Hardware Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 2GB Review

Damn you Baz. Now I HAVE to upgrade!

Just need Ivy Bridge to be released and I'll be off shopping..

 

Really tempted to order one from Dabs, works out as £376 using Quidco voucher & cashback!

 

Woah there! I've owned reccomended and used cards from both companies too, and pride myself on an un-biased approach, and accusing me of being so just makes you look silly. Just as an example, here's me giving the GTX 480 an absolute kicking. When the HD 7970 3GB was reviewed, I'll admit I was perhaps a little foolish to call it overkill; after all, we always want more performance and game makers will always find a way to take advantage of faster and more powerful hardware eventually.

At the time though our content was spread over both bit-tech and Custom PC and affordability was a more pressing concern, due to the mag's slightly different, more value-conscious readership. Now we've changed our business model and broken our links to CPC (and I get to write huge monstro-reviews for bit-tech again), there's a little more room for hardware-love and less worry about reader purse strings.

Breaking down the scores

HD 7970 Performance = 37 GTX 680 performance = 38 - The 680 is faster; both are hella fast.
HD 7970 Features = 29 GTX 680 Features = 29 - The 680 is more efficient, the 7970 has better multi-monitor abilities, they both do 3D, dead heat really
HD 7970 Value = 20 GTX 680 Value = 25 7970 20% faster than 580 @ launch, £90 more. GTX 680 20% faster that 7970 at launch, they are the same price (at least at time of review).

By the number of "ordered" replies in this thread, it's clear that our readership on bit-tech genuinely do invest in these high end cards in great numbers. I really don't think there's room to argue on the result though (something you obviously agree with)!.

 

I'm with this opinion, the only way to see the GK110 in the consumer's market would be through GTX690 but that's still a long way to go. Tesla or Quadro cards are more likely to be the destination for that chip.

 

Have i missed a news article? =-O

 

I want this reviewed: http://www.nordichardware.com/news/...orce-gtx-680-to-1100-mhz-with-4gb-memory.html

 

Nice

 

Galaxy trades here in the UK under the KFA² brand, but I've been told that custom PCB and cooled partner cards are a few weeks off yet.Ditto water blocks!

 

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2012/01/06/staff-changes-at-bit-tech-and-bit-gamer/1

While we're still friends, and still owned by Dennis Publishing, no content is now shared between the two. Everything you read on bit-tech is 100% exclusive.

 

I'll look forward to seeing how the 660 performs/costs when it comes out.

 

I saw some lady exercise app on the android market the other day.. by dennis publishing

 

Ah... I've read that news article and it didn't sound the way you just phrased it. Thanks for clearing it up.

 

So... as it's now designed as a games engine is it crap for F@H/BOINC ?

dunx

P.S. Once the initial rush dies down, the smart money will move in and mop up a bargain....

 

I've reread both reviews and I still perceive it the same way. Your review of the Nvidia part seems a little warmer than the AMD part. My reception about this could be wrong but there is no disputing you seem to enjoy calling people names. Fools for buying AMD parts and silly for voicing your opinion. You could defend your position without the name calling. Maybe I'm just an Idiot for believing that.

 

Hard not to be "warmer" about the GTX 480

 

Good grief, I think you're being far too sensitive ffry. Foolish? Silly? I'm hardly mud slinging here, but I apologise if I've caused offense, it certainly wasn't my intention.

Sadly, I can't please everyone. Thanks for reading though.

 

I game at 2560x1440 (single monitor) is it worth holding out for either the new amd cards or the 4 gig variants of the GTX680?

Upgrading from a HD5970, assuming a fairly large improvement? crossfire has been nothing but trouble on my card.

 

I've got a 4GB variant of the 680 coming in soon, but I'm not sure how useful an extra 2GB of VRAM is. We test at 2,560 x 1,600 for a reason, and the GTX 680 2GB didn't have any issues with running out of frame buffer, as the result show.

 

Current games might be fine with 2GB but going by true_gamer's testing, I question how long that will be the case

 

To see any advantage, you're going to need to run 5760x1200 with games that are already pushing VRAM usage high.

Saints Row 3 on Ultra at 5760x1200 just about does it - it floats around 2GB of VRAM usage...

Battlefield 3 will probably manage it as well on Ultra... (not got it so can't comment)

Skyrim with the HD textures can push 1950MB of VRAM and occasionally goes over that for me accompanied by massive stutters, so I suspect it's paging to system RAM at that point.

Crysis with medium/high levels of AA in Surround can hit 2GB as well.

Metro 2033 in Surround is murder on VRAM.

Shogun 2 is pretty VRAM hungry in Surround also.