EVGA announces GTX460 performance boost – free

While nVidia cuts prices faster than an East End barber cuts hair, EVGA is focused on delivering increased value to the customers who have already spent big on the new GTX460 card. KitGuru lifts the bonnet and gives the engine a sniff.

KitGuru loves the fact that graphic cards can be made to go faster and faster with simple software updates. Sure, sometimes the driver teams take the p*ss with shortcuts that are morally questionable, but there is one upgrade that almost no one would say no to and that's a pure, raw yank to the clocks.

With the release of its updated BIOS for the GTX460, EVGA is offering to slip its hand under the table cloth and increase excitement levels by almost 10%.

As KitGuru proved with extensive testing of the GTX460 both in stand alone and SLi mode, it is incredibly sensitive to clock speed. Increasing the raw clock several percent WILL give you a faster in-game experience.

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Will it be enough?

Now that's a good question to ask yourself. If you're trying to play Crysis at 2560 with everything on ‘MAX' settings, then the answer is no. Similarly, if you are already past the point where your TFT will VSynch with the graphic card, then you're unlikely to feel it.

Where it might play a useful role is in giving you an extra 1-3 frames a second in the all important 25-35 FPS range. Games are really sensitive to the responsiveness of games around 30 frames a second and an extra boost would be much appreciated.

For example, in KitGuru's initial tests, increasing the clock speed of the GTX460 from reference to EVGA Superclock speed meant that Aliens Vs Predator jumped from 33fps to 36fps.

Similarly, in Crysis Warhead, the standard clocked card did dip down and touch the danger zone, while the overclocked card didn't.

Is it easy to do?

According to Miodrag Relic, Head of EVGA's European Brainwashing Team, it's easier than soft-boiling an egg for breakfast. You just need to create a bootable USB drive and you're away. Less than 5 minutes, it would seem.

ENTIRELY at your own risk – here are some download links for EVGA users

• 768 Slow ? 768-P3-1360-XX – EVGA GeForce GTX 460
• 768 Faster ?768-P3-1362-XX – EVGA GeForce GTX 460 SuperClocked
• 1GB Slow ? 01G-P3-1371-XX – EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1024MB EE (External Exhaust)
• 1GB Faster ?01G-P3-1373-XX – EVGA GeForce GTX 460 SuperClocked 1024MB EE (External Exhaust)

We advise you to visit this site first: http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=498804

KitGuru says: If you have an EVGA card that sadly crawling along around 675MHz, now's the time to get your freebie upgrade.

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