First GTX 670 review(s) up (tt & oc.net) * TT OC review added*

[RussianSensation]

What is "texture performance"?
At higher resolutions, it is a tie. And we have yet so see if the tess performance makes a difference. Up to now, it has only in 2-3 games.

Yes, because GTX680 as an SKU has SKU specific bottlenecks at higher resolutions which are not related to Kepler architecture - specifically memory bandwidth limitation. However, if that bottleneck is opened up with subsequent Kepler chips, the Kepler architecture itself is well positioned since the 2 cornerstones for future games - tessellation and texture performance - are in spades in the architecture itself. NV can simply add more SPs to take care of shader performance.

Thus, Kepler has all 3 cornerstones in spades: Shader, texture and tessellation performance. OTOH, GCN will sooner or later run into texture and tessellation bottlenecks.

Basically it means Kepler has more advanced/efficient Tessellation and TMU units than GCN does. AMD will at some point have to revise the architecture while NV could simply keep adding more SPs, clocks, TMUs and keep going until Maxwell. I expect to see some nice architectural enhancements with HD8000 series.

Think about it, it's like SB/IVB vs. Bulldozer. GCN is using brawn to keep up (2048 SPs, 384-bit 264 GB/sec bandwidth). GTX670 needs just 1344 SPs and 192GB/sec bandwidth. That means as an architecture for games, Kepler is far more efficient. For GTX700 series, NV doesn't need to improve texture or tessellation performance. It's already there.

Other AIB 670 cards confirm specs and short PCB:

 

[Don Karnage]

If 399.99 is the confirmed price i think a 670 is in my future. Goliath X2

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Exactly the enthusiasts don't give a damn.Can we adopt a rule here ,if we are going to edit a post please add "Editing" at last.

This goes back to what I said about not understanding finances. They were buying the card for its low price, but forgot completely that it'll cost a lot to run therefore negating its upfront price or potentially making it worst than buying a more expensive but more efficient card with comparable performance.

 

[SirPauly]

In the next round, I think AMD has to split their architectures up, one purely focused on compute and another on gaming. Lumping them together is silly as it wrecks efficiency.

Big K is going to be the compute beast, rumored (and pretty accurate source so far) ~600mm2 but only +25% performance over gk104. That's the sacrifice when going for compute. NV if they can actually produce enough Keplers will have a winning design for HPC and gaming. That's how it should be done. (Think back a few years ago, this was the biggest criticism towards NV's designs, they needed to split up HPC and gaming.. they've done exactly that, they do listen/learn!).

BUT... let's take efficiency out of the equation, suddenly the only fault of 79xx is that its conservatively clocked at stock. That's hardly a fault at all given enthusiasts are avid over-clockers.

Edit: @LOL_Wut_Axel: I agree with your point of view, efficiency matters because electricity in most places around the world is not cheap. But considering we're on an US forum where they enjoy really low kwh rates and they don't seem to care about power use...

Can nVidia or AMD invest heavily in R&D and other resources to bring just a GPU compute card to just the compute market? Will the compute market alone be enough to be viable?

 

[blastingcap]

Snip

I wonder why NV got shut out of the next-gen console market, though. They can't be THAT hard to work with, despite their rep, can they?

And to be fair, 78xx is the real comparison to 6xx. Both ditch a lot of HPC.

 

[tviceman]

Revenue is down for both companies if you didn't notice. Maybe you can figure out why? Tip: TSMC.

Wow fortune teller! Please link me to Nvidia's future quarterly report, which hasn't happened yet.

As to the 2 cluster disabled gk104 variant vs 7870, obviously NV can set the target performance higher, they already know the bar set by the competition since they are late to the party. It's not surprising at all, but then we're talking about a gk104 vs an even smaller and more efficient chip. If NV can price it low, nothing is stopping price cuts on 78xx if AMD needs to, right?

