The Verdict
With the SO edition graphics cards Gigabyte takes it up a notch and delivers graphics cards with the nicest components pre-overclocked for you. I definitely like the quality components used, the high-quality standard ensures that your product will last a long time. You won't hear any squeaky noises thanks to Ferrite core chokes and excellent capacitors but more overly, such a design will also help you with overclocking.
Next to being a fairly fast pre-overclocked product -- there is still room for a little more. Don't expect much without voltage mods or supercooling though. Performance wise the GTX 260 obviously is a fun card to own. It's a nice mid-range product offering good bang for buck. The SO edition however includes a more stringent QA selection, and that makes the product more expensive. Currently you can find the product here in the Netherlands for roughly € 159,- and I'm afraid that's a little difficult to position anno Q4 2009. See this product performs roughly at GeForce GTX 275 level thanks to it's overclock. And if you throw in a few EURO extra then for € 169 you can already pick up a GTX 275. And that product can be overclocked another 10% (easily) as well.
Yes the mid-range market is very complicated to be in. Personally I'd favor the GTX 275 without any doubt as that is a nice performer for the money. Another reality is that you can pick up a Radeon HD 4890 for less than €150 these days as well and face it .. that's tremendous value for money. Again .. the mid-range segment is complicated. I'll up it a notch as the DX11 ready Radeon HD 5770, though slower, can be found for €130 as well.
All that aside, we think that the SO series graphics cards from Gigabyte are very much warranted and do have a viable chance in an already saturated market. For the upcoming product line we do hope that the speed-bin for releasing the SO edition graphics cards will be faster as the original GTX 260 was released in June 2008. Should you be interested, Gigabyte also offers a GTX 275 OC edition.
All things considered, the GeForce GTX 260 SO is a inspiring product series, we do hope that pricing will come down and fall under 150 EUR, but we can definitely recommend a product like shown today.
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