High end GTX 670 or basic GTX 680?

[Silverhand7]

Trying to decide whether it would be a better idea to get EVGA's Superclocked GTX 670 4GB, or just a stock GTX 680. The 670 has more memory and a backplate, while the 680 would have slightly higher clock speeds and overclocking potential. I'm running a single 1080p monitor, so the 4GB of memory wouldn't go to much use unless I'm running something with really high textures, but I don't know that it's worth putting out the bit of extra money for a 680. Anyone have an opinion on this?

[tony727]

I'd go for the GTX 670, if you need the higher clock speeds and more power go with the 680.

I'm a person whose into aesthetics and cost savings, which is why i chose the 670. =]

[Baxterz]

I would probably go for the 680 if your not doing any 3D gaming or anything. May as well get some higher overclocks instead of extra VRAM you might not even use.

[mvitkun]

the gtx 680 is a better graphics card,it costs more because it has to be binned higher,thus making it a higher quality product,even if it's the low end version of the 680.

whereas the 670 is a lower binned 680.it has to have some non-working,improperly working smx units disabled ,thus making it a lower quality gpu in general.and a graphics card is centered around the gpu,sure it has ram chips,vrms,pcb,etc but if the gpu itself is a a version of the gtx 680 that had too many defects to run with certain SMX units enabled,and became a gtx 670 to cover the cost of it's production then the quality of the rest of the components matters much less.

unless I'm mistaken.

and what people forget when they say "I can overclock ___ to near ___ speeds" is that your matching it's stock speeds,not it's overclock speeds.and if your assuming you can overclock one card,why assume the other can't,unless it's 100% locked and unoverclockable to any degree.

[Kilmer02]

Save some money and get a good 670 and oc that to near 680 levels!

[Dim]

Because you're only using a single 1080p monitor, the GTX 680 is better in this comparison.

However, the superclocked 670 can overclock higher. It is a tough choice, for me if the 680 was more than $50 more expensive, I wouldn't get it. Less than $50 more expensive, I would. It's all about the cost, to be honest. Value for money is what matters.

[Helltech]

Save some money and get a good 670 and oc that to near 680 levels!

My thoughts exactly.

[Puppet]

Yeah the 670/80 is a tough choice, they are very similar. The 670 will probably get you more for your money, but the 680 definitely has more overclocking potential.

I wouldn't necessarily say that the superclocked versions overclock any better, all depends on the chip. For example my last card was an EVGA 570 HD DS stock and managed to get 980Mhz out of it, when comparing it to results of people with superclocked and FTW versions mine generally came out on top with most people losing stability around the 950 mark. Its always a gamble, but with a factory overclocked card you are guaranteed that little bit extra from the start. Thats what your paying for, not potential!

Either way I would go for a 2GB version on a single monitor, unless you do a lot of GPU accelerated rendering

[Sauber-C10]

Basic 680 and just overclock it, thats all the OEM's do anyways and put on a custom cooler to make it "high end" get a reference 680 and a cooler and overclock it

[Opsilon]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/1.html

if this does not help make up your mind and if you can get a good price, go with a 680...

oh not do not listen to ppl that say reference cards overclock good ( rofl ). if you live in a country where temps never go over 30°C you will be fine, but if you are like me and live on the sun with summer temps going over 40°C you will have a nice dead card, my friend has an older radeon HD 5850 reference cooler, and if he is not careful in summer time his card goes over 95°C, and trust me you do not want to have that heat in your case... if you live in the Antarctica dude buy a reference 680 and overclock the life out of it XD

don't mean to be rude, just joking a bit... but just remember you have to take into account where you live, hot deals with retailers, and what case cooling you have, then you can decide, hope this helps!!

