amazon Gigabyte GV-N66TWF2-2GD reviews
The design of the GV-N66TWF2-2GD is based on the GeForce GTX 660 Ti with GK104 graphics core. The card supports DirectX 11.1 graphics library, PCIe 3.0 interface, Ultra Durable VGA technology combined with WindForce 2x heatsink for aggressive overclocking, and the card stays cool.
Design
Similar to the GV-N66TOC-2GD Test Lab series, the GV-N66TWF2-2GD is based on the GeForce GTX 660 Ti GPU with Kepler GK104 graphics core.
Compared to two high-end GPUs, the GeForce GTX 680 and GeForce GTX 670, the GeForce GTX 660 Ti also uses the GK104 graphics core, but has removed some component components for a competitive price that is better suited for the majority of users.
The block diagram above shows that GTX 660 Ti’s GK104 graphics core also has four Graphics Processing Clusters (GPCs); Of course, the GPC fourth has only one SMX, such as the GTX 670. In addition, the number of ROP units, L2 cache and memory controller of the GeForce GTX 660 Ti is also less than the GTX 670 and 680. This is evident through the specs of GeForce GTX 660 Ti.
Specifically, the GTX 660 Ti GPU has a total of 1344 CUDA cores which is 192 times less than the GTX 680; 112 Texture Unit while the GTX 680 is 128. In addition, the GTX 660 Ti has only 24 ROPs (Raster Operation engine), 384 KB L2 cache and 192 bit memory bandwidth.
In addition to GPU Boost technology, the GPU clock speed of the card is also higher than the standard GTX 660 Ti for better performance. Specifically clocked at 941MHz and can accelerate to 1,020MHz in GPU Boost mode; Higher were 2.84 and 4.08% respectively. The card is also equipped with 2GB of GDDR5 with clock frequency (mem clock) clocked at 1,502 MHz and 192-bit memory interface.
The GV-N66TWF2-2GD is also capable of displaying 3D images in 3D Vision Ready technology with approximately 600 3D games titles and other 3D entertainment content. The card has four video outputs, including DVI-I, DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort, and nVidia Surround technology for pairing up to four monitors on the same card to display high resolution images. Play games, show movies or work with multiple applications at the same time.
The card also supports 3-way SLI technology, ready for multi-graphics configurations for game configurations or for graphics applications.
The design of the GV-N66TWF2-2GD requires two power supply lines + 12V PCIe 6-pin (dedicated graphics card) with a minimum power of 150W and a power supply of 450W or more to ensure the power required to meet the whole system.
The Triangle Cool heat sink incorporates two 100mm cooling fans (WindForce 2x) to provide heat dissipation as well as minimize the noise generated when operating at high loads.
In addition, the GV-N66TWF2-2GD is equipped with Ultra Durable VGA (UDV) technology; Similar to Ultra Durable 3 on its BMC. According to Gigabyte, the application of UDV technology helps to reduce the card’s temperature by about 5-10%, saving 10-30% of power and delivering 10-30% overclocking compared to previous generations of graphics cards.
Experimental experiments show that the cooling system operates smoothly and efficiently. However, due to the same PCB and WindForce 2x heat sink as the GV-N66TOC-2GD, the design of the card has not really impressed the user with the WindForce 3x card.
With a size of 25.4×11.2×3.7 cm and weighing about 560g (excluding accessories included), the GV-N66TWF2-2GD has only two expansion card slots, suitable for small tower cases (mini tower).
In addition to the documentation and driver installation discs, the accessories included with the graphics card are quite simple, including only two power (VGA molex power connector) cables.
Experiment
To test the power of the Gigabyte GV-N66TWF2-2GD graphics card, Test Lab uses a test configuration built on the Z77 BMC chipset, Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit SP1 and the GeForce 301.42 driver. NVIDIA. Graphics tests include CineBench R11.5, 3DMark 11, Heaven Benchmark v3.0 and some DirectX 11 games such as DiRT 3, Alien vs. 3D. Predator 1.03 and Crysis 2. The results of the tests run at 720p (1280×720) HD resolution and full HD 1080p (1920×1080).
