Gigabyte GA-GF2560 SDR GeForce

As described in the card section, the GeForce processor on the Gigabyte GA-GF2560 is cooled via a rather interesting heatsink and fan. Attached to the GPU with a thermal tape, the fan does an exceptional job at cooling. Prior to the arrival of the GA-GF2560, the highest reliable clock speed reached by any GeForce card was 156 MHz, achieved by overclocking the ASUS V6600 and V6800 Deluxe. It came as quite a pleasant surprise to find that, when overclocked, the GA-GF2560 would reach 160 MHz without any stability problems.

More shocking was the memory speed that the 183 MHz rated SDRAM chips were able to reach. In the past, we have found that the memory clock on GeForce cards was rather picky, allowing only a slight overclock over the rated memory speed. The 183 MHz EliteMT chips found on the GA-GF2560 broke this mold completely, coming in stable at the very high memory speed of 204 MHz. At 38 MHz over the stock clock speed, the GA-GF2560 did not disappoint. Keep in mind that speeds such as these are quite rare in GeForce cards, and it is quite possible that the SDRAM chips in our card came from a very good batch. This goes to further prove the point that maximum memory speeds vary from batch to batch, as we have seen 183 MHz RAM chips go anywhere from a maximum speed of 186 MHz to the 204 MHz speed found in this card.

Having a card that clocked in at a final speed of 160/204 MHz resulted in an SDR card that could topple almost all of the competition. The fast core and memory speeds helped in every resolution and color, providing an SDR card that flies compared to its stock 120/166 MHz competition.