PNY GTX 260 Video Card Review

Today we are looking at the PNY GTX 260 video card. This is the lower cost of the two GTX 200 series video cards that was introduced a few weeks ago. We have already looked at the XFX GTX 280 and found the card performed well. If the over $500 price for the GTX 280 is more than you want to spend, the GTX 260 may be what you need. Read on for all the details.

Gallery

4 images

Benchmarks

Features & Specifications
The PNY GTX 260 is a stock clocked video card with a core clock of 576 MHz, a shader clock of 1242MHz, and a memory clock of 2000MHz. The card has 192 shader cores and 896MB of DDR3 and a 448-bil memory interface. The PNY GTX 260 has dual DVI outputs and HDTV/SDTV output as well. See the specifications tab for full specs of the card.

Test Machine
The test machine I am using has the following specs:

• OS- Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 32-bit
• PSU- Top Power 1100W
• RAM- 2GB Aeneon DDR3-16000
• CPU- Intel QX9770
• Mainboard: XFX 790i Ultra
• Display- 30-inch Dell

3DMark06
The first test for the PNY GTX 260 is 3DMark06, which I ran at stock settings in the 3DMark application and NVIDIA control panel. The PNY GTX 260 3DMArk06 results were as follows:

• Total 3DMarks- 14367
• SM2.0- 5725
• HDR/SM3.0- 6284
• CPU- 4623
• Return to Proxycon- 49.775
• Firefly Forest- 45.640
• Canyon Flight- 62.615
• Deep Freeze- 63.061
• CPU1- 1.507
• CPU2- 2.270

The XFX GTX 280 I reviewed a few weeks ago scored 16119 3DMarks, the BFG 9600 GT OCX scored 12218 3DMarks, the BFG 8800 GT OCX scored 14098 3DMarks.

Quake Wars
The next test up was Quake Wars. The game was run at 2560 x 1600 with all visual quality settings on high, shaders on ultra, 2X AA, and soft shadows, and other settings turned on. Vertical sync was turned off for testing. I recorded frame rate data with Fraps while playing a single player game on the Africa Refinery map. Fraps recorded the following data:

• Min- 29 fps
• Avg- 56.565 fps
• Max 62 fps

Call of Duty 4
The next game up was Call of Duty 4 ran at 2560 x 1600 with 4x AA, shadows, specular maps, depth of field, and glow on. Soft smoke edges, rag doll effects, bullet impacts, ere all on as well. Model and water detail were on normal and corpses were set to medium. Fraps recorded frame rate data on a single player container ship map. Frame rate data is as follows:

• Min- 24 fps
• Avg- 51.265 fps
• Max- 72 fps

Crysis
The final game test was Crysis ran at 1920 x 1200 with 2x AA and all advanced options set to medium. Fraps recorded the following frame rate data on a single player game from the initial beach insertion until the fight with the first soldiers:

• Min- 24 fps
• Avg- 56.383 fps
• Max- 76 fps

Final Thoughts
In the end the performance of the PNY GTX 260 was good. The price for the card is a bit high at $449.99 when compared to new offerings from AMD. The card performs well and I suspect over time the price will come down and make it more attractive.

Verdict

Conclusion

Pros

• Good performance
• Supports 3-way SLI

Cons

• Expensive
• No game bundle

Verdict
The PNY GTX 260 is a good performing video card that is currently strapped with a price a bit too expensive when compared to other offerings. Despite the price, the PNY GTX 260 performs well and will play all of today’s most popular games at impressive levels of detail with great frame rates.

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