Video cards. Video cards Overclocking msi geforce gtx 960 card

Hi all! Today is a very interesting article about fine-tuning your video card for high performance in computer games. Friends, agree that after installing the video card driver, you once opened the “Nvidia Control Panel” and saw unfamiliar words there: DSR, shaders, CUDA, clock pulse, SSAA, FXAA, and so on, and decided not to go there anymore. But nevertheless, it is possible and even necessary to understand all this, because performance directly depends on these settings. There is a misconception that everything in this sophisticated panel is configured correctly by default, unfortunately this is far from the case and experience shows that the correct setting is rewarded with a significant increaseframe rate.So get ready, we will understand streaming optimization, anisotropic filtering and triple buffering. In the end, you will not regret it and you will be rewarded in the formincreasing FPS in games.

Setting up an Nvidia graphics card for gaming

The pace of development of game production is gaining more and more momentum every day, as is the exchange rate of the main currency in Russia, and therefore the relevance of optimizing the operation of hardware, software and operating systems has increased sharply. It is not always possible to keep your steel stallion in good shape through constant financial injections, so today we will talk about increasing the performance of a video card through its detailed tuning. In my articles, I have repeatedly written about the importance of installing a video driver, so , I think you can skip it. I'm sure you all know perfectly well how to do this, and all of you have already installed it a long time ago.

So, in order to get to the video driver management menu, right-click anywhere on the desktop and select “Nvidia Control Panel” from the menu that opens.

Then, in the window that opens, go to the “Manage 3D parameters” tab.

Here we will configure various parameters that affect the display of 3D images in games. It is not difficult to understand that in order to get maximum performance from the video card you will have to significantly reduce the image quality, so be prepared for this.

So, the first point " CUDA - GPUs" Here is a list of video processors from which you can select and it will be used by CUDA applications. CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) is a parallel computing architecture used by all modern GPUs to increase computing performance.

Next point " DSR - Smoothness“We skip it because it is part of the settings for the “DSR - Degree” item, and it, in turn, needs to be disabled and now I will explain why.

DSR (Dynamic Super Resolution)– a technology that allows you to calculate images in games at a higher resolution, and then scale the resulting result to the resolution of your monitor. In order for you to understand why this technology was even invented and why we don’t need it to get maximum performance, I’ll try to give an example. Surely you have often noticed in games that small details such as grass and foliage very often flicker or ripple when moving. This is due to the fact that the lower the resolution, the smaller the number of sampling points for displaying fine details. DSR technology can correct this by increasing the number of points (the higher the resolution, the greater the number of sampling points). I hope this will be clear. In conditions of maximum performance, this technology is not interesting to us as it consumes quite a lot of system resources. Well, with DSR technology disabled, adjusting the smoothness, which I wrote about just above, becomes impossible. In general, we turn it off and move on.

Next comes anisotropic filtering. Anisotropic filtering is a computer graphics algorithm created to improve the quality of textures that are tilted relative to the camera. That is, when using this technology, textures in games become clearer. If we compare antisotropic filtering with its predecessors, namely bilinear and trilinear filtering, then anisotropic filtering is the most voracious in terms of video card memory consumption. This item has only one setting - selecting a filter coefficient. It is not difficult to guess that this function must be disabled.

Next point - vertical sync pulse. This is synchronizing the image with the monitor's refresh rate. If you enable this option, you can achieve the smoothest possible gameplay (image tearing is eliminated when the camera turns sharply), however, frame drops often occur below the monitor’s refresh rate. To get the maximum number of frames per second, it is better to disable this option.

Pre-prepared virtual reality footage. The function for virtual reality glasses is not interesting to us, since VR is still far from everyday use by ordinary gamers. We leave it at the default - use the 3D application setting.

Background lighting shading. Makes scenes appear more realistic by softening the ambient light intensity of surfaces that are obscured by nearby objects. The function does not work in all games and is very resource intensive. Therefore, we take her to the digital mother.

