What brand of Gtx 670?

[Walrus]

I am debating between which brand of gtx 670 to purchase. I am between EVGA, MSI, and Gigabyte.
-I am aware of EVGA's lifetime warranty, but have heard about their cards (670's) artifacting/crashing.
-MSI I am not too familiar with, but is currenty rated 5/5 on Newegg with a 3 year warrenty.
-Gigabyte is currently rated 4/5 and have never used their GPU's.

What brand would you advice me to get, and any info on the 670's current condition?

Thanks,

Walrus

 

[MasterInvader]

Go with the Asus DirectCU card´s.

 

[Delta6326]

Asus DC2 Top when it comes out it will be the best. Check W1zz review.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

What they said. ^

Here's the link to said review by Wizz.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/

One badass card.

 

[Protagonist]

Buy Point Of View, you could also wait for the Point Of View TGT Tuned Edition

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Buy Point Of View, you could also wait for the Point Of View TGT Tuned Edition

Keep in mind if it is the same as the 680, then the TGT will be a triple slot card and the ASUS is only dual slot. A big deal for some, like me, with limited space, especially for multi-card setups.

 

[Slizzo]

I would say go for whichever one has a warranty that you like, and has a reputation for good customer service.

EVGA comes to mind.

Otherwise they're all the same if they're reference design cards as they all come from the same place. If they have an aftermarket cooler obviously that would figure into your decision if that makes a difference for you.

 

[helloWorld]

I got the Gigabyte Windforce version of the GTX 670, and it is a great card. I have reached a max stable oc, using the stock voltage, of 1.3 GHz core on this card. The great thing about the revised windforce cooling is, I hardly even hear the fans. I know people throw out the general "this card is silent," but you have to believe me, the card is near silent, even on load. The temps do not go above 60 C playing BF3 online maxed out at 2560x1440, and the card is silent. Keep in mind, the ambient room temperature is around 26 C.

 

[Mals]

I have my first Gigabyte card ever, same Windforce version. It comes stock OC'd, has a tri-fan setup, and it really is, like helloWorld said, completely silent. If it manages to hit 70C it becomes barely audible, but it is by far the quietest video card I have ever had. The ASUS that was mentioned I am sure will be equal with this if not slightly better, but the Gigabyte is also $399 instead of the extra $20 or $40 or w/e the Asus is. Just my 2 cents based on user experience so far.

 

[Nordic]

I just read a german review of the windforce 670. They showed it to run about 20 degrees C cooler, but also ran about 3db louder at load. I believe this was at stock. Google translate was being silly but the graphs I could read.

 

[helloWorld]

Trust me, the windforce is silent.

 

[Mals]

I will second that... it is by FAR the quietest video card I have ever had. Even at 70C, which it hits while stress testing OC'd, the card is quieter than my case fans. I am thoroughly impressed. my old 280 GTX sounded like a wind tunnel on load and a car on the highway at idle.

 

[Nordic]

Trust me, the windforce is silent.

I don't mean to thread jack... but... hopefully my questions will help the OP.
I am interested in the wind force cooler in general and since I have some windforce owners here... Why not ask. My twinfrozr III just isn't what it seemed to be. People say it is silent also but I beg to differ. I also like mid sized cases so I assume that assume that my card is louder because it doesn't have the airflow of a larger case. I have great airflow with fans in my case too. My card doesn't go past 60C but is audible then. I want a near silent (25db) card with at least average cooling.
So do you have a mid or full tower?

Pictures show the windforce heatsink to look like the artic coolings 3 fan cooler, but the windforce is dual slot with smaller fans. So it to me seems to have a good heat sink, and 3 fans are better than 2.
The windforce housing is plastic right? How durable does it feel? Whats the over all build quality?

Fans are usually the first thing to go on a card.
What are your thoughts on having 3 possible fans that could go out?

To the OP. I have been checking out other brands besides MSI as that is what I have now. I have strongly been considering EVGA or ASUS because they get top binned chips, evga's lifetime warrenty/customer service, and asus because the recent ASUS 670 top review. I have also been looking at saphire but their are amd exclusive so they don't apply to you. I do know evga is nvidea exclusive.

 

[Mals]

So.. the windforce might not be the most silent thing ever. It still makes some noise. Just so much less than any card I am used to. The plastic cover (yes it is plastic) is thin.. but seems resilient. It flexes easily but doesn't seem cheap. I am perfectly ok with the fans, I don't think they are inexpensive. What I would do is check threads on the GTX 570's gigabyte made and see how the fans are holding up as I think it is similar.

