Before I make a mistake is this an OK choice for a GTX 670?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

poohbear

Platinum Member
Mar 11, 2003
2,284
5
81
Beware that many of the Gigabyte Windforce 3x GTX 670 and 680 have a little bug. It's in combination with Z77 motherboards and Ivybridge. PCI-E 3.0 makes them unstable. Only way to fix it is to set PCI-E 3.0 down to 2.0 in mobo bios.

I fixed this excact issue in a friends system using this method. Found the solution by searching google.

ASUS DC II does not have this bug.

is it only with your friend's setup or is it common? Is Gigabyte addressing the issue?

OP, despite this "issue", the gigabyte is recommended by alot of sites as it's cheaper than all the others usually and nips at the performance of a GTX 680! its an amazing all around card! I got mine for $385 shipped (before taxes) after some online price matching.:)
 

The_Golden_Man

Senior member
Apr 7, 2012
816
1
0
is it only with your friend's setup or is it common? Is Gigabyte addressing the issue?

I searched Google, that's where I found the solution. It seemed to be pretty common. However, only in combination with Z77 and Ivybridge.

I don't know if Gigabyte is addressing the issue.

I can only imagine how many people have RMA'd their Gigabyte GTX 670/680 Windforce 3x, not knowing of this issue. So it's impossible to say how many are affected.

I've heard this only happens when using a single card. As soon as they are installed in SLI they will work fine with the above combo and PCI-E 3.0. So it's really not a big problem (PCI-3.0 to 2.0 with a single card), as long as one know the solution.

Other than this the Windforce 3x is an excellent choice.
 
Last edited:

Kambz

Junior Member
Jul 14, 2012
10
0
0
About to buy a 670 gtx or a 680 not sure yet. Am pretty sure ill be getting a MSI card though.
 

jacktesterson

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2001
5,493
3
81
Not a 670,

But I have a DCII Asus 7970 and its near silent running 95% of the time. Awesome cooler.
 

The_Golden_Man

Senior member
Apr 7, 2012
816
1
0
MSI GTX 670 Power Edition, ASUS GTX 670 DC II TOP or Non TOP and Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 3x (If you are willing to gamble on the bug I mentioned earlier) are all great cards. And cannot go wrong with any of these.

However, some people may want the heat to be blown out the back of the case. If so, EVGA GTX 670 FTW is an excellent choice, since it's based on the GTX 680 reference PCB and cooler. GTX 670 reference cooler is just terrible when compared to 680 cooler.
 

balane

Senior member
Dec 15, 2006
666
0
76
I have some more questions. Sorry but I haven't made up my mind yet and the Asus cards are back out of stock at Newegg.

I've read a few threads on the Gigabyte model on their official forums and yes, it seems like there a decent amount of people who can't run their GTX 670 on a Z77 motherboard without frequent lockups.

The motherboard I'm using is the ASrock Z77 Pro4. I've looked the owner's manual over and there doesn't seem to be a setting that will force the video card to run at PCIe 2.0 x 16.

The only relative setting I can find states this;

Primary Graphics Adapter
This allows you to select [Onboard], [PCI] or [PCI Express] as the boot
graphic adapter priority. The default value is [PCI Express].

The motherboard also has a PCI Express 2.0 x 16 slot which, I assume, is for Crossfire installations.

My question is this, since I'm unable to force 2.0 on the primary PCI Express slot would I be able to install a problematic Gigabyte GTX 670 into the 2.0 slot, leaving the 3.0 slot empty, with no degradation in performance? Is installing my video card physically in the secondary PCI Express a slot a valid solution should I happen to encounter a video card with this issue?

I have reached no decisions thus far, I'm simply asking questions.

On a side note; to those of you PM'ing me offering to sell me your video cards I have not replied but the answer is; No thank you. I am not interesting in buying a video card from you.
 

The_Golden_Man

Senior member
Apr 7, 2012
816
1
0
I have some more questions. Sorry but I haven't made up my mind yet and the Asus cards are back out of stock at Newegg.

I've read a few threads on the Gigabyte model on their official forums and yes, it seems like there a decent amount of people who can't run their GTX 670 on a Z77 motherboard without frequent lockups.