Shader caching. When this feature is enabled, the CPU saves shaders compiled for the GPU to disk. If this shader is needed again, the GPU will take it directly from disk, without forcing the CPU to recompile this shader. It's not hard to guess that if you disable this option, performance will drop.

Maximum number of pre-prepared frames. The number of frames that the CPU can prepare before they are processed by the GPU. The higher the value, the better.

Multi-frame anti-aliasing (MFAA). One of the anti-aliasing technologies used to eliminate “jaggedness” at the edges of images. Any anti-aliasing technology (SSAA, FXAA) is very demanding on the GPU (the only question is the degree of gluttony). Turn it off.

Streaming optimization. By enabling this feature, an application can use multiple CPUs at once. If the old application does not work correctly, try setting the “Auto” mode or completely disabling this function.

Power management mode. There are two options available - adaptive mode and maximum performance mode. During adaptive mode, power consumption depends directly on the GPU load. This mode is mainly needed to reduce power consumption. During maximum performance mode, as you might guess, the highest possible level of performance and power consumption is maintained, regardless of the GPU load. Let's put the second one.

Anti-aliasing – FXAA, Anti-aliasing – gamma correction, Anti-aliasing – parameters, Anti-aliasing – transparency, Anti-aliasing – mode. I already wrote about smoothing a little higher. Turn everything off.

Triple buffering. A type of double buffering; an image output method that avoids or reduces artifacts (image distortion). In simple terms, it increases productivity. BUT! This thing only works in conjunction with vertical sync, which, as you remember, we disabled before. Therefore, we also disable this parameter; it is useless for us.

nVidia GeForce GTX 960 can rightfully belong to the division of widely used products. Of course, the list of its characteristics is quite provocative and not as attractive as that of the same GTX 970, but the price level is very, very interesting for users who, by today’s standards, are not ready to shell out more than 20,000 rubles for a video card alone.

We have already looked at the GTX 960 variants from ASUS and Inno3D, each of them was different and had its own distinctive features. Today, I propose to consider a variation of the GTX 960 from MSI. Let's find out what features the manufacturer has endowed with this card. By the way, now the company’s list already has five different variants of the GTX 960, probably a lot for one manufacturer, enough for all occasions.

Additionally, based on the results of the meeting, we will check the overclocking potential of the graphics core with an alternative cooling system in the form of a full-fledged cooling system. Based on the results of installing the cooling system, I would like to know whether there will be a real increase in performance that fully justifies the cost of the cooling system. Perhaps, in the case of the GTX 960, overclocking is not worth those “candles”, although in this price segment users have always tried to get the maximum...

MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING 2G comes in a bulky package with MSI branding, but initially the entire package is in a case with the game WarFace logo. In general, the box is informative and does not raise questions in terms of reliability.

Inside the card there was the following: a disk with drivers and utilities, a small instruction manual, a DVI to VGA adapter, a promo code for a gift weapon and a set of appearances in the game WarFace!

Visually, the GTX 960 GAMING 2G fully justifies its relationship to the manufacturer’s Gaming series; the main black color and bright red inserts easily set the external design for the video card.

The set of video outputs is standard for the GTX 960; there are three DisplayPorts and one HDMI and one DVI each. This combination can be considered quite universal, and taking into account the included adapter, even VGA continues to exist. Therefore, users who have started a small upgrade should not experience any obvious problems.

Thanks to the dual-slot cooling system, the card looks much more compact than the version from Inno3D. However, fans of minimal systems should still be wary; the mini-ITX dimensions are clearly exceeded. At the same time, owners of some “thin” cases should also pay attention; with the available width of 126 millimeters, the card may not fit in every case. So, when installed in the heat pipes, they rested exactly against the side wall.

The cooling system is secured with four spring-loaded bolts; no additional fasteners are provided. Taking into account the massiveness of the radiator and the absence of a protective frame, this approach is not the most reliable solution.

The radiator has a massive copper base in its structure. Next, using five heat pipes evenly distributed over the entire area, heat is transferred to the dissipating fins.

