Welcome back, tech enthusiasts! Today, we're taking a trip down memory lane to review the NVIDIA GTX 760, a graphics card that might be gathering dust in some of your old rigs. This card was released back in 2013 under the 28nm Kepler architecture, and its last Game Ready driver dates back to 2021. This means we'll need to rely on sheer brute force to tackle modern games. Let’s find out if this card still has what it takes, or if it’s time to leave it in the past.
GTX 760: The Specs
Before we dive into the benchmarks, let's look under the hood. The GTX 760 comes with:
- Base Clock: 993 MHz
- Boost Clock: 1059 MHz
- Memory: 2GB GDDR5 at 1502 MHz
- Memory Bus: 256-bit
- Power: 170W (requires 2x 6-pin connectors)
At first glance, the 760 seems like a souped-up GTX 670. While that is true to an extent, some parts were cut down. It has fewer shading units (around 15%), fewer TMUs, and one less SMX unit. This results in a slight performance decrease, about 7% lower than the 670 according to TechPowerUp. However, with its lower launch price of $250 compared to the 670's $400, this was a trade-off that many budget-conscious shoppers would have taken.
Benchmark Performance
Let’s see how this translates to real-world gaming performance using our standard Ryzen 5 3600 test bench.
3DMark
The GTX 760 scored:
- Fire Strike: 6120
- Time Spy: 1556
These scores make it clear that the card is designed for 1080p gaming, with 1440p reserved for indie titles or less demanding games.
Gaming Performance: The Real Test
Now, let's get to the meat of the review and see how the GTX 760 handles various games:
Alan Wake
Settings: 1080p, High
Average FPS: 65
Lows: 47 and 39
Despite some frame drops during special effects and heavy lighting, the game remained smooth for the most part and offered a good experience.
Slime Rancher
Settings: 1080p, Default
Average FPS: 114
Lows: 81 and 57
This is a perfect title for the GTX 760, running smoothly and allowing you to easily tweak setting and slap on an FPS cap if you desire.
Battlefield Bad Company 2 Remastered
Settings: 1080p, High
Average FPS: 101
Frame times could fluctuate, but the game ran smoothly. There's room to dial settings down for even better frame time stability.
Counter-Strike (Auto-enabled FSR Quality)
Settings: 1080p, Medium
Average FPS: 112
Lows: 66 and 53
While it threw up a driver warning, the game was still playable, with the option to tweak the settings for an even more competitive experience.
Fortnite
Settings: 1080p, Performance Mode, High Settings
Average FPS: 144
Lows: 50 and 26
The game was surprisingly playable, with only frame drops during map loading and occasionally while gaming.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Settings: 1080p, High
Average FPS: 113
Lows: 70 and 59
The game was very playable and fluid, without hindering the gameplay experience.
Deep Rock Galactic
Settings: 1080p, Medium
Average FPS: 110
Lows: 50 and 21
Frame times were erratic, but overall, it was playable. Lowering the setting to low and even using FSR can make things smoother.
Prey
Settings: 1080p, Low
Average FPS: 88
1% Low: 55
Despite some stutters, the game was playable, showcasing its capability for at least 1080p60.
No Man's Sky
Settings: 1080p, Standard, FSR Enabled (Performance)
Average FPS: 42
Lows: 33 and 5
Limited vram proved to be a major issue, with the game struggling to maintain a consistent frame rate. While playable at 30 fps, it's not an ideal experience without lowering settings and resolution.
Is the GTX 760 Still Worth It?
The GTX 760 showed admirable performance for a card with such limited VRAM and cut-down shader units. It can handle older titles and some indie games, but most modern games will require major graphical sacrifices or outright won't work (like SCP 5K and Halo Infinite). While the GTX 760 can still provide a decent gaming experience, its price on the second-hand market places it in a similar bracket to better, 4 GB cards. Given its age and the lack of driver support, and with those poor 1% lows it's really hard to recommend it these days.
Thanks for joining us on this retro review! If you liked this dive into classic hardware, be sure to check out our other GPU reviews on the channel. Until next time!
