The ASUS GTX760 DirectCU II OC is currently the highest-end offering from ASUS in the NVIDIA GTX760 segment. Although this graphics card is the pre-overclocked version, the Base Clock seems to be very low comparing to its competitor. However, since the introduction of GPU Boost 2.0, the Base Clock of a graphics card is not as important as before. The clockspeed of the graphics card is now affected by Power Consumption and Temperature. It seems that ASUS focus on its Power Comsumption and Cooling design in order to achieve the best Average Clockspeed.

Product Link: http://www.asus.com/us/Graphics_Cards/GTX760DC2OC2GD5/
Suggest Retail Price: RM1,199

Specification

Unboxing

Similar to the 6-series graphics card, ASUS maintains their “Claw on the board” scheme and highlights on the DirectCU II cooling system. Just to point out, this CPU supports the latest OS Windows 8.

ASUS GTX760 DirectCU II OC retail packaging.

At the back of the box contains the GPU features and specification

Inside it, behold the ASUS GTX 760 DirectCU II OC edition

Accessories and bundles:
+ GPU itself
+ ASUS GPU Tweak & Driver
+ GPU DIY Manual Guide
+ 8-Pin PCI-E Power Adapter

PCI-E connector on the ASUS GTX760 DirectCU II OC

SLI Connector that support up to 3-Way SLI

This GPU requires 8-pin power connector

It support up to 4 way of display connector:
+ DVI Output: Yes x 1 (DVI-I), Yes x 1 (DVI-D)
+ HDMI Output: Yes x 1
+ Display Port: Yes x 1 (Regular DP)
+ HDCP Support: Yes

The DirectCU II cooler on this GPU has 4 copper heat pipes that are directly touching the GPU core.

Requires 2 Expansion Slots Size

Back of the card that shows Direct Power that ensures stable performance with 56% less impedance and a 17% cooler PCB

Size of PCB and Cooler for ASUS GTX 670 DCU Mini(Bottom) compare with ASUS GTX 760 DCUII OC (Top)

I stripped down the card. Taking off the cooler was easy. There were only four screws on the GPU core itself. After that there is only the fan connector left.

The board well equip with heatsink that contact with all of the MOSFETS

The ASUS GTX760 DirectCU II OC line all comes with memory from Hynix

For the moment of truth, this card still using the old GK104 chip on previous 6-Series card

A closer look at the DirectCU II Cooler. Four copper heat pipes directly touching the GPU core to bring the heat up to the aluminum fins

Test Setup

The whole performance test was done using ASUS’s GPU Tweak

Benchmark Result

Stock Clock Performance

Screenshot of ASUS GTX760 DirectCU II OC at stock clock by using GPU-Z

The GTX760 DirectCU II was put into test on stock setting with the GPU clock running at 1006MHz. In order to get the “Max Clock” frequency, I made use of GPU-Z Sensor and recorded a maximum of 1149.7MHz frequency. The Max Clock achieved was 77MHz higher than the Boost Clock.

3DMark 11 Performance Preset - 7993

3DMark 11 Extreme Preset - 2906

OverClocked Performance

The maximum clock achievable for the GTX760 DirectCU II OC was 1176MHz | 1241MHz. Once again, I made use of GPU-Z Sensor to obtain the Maximum Clock of the graphics card. Maximum temperature of full load for this card is 76˚C and minimum recorded is 34 ˚C.

According to GPU-Z Senser Log, the Maximum Clock recorded was 1319MHz, which was 78MHz higher than the Boost Clock.

3DMark 11 Performance Preset - 8640

3DMark 11 Extreme Preset - 3206

GTX760 DirectCU II OC vs GTX670 DirectCU Mini

The score obtained from 3DMark Performance and Extreme setting comparing of ASUS GTX760 DirectCU II OC vs ASUS GTX670 DirectCU Mini

GPU Specifications Comparison

Conclusion

It seems that the NVIDIA GTX760 is on the level of NVIDIA GTX660-Ti. In this mini-review, I requested a NVIDIA GTX670 instead to compare with the NVIDIA GTX760 just to see the performance gap between them. However, since the introduction of GPU Boost 2.0, the Base Clock of a graphics card is not as important as before. The clockspeed of the graphics card is now affected by Power Consumption and Temperature. It seems that ASUS focus on its Power Comsumption and Cooling design in order to achieve the best Average Clockspeed. As seens as the test we did, the Average Clock obtained was around 76MHz above Boost Clock during load.

The SRP for the ASUS GTX760 DirectCU II OC version is RM1199 and it’s suitable for mild gaming users. I’m pretty happy with the OverClocking Performance but with the inclusion of GPU Boost 2.0 it seems that the Maximum/Average Clockspeed attainable is the most important. It seems unfair to judge the ASUS GTX760 DirectCU II performance before getting my hands dirty with other NVIDIA GTX760 offerings.

I would like to thank ASUS Malaysia Representative who prefer to remain anonymous for the opportunity to test the ASUS GTX760 DirectCU II OC. Special mention to d4b3nG for the guidance in reviewing this graphics card.

Performance: 4/5
Materials: 5/5
Specifications: 4/5
Appearance: 5/5
Performance/Price Value: 4/5

Pros:
+ Sexy sport design
+ Awesomely red and black colour combination
+ Easy to overclock
+ Equip with Direct Power technology
+ Balance with price and performance
+ Included an awesome ASUS GPU Tweak
+ Informative user guide manual

Cons:
- Low Factory Base/Boost clockspeed
 
 

ASUS GTX760 DirectCU II OC received Silver Award from OCDrift.com

Disclaimer: OCDrift.com gives out our own award based on the Hardware Performance, OverClocking Ability, Innovation, and Value as determined by the reviewer