I am honestly really impressed with the card, I think the heatsink/fan is better than I expected and it really stays much quieter than my case fans until it hits 70C+

 

[nleksan]

Is there by chance a list somewhere of which are reference PCB and which are custom? I would imagine that it would be of some benefit to those of us wanting to stick the 670 under water with a full-coverage block, as it is my understanding that the 680 blocks fit full length 670s...?

 

[Mals]

Is there by chance a list somewhere of which are reference PCB and which are custom? I would imagine that it would be of some benefit to those of us wanting to stick the 670 under water with a full-coverage block, as it is my understanding that the 680 blocks fit full length 670s...?

Honestly if you just go to newegg and look at the reference coolers you can see which ones are reference. Anything with multi-fan, different pipes than the normal one-at-the-end Nvidia are non-reference.

 

[helloWorld]

Is there by chance a list somewhere of which are reference PCB and which are custom? I would imagine that it would be of some benefit to those of us wanting to stick the 670 under water with a full-coverage block, as it is my understanding that the 680 blocks fit full length 670s...?

At least the Gigabyte Windforce GTX 670 will use ANY waterblock designed to full-cover the reference 680 PCB. I made a thread about it a while back. Using this link, you can fill out which gpu you have, and EK will tell you whether or not you can use reference PCB full-cover waterblocks. The gigabyte windforce gtx 670 will use the reference gtx 680 full-cover block.

 

[Conti027]

Evga also has a 4GB ver. I don't see it on newegg though.

 

[timma]

Gigabyte windforce 3x OC edition.

 

[nleksan]

Thanks, HelloWorld! Very good to know about the Gbyte version. I am really looking forward to a 4GB 670 for the potential future benefits in a 2-4 GPU SLI situation due to the cards only being able to use the memory from one card. I have a feeling that this would be a benefit once there are say 3 cards in a system and 3+ displays (I would do just about anything for 6 27-30" I-IPS 2560x1440p or better yet, 6 30" OLED 4K screens... Powered by quad-SLI..).
I realize that such a setup is not realistic for many, including myself, at least not in one big purchase. However, over a period of time it is very feasible. I intend to purchase a second, third, and maybe fourth video card as I go along and can afford them. So, say 3 cards over 14-18mo, so by the end they will certainly have been surpassed in speed, but the value will be there.
In such a case, I really think that a 4GB 670 will offer a longer life and provide a more varied path to upgrading displays.
I just hope that they offer as strong of memory overclocks as the "regular" version, although a, say, 512bit memory bus for a line of 4GB cards direct from nVidia would be awesomeness.

 

[Nordic]

Thanks, HelloWorld! Very good to know about the Gbyte version. I am really looking forward to a 4GB 670 for the potential future benefits in a 2-4 GPU SLI situation due to the cards only being able to use the memory from one card. I have a feeling that this would be a benefit once there are say 3 cards in a system and 3+ displays (I would do just about anything for 6 27-30" I-IPS 2560x1440p or better yet, 6 30" OLED 4K screens... Powered by quad-SLI..).
I realize that such a setup is not realistic for many, including myself, at least not in one big purchase. However, over a period of time it is very feasible. I intend to purchase a second, third, and maybe fourth video card as I go along and can afford them. So, say 3 cards over 14-18mo, so by the end they will certainly have been surpassed in speed, but the value will be there.
In such a case, I really think that a 4GB 670 will offer a longer life and provide a more varied path to upgrading displays.
I just hope that they offer as strong of memory overclocks as the "regular" version, although a, say, 512bit memory bus for a line of 4GB cards direct from nVidia would be awesomeness.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162310
Have you heard of the korean $325ish 27 inch 2560X1440 displays.

 

[atlblackops]

EVGA. The drama with the SC versions scared me off, so I ordered their stock version. These cards kill in SLI.

Even with the major QA slip on EVGA, I'm still a fan. Several friends reported to me how they crossshipped free upgrades to the FTA versions, no questions asked, no drama.

EVGA.

 

[Mals]

I wont' disagree with him about EVGA, they are a good company. If you plan on water cooling, buy a reference. If you want something that runs amazingly quiet and cool, I gotta suggest either the ASUS or the Gigabyte.

 

[atlblackops]

I wont' disagree with him about EVGA, they are a good company. If you plan on water cooling, buy a reference. If you want something that runs amazingly quiet and cool, I gotta suggest either the ASUS or the Gigabyte.

I can't even get my 670s fans to whine. They are quiet, even in apps/games like BF3, Heaven, 3dmark, etc...

 

[Mals]

That is awesome, maybe the reference coolers are starting to be less obnoxious. My old 280 was a jet engine.