The motherboard I'm using is the ASrock Z77 Pro4. I've looked the owner's manual over and there doesn't seem to be a setting that will force the video card to run at PCIe 2.0 x 16.

The only relative setting I can find states this;



The motherboard also has a PCI Express 2.0 x 16 slot which, I assume, is for Crossfire installations.

My question is this, since I'm unable to force 2.0 on the primary PCI Express slot would I be able to install a problematic Gigabyte GTX 670 into the 2.0 slot, leaving the 3.0 slot empty, with no degradation in performance? Is installing my video card physically in the secondary PCI Express a slot a valid solution should I happen to encounter a video card with this issue?

I have reached no decisions thus far, I'm simply asking questions.

On a side note; to those of you PM'ing me offering to sell me your video cards I have not replied but the answer is; No thank you. I am not interesting in buying a video card from you.

Why not just buy the Windforce card and try it out. If it's not stable at PCI-E 3.0 in your setup you will notice it right away. Games will crash and video driver will stop responding.

Then you could try that PCI-E 2.0 slot. If it works then keep it. PCI-E 3.0 to 2.0 on a single card will not degrade performance at all.

If none works, just RMA it.

You should have got the ASUS card while it was in stock.
 
Last edited:

balane

Senior member
Dec 15, 2006
666
0
76
Yes, I should have but maybe it will come back in stock again.

For now I'm hoping somebody will know for sure if you can run the card in the 2.0 slot, leaving the 3.0 slot empty, just fine with no perceivable drop in performance in the hopes of avoiding an RMA situation as much as possible.
 

The_Golden_Man

Senior member
Apr 7, 2012
816
1
0
Yes, I should have but maybe it will come back in stock again.

For now I'm hoping somebody will know for sure if you can run the card in the 2.0 slot, leaving the 3.0 slot empty, just fine with no perceivable drop in performance in the hopes of avoiding an RMA situation as much as possible.

Will probably work fine, however, you will most likely block 3 of your SATA ports. The card is dual slot and will run the full length and cover those SATA connectors.

Z77%20Pro4%28m%29.jpg
 

balane

Senior member
Dec 15, 2006
666
0
76
Son of a bitch this is becoming an ever increasing decision to make. Especially considering how cheap the 7970 cards are now!! Damn.
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
More recent testing (not directly comparable given CPU specs, but nonetheless, whatever performance issues AMD had seems fixed):

48 vs. 37 fps is not really fixed. GTX680 has a 30% lead over the 7970 at 1080P with HQ settings. Factory pre-overclocked 670s are faster than a stock 7970 anyway and cost $30-50 less against a quiet 7970. The stock 7970 reference blower is very poor for a quiet gaming system. I still think the 670 is the better choice based on OP's game selection.

Not to mention the GTX670 Asus performs faster than a GTX680! So that's > 30% faster over an HD7970 in Secret World out of the box with one of the best after market coolers and premium chokes that guarantee no coil whine (often a hit and miss with reference 7900 series).

balane, what other games do you play? That would help narrow the choice.
 
Last edited:

balane

Senior member
Dec 15, 2006
666
0
76
Not much, mmo's 99% of the time but I'll be in Secret World for a long time. When I'm playing an mmo it's often for quite a long time. Honestly, no other game will be of consequence or influence my decision today. If the 7970 will run it as well as the GTX 670 then it's definitely a contender. Plus, to be honest, I am slightly partial to AMD graphics but only by a little. And, also, I'm a little miffed that so many nVidia cards seem to have bugs. Like every one mentioned has something to watch out for with the exception of Asus and now I can't get that one so I'm pissed at myself over that.

Is the Asus 7970 a good card? I'm looking at it now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121560
 

Rvenger

Elite Member <br> Super Moderator <br> Video Cards
Apr 6, 2004
6,283
5
81
Son of a bitch this is becoming an ever increasing decision to make. Especially considering how cheap the 7970 cards are now!! Damn.


My opinion will be different from others here. I would normally tell you to stay away from the Asus cards due to their recent warranty support issues. We have threads complaining about Asus here recently. There were a lot of complaints about screen flickering/BSOD/artifacts at bootup on the DCII 670s as well.

