EVGA GeForce GTX 960 SuperSC Graphics Card Review

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by Rob Williams on May 30, 2015 in Graphics & Displays

There’s a whiff of new high-end GPUs in the air, and before they reach us, we want to take another look at NVIDIA’s ~$200 GeForce GTX 960. This one comes from EVGA, and is called the SuperSC. It boasts a factory overclock, as well as the company’s advanced ACX 2.0 cooler. How does it fare, and can it be pushed further? Read on.

Page 6 – Game Tests: Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Total War: SHOGUN 2

Tom Clancy is responsible for a countless number of video games, but his Splinter Cell series has become something special, with each game released having been considered “great” overall. The latest in the series, Blacklist, is no exception, and thankfully for us, its graphics are fantastic, and not to mention intensive. For those who love a stealth element in their games, this is one that shouldn’t be skipped.

RIP, Tom Clancy.

Splinter Cell Blacklist - 1920x1080 Single Monitor

Manual Run-through: From the start of the ‘Safehouse’ level in Benghazi, Libya, we progress through until we reach an apartment building that must be entered – this is where we end the FPS recording.

EVGA GeForce GTX 960 SuperSC - Splinter Cell: Blacklist (1920x1080)
EVGA GeForce GTX 960 SuperSC - Splinter Cell: Blacklist (2560x1440)

These FPS levels are quite similar to what we saw with Sleeping Dogs – the GTX 960 just falls short of 50 FPS at 1440p. And like Sleeping Dogs, it doesn’t take much to fix that, without making a stark difference to the graphics detail.

Total War: SHOGUN 2

Strategy games are well-known for pushing the limits of any system, and few others do this as well as Total War: SHOGUN 2. It fully supports DX11, has huge battlefields to oversee with hundreds or thousands of units, and a ton of graphics options to adjust. It’s quite simply a beast of a game.

Total War: SHOGUN 2 - 1920x1080 Single Monitor

Manual Run-through: SHOGUN 2 is one of the few games in our suite where the built-in benchmark is opted for. Strategy games in particular are very difficult to benchmark, so this is where I become thankful to have the option of using a built-in benchmark.

EVGA GeForce GTX 960 SuperSC - Total War: SHOGUN 2 (1920x1080)
EVGA GeForce GTX 960 SuperSC - Total War: SHOGUN 2 (2560x1440)

Rounding out our apples-to-apples benchmarks, SHOGUN 2 puts the GTX 960 where it’s been most of this review – just ahead of the R9 285. Time to move onto some synthetic tests.

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Rob Williams

Rob founded Techgage in 2005 to be an 'Advocate of the consumer', focusing on fair reviews and keeping people apprised of news in the tech world. Catering to both enthusiasts and businesses alike; from desktop gaming to professional workstations, and all the supporting software.

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