With the Cinebench R11.5 (64 bit) tool, the test configuration achieves 56.65 fps (fps) in OpenGL graphics tests.
In our tests of multi-thread processing capabilities and 3DMark 11-based graphics cards, the GIGABYTE GV-N66TWF2-2GD scored 8,256 points in performance mode, a resolution of 1280×720 and reached 2,741 points in extreme mode, Resolution 1920×1080. Compared to the GV-N66TOC-2GD series, the GV-N66TWF2-2GD is about 4% lower.
With the Heaven Benchmark, the graphics benchmark is pretty much similar to 3DMark 11 but mainly emphasizes tessellation technology; One of the outstanding technologies in the DirectX 11 graphics library, the GV-N66TWF2-2GD’s frame rate is still higher than the standard 30 fps at 24.33%, both in Ultra mode with the highest graphics setting. (Tessellation: extreme, shaders: high, 8xAA and 16xAF). However, the GV-N66TWF2-2GD test results are still 2% lower than the GV-N66TOC-2GD.
For DirectX 11 platform test games like DiRT 3, Alien vs. Predator and Crysis 2, the mid-range GV-N66TWF2-2GD graphics card, exhibit remarkable performance gains over fps. Even with Crysis 2, one of the hardcore games today, the test results of the card at full HD resolution, Extreme graphics quality is still higher than the “30fps” threshold of about 103% (61 , 9 fps).
Details of the above test results show that the GV-N66TWF2-2GD frame rate gain is only slightly lower than the GV-N66TOC-2GD. This is understandable because the GV-N66TWF2-2GD’s GPU clock speeds are 8.9% and 8.1% lower than those of the same graphics card.
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Temperature, power consumption
To test the graphics card heat dissipation and power consumption of the test configuration, Test Lab uses the MSI Afterburner utility and the MSI Kombustor test to push the graphics processing power to the highest level based on the library OpenGL. Temperature and power consumption are recorded using GPU-z and Logger Lite software in a 26°C environment.
In idling mode, the GPU temperature fluctuates at 30 degrees Celsius, the fan operates very smoothly at 1,260 rpm. The power consumption of the test configuration is 70.9W; Calculated by means of averages.
With the MSI Kombustor graphic simulator, the highest GPU temperature is 64 degrees Celsius, the fan runs quietly at 1,890 rpm. The power consumption of the test configuration also increased to 248.5W; Calculated in the highest value.
Still using the MSI Kombustor test, set the highest fan speed to test the effectiveness of the WinForce 2x heatsink. With the advantage of two large (100mm) cooling fans, Test Lab found that the GPU temperature dropped to 58 degrees Celsius, 9.38% lower than when the heatsink operated according to the manufacturer’s setting. The fan is quiet and has a negligible influence on the surrounding environment as the fan speed only rises to 2,370 rpm.
Comment
The above test results show that the GIGABYTE GV-N66TWF2-2GD also easily conveys all tests under the Test Lab scenario at 1920×1080 (full HD) resolution and the highest graphics setting. In addition, the “push” GPU clock is higher than the standard of NVIDIA also helps the graphics card of Gigabyte to achieve better results in the test.
The GV-N66TWF2-2GD is still experiencing significant reduction in frame rate (fps) in tests and games at full HD resolution and setting the highest graphics quality. This is also the “common denominator” of GeForce GTX 660 Ti GPUs due to lower ROP units (L2 caches) and GeForce GTX 660 Ti’s memory controller less than high-end GPUs, the GTX 670 and 680.
The Triangle Cool heat sink combined with two 100mm cooling fans (WindForce 2x) has proven heat dissipation. Due to lower GPU, the GV-N66TWF2-2GD cooler than 7 degrees celsius the GV-N66TOC-2GD. However, the disproportionate design between the motherboard and the cooling system is a pity of the card.
