Score Card and Summary
Packaging & Accessories: 8 out of 10.
The only issues we have with this shipping container is its size. Simply put it is large enough to house two of these cards and finding room in your storage area for this box may cause problems. After all, you will want to keep this box if – heaven forbid- you have to RMA it and considering the warranty this means holding on to this box for a long time. On the accessory front, PNY should include more. An additional MOLEX to PCIE power adapter, case badge, something….anything to help make the accessory list live up to the standards “Enthusiast Edition” connotes.
Functionality & Aesthetics: 17 out of 20
With its black with yellow racing stripes the 780 XLR8 OC is one aggressive looking card; however it does have an air of elegance that is rare in this day of overly bombastic designs. While its appearance may not be to everyone’s liking the fact remains it is one of the more sophisticated examples of modern video card aesthetics. More to the point it would make a fine centerpiece for any high end custom PC build.
Build Quality & Warranty: 19 out of 20
We have no problems with the extended nature of this design as the performance is there to back up the larger than usual footprint. However that the top fascia extends further than it has to and it has been done solely for aesthetics and that is hard to justify. On the positive side, and as long as you register it within one year of purchase, the PNY XLR8 OC comes with an unlimited warranty. That certainly goes a long way to alleviating such minor issues like extended footprints.
Performance: 30 out of 30
With its excellent factory overclock and headroom for even more via manual overclocking the GTX 780 XLR8 OC provides nearly anything you could ask for in a high end video card. Better still this performance does not come at the expense of increased noise as its custom 3 fan cooler works and works well. For many consumers the video card will not be overly obtrusive even during extended gaming sessions and most case fans will be noiser. There simply is no where we could dock this card a point and is as close to perfect as you will see this side of Valhalla!
Value: 19 out of 20
Considering this $550 GPU performs at nearly $700 GTX 780Ti level in ‘out of the box’ mode and can actually outperform those selfsame Ti cards with just a bit of effort, the value of this card is hard to beat. Of course it still is a $550 card so we have to deduct a point of its value for that.
Final Score: 93 out of 100
