| Comparison with the reference design, front view | |
| BFG GeForce GTX 260 Maxcore OCX 896MB | Reference NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 896MB |
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| Zotac GeForce GTX 260 AMP²! 896MB | |
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| Comparison with the reference design, back view | |
| BFG GeForce GTX 260 Maxcore OCX 896MB | Reference NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 896MB |
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| Zotac GeForce GTX 260 AMP²! 896MB | |
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There is no need to comment on the design, as both cards are reference products, described in our GTX 260 review.
The GTX 260 card is a copy of GTX 280 without two memory chips. As a result, the memory bus shrunk from 512 to 448 bit, and memory size was reduced 1024 MB to 896 MB. Besides, the 8-pin power connector is replaced with two usual 6-pin connectors. However, the PCB has a 512-bit memory exchange bus. Initially the PCB is designed for 16 memory chips on both PCB sides (though only 14 chips are installed). So the card is long, and the PCB is quite expensive.
I'll stress the important point once again: The card is 270 mm long, just like the 8800 GTX/Ultra. So a PC enclosure should be large enough to accommodate this card. Besides, the thickness is the same in every point, so a motherboard should have at least 30 mm of space behind the PCI-E x16 slot free of interfaces or high capacitors.
This graphics card can be connected to a sound card for transmitting audio streams to HDMI (via a DVI-to-HDMI adapter). I.e. the graphics card itself does not have an audio codec, but it receives audio signals from a standalone sound card. If this feature is important to you, make sure the bundle includes a corresponding audio cable.
Also note that this graphics card uses two 6-pin power connectors.
All cards have original TV-Out interfaces that require a special adapter to output video to a TV set via S-Video or RCA.
An analog monitor with a D-Sub (VGA) interface can be connected by means of a special DVI-to-D-Sub adapter. Also bundled are DVI-to-HDMI adapters (these graphics cards support video/audio output to HDMI receivers), so there should be no problems with such monitors.
Maximum resolutions and frequencies:
- 240 Hz maximum refresh rate
- 2048 x 1536 x 32bit @ 85Hz Max - analog interface
- 2560 x 1600 @ 60Hz Max - digital interface (all Dual-Link DVIs)
As of MPEG2 playback (DVD-Video), we analyzed this issue in 2002. Little has changed since that time. CPU load during video playback on modern graphics cards does not exceed 25%.
As of HDTV, a review is available here.