The entire radiator is covered with a plastic casing, and two fans with a diameter of 95 millimeters are attached to it. They are notable for the structure of the impeller; two types of blades are used here. The blades are assembled in groups of two, which looks very interesting compared to a regular turntable.

The printed circuit board, as already noted, is not limited in size. However, most of it remains empty. In this case, the power supply system is again located in a less spacious part, but here everything is similar to the previously discussed options. By the way, along the entire length of the front rib there is a good stiffening rib.

The power supply system contains four phases for the graphics core and one for video memory. There is a small heatsink for mosfets; its fins create a small dispersion area; in appearance, it does not inspire much confidence. But, as practice has shown, it is able to provide a working temperature range even in a passive state (when installing a water block). And if there is a standard radiator, it is completely blown by an air flow.

For the video memory set, four Samsung K4G41325FC-HC28 microcircuits are used; they are standardly located on both sides of the printed circuit board.

Apart from the video memory, the reverse side of the printed circuit board does not contain any main microcircuits, but as always there is room for a good set of wiring elements. The photo clearly shows how much the dimensions of the entire card have been increased, due to the heat pipes, relative to the usual width of the printed circuit board.

For testing, a test bench with the following configuration was used; the main purpose of testing was to study the overclocking potential of the new product.

• Processor: Intel Core i7 4770K @ 4400 MHz (HT enabled, Turbo disabled);
• Motherboard: ;
• RAM: ;
• Hard drive: (for system);
• Power unit: ;

So, the graphics core frequency of the heroine of today’s review is at around 1216 MHz, the memory frequency is at 7012 MHz. In any case, in Boost mode the MSI GTX 960 Gaming ran at 1329 MHz, and this is no different from the Inno3D variant.

The standard cooling system allows you to obtain very, very attractive noise indicators; at 32% the card is completely inaudible. I'm glad that there is a technology that completely stops the fans in idle mode, which, by the way, do not immediately begin to rotate under load :). Unlike the previously reviewed options, MSI placed a clear emphasis on silence! The GeForce GTX 960 GAMING 2G turned out to be a little warmer than its analogues, but at the same time it remained quieter.

As I already said, the card will be overclocked in two modes. Initially, we set the speed of the stock cooler to 60%; in general, it is not so loud and quite effective. In this mode, using the MSI Afterburner utility, we were able to boost the card to a core frequency of 1537 MHz in “boost” mode. The video memory operated at 7776 MHz.

Next, using the small Maxwell Bios tweaker utility, the permissible values ​​for the power consumption level were significantly increased, the GPU voltage increased to 1.34V. With these values, the water cooling system made it possible to keep the temperature of the graphics core within 52°C. However, the manipulations made made it possible to increase the GPU frequency to only 1577 MHz. Frankly, this result was a little predictable. But personal interest in overcoming the 1600 MHz bar forced this attempt.

If we talk about percentage growth rates, then they are relative to the first stage of the experiment. In the second stage, the water cooling system did not bring any obvious improvements. Of course, we can talk about a more comfortable operating mode for the graphics core, but even a standard cooler allows you to keep it within acceptable values.

As we can see, at the moment manufacturers are very well using almost all the available potential of the graphics core. The maximum levels of daily overclocking are almost no different from the standard modes. Of course, each user can slightly “tune” the final frequency, which depends on the success of a particular instance. The only common thing is that such tuning definitely does not allow you to change the balance of power between different cards, or to catch up and overtake a representative from a different price segment. It seems that the days of 50% overclocking are long gone and are now available only to retro enthusiasts :).

Now, after a short lyrical digression, it’s still time to sum up the MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING 2G reviewed today. The price level relative to similar competitors is at identical values. Of course, there are differences, but they relate more to the “specifics” of competition between sellers than to the obvious move of the manufacturer.

The MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING 2G stands out for its excellent noise performance, which is realized in defiance of a slight loss in temperature. In any case, it must be recognized that for the end user a difference of ten degrees is less critical than an audible cooling fan. And as we can see, in this case, a powerful cooling system does not provide obvious advantages. Therefore, we can say that MSI managed to find that golden mean.

