GK104 gets cheaper and faster

NVIDIA has slapped a new name on the GK104 GPU and started selling it higher clocks and lower prices.

A week ago today we posted our review of the GeForce GTX 780, NVIDIA's attempt to split the difference between the GTX 680 and the GTX Titan graphics cards in terms of performance and pricing.  Today NVIDIA launches the GeForce GTX 770 that, even though it has a fancy new name, is a card and a GPU that you are very familiar with.

The NVIDIA GK104 GPU Diagram

Based on GK104, the same GPU that powers the GTX 680 (released in March 2012), GTX 670 and the GTX 690 (though in a pair), the new GeForce GTX 770 has very few changes from the previous models that are really worth noting.  NVIDIA has updated the GPU Boost technology to 2.0 (more granular, better controls in software) but the real changes come in the clocks speeds.

The GTX 770 is still built around 4 GPCs and 8 SMXs for a grand total of 1536 CUDA cores, 128 texture units and 32 ROPs.  The clock speeds have increased from 1006 MHz base clock and 1058 MHz Boost up to 1046 MHz base and 1085 MHz Boost.  That is a pretty minor speed bump in reality, an increase of just 4% or so over the previous clock speeds. 

NVIDIA did bump up the GDDR5 memory speed considerably though, going from 6.0 Gbps to 7.0 Gbps, or 1750 MHz.  The memory bus width remains 256-bits wide but the total memory bandwidth has jumped up to 224.3 GB/s.

Maybe the best change for PC gamers is the new starting MSRP for the GeForce GTX 770 at $399 – a full $50-60 less than the GTX 680 was selling for as of yesterday.  If you happened to pick up a GTX 680 recently, you are going to want to look into your return options as this will surely annoying the crap out of you.

If you want more information on the architecture design of the GK104 GPU, check out our initial article on the chips release from last year.  Otherwise, with those few specification changes out of the way, let's move on to some interesting information.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Reference Card

Tired of this design yet?  If so, you'll want to look into some of the non-reference options I'll show you on the next page from other vendors, but I for one am still taken with the design of these cards.  You will find a handful of vendors offering up re-branded GTX 770 options at the outset of release but most will have their own SKUs to showcase.

If you saw the GTX 780 release, or even the GTX Titan, you'll instantly recognize the design here – the only change is the stamping on the left hand side.

The back of the card remains bare.

2- and 3-Way SLI support continues on with the GTX 770.

Unlike the GTX 680 though, the new GTX 770 has an 8-pin and a 6-pin power connection.  I really believe this is just a cautionary thing for NVIDIA to add to the design though we do find some board partners that have gone a step further into dual 8-pin connections.

External display options are the same as well – dual dual-link DVI, full size HDMI and full size DisplayPort.

« PreviousNext »