The GeForce GTX 260 has quickly become one of those confusing models. We had the card originally launch in June of 2008 and towards the end of last year word came of an updated model that would carry with it 216 shader processors over the original 192 we saw at launch. Later on we heard more rumors that the card was going to move to 55nm technology, the only problem is that across this whole process the name of the card has never changed. This is no doubt a pain since NVIDIA has also renamed a number of other cards that haven't had a single change. Today we're looking at the Leadtek WinFast GTX 260+ Extreme. While it doesn't carry the new 55nm core, it does carry more shaders. - TweakTown

Leadtek WinFast GTX 260+ Extreme SLI Style Review

Looking at the front of the box, we can see that the same box design is being used as we've seen for a while now. Across the top of the box we can see the Leadtek logo along with a couple of others. The middle of the box is taken up mainly by a picture of a robot, while to the right we have a sticker that makes mention of the card being overclocked. It also makes note that it's a 216 stream processor version. Across the bottom of the box we have the model along with a picture of it. Down the very bottom we also have some of the main features listed that are present on the card, such as DirectX 10 support and much more.

Turning the box over, we have a picture of the card along with some notes on the main features. We can see towards the bottom what's included in the box and to the right of that we can see some of the specifications on the card. The back of the box is actually quite informative and has a lot of useful information, which is good to see. With the package out of the way, it's now time to have a look at the card itself. We don't really see anything that we haven't seen before as far as the overall heatsink design goes. Leadtek has of course added its own flavor to the cooler with a sticker, which is just what every manufacturer does.

On the fan we can see the brand and the model, while the rest of the card is taken up with a sticker of a robot warrior. Looking around the card, we continue to see nothing out of the ordinary. Towards the back of the card we have two 6-pin PCI Express power connectors. Moving closer to the front of the card we have our two SLI connectors which give us the ability to run up to three of these bad boys together. Carrying the Extreme tag, it doesn't come as any surprise that the GeForce GTX 260 from Leadtek comes overclocked out of the box. The core has been moved from the stock 576MHz to a healthier 602MHz.

The GeForce GTX 260 continues to pack a lot of punch and really does compete well against the Radeon HD 4870, which for the moment is ATI's top single GPU solution. The GeForce GTX 260 is going to set you back about another $50 and we have to ask if it's worth paying the extra for. The answer to that one is simple. If you have the money, it really is worth it. For the most part we see the card run extremely well compared to the Radeon HD 4870 and continuously offers a nice boost in performance. What about the Leadtek version, is it Extreme? Well, for the most part it's pretty impressive and can easy withstand the competition.

The out of the box clocks are nice and the bundle that Leadtek has put together is pretty impressive as well. Slap two of the cards together and you really have a system that's going to fly along. The GeForce GTX 260 is an excellent card and the Leadtek version with its decent overclock and good bundle make it stand out from the crowd. So if you find yourself looking for a GeForce GTX 260 and want something that packs just a bit more punch than the stock clocked model, or if simply find yourself wanting a nice little bundle, keep an eye out for the Leadtek offering, a good all round GeForce GTX 260 version.