[TRG Review] : EVGA GeForce 760 SC with ACX Cooling

I’ve had a solid 3 weeks to review and pass judgment on the latest 700 series graphics card from Nvidia. The EVGA branded 760 is a respectable entry level card, with a paltry price tag.

Check out the technical differences:

EVGA GeForce 760 SC w/ ACX

EVGA GeForce 570 Classified

Practically, this card easily surpasses my 570 Classified, achieving 40-60 frames per second on nearly every game, on maximum settings.

For instance, it scored 58-60 frames on the Tomb Raider benchmark set to maximum quality (TressFX disabled). Borderlands 2 was similar, as was Skyrim (with a ton of quality mods), L.A. Noire, etc… Metro 2033: Last Light performed well at 35-45 frames. Farcry 3 performed extremely well at 60 frames, no matter what I was doing.

Consider that this quality comes for sub $250. Also, consider that by employing a dynamic cooling system (ACX) the card and EVGA’s Precision software can effectively manage temperature, fan noise, and power consumption.

The 700 series also brings with it advanced control in Precision, allowing users to define a Power/Temperature target. This instructs the card to prefer either a maximum temperature or maximum ‘boost’ overclock when in operation. Fan speed, overclock values, and boost intervals are managed automatically using these targets. Additionally, the 760 supports full 3-monitor surround and an additional accessory monitor; read that as 4 monitors in one card!

The fan can get a little noisy under heavy load, but it isn’t distracting once you know it’s supposed to happen. Pairing the 760 (primary) and the 570 (PhysX) met with minor frame increases but more than doubled the power consumption. This unfortunately caused the breaker to blow mid benchmark and mid F@H. Thankfully, the UPS held the load!

All in all, I’m really happy with this card’s performance. It out performs a 500 series card that was more than double the 760’s cost just 2 years ago. Some would complain that the 760 doesn’t have enough memory, or a high enough core clock. To those people, do a little more research; memory amount only matters in special circumstances, and, thanks to the boost capability of the card, core frequency is comparable to a 680, and in some situations even a 780! It will not give you the power of a Titan, so don’t expect it to, but so far it has performed incredibly well on every game I’ve thrown at it, on max settings.

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