Nvidia’s Keplar architecture cards boast not only mind blowing performance, but you can invest in these cards without spending a bulk of overheads on your powersupply. This is because the raw graphics horsepower of the GTX 700 series is supplemented by their impressive energy efficiency, resulting in not only a lower electricity and prevention from you investing heavily on a heavy duty powersupply, but it will also keep the card’s temperatures’ way under thermal limits, giving you loads of headroom to overclock your graphic cards and squeeze as much performance out of them as possible. Now the question remains, which card will provide you with the best possible price / performance ratio in the higher tier range? The GTX 700, the GTX 780 or the GTX 780 Ti? Our benchmarks will be answer that question profoundly.
1. Graphic cards’ specifications and price
Firstly, let us give a huge shout out to our close friends who took out the time to lend us their graphic cards to be used for rigorous testing. Given below is the price of each card followed by the technical specifications. We have not labeled all the cards’ specifications because we feel that the ones we have noted down are the ones that you would find most important when searching which card will be the best purchase.
Gigabyte GTX 770 Windforce OC: $339.99
Asus DirectCU II OC GTX 780: $519.99
Gigabyte GTX 780 Ti Windforce OC: $649.99
2. Test setup
Before we proceed with our test, we will detail our entire test system, so that you can have a rough image in your mind as to the kind of performance we will be receiving according to the number and performance of the components that we have installed in our system. Keep in mind that in order to get the most accurate results, we have chosen to keep all components at their factory default settings except for the processor. The last thing we would want is a disparity in benchmarking results. Here is our test setup:
- Core i5 3570k (at 4.2 GHz at 1.22 V)
- Asrock Fatality Z77 professional motherboard
- 16 GB Corsair Vengeance low profile RAM 1600 MHz running at 1600 MHz with timings set to 9-9-9-24
- Geforce Beta driver version 337.50
- Cooler Master HAF XB
- Intel 520 180 GB SSD (for booting purposes)
- Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB and Seagate Momentus 750 GB (for data storage)
- Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850 watt power supply
Since the GTX 780 and the GTX 780 Ti happen to be graphics powerhouses, the only way we will be able to get a proper performance reading is if we overclock our CPU. We believe that 4.2 GHz per core will suffice in eliminating the bottleneck to a substantial degree which will help us to get the best possible benchmarking results.
3. Benchmark list
- Tomb Raider
- Thief
- Hitman Absolution
- Batman: Arkham Origins
- Metro Last Light
We have chosen these titles because these games feature the in – built benchmark feature which we feel is the best possible way to tax the entire system and hence, the graphic cards. Each benchmark will be run three times on each card to eliminate any erratic results and the average of those results will be dotted down. Keep in mind that the in – game benchmark feature of these games will in no way be similar to the actual gameplay performance that you will receive. The benchmarks have been presented to the gamer as a worst case scenario. We have also chosen to max out every single graphical settings in the benchmarks because we want to make sure that the system is being utilized at its full capabilities.
*In our gaming benchmarks, we have included a new calculation feature called the dollar to FPS ratio. This ratio will properly determine which graphic card will be the best investment for your hard earned money. In order to get a better understanding of this ratio, have a look at the benchmarks below. We will only include the average FPS count in this ratio. Divide the price of the card with the average FPS count and you will get your dollars to FPS ratio. The lower the ratio, the lower the money you will pay in getting as much performance out of your card as possible.*
Always remember, the lower the dollars to FPS ratio, the better the graphic card is going to be in terms of price and performance.
Tomb Raider
With the resurrection of the franchise, a beautiful yet nascent explorer stumbles upon a journey that is both exhilarating and life threatening. Crystal Dynamics have done a wonderful job in bringing the visual experience to gamers worldwide. Crank up the anti-aliasing level to the maximum value as well as the realistic TressFX setting and watch your system be brought to its knees.
Visual settings
- 1920 x 1080 resolution
- DX 11
- Ultra Quality
- 4x SSAA anti-aliasing level (super sampling is far more taxing than multi sampling or MSAA)
- 16x AF (Anisotropic Filtering)
- Tessellation enabled
- SSAO Ultra mode
- TressFX ENABLED
- All other settings (if some have not been listed here) at their maximum values
The results have been given below
Since super sampling anti aliasing happens to be the most taxing form of anti aliasing available in the gaming universe, we were sure that our cards were to take a huge hit, especially in the average frames per second section.
Here is the dollar to FPS ratio
Looks like our GTX 770 wins this round. Let us move on to more benchmarks and see if the remaining two cards can offer us better results.
Thief
Another gaming title that has been a product of resurrected titles, and proudly brought to you by Eidos Montreal and Square Enix, Thief presents gamers with a whole new environment of visuals, gameplay and of course stealth.
Visual settings
- 1920 x 1080 resolution
- Very High Graphics quality
- High DOF
- SSAA level: High
- Tessellation enabled
- Contact hardening shadows
- Parallax Occlusion mapping
- Screenspace reflection
- 16X Anisotropic filtering
- All other settings (if some have not been listed here) at their maximum values
The results have been given below
Enabling super sampling anti aliasing levels will most definitely tax your system to its limits. Even though we knew from the beginning that the GTX 780 Ti is going to be the winner in all tests, we want to see if it is worth your hard earned money or not.
Here is the dollar to FPS ratio
The results were extremely close, with the dollars to FPS ratio not going above double digits. Even though the GTX 770 still won by a small margin, we can positively say that the results are closing in on each other. Let us move on to our tests to see whether this claim is true or not.
