14 DAY TRIAL // The DirectCU 3 cooling solution from ASUS will come in all shapes and sizes, apparently. Shown off for the first time at Computex on the future 980Ti, in the form of the Strix cooling system, now it comes in a smaller yet similarly effective form on the GTX 960.
According to VideoCardz, the GeForce GTX 960 DC3 will feature 2GB of DDR5 memory and will come factory-overclocked at 1228 MHz and managing to hold a clock boost of 1291 MHz. Memory speeds remain at 7GHz.
Just like any other GTX960, it comes with the GM206 GPU and 1024 CUDA cores. Output ports are three DisplayPorts, HDMI 2.0, and DVI-I output.
ASUS wants to form an Nvidia performance line that will begin with the 960 GTX and will move on to the incredibly powerful Titan X and 980Ti, as the GTX 980Ti already becomes the new favorite among users for being a smaller and more affordable Titan X. This in despite the fact that it can be questioned how far this card can compete with the up-and-coming R9 300 (rebranded and improved 200) series from AMD, which also offers competitive prices of around $200 (€177) for the Tonga GPU. It also comes repackaged by ASUS with Strix cooling system.
Nvidia might trip and fall thanks to weak low-spec offers against AMD
If the 128-bit bus remains, it's possible that Nvidia will lose the low-spec battle against AMD, as it relaunches its mid-to-low spec line of GPUs that will incorporate 384-bit bus upgrades for the R9 380X series. The two giants are already throwing big punches at each other, as today AMD will unveil its major HBM Fiji tech and will shed complete light on its upcoming 300 series at E3 Los Angeles.
However, this is still not a bad investment, as the prices will probably turn the GTX 960 into the most affordable and quite powerful Nvidia on the market. However, when marketing is concerned, the lack of interest from Nvidia in boosting its low-spec catalog will probably cost the company more than dominating the high-specced one, as sales, taken in bulk, will always favor the affordable monsters against the absolute monsters.
The card is already selling in China and the US for around $270 (€240).
