[REVIEW] GALAXY GTX 780 Hall of Fame (HOF) - Performance Test

[owikh84]

GALAXY GTX 780 Hall of Fame (HOF) - Performance Test



Introduction:

The GTX 780 Hall of Fame (HOF) is GALAXY's flagship graphics card based on NVIDIA?s latest architecture GK110. It features a custom 2 1/2-slot dual fan cooler and hybrid heat pipe vapor chamber cooling technology to ensure excellent cooling performance. The Hyper Boost hardware overdrive switch supercharges your core clocks. The GTX 780 HOF combines extraordinary power and cooling performance to provide an entirely new class of graphics performance. NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0 technology pushes PC performance to new levels with an advanced fan control algorithm. Let?s dig out what the GTX 780 HOF has to offer.

Product Link: http://www.galaxytech.com/__EN_GB__/...tail?proID=472

Suggested Retail Price: $689.99 (Newegg)

Specifications:





Full specifications of GTX 780 HOF can be found HERE

Overview of GTX 780 HOF:

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Unboxing:


The graphics card is shipped in a white box featuring HOF design.


The GTX 780 HOF features a signature white PCB and grey cooler which is no doubt looks aesthetically appealing especially for those who has the same theme on their rig. The Hall of Fame logo on the cooler has a white glow that pulsates when switched on. That looks stunning!


The NVIDIA GK110 GPU chip is soldered at the middle of the graphics card. For record, GK110 was first introduced as a Tesla-only product for powering demanding GPU compute applications. NVIDIA has now also released it as a GeForce GPU. It uses 7.1 billion transistors on a die size that we measured to be 561 mm?. The GPU is produced on a 28 nanometer process at TSMC, Taiwan.


Let?s close up to the PCB area of the graphics card. Comes in a white PCB, the GTX 780 HOF packs a digital 8 + 2 phase power design and Premium POSCAP and MLCC capacitors to give an optimum power delivery to the overclocking and long term stability.


There are two 8-pin PCIe connectors to provide enough power delivery for extreme overclocking.


The SLI connectors supports up to 3-way SLI (4-way with modified driver).


The I/O panel includes two Dual Link DVI ports, an HDMI port and a DisplayPort 1.2. There is a HyperBoost button, when pushed will adjust the fan speed to 100%. At first I thought that this button will overclock the GPU with a single push but I was wrong. This button will not adjust the clocks.


The back side of the graphics card looks very clean. The 10-layer custom PCB is completely altered from the reference design of the GTX 780.


Accessories bundled in the package are great and quite unique!

Test Setup:



CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K overclocked @ 4.625GHz
MB: ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
DRAM: Apacer ARES 3000MHz C12 2 X 4GB @ 3000MHz 12-14-14-25-1T
GPU: GALAXY GTX 780 HOF, Driver Geforce 331.40 Beta
Storage: 2x Crucial M4 128GB
ODD: LiteON DVD-RW
PSU: Corsair AX1200
Cooling: Custom watercooling - EK Supreme HF plate #6 CPU waterblock, 2x XSPC RX360 radiator, Swiftech MCP655 pump, EK Multioption X2 Advanced reservoir, XSPC 1/2" ID 3/4" OD white tubing, 12x Scythe GT AP-15 1850rpm 120mm fan + Aerocool Shark 120mm fan, Coolaboratory Liquid Pro thermalpaste etc.
Casing: DimasTech Easy Dual V2.5 Bench Table
Monitor: Dell U3011 (2560 x 1600) & Dell U2312HM (1920 x 1080)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1

[owikh84]

Software & Tools:

Xtreme Tuner Plus - a tweaking tool for BIOS recovery, fan speed adjusment, and overclock setting through the user-friendly screen panel including thermal target settings, GPU clock offset etc.



Stability Tests:

MSI Kombustor 2.5.2:


I could stress the graphics card running at stock clocks without an error in about 15 minutes. The GPU core hit 65C during loads which is still cool and stable for such clocks.

