NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Kepler 2 GB

[Melvis]

Looks like a pretty goood card thats for sure, well done nvidia and cheaper now that is a shocker.

7970 results are still based on older drivers i guess? as we all know a 7870 will beat a 7970 in crysis 2 with newer drivers :S So my guess once AMD drivers are all worked out for the 7970 the performance difference will be about the same. (3% maybe)

Power consumption is about the same realy but the 7970 is a cooler running card, still a bit hot there kepler.

Overall good card

 

[W1zzard]

Regarding the OCing, i guess with how it is on this card the better your cooler is the better your OC (avg) will be

yes, look at the temperature testing section of the dynamic oc page. lower temp = higher clock (with certain limits)

 

[MxPhenom 216]

From Hardware Canucks

We could prattle on and on extolling the GTX 680’s virtues but here’s what really matters: NVIDIA’s newest flagship card is superior to the HD 7970 in almost every way. Whether it is performance, power consumption, noise, features, price or launch day availability, it currently owns the road and won’t be looking over its shoulder for some time to come.

 

[m1dg3t]

yes, look at the temperature testing section of the dynamic oc page. lower temp = higher clock (with certain limits)

Thank's for clearing that up. That's why i had that thought but my understanding/knowledge is limited. I did look over all aspect's of the review but sometime's i just need to be told what i already know lol

So for best result's using "DOC" (Dynamic OC) overall temp control is imperative, minimum ^T for best result's

 

[alexsubri]

Its nice to see how it competes with the 7970, yet the AMD Radeon HD 7970 Overclocked to 1.70 GHz Core, 8.00 GHz Memory still beats the 680

 

[N3M3515]

Take a good look at this:

GTX480 at launch $499
GTX580 at launch $499 25% inc in price/perf
GTX680 at launch $499 35% inc in price/perf

HD6970 at launch $369
HD7970 at launch $550 0% inc in price/perf

Way to go NVIDIA!

 

[m1dg3t]

From Hardware Canucks

They talk as if it is leap's and bound's better

It is only slightly better, 7970 is nipping at it's heel's. Look at the whole package not just one thing, when you do that the 2 are so damn close! The Nvidia IS the faster, more efficient GPU overall though

 

[MxPhenom 216]

They talk as if it is leap's and bound's better

It is only slightly better, 7970 is nipping at it's heel's. Look at the whole package not just one thing, when you do that the 2 are so damn close! The Nvidia IS the faster, more efficient GPU overall though

yeah I KNOW. Even if the performance isnt that much better the price, efficiency, and low noise make up for it.

 

[m1dg3t]

yeah I KNOW. Even if the performance isnt that much better the price, efficiency, and low noise make up for it.

Even then the difference's are NOT all that much, that is/was my point

Well except for the current pricing, there is a ~$75++ (ATi costing more ATM) between the 2 in my area

 

[Am*]

Introduced first with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 580, the power limiter is in full force again on the GTX 680. It can not be disabled according to NVIDIA and board partners must use it.

I stopped reading here. Another throttling POS that will have bugged driver support for eternity...no thanks. I learned my lesson with the Thermi.

I don't give a crap how much faster it is on paper, if they can't get power consumption right without referring to hardware power throttling, it is another fail of an attempt at getting a one-up on the competition with skewed results. Give us a non-throttled 680 or GTFO.

 

[EarthDog]

You should read in to it a bit more Am*... the lack of knowledge on the subject precedes your post.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I stopped reading here. Another throttling POS that will have bugged driver support for eternity...no thanks. I learned my lesson with the Thermi.

I don't give a crap how much faster it is on paper, if they can't get power consumption right without referring to hardware power throttling, it is another fail of an attempt at getting a one-up on the competition with skewed results. Give us a non-throttled 680 or GTFO.

You do realize that all high end cards have some sort of power throttling function right?

 

[Mindweaver]

They talk as if it is leap's and bound's better

It is only slightly better, 7970 is nipping at it's heel's. Look at the whole package not just one thing, when you do that the 2 are so damn close! The Nvidia IS the faster, more efficient GPU overall though

Yea, they are looking at stock.. 7970 stock clock is 925mhz and the 680 is 1006mhz.. ATI could have bump there stock clocks up a bit. Hell my buddy has his at 1200mhz with room left to go... I'd like to see clock for clock and then push them as far as they can go and show there results..

 

[Delta6326]

I'd like to see clock for clock and then push them as far as they can go and show there results..

Thats the thing though with DOC you cant stay at just 1006Mhz it will auto oc it.

 

[DarkOCean]

Thats the thing though with DOC you cant stay at just 1006Mhz it will auto oc it.

Exactly.

Have to wonder how 7970 would fare against 680 but with 256bits and higher clocks on mem and gpu .

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Yea, they are looking at stock.. 7970 stock clock is 925mhz and the 680 is 1006mhz.. ATI could have bump there stock clocks up a bit. Hell my buddy has his at 1200mhz with room left to go... I'd like to see clock for clock and then push them as far as they can go and show there results..

then thats AMD fault right? Not using their overclock headroom to their advantage? While nvidia does and beating the 7970 in almost all aspects.