You will have pros and cons with every model but the most reliable right now IMO is the MSI 670, then the Gigabyte. I would go for the gigabyte since it is the best value. I don't think you will have issues with it.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2253656
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
That Asus 7970 takes 3 slots. It's a big card. Just be aware of that. Other than that a little bit of google searching turns up some various issues for some people. artifacts and stuff. Anything will have some reports of problems. No card ever released was perfect 100% of the time.
 

The_Golden_Man

Senior member
Apr 7, 2012
816
1
0
My opinion will be different from others here. I would normally tell you to stay away from the Asus cards due to their recent warranty support issues. We have threads complaining about Asus here recently. There were a lot of complaints about screen flickering/BSOD/artifacts at bootup on the DCII 670s as well.

You will have pros and cons with every model but the most reliable right now IMO is the MSI 670, then the Gigabyte. I would go for the gigabyte since it is the best value. I don't think you will have issues with it.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2253656

The flicekring is most probably caused by too high factory overclocks on some of the TOP cards. This is fixed with a bios update from ASUS.

ASUS DC II is the best shot to avoid coilwhine. Most others use som kind of reference design. ASUS also has the most silent cooler.
 

balane

Senior member
Dec 15, 2006
666
0
76
All right. Decision made, the order has been placed. I didn't go with ANYTHING we talked about. I was tired of worrying about this and that so this is the card I chose.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125422

The $25 code made the decision for me. I know I have the best possible single GPU card for the game I want to play for a long while. I have nothing to regret.

So now, please, everybody can tell me I made a bad choice but I can't see how I won't be happy with this. It doesn't have the bug that the slower card might have so no worries there. Money is not exactly a huge issue for me, the joy of quality far outlasts the joy of saving money. That's what I always say.

RIGHT? This is good for me?

Edit: Order confirmation received, it is done. The selection process is officially over. :)
 

The_Golden_Man

Senior member
Apr 7, 2012
816
1
0
All right. Decision made, the order has been placed. I didn't go with ANYTHING we talked about. I was tired of worrying about this and that so this is the card I chose.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125422

The $25 code made the decision for me. I know I have the best possible single GPU card for the game I want to play for a long while. I have nothing to regret.

So now, please, everybody can tell me I made a bad choice but I can't see how I won't be happy with this. It doesn't have the bug that the slower card might have so no worries there. Money is not exactly a huge issue for me, the joy of quality far outlasts the joy of saving money. That's what I always say.

RIGHT? This is good for me?

As I've said, that bug affects/can affect both the Gigabyte Windforce 3x GTX 670 and 680. But only in combination with Z77 motherboards and Ivybridge (When PCI-E 3.0 are utilized).
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
Hey if you're happy that's what matters. I wanted a 680 bad but they never came in stock. Then 670 released and I got one of those. While I think a 670 is a better value, the better cards are not always in stock so you made a decent pick IMO.
 

Rvenger

Elite Member <br> Super Moderator <br> Video Cards
Apr 6, 2004
6,283
5
81
The flicekring is most probably caused by too high factory overclocks on some of the TOP cards. This is fixed with a bios update from ASUS.

ASUS DC II is the best shot to avoid coilwhine. Most others use som kind of reference design. ASUS also has the most silent cooler.


Every card has coil whine no matter what. It takes a GPU + PSU to develop coil whine. If his PSU is prone to coil whine then it will have coil whine no matter what GPU he uses. No electronics are silent.
 

The_Golden_Man

Senior member
Apr 7, 2012
816
1
0
Every card has coil whine no matter what. It takes a GPU + PSU to develop coil whine. If his PSU is prone to coil whine then it will have coil whine no matter what GPU he uses. No electronics are silent.

You are wrong. It's the cards that has coilwhine. My reference MSI GTX 670 had just as bad coilwhine on my Corsair 750 TX as it does in my other computer, which has Corsair 550 VX.

My ASUS cards has no coilwhine when playing. Except you can hear a faint buzz when game menus at 2000fps. The MSI card whines like a pig in normal gaming. My ASUS cards do not have this.