02/04/2015 | wolfsanek | (80)

1 - MSI GTX 960 Gaming 2G 2 - Testing methodology 3 - Test results. Conclusions Display on one page

Recently, the first introductory review of the GeForce GTX 960 appeared on the pages of our website, in which the top version of the adapter from Inno3D was reviewed. The tests carried out were enough to form a general opinion about the new NVIDIA product. But the question of the performance of a regular reference remains outside the brackets. This material compensates for this omission. An interesting model from MSI will be reviewed and at the same time the GeForce GTX 960 will be tested at frequencies close to the recommended level. At the same time, the number of test applications has been significantly expanded. The number of competitors for the new product has also been increased.

Let's start by looking at the packaging of the MSI card. Medium size box. The design is typical for Gaming line products.

The equipment is as follows:

• DVI/D-Sub adapter;
• disk with software;
• instructions.

Below are screenshots of monitoring parameters under load in Metro Last Light (five benchmark repetitions) and Thief (seven test runs). The latter recorded a rare moment with a frequency of 1254 MHz. But in reality, the frequency of 1267 MHz can be considered absolutely stable.

The results of overclocking the GPU are excellent. It worked at 1546 MHz with a base frequency of 1396 MHz. But memory above 7970 MHz lost stability. The previously tested Inno3D iChill GeForce GTX 960 2GB Ultra turned out to be weaker in core, but better in memory overclocking.

The comparative testing will involve the GeForce GTX 760 (Palit GTX 760 JetStream) and GeForce GTX 770. From AMD, there are three representatives - Radeon R9 285 represented by HIS R9 285 IceQ X2 OC, Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280X represented by MSI R7970 Lightning. Only younger rivals were tested for overclocking.

The reviewed MSI video adapter will also act as a standard version of the GeForce GTX 960. But there are some subtleties here. As noted above, in Silent Mode at 1126 MHz the Boost Clock value is higher than the recommended value by 12 MHz. Accordingly, the peak Boost value is also higher in comparison with the reference. The only question is how much. For example, it is also worth mentioning the Inno3D iChill GeForce GTX 960 2GB Ultra - this graphics accelerator has a difference of 101 MHz between the base value and the peak value. For MSI this difference is 151 MHz. If the Inno3D operating algorithm is closer to the reference one, then the standard video adapter should not reach 1230 MHz. Ideally, you need a real physical copy of the reference for comparison. In the absence of it, you can get by with a further reduction in the base frequency. But the software does not allow you to lower this value below 90 MHz relative to the initial one. So we had to make do with 1126 MHz at 1277 MHz. And to bring the final frequency to a more realistic value, a temperature limit of 60 °C and a power limit of 75% were set. As a result, the core frequency began to decrease slightly. Video card performance graphs in Metro: Last Light and Thief are shown below.

The table shows official data on Boost frequencies for GeForce. The graphs show the actual range of core operating frequencies, including peak values.

Test stand

The test bench configuration is as follows:

• processor: Intel Core i7-3930K ([email protected] GHz, 12 MB);
• cooler: Thermalright Venomous X;
• motherboard: ASUS Rampage IV Formula/Battlefield 3 (Intel X79 Express);
• memory: Kingston KHX2133C11D3K4/16GX (4x4 GB, DDR3-2133@1866 MHz, 10-11-10-28-1T);
• system disk: Intel SSD 520 Series 240GB (240 GB, SATA 6Gb/s);
• additional drive: Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 (1 TB, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm);
• power supply: Seasonic SS-750KM (750 W);
• monitor: ASUS PB278Q (2560x1440, 27″);

• operating system: Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64;
• GeForce driver: NVIDIA GeForce 347.25;
• Radeon driver: ATI Catalyst 14.12.

Testing methodology

Game testing was carried out at a resolution of 1920x1080. On the left in the diagrams the values ​​of the minimum frame rate are indicated, on the right - the average fps value. At the end of the list are the results of 3DMark 11 and 3DMark Fire Strike in Extreme modes, plus data on the overall system power consumption.