[owikh84]

Synthetic Benchmarks:

3DMark 13 Fire Strike:


3DMark 13 Fire Strike (Extreme):


3DMark 13 Ice Storm:


3DMark 13 Cloud Gate:


3DMark 11 (Entry):


3DMark 11 (Performance):


3DMark 11 (Extreme):


3DMark Vantage:


3DMark Vantage (Extreme):


3DMark 06:


3DMark 05:


3DMark 03:


Unigine Heaven 4.0 (2560 X 1600):


Unigine Valley 1.0 (2560 X 1600):

[owikh84]

Game Benchmarks (2560 x 1600):

Bioshock Infinite:


Metro Last Light:


Tomb Raider:


S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Call of Propyat:


Sniper Elite V2:


Sleeping Dogs:


Street Fighter IV:


Resident Evil 6:


PLA:


GRID 2:


Far Cry 3:


Dirt Showdown:


Crysis 3:


Battlefield 3:


Batman Arkham City:


Aliens Versus Predators:


Lost Planet (Test A): 1920 x 1080


Lost Planet (Test B): 1920 x 1080

[owikh84]

Overclocking:

With HyperBoost button pushed and a supplied voltage of 1.2v for the GPU I managed to push the GPU core frequency to 1319MHz (boost) and video memory frequency of 6912 MHz:




Voltage mod to 1.35v allowed me to achieve 1345MHz core frequency:

[owikh84]

Thoughts & Verdicts:

The GTX 780 HOF is an excellent graphics card for gaming. I don’t have any problem starting from installing the driver to the gameplay. It works just perfectly throughout the tests. The twin-fan cooler also works flawlessly to dissipate the heat generated by the GPU. The card hit 71C max during the test with HyperBoost enabled, but that was in 34c ambient temperature. It performs as fast as the GTX Titan for a much lower price. This monster card is no doubt a perfect companion for hardcore gaming.

Last but not least, I would like to thank GALAXY for making this review possible.

Performance: 4.5/5
Materials: 5/5
Specifications: 5/5
Appearance: 5/5
Performance/Price Value: 5/5

Pros:
+ Fast, excellent performance
+ White PCB looks stunning
+ Good temperature, cool and stable
+ Cooler fans are quiet when not in HyperBoost mode
+ Innovative Xtreme Tuner Plus
+ Great accessories package

Cons:
- Overclocking ability could be improved
- Fluctuating core clock during loads
- No dual BIOS chips
- Takes up 2.5 slots so beware of that if you are going to SLI them on your motherboard, they are huge!

[Buckeye]

That's a nice card and good job on the review !!

[owikh84]

That's a nice card and good job on the review !!

Thanks for the compliment bro.
This is my first graphics card review. I will try my best to improve it in the coming reviews.

[hersounds]

Good review and amazing card

[owikh84]

Good review and amazing card

Thank you for your kind supports during the review bro.
yeah I must admit that this card is such a beauty!

[Dumo]

Awesome review Owik

[testman78]

Nice review man.
It's the best GTX 780, though of course, hit the Hyper Boost button and fans ramp up to 100 per cent, causing noise levels to rise to an ear-bashing 50dB.

[owikh84]

Awesome review Owik

Thanks for the kind words, Roy.

Nice review man.
It's the best GTX 780, though of course, hit the Hyper Boost button and fans ramp up to 100 per cent, causing noise levels to rise to an ear-bashing 50dB.

Thanks man. Yeah, there must be a compensation for better cooling performance. Well, it is not alone as ASUS' Matrix series also produce the same noise once the turbo fan button is activated.

[Mad222]

Nice review, mate
Look forward to yr next...

[andressergio]

Awesome Owi !!!

[owikh84]

Nice review, mate
Look forward to yr next...

Awesome Owi !!!

Thank you for supporting guys!

[SubZero.it]

I arrived late...but really nice review and pictures.
Really good and clean.