nVidia's GeForce GTX 680 Reviewed

[Arthur]

Looking like a Green Generation this time round, isn't it?

Depends on if nVidia can sort out their supply issues. I'm still waiting for my 680.

[caffrey]

By all accounts i'd bin that order and get a 670, from all the reviews the 670 is just slighty behind and in some cases so similar at about 100 quid less than a 680.

670 in my hands, roll on home time so I can install it!

[apeo]

Just having a look on ebuyer at the 670s, anyone know whats different in each one?

[sonofsanta]

Just having a look on ebuyer at the 670s, anyone know whats different in each one?

 

Won't be much different between them - all the launch cards are semi-custom not full custom i.e. they're the same PCB, just different shroud/fan. Warranty will probably be the biggest differentiator, but there doesn't seem to be any info on eBuyer about that so might have to look around.

 

Not worth getting any that are promising to be overclocked either because of the way the GPU Boost works now with nVidia - see the Anandtech review I linked above.

[caffrey]

I was a bit jammy with my 670, sad old me was F5ing the site until they went live, cheapest one they had was the EVGA 670 SC at £312 so added it to basket and order went through - 10 mins later the price jumped to 353

[Arthur]

By all accounts I'd bin that order and get a 670

I'm seriously tempted. The only thing putting me off are reviews that say the fan is a bit noisier compared to the 680. What's yours like?

 

However, the less complex cooler was a little noisier than that of the GTX 680 2GB, although it still remained fairly un-intrusive throughout our testing. (Source)

 

...the GTX 670's cooler sounds cheap. That's why the 670 is relatively noisy at idle, even though it has very little power—and thus heat—to dissipate. The GTX 670's blower emits a rough, friction-filled whine. It's not especially loud, and heck, the thing manages not to register too high on decibel meter under load. Tucked inside of a case that insulates sound well, you might barely notice it. Still, this thing isn't Nvidia's best work. I'd be looking toward a card with an aftermarket cooler, most likely. (Source)

 

Asus' GTX 670 Direct CU II (and Direct CU II TOP) cards look much better in terms of noise, but are very expensive. I think I might just go with an EVGA GTX 670.

 

http://i.imgur.com/2hUhY.gif

 

http://i.imgur.com/q9baH.gif

[Arthur]

they're the same PCB, just different shroud/fan.

Asus' are slightly different.

 

ASUS has done away with NVIDIA's cheap voltage regulation circuitry and put a much better CHiL controller on the card, which also supports voltage control and monitoring. (Source)

 

Warranty will probably be the biggest differentiator

For a small fee, you can upgrade the standard 3 year warranty on EVGA's cards to 5 or 10 years as long as you register the card within the first 30 days after purchase. Another benefit is that the warranty is transferable should you decide to sell the card to someone else in the future. I don't think other manufacturers offer this?

[caffrey]

I barely hear it, but then again sound is subjective, one mans quiet is another mans loud but I'm happy with the noise and i'm usually fussy (I normally like passive machines if I can), also doesn't help that I have a projector whining above my head It's also tonnes quieter than the xbox360

I've never really had a gpu like this before so I can't compare - built this pc primarily for gaming (mainly skyrim and mods) and it's doing the job

Edited May 12, 2012 by caffrey

[apeo]

I was a bit jammy with my 670, sad old me was F5ing the site until they went live, cheapest one they had was the EVGA 670 SC at £312 so added it to basket and order went through - 10 mins later the price jumped to 353

 

Think i might just wait for a bit to see if prices gets better.

[Arthur]

This isn't good. The "new" GeForce GT 610, 620 & 630 cards are just rebranded Fermi cards from early last year.

 

http://i.imgur.com/EM3BU.png

 

Source: Anandtech

[sonofsanta]

This isn't good. The "new" GeForce GT 610, 620 & 630 cards are just rebranded Fermi cards from early last year.

 

Source: Anandtech

 

Doesn't surprise me these days I'm more surprised when a low end part is a new part than when it's rebadged. Especially if it uses Shiny New Architecture - really didn't expect the AMD 7700s to be on GCN this time round, for example.

 

What's worse, though, is that "the OEM GT 620 and GT 630 are based off of different chips and specs entirely" which is just straight up FUD - like the shenanigans with the 560/560Ti/560 448 last time round. Just call them 555/560/565! I seem to recall there being two (rather different) mobile chips with the same name in the 500s as well. Resorting to deception and confusion to sell your products is not a good sign.