Alien: Isolation

Testing was carried out at the beginning of the Lighthouse level. The characters communicate in the airlock room, and then go out to the surface of the planet. Several lighting sources, the glass of the spacesuit with glare and reflections - all this creates a more serious load in comparison with the space station corridors familiar to the game. Frame rate was measured by Fraps.

Assassin's Creed: Unity

Latest version of the game with all updates. The frame rate was measured during the first foot chase immediately after the prologue. The grown-up hero rushes through the streets of Paris after a thief who stole a watch. The selected episode was replayed six times, the sequence of actions was repeated.

Battlefield 4

Testing was carried out in the first mission after the wall was blown up. The run was repeated through a small area of ​​dense vegetation before descending onto a large construction site. Five reps. Frame rate was measured using Fraps. In case of large data scatter, repeated runs were carried out.

BioShock Infinite

Four runs of the built-in benchmark in Ultra quality under DirectX 11 at 1920x1080 resolution.

Using Fraps, the average and minimum fps were measured during the repetition of a short episode after the first checkpoint of the "Crash" mission. The hero lands in Antarctica near a crashed plane, there is a scene of dialogue between his partners, after which one clip is fired towards the enemy. For each card, this improvised test was repeated six times.

Crysis 3

The test was conducted at the beginning of the Only Human level. A short run through a limited visibility zone was combined with an inspection of distant objects through a sight (that’s why such a large-scale level was chosen). Five reps. Measurements were made using Fraps.

Dead Rising 3

A short episode with a car driving through crowds of zombies was replayed. Five reps.

Far Cry 4

Prologue, the release of the hero, who is being driven by car along a mountain road. Everything happens automatically, without requiring special user intervention, but for a more reliable game simulation, weapons were fired. The 40-second episode was repeated seven times for each test participant. In case of large scatter of data, additional repetitions were carried out.

Lords Of The Fallen

There was a walk from the save point to the location “Judges Square” and along it. The procedure is shown in the video. Five runs for each participant.

Metro: Last Light

Testing was carried out using the built-in game test at the D6 level and in manual mode when playing a short episode at the Ashes level. Five repetitions of each test.

Seven runs of the built-in gaming test, excluding the first launch of the benchmark, which produces an underestimated minimum fps relative to subsequent launches.

The working image is 1920x1080, but the actual rendering is 2048x1152. The game is so clever that it itself determines the native resolution of the test monitor 2560x1440 as the base one. And 2048x1152 (80%) is the closest value to the Full HD target. In the graphics settings, texture quality has been lowered to “High” (even in this mode, 3 GB is recommended). Motion Blur is disabled. The remaining parameters are at the highest possible level when all additional effects are activated.

Rise: Son of Rome

Performance was measured using Fraps while replaying a short sequence at the beginning of Chapter 4. A scene with dense vegetation along the banks of a mountain stream was specially chosen.

Thief

For testing, we used the built-in gaming benchmark, which was run six times for each participant. In the case of a strong scatter in the minimum fps, additional runs were carried out. The graphics quality is maximum, all effects are enabled, low quality SSAA anti-aliasing.

Tomb Raider

The built-in test does not demonstrate the real situation in the game, simulating an overly simple game scene. Therefore, the frame rate was measured during the introductory scene - Lara is floundering in the water, climbs onto the shore and watches the dialogue of her comrades. This episode is displayed below.

Watch Dogs

There was a jog around the area near the storage facility at the Pawnee location. The area is saturated with dense vegetation, which creates a greater load compared to urban areas. Due to the large variation in the minimum fps on video cards with 2 GB, two test runs of the game were performed, each with six runs of the test scene.

World of Tanks

For testing, we selected a recording of a dynamic, intense battle, which causes serious (albeit rare) fps drops in some moments.

Testing in Extreme mode

Testing with the Extreme settings profile, which this time involves using a resolution of 2560x1440.