[mvitkun]

[url]http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/1.html if this does not help make up your mind and if you can get a good price' date=' go with a 680... oh not do not listen to ppl that say reference cards overclock good ( rofl ). if you live in a country where temps never go over 30°C you will be fine, but if you are like me and live on the sun with summer temps going over 40°C you will have a nice dead card, my friend has an older radeon HD 5850 reference cooler, and if he is not careful in summer time his card goes over 95°C, and trust me you do not want to have that heat in your case... if you live in the Antarctica dude buy a reference 680 and overclock the life out of it XD don't mean to be rude, just joking a bit... but just remember you have to take into account where you live, hot deals with retailers, and what case cooling you have, then you can decide, hope this helps!! [/size']

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...t_Cu_II/6.html

you forget though that the gtx 680 you can overclock too.

that model of the gtx 670 is overclocked by 115mhz on the core clock,now consider applying that same overclock to the gtx 680,it would get that same boost that the gtx 670 did.

as seen above the gtx 680 gets a 50mhz boost vs the gtx 670's that you showed that got a 100mhz boost.but both got a 10fps lead on their stock counterparts.this is due to the fact that while both have their cores running at 1058mhz,the gtx 680 has more cores to run at that frequency.so instead of needing to increase by 100mhz to get that 10fps lead you only need to increase by 50mhz.

now as to overclocking on the DCUII,it's already almost topped out.

http://www.kitguru.net/components/gr...-review-oc/20/

according to them their max OC on it was 1115mhz core clock,which is 50mhz so it would give you maybe 5more fps on the gtx 670.

or for the same price as the DCUII top you could get this low end gtx 680

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500238

and at minimum at atleast another 50-100mhz on it.

[Opsilon]

@mvitkun

dude did you even read what i said in my post... Temps, Temps

stock cards get hot if OC-ed like really hot, ofc 680 is a stronger card, but if you can't get it with an aftermarket cooler, you will have high temps, the zotac you linked is a reference cooler design.

and i said it depends on where you live and what are ambient temps you live in... my room gets to 45°C in June and July, August is more like 35, and what is the point of a reference card that runs at 78°C at stock speeds and on load, with oc it will run at least 5 °C more...

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_680_review,10.html

your link is for 680 DCII, and that is a non reference card, and the OP asked a high end 670 vs a basic 680

another thing i said is deals from retailers, the only way a 680 is viable if you can get a non-reference card at the same price as a reference one, and if you look around, you may just find that

Something like this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125442, much better than that zotac you linked, more thermal headroom, and if you look at it from the price aspect you get a free 3 fan cooler, more better as Linus would say

If you can get this gigabyte model go for it...

i would go for an MSI one just because they have a 3 year warranty, that is if you can find one...

[criso8]

Get a 670 and overclock like crazy, but not too too crazy

[thegamezbeplayed]

If you know how to overclock get a stock 670, or 680 not sure about the prices of those in your region

[MegaDave91]

@mvitkun dude did you even read what i said in my post... Temps' date=' Temps stock cards get hot if OC-ed like really hot, ofc 680 is a stronger card, but if you can't get it with an aftermarket cooler, you will have high temps, the zotac you linked is a reference cooler design. and i said it depends on where you live and what are ambient temps you live in... my room gets to 45°C in June and July, August is more like 35, and what is the point of a reference card that runs at 78°C at stock speeds and on load, with oc it will run at least 5 °C more... http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages...review,10.html your link is for 680 DCII, and that is a non reference card, and the OP asked a high end 670 vs a basic 680 another thing i said is deals from retailers, the only way a 680 is viable if you can get a non-reference card at the same price as a reference one, and if you look around, you may just find that Something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125442, much better than that zotac you linked, more thermal headroom, and if you look at it from the price aspect you get a free 3 fan cooler, more better as Linus would say If you can get this gigabyte model go for it... i would go for an MSI one just because they have a 3 year warranty, that is if you can find one...

I can make my 680 stay around 60C OCd with my fan curve. If you leave the fan on auto, then yes it will get pretty hot. I have a blower type card too.

[Jypp_]

If you were running multiple monitors, the 670 would be the choice, but in your situation I think the 680 would give you the most performance.

[R4STABAN]

Don't waste money on a 4gb model from EVGA unless you will actually use the 4gb. You won't with one card unless you are loading an absolute crapton of texture mods into skyrim or similar.

Isn't that model a stock 670 cooler? they're abysmal.

I would go for a 670 with a decent cooler, e.g dcuii, windforce, tf3/4

[Noligion]

Get a basic 680, and overclock it or you could get a 7970, they're going for 370 right now.

[R4STABAN]

If the choice is between a good custom 670 and a reference 680 then I think it's pretty obvious you should get the 670. The difference between the 670 and the 680 is not as big as the difference between the 570 and the 580. They couldn't afford to lower the memory bus this gen because it was small already.