 

[N3M3515]

I personally do no give a single f*ck over who wins or who doesn't, the only thing i care about is price/performance, and thanks to this $499 GTX 680, amd will be forced to drive down the 7970 hopefully to $449 and there's a chain reaction, 7950 $350, 7870 $249, 7850 $199........excellent.

Now talking strictly about winning that is pure MARKETING, because a 6% won't be noticed by anybody........as far as any gamer can see these two cards give the same feeling, same game experience.
Obviously there are a few games that favor one brand over the other, that's like the exception that proves the rule.

Finally overclocking, i think amd has the edge in that department. Maybe a factory o/c 7970 would be on par with a factory o/c gtx680, i mean 0 - 3% at the most.
They reach almost the same speeds but one has to take in to account that 7970 stock is 925 vs the 1006 of the gtx680. Thats 80Mhz, so the growth of the 7970 is bigger.

 

[DarkOCean]

I personally do no give a single f*ck over who wins or who doesn't, the only thing i care about is price/performance, and thanks to this $499 GTX 680, amd will be forced to drive down the 7970 hopefully to $449 and there's a chain reaction, 7950 $350, 7870 $249, 7850 $199........excellent.

Now talking strictly about winning that is pure MARKETING, because a 6% won't be noticed by anybody........as far as any gamer can see these two cards give the same feeling, same game experience.
Obviously there are a few games that favor one brand over the other, that's like the exception that proves the rule.

Finally overclocking, i think amd has the edge in that department. Maybe a factory o/c 7970 would be on par with a factory o/c gtx680, i mean 0 - 3% at the most.
They reach almost the same speeds but one has to take in to account that 7970 stock is 925 vs the 1006 of the gtx680. Thats 80Mhz, so the growth of the 7970 is bigger.

Can't wait for a 7870 at $249 .

 

[Benetanegia]

Nvidia could have clocked the GTX680 higher too. Same OC margin according to W1zzard's reviews on both cards and also under LN2 the GTX680 is clocking higher too. That argument is as useless as has always been. Both cards have OC headroom.

 

[Anath]

evga's are back up on newegg for sale get them while they are hot!

 

[Am*]

You do realize that all high end cards have some sort of power throttling function right?

You do realize AMD doesn't, and NEVER HAS used a driver to forcefully control power to the card while it's fully operating and loaded (unless the card is overheating), right? The reason is, because there is a massive latency problem when they're forcing a bloated x86 application (that takes milliseconds to seconds to respond) to force control of hardware when it's operating (that responds in nanoseconds). I'm just waiting for the "GTX 680 stuttering" threads to roll in...

 

[newtekie1]

I stopped reading here. Another throttling POS that will have bugged driver support for eternity...no thanks. I learned my lesson with the Thermi.

I don't give a crap how much faster it is on paper, if they can't get power consumption right without referring to hardware power throttling, it is another fail of an attempt at getting a one-up on the competition with skewed results. Give us a non-throttled 680 or GTFO.

That is a pitty, if you would have read just a little bit further you would have read that AMD does the same thing, and has been for a couple generations at least.

You do realize AMD doesn't, and NEVER HAS used a driver to forcefully control power to the card (unless the card is overheating), right? The reason is, because there is a massive latency problem when they're forcing a bloated x86 application (that takes milliseconds to seconds to respond) to force control of hardware when it's operating (that responds in nanoseconds). I'm just waiting for the "GTX 680 stuttering" threads to roll in...

Actually, yes they do, read the rest of this review, W1z talks about it. In fact their solution is entire driver based, using estimates to guess power consumption and throttle cards. They've been doing it since at least the HD6000 series.

So nVidia uses actual hardware monitors to monitor power draw and throttles based on those readings, and AMD uses software to guess power draw based on current load on the card, clock speeds, voltages, etc. and then throttles based on those calculations. I wonder which has worse latency...

And before you continue to mindlessly argue a point you obviously know nothing about, I'll point you to the review of the HD6970 where the power throttling is clearly explained to you.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Nvidia could have clocked the GTX680 higher too. Same OC margin according to W1zzard's reviews on both cards and also under LN2 the GTX680 is clocking higher too. That argument is as useless as has always been. Both cards have OC headroom.

thank you for this!!!!!

 

[Mindweaver]

Thats the thing though with DOC you cant stay at just 1006Mhz it will auto oc it.

Exactly.

Aww yea.. thanks!

then thats AMD fault right? Not using their overclock headroom to their advantage? While nvidia does and beating the 7970 in almost all aspects.

Hell yea it is!.. and I never said nvidia didn't? I own cards from both sides... I want lower prices on both sides.. I'm not a fanboi for either.. I don't have there names inside of mine... nvidia and amd have enough people blowing there horn they don't need me to as well..

 

[DarkOCean]

Any word on gtx670 ?