Energy consumption

The results of measurements in six annexes are presented:

• Dead Rising 3;
• Far Cry 4;
• Metro: Last Light;
• Ryse: Son of Rome;
• Thief;
• World of Tanks.

Alien: Isolation

Assassin's Creed: Unity

Battlefield 4

BioShock Infinite

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Crysis 3

Dead Rising 3

Far Cry 4

Lords Of The Fallen

Metro: Last Light

Rise: Son of Rome

Thief

The results of AMD participants differ from those obtained previously, when even with higher SSAA quality the Radeon R9 285 was better than the Radeon R9 280X in terms of average fps. It's a little strange that the Radeon R9 285 lost ground due to a driver update. Perhaps something improved when working in other modes. It was decided to conduct additional testing of AMD video cards in the Mantle API.

Tomb Raider

Watch Dogs

World of Tanks

Energy consumption

Conclusions

Based on the results of testing in eight out of 18 test applications, the new GeForce GTX 960 turns out to be more productive than the Radeon R9 285. When rendering in DirectX 11, Thief can also be added here, although when using Mantle the competitor will be faster. There is a controversial situation in Shadow of Mordor - the average fps of the GeForce is lower, but the minimum is higher, and much higher. So the new NVIDIA product will provide a smoother picture. Parity in Metro: Last Light. Minimal lag from competitor AMD in Watch Dogs. All this allows us to talk about the equality of the GeForce GTX 960 and Radeon R9 285. Perhaps a full-fledged reference would be slightly weaker than the video card that replaced it at frequencies of 1126-1277/7012 MHz, but it is unlikely that the difference will be fundamental. At the same time, NVIDIA's newcomer is the most economical and coolest solution in its class. Consequently, the GeForce GTX 960 will be quieter than all its closest competitors.

The old GeForce GTX 760 graphics accelerator loses in all applications, only performing at the beginner level in Crysis 3. The GeForce GTX 960 occupies a niche between its direct predecessor and the GeForce GTX 770, and in some cases is initially on par with the more powerful representative of the old series. Overclocking brings a beginner to the level of the GeForce GTX 770 and allows you to achieve better results. The exception is two applications out of 18, when the results of the GeForce GTX 770 remain unattainable for the forced GeForce GTX 960. In 11 games, overclocking allows you to achieve a complete advantage in minimum and average fps relative to the Radeon R9 280X with standard frequencies. In two more cases, this advantage is reduced only to the average game indicator. And this level of overclocking is easily achieved in quiet mode with good cooling.

This is exactly the cooling system found on the MSI GTX 960 Gaming 2G. This video card demonstrates very modest operating temperatures at nominal and overclocked with a minimum fan rotation level. MSI will provide the perfect combination of silence and power for those who play at 1920x1080 and do not chase heavy anti-aliasing modes in the latest games. Factory overclocking is not the best; the memory generally operates at the recommended frequencies. But further acceleration is impressive. The memory doesn't show any frequency records, but the GPU practically reached the 1.55 GHz mark - out of the three different GeForce GTX 960 models we tested, this is the best achievement. Once again, MSI Gaming did not disappoint expectations and deserved the title of one of the best in its series.

1. Review of the MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 2 GB video card (GTX 960 GAMING 2G)

Automatic mode (0-790 rpm)

Maximum speed (2x2320 rpm)

2. Test configuration, tools and testing methodology

Motherboard: Intel Siler DX79SR (Intel X79 Express, LGA 2011, BIOS 0594 dated 08/06/2013);
CPU: Intel Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition 3.5/4.0 GHz(Sandy Bridge-E, C2, 1.1 V, 6x256 KB L2, 15 MB L3);
CPU cooling system: Phanteks PH-TC14PE (2xCorsair AF140, 900 rpm);
Thermal interface: ARCTIC MX-4;
Video cards:

EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Superclocked ACX 2 GB 1111-1163/7012 MHz;
MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 2 GB 1216-1279/7012 MHz and overclocked to 1351-1414/8280 MHz;
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 OC WindForce 3X 4 GB 1085-1150/6008 MHz;
MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming 3 GB 1050/6000 MHz;
Sapphire Radeon R9 285 ITX Compact OC Edition 2 GB 928/5500 MHz;

