Graphics GTX 580 reference still worth it?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by GregTheRotter, 18 Apr 2012.

  1. GregTheRotter

    GregTheRotter Minimodder

    Joined:
    9 Aug 2008
    Posts:
    4,272
    Likes Received:
    88
    Ok, so I need a new card, money isn't THAAAT much of an issue, but I still think to myself, dude, that's £430 for that card, for an extra 20 fps. So ok, you can run things higher and at my res 2500x1400 that's probably worth it in the long run, but damn.

    £340 vs £430, also gets me the ten year warranty with the 580,which to me, is a good buy (I had my 8800GTX for five years). If I get the extended warranty for a reference EVGA GTX 680, the price goes up to £465 odd.

    Anyone here with a 580 GTX who saw the GTX 680 and though meh, I'm good for a few more years to come?
     
  2. feathers

    feathers Minimodder

    Joined:
    11 Apr 2009
    Posts:
    2,535
    Likes Received:
    59
    My Zotac 680 has 5 year warranty. That is enough for me. I'd rather pay an extra £100 and get a 680. The standard 580 has only 1.5gb vram which is not enough. The 3gb 580 is £341 so there is no way I'd get the 1.5gb version. Anything above 5 year warranty is pretty much a waste of time. In 5 years time no one is gonna want to buy your 5 year old 580 so the resale value will be poor. 5 year warranty is the max u will need and thus the only reason to go EVGA is if you think it will overclock more and having had one of their mobo's for 3 years I'm wouldn't bet money on that.
     
  3. damien c

    damien c Mad FPS Gamer

    Joined:
    31 Aug 2010
    Posts:
    2,997
    Likes Received:
    252
    You will see a jump in performance which ever card you go for either the GTX 580 or GTX 680.

    I went from a GTX 480 to a GTX 680, but I needed the 480 for another pc.

    If I didn't need the 480 for another pc I would of simply just got a 2nd 480 instead of a 680, but to be honest now I wouldn't even consider it and would just go straight for a 680.

    The 580's really are not much lower in terms of performance compared to the 680's, so it really does depend if you want to save the £100 or so to put towards something else.
     
  4. feathers

    feathers Minimodder

    Joined:
    11 Apr 2009
    Posts:
    2,535
    Likes Received:
    59
    47 fps (580) v 64 (fps) minimum 680 is quite a good leap in FPS. May not sound like much but can make a big difference especially on a demanding 64 player server.

    Then again the overclocking on the 680 is better than previous gen. +175mhz core +500vram or more is easy on the 680 even with air cooling. The bump in FPS you get from that overclock is quite significant.

    http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/03/22/nvidia-geforce-gtx-680-2gb-review/9

    If you do go for the 580, at least get the 3gb version.
     
  5. jakobfrimmel

    jakobfrimmel What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    2 Jan 2011
    Posts:
    317
    Likes Received:
    5
    Well if you snoop around for long enough you should be able to find a gtx 580 for cheap.. but I would say go for the 3gb version!! and you may want to SLI them now while their still on the market... so youd easily be set for a while!!

    but the GTX 680 and also the Hd 7970 are great cards if your out there for a good card :)
     
  6. GregTheRotter

    GregTheRotter Minimodder

    Joined:
    9 Aug 2008
    Posts:
    4,272
    Likes Received:
    88
    The Zotac 3gb 580 looks like a good deal tbh. £310.
     
  7. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

    Joined:
    15 Aug 2007
    Posts:
    11,364
    Likes Received:
    454
    meh here.

    i think 580 will be good until a year after the next gen console release. but to be honest, 680 won't be good for much longer either. IMO it feels like 8800GTX vs 9800GTX situation at the moment, latter is faster GPU, but meh, it's not the true successor.

    3GB for £310 is really good deal there.
     
  8. feathers

    feathers Minimodder

    Joined:
    11 Apr 2009
    Posts:
    2,535
    Likes Received:
    59
    I won't be selling mine anytime soon and not for a 4gb version either. The 680 has achieved my objective of reducing power consumption from up to 620 watts on a DX11 game down to a max of 320w. Replacing my dual 560Ti SLI the 680 beats that setup especially when overclocked.

