14 DAY TRIAL // Many of the Sparkle graphics cards we saw in the past were odd things, like low-end cards with too much memory that were obvious attempts at digesting RAM inventories.
The device that has now made its appearance is not that at all. It is a genuine mainstream video card with advantages over the reference unit.
More specifically, it is an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 video board with a better cooler, one that not only copes with the higher clock speeds but also drives operating temperature up to 15 degrees lower.
The normal GTX 660 has a GPU speed of 960 MHz, a GPU Boost frequency of 980 MHz and a memory speed (2 GB) of 6 GHz.
Sparkle's X660 Dual Fan Solution works at 1,059 MHz, 1,124 MHz and 6 GHz, respectively.
The rest of the specifications are mostly unchanged otherwise: 960 CUDA cores, a memory interface of 192 bits and PCI Express 3.0 support.
That leaves the cooler, and we can say right now that it is definitely better than the stock model, and not just because of there being two fans instead of one.
True, the dual PWM cooling fans are effective, not to mention silent, but Sparkle also scored with its three heatpipes and large fin array.
Furthermore, the OEM chose to make the final step and implement better PCB components as well, like tantalum capacitor, alloy choke and the SO8 Powerpack (gaming stability when overclocked).
Overall, Sparkle X660 Dual Fan is 8% stronger than the original while up to 15% cooler.
Finally, the new Kepler-based graphics board boasts four video outputs: two dual-link DVI connectors and two HDMI ports.
Unfortunately, despite being willing to specify every other relevant bit of info, Sparkle did not give a price. Since other GTX 660 adapters sell for $215/ 215 Euro on average, this one will be a bit more expensive.