RAM: DDR3 4x8 GB G.SKILL TridentX F3-2133C9Q-32GTX(XMP 2133 MHz, 9-11-11-31, 1.6 V);
System disk: Intel SSD 730 480GB (SATA-III, BIOS vL2010400);
Disk for programs and games: Western Digital VelociRaptor (SATA-II, 300 GB, 10000 rpm, 16 MB, NCQ) in a Scythe Quiet Drive 3.5" box;
Archive disk: Samsung Ecogreen F4 HD204UI (SATA-II, 2 TB, 5400 rpm, 32 MB, NCQ);
Sound card: Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater HD;
Case: Antec Twelve Hundred (front wall - three Noiseblocker NB-Multiframe S-Series MF12-S2 at 1020 rpm; back – two Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentPRO PL-1 at 1020 rpm; top – standard 200 mm fan at 400 rpm);
Control and monitoring panel: Zalman ZM-MFC3;
Power supply: Corsair AX1500i Digital ATX (1500 W, 80 Plus Titanium), 140 mm fan.
Monitor: 27-inch Samsung S27A850D (DVI-I, 2560x1440, 60 Hz).

motherboard chipset Intel Chipset Drivers – 10.0.22 WHQL from 08/05/2014;
DirectX End-User Runtimes libraries, release date: November 30, 2010;
Video card drivers for NVIDIA GPUs – GeForce 347.25.
Video card drivers for AMD GPUs – AMD Catalyst 14.12 WHQL Omega (14.501.1003.0) from 09.12.2014.

3DMark (2013)(DirectX 9/11) – version 1.4.780, tested in the Cloud Gate, Fire Strike, Fire Strike Extreme and Fire Strike Ultra scenes;
Unigine Valley Bench(DirectX 11) – version 1.0, maximum quality settings, AF16x and/or MSAA 8x, resolution 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 pixels;
Sleeping Dogs(DirectX 11) – version 1.5, used Adrenaline Action Benchmark Tool v1.0.2.1, maximum graphics quality settings for all points, Hi-Res Textures pack installed, FPS Limiter and V-Sync disabled, double sequential test run with total anti-aliasing at Normal and Extreme levels;
Hitman: Absolution(DirectX 11) – version 1.0.447.0, built-in test with graphics quality settings at Ultra, tessellation, FXAA and global illumination enabled;
Crysis 3(DirectX 11) – version 1.2.0.1000, all graphics quality settings to maximum, blur level – medium, glare on, modes with FXAA and MSAA 4x, double sequential pass of a scripted scene from the beginning of the Swamp mission lasting 110 seconds;
Tomb Raider (2013)(DirectX 11) – version 1.1.748.0, used Adrenaline Action Benchmark Tool, quality settings at Ultra level, V-Sync disabled, modes with FXAA and SSAA 2x, TressFX technology activated, double sequential pass of the test built into the game;
BioShock Infinite(DirectX 11) – version 1.1.25.5165, used Adrenaline Action Benchmark Tool with Ultra and Ultra+DOF quality settings, double run of the test built into the game;
Metro: Last Light(DirectX 11) – version 1.0.0.15, the test built into the game was used, graphics quality and tessellation settings were set to Very High, Advanced PhysX technology was enabled, tests with SSAA and without anti-aliasing, double sequential pass of the D6 scene;
Company of Heroes 2(DirectX 11) – version 3.0.0.16879, double sequential run of the test built into the game with maximum graphics quality and physical effects settings;
Total War: Rome II(DirectX 11) – version 2.1.0, quality settings at Extreme, V-Sync disabled, SSAA activated, double sequential pass of the test built into the game;
Batman: Arkham Origins(DirectX 11) – version 1.0 (update 8), quality settings at Ultra level, V-Sync disabled, all effects activated, all DX11 Enhanced functions enabled, Hardware Accelerated PhysX = Normal, double sequential pass of the test built into the game;
Battlefield 4(DirectX 11) – version 111433, all graphics quality settings on Ultra, double sequential playthrough of a scripted scene from the beginning of the TASHGAR mission lasting 110 seconds (for video cards on AMD GPUs, the Mantle API was used);
Thief(DirectX 11) – version 1.7 build 4158.21, graphics quality settings to the maximum level, Paralax Occlusion Mapping and Tessellation technologies activated, double sequential pass of the benchmark built into the game (for video cards on AMD GPUs, the Mantle API was used);
GRID Autosport(DirectX 11) – version 1.0.103.1840, used the built-in game test on the San Francisco highway (ten cars), graphics quality settings to the maximum level for all points, tests with MSAA 8x and without anti-aliasing;
Sniper Elite III(DirectX 11) – version 1.15a, quality settings at Ultra level, V-Sync disabled, tessellation and all effects activated, tests with SSAA 4x and without anti-aliasing, double sequential pass of the benchmark built into the game (for video cards on AMD GPUs, the Mantle API was used );
(DirectX 11) – Build v1808.19, all quality settings are manually set to maximum and Ultra levels, tessellation and depth of field are activated, at least two consecutive passes of the benchmark built into the game;
Dragon Age: Inquisition(DirectX 11) – version 1.0.0.0, maximum quality settings, resolution factor – 100, HBAO Full, tests with MSAA 4x and without anti-aliasing, double sequential pass of the benchmark built into the game (for video cards on AMD GPUs, the Mantle API was used).

