it's 216.

Good point. [H]ard did report the below on the 17th of Nov from nVidia-

"Currently, we are transitioning all GeForce GTX 260 production to the 216 core version. The 192 version will remain in the channel until they are sold-out. – NVIDIA"

Source:
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?...50aHVzaWFzdA==

Looks like they ran out before I ordered