Hitman Absolution
Hitman Absolution happens to be the 5th entry in Hitman game series, and also happens to be the most taxing title ever. Thanks to IO Interactive’s Glacier 2 game engine, you will be presented with attractive visuals as well as gameplay elements that will give you complete autonomy on what exactly does it feel like being a hired killer
Visual settings
- Quality level: Ultra
- SSAO: Ultra
- 16X Anisotropic filtering
- 8X MSAA
- Global Illumination: ON
- Tessellation: ON
- Depth of Field: Max settings
- All other settings (if some have not been listed here) at their maximum values
The results have been given below
Even though multi sampling anti aliasing is less strenuous compared to super sampling, crank up those levels up to the maximum level and you will most definitely see your system be brought to its knees.
Here is the dollar to FPS ratio
The result between the GTX 780 and the GTX 780 Ti was a fairly close one, indicating that you will not experience a sufficient amount of performance gain if you were to spend a few extra bucks on the GTX 780 Ti.
Batman: Arkham Origins
The third installment of the Batman Arkham series and the very first one developed by Warner Bros. Games Montréal, you will play as a newly formed Batman, far less experienced than he was in the previous two installments and meeting his foes for the very first time in combat. Although the level of visuals can be praised extensively, the lack of concrete story prevents the game from building up the level of notoriety that the previous titles had held. Though we have to give Warner Bros. credit for developing an immersive Batman gaming title while making their debut attempt at such a game, we as gamers will obviously clamor for more once we clamp our gaming gears on.
- 1920 x 1080 resolution
- 8X MSAA anti-aliasing
- Geometry detail: DX11 enhanced
- Dynamic Shadows: DX11 enhanced
- Motion Blur: ON
- Depth of field: DX11 enhanced
- Ambient occlusion: DX11 enhanced
- Hardware accelerated PHYSX: ON
- All other settings (if some have not been listed here) at their maximum values
The results have been given below
Not a taxing game at all, even at full anti aliasing levels and PHYSX enabled, all three graphic cards are able to zip past through the game without breaking a sweat. The only question is, how much are the cards worth when we put them together in the dollars to FPS ratio.
Here is the dollar to FPS ratio
So far, the closest result in all of the benchmarks happens to be this one.
Metro Last Light
Set in a post-apocalyptic time with the destination being Moscow, Metro Last Light was inspired by the novel Metro 2033, which was written by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. The game was previously announced to come with the title name as Metro 2034 and although the game is a direct sequel to Metro 2033, Metro Last Light has no relationship to the book Metro 2034. In short, Metro Last Light happens to be one of the most taxing applications on the PC, and raises the bar after its predecessor, Metro 2033 especially when visuals are concerned.
Visual settings
- 1920 x 1080 resolution
- In game quality: VERY HIGH
- SSAA: 4X
- Texture filtering: AF 16X
- Motion Blur: Normal
- Tessellation: VERY HIGH
- In game physics: ON
- Depth of field: ON
- All other settings (if some have not been listed here) at their maximum values
The results have been given below
One of the most built in benchmarks in our line – up, the graphical prowess of Metro Last Light will ensure that our video cards are brought to their knees. Even the GTX 770 is unable to keep up a respectable average frame limit thanks to super sampling anti aliasing being cranked up to the maximum values.
Here is the dollar to FPS ratio
Our verdict happens to be the GTX 780. This is because since the GTX 770 is unable to deliver suitable performance numbers to experience fluid amount of gameplay, we have decided to stick with the GTX 780, since there is not a whole lot of difference between this card and the GTX 780 Ti.
There you have it guys! Judging by the results, you must probably be thinking that we have gone ahead and chosen our best price / performance card as the GTX 770. To be honest, we would have preferred that card, if the total video memory packing in to that card was 4 GB instead of a meager 2 GB. Our benchmarks have been carried out on the 1080p resolution, which automatically means that if you start running all the above graphical settings at 1600p resolutions or even 4K resolutions, you will most likely run out of video memory and GPU processing power, resulting in a very laggy and lack luster gaming experience. However, on such extreme resolutions, there is absolutely no reason to enable such high levels of anti aliasing, since a high number of pixels will automatically mitigate that requirement.
If you happen to ask which card would we recommend, then it will have to be the Asus GTX 780 DirectCU II OC. It might be a tad bit expensive for the average user but look at the bright side. You can immerse yourself at higher resolutions and several sub vendors have released a 6 GB video memory variants of the GTX 780, which means that surround gaming will be absolutely no issue for this card. That being said, sub vendors have also released a 6 GB video memory variant for the GTX 780 Ti, but the price tag that comes along with such a video card is far too expensive for gamers to purchase, unless of course you have a bucket load of cash lying around your room. Furthermore, the after market cooler courtesy of ASUS will allow serious component tweakers to overclock the living bejeezus out the video card, and sooner or later, the GTX 780 will come close to the performance of the GTX 780 Ti.
Also check out some of our other articles:
- Our list of the most expensive graphic cards of 2014.
- We answer the important question, is Gaming RAM worth it?
However, if you were to ask us which SLI gaming rig should you opt for, then our immediate answer will be dual GTX 770s (the 4 GB version). The work load will be divided amongst these cards, and you can also start gaming at higher resolutions. However, since we have only opted to game on one card, our sights are triangulated towards the GTX 780. Make your purchase worthwhile, and happy gaming guys.
