GTX 680, Switched from SLI 670's

[DannyDigital]

Hey whats up guys? I'm brand new to this forum, and I just wanna say hey and update you on what I've done with my custom gaming build. I recently built my first custom PC switching over from an xbox 360...I'll spare you the long list of parts except the GPU/'s. My build is based off of a Intel 3770k and I originally had 2 GTX 670's (msi OC'd), but I was at my local electronics store and for some odd reason there was 1 PNY gtx 680 in stock. I returned my 670's and bought the GTX 680. So far I am very happy and i can't wait to get a 2nd one......SLI!!!! Anyways, I wanted to see what everyone else thinks about the GTX 680/670 and what your build are and what kind of performance benchmarks are you hitting...kind of to compare and gain more knowledge about custom builds in general and what else I can expect from my GTX 680. For example, I play BF3 a lot, I have a 27" 1080p monitor, and I play with ultra settings with msaa on....I usually can get around 50-100 fps on most maps and if I was playing something like Gulf of Oman, I would get maybe around 50-65 FPS on average. So tell me your thoughts, your builds, any recommendations/tips like for settings, and just basically what kind of performance figures you're hitting. Thanks in advance guys and I look forward to joining this community. So far I've only become a member of Tom's Hardware, which is very valuable. PEace.

 

[Finners]

I don't know if it's just because I'm on my phone but that is just a wall of text lol,

I have a 680 and 2500k both oc'd by myself and I'm seeing very similar FPS result as you in BF3.

It's up to you but I would say 2 680's are overkill for single monitor gaming at 1080p but who can really argue with more performance!

 

[Bo$$]

I don't think it is worth the extra, but since there is nothing else you can get. I say get it!
maybe look at a larger screen?

 

[phanbuey]

wait... let me get this straight... you traded your 2 670's in SLI for 680?

WHy? the 670's in SLI are powerful as hell. Plus PNY sucks... confused as to the process there. they are actually not much slower than 2 680's in sli.... I hate to say it man, but you just wasted a bunch of money.

Anyways, it will be a killer setup, whatever you go with.

 

[Bo$$]

wait... let me get this straight... you traded your 2 670's in SLI for 680?

WHy? the 670's in SLI are powerful as hell. Plus PNY sucks... confused as to the process there. they are actually not much slower than 2 680's in sli.... I hate to say it man, but you just wasted a bunch of money.

Anyways, it will be a killer setup, whatever you go with.

i don't think he spent the same amount!!!

 

[DannyDigital]

well i got the gtx 680 because it was in stock and there impossible to get. Yes, i do know the SLI 670's were amazing, but I eventually want to do triple monitor gaming and i think the gtx 680 would be better in the long run. PNY wasnt my first choice, but it was the only one in stock and Ive heard decent things about them. There not terrible by any means and the build quality is solid id say. Thanks for the responses guys, anyone else have anything to contribute?

 

[DannyDigital]

Oh and by the way i guess the 2nd reason why i got the single 680 was that all though my 2 670's were great, in SLI one of them was about 70 mhz slower than the other, via MSI afterburner. EXP- t would show gpu 1 at 1210 and gpu 2 at 1150. It wasnt the dx11 setting in the control panel because i switched them, and i pulled both of them out and switched the pci-e slots. Thats how i found out that one of them was slower than the other, which i heard isnt that bad but i swear im never satisfied with anything. lol peace

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Who in their right of mind would ditch a 670 sli setup for a single 680?

Just clock the 2nd card higher to compensate for it.

 

[Shou Miko]

indeed i nur would change GTX670 SLi for a single GTX 680 only thing i could do was if u don't got 4gigs version in SLi i would get that.

sometimes i still think about getting a GTX 670 4gb or a GTX 680 4gb instead of my 2gb.

 

[phanbuey]

indeed i nur would change GTX670 SLi for a single GTX 680 only thing i could do was if u don't got 4gigs version in SLi i would get that.

sometimes i still think about getting a GTX 670 4gb or a GTX 680 4gb instead of my 2gb.

atta boy! voice of reason!

 

[erocker]

sometimes i still think about getting a GTX 670 4gb or a GTX 680 4gb instead of my 2gb

So you think about switching your card to get less performance due to higher latencies on the Vram? Unless you want to use multi monitor or something.

 

[mypg0306]

Setup 3D surround would be 'valuable' if you get GTX680 in SLI.

 

[Shou Miko]

So you think about switching your card to get less performance due to higher latencies on the Vram? Unless you want to use multi monitor or something.

depending on ur games and resolution. u can't only just tweak and optimize games to use max 2gb of vram u think that would be possible for a long time?

well i wanna see how all the newer games come out bcs even they say now that 2gb vram is enough for now and they say it should be, there r still games even in full-hd that use more sometimes and with addon's and so on mere wouldn't it just need extra vram for that?

 

[MxPhenom 216]

depending on ur games and resolution. u can't only just tweak and optimize games to use max 2gb of vram u think that would be possible for a long time?

well i wanna see how all the newer games come out bcs even they say now that 2gb vram is enough for now and they say it should be, there r still games even in full-hd that use more sometimes and with addon's and so on mere wouldn't it just need extra vram for that?

you use a 1080p monitor. you dont need 4gb of vram lol.

 

[Shou Miko]

you use a 1080p monitor. you dont need 4gb of vram lol.

for how long? EA is gonna be forcing ppl to use 64bit so they can make games using more vram so with time why shouldn't they use over 2gb?

even i hope not in 1 or 2 years but still it will happen sooner than later.

 

[erocker]

for how long? EA is gonna be forcing ppl to use 64bit so they can make games using more vram so with time why shouldn't they use over 2gb?

even i hope not in 1 or 2 years but still it will happen sooner than later.

By that time, there will be newer cards. I know it's tough and you have that itch to buy new hardware but you have the best card one can get.

 

[Zubasa]

Exactly, by the time games requires that much more vram, the current gen cards with be running low on GPU power anyways.

 

[silapakorn]

I tried to max out Max Payne 3 and my VRAM was completely depleted at 4xmsaa (1080p on gtx670). Now I have to run on FXAA just to get a smooth 80+ fps.

If you ask me, 2GB of vram is NOT quite future proof.

 

[Phusius]

I tried to max out Max Payne 3 and my VRAM was completely depleted at 4xmsaa (1080p on gtx670). Now I have to run on FXAA just to get a smooth 80+ fps.

If you ask me, 2GB of vram is NOT quite future proof.

Just because 2-3 games go over 2 GB does not mean that will become the standard, quite the contrary, most game companies know majority of people are still on 1 GB vram cards, and will thus be limited by how advanced they can go, 2 GB is becoming more normal though, so a 1200-1500 mb of vram usage I actually expect to become the norm, I think it has already really.