by Rob Williams on May 30, 2013 in Graphics & Displays
Though it might seem a bit unusual to see NVIDIA let loose its GTX 770 a mere week after its 780 launch, here’s something to clear things up: $399. Built on GK104 (not GK110, like the 780), the GTX 770 is in effect a beefed-up GTX 680. It boasts 700 series features, NVIDIA’s latest cooler, and of course, a savings of about $100.
For this article, I picked three special games to benchmark thanks to their popularity; Borderlands 2, Metro: Last Light and BioShock Infinite. I had hoped to get a couple of others in, such as Hitman Absolution and Far Cry 3, but due to various hassles, I ended up scrapping them. However, the games that are here are quite good both from a graphics and gameplay standpoint.
Borderlands 2
For this game, I wanted to test with a place that featured a lot of PhysX, to see how the GTX 780 compared specifically to the GTX 680. So, I loaded up Frostburn Canyon, took a left and went up and over the bridge to do battle with a number of enemies there. For some reason, this is an area that utilizes PhysX a lot more than others, so it’s a great place to take in all of the eye candy. Details are completely maxed out for this game.
![NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - Borderlands 2 (1920x1080) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - Borderlands 2 (1920x1080)](/reviews/nvidia/geforce_gtx_770/27.png)
![NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - Borderlands 2 (4098x768) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - Borderlands 2 (4098x768)](/reviews/nvidia/geforce_gtx_770/28.png)
![NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - Borderlands 2 (5760x1080) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - Borderlands 2 (5760x1080)](/reviews/nvidia/geforce_gtx_770/29.png)
As with an earlier test, the GTX 680 inches 1 FPS ahead of the 770 at 1080p, which is no doubt due to normal variance (sometimes, I wish time and sanity allowed benchmarking each resolution ten times). Moving up to the big pixel-pushers, the 770 regains its place.
Metro: Last Light
While I normally shy away from built-in benchmarks or timedemos, I’ve opted to use them for this game, and the next, on account of me never having played either (thus, no saved game). Fortunately, the built-in benchmark with Metro: Last Light is quite good, and thorough. Graphics options are mostly maxed, with the overall detail level sitting at High (not Very High), along with the Tessellation at Normal.
![NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - Metro: Last Light (1920x1080) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - Metro: Last Light (1920x1080)](/reviews/nvidia/geforce_gtx_770/30.png)
![NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - Metro: Last Light (4098x768) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - Metro: Last Light (4098x768)](/reviews/nvidia/geforce_gtx_770/31.png)
![NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - Metro: Last Light (5760x1080) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - Metro: Last Light (5760x1080)](/reviews/nvidia/geforce_gtx_770/32.png)
Although it’s a bit disappointing for those who might not have the beefiest GPUs at their perusal, it’s somewhat satisfying to see a game come out for the PC that at high detail manages just 40 FPS average on a $649 GPU. And to think, there’s a “Very High” detail option available. That aside, the GTX 770 continues doing what it does best: beating out the GTX 680.
BioShock Infinite
Jamie raved over this game and for good reason. It’s an epic adventure, and it has some stellar graphics, chock-full of eye-candy. Of course, it was worth benchmarking, especially since the game perfectly supports multi-monitor out-of-the-box (cheers, Irrational Games!) Here, we simply use the built-in benchmark utility, with the graphics options all cranked in-game.
![NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - BioShock Infinite (1920x1080) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - BioShock Infinite (1920x1080)](/reviews/nvidia/geforce_gtx_770/33.png)
![NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - BioShock Infinite (4098x768) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - BioShock Infinite (4098x768)](/reviews/nvidia/geforce_gtx_770/34.png)
![NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - BioShock Infinite (5760x1080) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 - BioShock Infinite (5760x1080)](/reviews/nvidia/geforce_gtx_770/35.png)
Our last game test wraps up just like most of them have: the GTX 770 inches past the GTX 680, ever-so-slightly. Now, onto some synthetics.