    I've not owned any GPU before that lets me overclock the vram by 550mhz or the core at +200mhz.

    Running at 1080 in 3d I don't need more than 2gb.

    So, I can say I don't regret ditching my SLI and going with a single 680. I did consider the 3gb 580 but the price at the time was too close to the 680 and I wanted PCIe 3.0 and extreme overclocking. Because I sold my previous GPU's the price I paid for the 680 amounted to £200.
     
  9. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

    Joined:
    22 Mar 2008
    Posts:
    4,717
    Likes Received:
    122
    I'm sticking with my 580 for the time being - my current screen for the gaming rig is 1920x1200, so the 580 does a good job and I don't feel that the VRAM is a big issue.

    The upside to the 680 is the lower power consumption and noise, and I'll admit that is very tempting. I may jump when the prices have dropped further...
     
  10. rollo

    rollo Modder

    Joined:
    16 May 2008
    Posts:
    7,887
    Likes Received:
    130
    7970 has dropped a lot in price if you wanted to go AMD route

    I'd still personally just buy a 680 which is what I did
     
  11. mrbungle

    mrbungle Undercooked chicken giver

    Joined:
    20 Sep 2004
    Posts:
    5,307
    Likes Received:
    165
    look for a 2nd hand 580GTX they are quite the bargain at the mo :)
     
  12. GregTheRotter

    GregTheRotter Minimodder

    Joined:
    9 Aug 2008
    Posts:
    4,272
    Likes Received:
    88
    I don't do used, purely because I want a card that will serve me for a good five years, as my 8800GTX did before hence I need the warranty, whether it's a zotac card (which nobody seems to have any info on regarding their rma's) or evga, which I'd end up paying £450 for one graphics card.
     
  13. Jasio

    Jasio Made in Canada

    Joined:
    27 Jun 2008
    Posts:
    810
    Likes Received:
    13
    ^ Ignoring the UK price (Although I live here, I buy my hardware when I go back home to visit family for the Summer) - I think the 3GB variant of the 580 is still a very good option in comparison to the 2GB 680GTX - at its price point I don't feel conformable with only 2GB of VRAM.
     
  14. mrbungle

    mrbungle Undercooked chicken giver

    Joined:
    20 Sep 2004
    Posts:
    5,307
    Likes Received:
    165
    If you are wanting a card that will last 5 years then you really have no choice but to buy the best .
     
  15. feathers

    feathers Minimodder

    Joined:
    11 Apr 2009
    Posts:
    2,535
    Likes Received:
    59
    I don't know about RMA with Zotac but the 5 year warranty swayed me. EVGA were out of stock at the time and most of the other 680's had 2 or 3 year warranty.
     
  16. Sheiken

    Sheiken Wat?

    Joined:
    9 Jan 2005
    Posts:
    1,124
    Likes Received:
    18
    Well, if it was me that needed to upgrade right now, I'd go for a used 580. No question about that. But seeing as buying used is out of the question, and you prefer to keep your cards for quite a while, then I'd buy the newest and the best that is on offer. So go for the GTX 680, but wait a month or two for supply to catch up and the prices to even out :)
     
  17. Spanky

    Spanky Minimodder

    Joined:
    14 Apr 2010
    Posts:
    788
    Likes Received:
    100
  18. GregTheRotter

    GregTheRotter Minimodder

    Joined:
    9 Aug 2008
    Posts:
    4,272
    Likes Received:
    88
    While that is an awesome price, if there was one manufacturer who did at least a 5 year warranty with that card, and shipped to greece, I'd be sold :(
     
  19. feathers

    feathers Minimodder

    Joined:
    11 Apr 2009
    Posts:
    2,535
    Likes Received:
    59
    Is there a manufacturer who has extended to 3 years on AMD GPU's?

    I thought they only went as far as 12 months and that's if you register within 30 minutes of purchase.
     
  20. thetrashcanman

    thetrashcanman Angel headed hipsters

    Joined:
    18 Nov 2010
    Posts:
    2,716
    Likes Received:
    76
    your really not a fan of AMD are you feathers?

    as for the op, I'd say a 7970 at around £350 there a bargin if you can get your hands on one.
     

Share This Page