3. Performance test results and their analysis

4. Pivot charts

5. Power consumption

Conclusion

Thanks to NVIDIA and MSI
and personally Irina Shekhovtsova and Boris Volk
for the video card provided for testing.

Bonus: GPGPU tests

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 OC WindForce 3XMSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming

AIDA64 OpenCL GPGPU v5.00.3328 beta



CompuBench CL v1.5.5



Elcomsoft Wireless Security Auditor v5.9.359



LuxMark v2.0



SVPMark v3.0.3b



Arion Bench v2.5.0

NVIDIA video cards with the number “60” in the name are rightfully considered optimally balanced solutions, capable of running even the most demanding games at FullHD resolution, if not at ultra, but certainly at high graphics settings. Moreover, in order to get a significant increase in performance, new “sixties” should be purchased after one generation. For example, the GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi architecture) was successfully replaced by the GTX 660 (Kepler), and that in turn by the GTX 960 (Maxwell). It is the new GeForce GTX 960 made by MSI that will be discussed in this article.

The editors would like to thank the company for kindly providing the video card for testing.

Specifications

As testing has shown, all benchmarks and games received an increase in frame rate equivalent to overclocking - 10-11 percent. Thus, in the games Tomb Raider and Sniper Elite 3 after overclocking, the frame rate reached 100 FPS, and in the slightly more demanding Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Total War: Rome II it exceeded 70 FPS.

At idle, when the video card fans were not spinning, the core temperature was 50°C, after a fifteen-minute warm-up with the Unigine Valley benchmark at nominal frequencies – 66°C at a fan speed of 800 rpm, and under load after overclocking it increased to only 68°C at the same speed. The TwinFrozr V cooling system did its job not only efficiently, but also extremely quietly.

Conclusions

Like NVIDIA's previous sixties, the GeForce GTX 960 model has confirmed its status as a perfectly balanced video card in terms of price and performance. I was doubly pleased with the MSI GTX 960 Gaming 2G version: quiet, efficient and, most importantly for gamers, stylish-looking cooling system, highly reliable design, considerable factory overclocking and even greater potential for additional manual overclocking. The video card turned out to have no obvious flaws, for which it deservedly receives our highest award, “Root-Nation Editor’s Choice.”

Advantages:

• high performance
• balanced energy consumption
• high quality electronic components
• Quiet and efficient cooling system
• good overclocking potential

Flaws:

• no significant

Prices in online stores

It is possible to display similar models if this one is not in the catalog.