I'm not going to attempt to guess at what either company's yields are, and what percentage of dies are salvaged, and how much per die everything costs, but if/when Nvidia releases a third tier GK104 based product, it otherwise would have been a throw away die. And if AMD is going to slash prices on the hd7870/7850 to stay competitive, then they will likely be further slashing prices to the rest of their lineup. It's a cascading effect that AMD will have a difficult time with for the rest of this year.

 

[Aeiou]

If this truly launches at a 400$ price point, i think i've found my new GPU

 

[blastingcap]

If this truly launches at a 400$ price point, i think i've found my new GPU

Get in line. If you thought gtx 680 shortages were bad, you haven't seen anything yet.

 

[Jaydip]

This goes back to what I said about not understanding finances. They were buying the card for its low price, but forgot completely that it'll cost a lot to run therefore negating its upfront price or potentially making it worst than buying a more expensive but more efficient card with comparable performance.

I am not expert at finance but electricity bill has always been a last consideration for me and many other buyers.I always aim for the fastest single gpu regardless of all the drawbacks.

 

[Silverforce11]

Think about it, it's like SB/IVB vs. Bulldozer. GCN is using brawn to keep up (2048 SPs, 384-bit 264 GB/sec bandwidth). GTX670 needs just 1344 SPs and 192GB/sec bandwidth. That means as an architecture for games, Kepler is far more efficient.

yes and no, not a valid comparison given the one sample size using a custom factory oc gtx670 board and the fact that 7970 is very underclocked to its potential.

The valid comparison if you want to measure "IPC" or performance should be 7970 OC vs gtx680 OC. 7970 loses out in power use (which generally don't matter to enthusiasts) but wins in compute (which don't matter at all - to gamers).

 

[tviceman]

I wonder why NV got shut out of the next-gen console market, though. They can't be THAT hard to work with, despite their rep, can they?

I'm still waiting until official confirmations come from Sony and MS. Especially Sony. Not that I don't believe the rumors/reports, but the 3DS was rumored to have a Tegra-based chip before the real specs were revealed.

Also, if Microsoft intends to launch a next gen xbox with the meager GPU that has been reported, I think it will fail. Not because PC's are so much better rarwarw!9823$ but because the side-to-side difference between the xbox360 and next gen xbox will be way, way, way less significant than the difference between xbox 1 and the 360. And I don't think motion controls, be it kinect or wii-motes, will ever become mainstay among the crowd that pushes AAA gaming.

EDIT: I'm not saying the next gen consoles will fail, but I think the increasing avenues for entertainment, and the possibility for entertainment, are going to make the environment for future consoles more hostile. I personally am looking forward to Tegra5, getting a tablet with Tegra5, and being able to plug it in to any TV and play games with graphics that will be probably on par with the next-gen xbox.

 

[Silverforce11]

Wow fortune teller! Please link me to Nvidia's future quarterly report, which hasn't happened yet.

No but their CEO has stated they expect revenues to be down, you can take his word for it can't you?

As per gk104 gtx660ti vs 78xx, if NV price them to pressure, AMD can simply lower the price. 78xx is a much smaller die.

 

[blastingcap]

No but their CEO has stated they expect revenues to be down, you can take his word for it can't you?

As per gk104 gtx660ti vs 78xx, if NV price them to pressure, AMD can simply lower the price. 78xx is a much smaller die.

AMD can't do squat if NV really wants to hurt them in a price war. NV can sell its chips to HPC and pro graphics for $$$$$$; AMD can't. Furthermore, AMD is getting its ass kicked in CPUs and bleeding even worse on that side, so they can't have their CPU division subsidize their GPU division, either.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Get in line. If you thought gtx 680 shortages were bad, you haven't seen anything yet.

Hopefully for me, I'll be looking to buy by the end of Q3. By then there shouldn't be these problems, and by then hopefully we'll be able to get the GTX 670 at $350. If not, I'll wait until the middle of Q4 at the latest. If we find a situation where NVIDIA keeps the price of the GTX 670 at $400 and AMD lowers the HD 7950 to $300-320, I'll go for the 7950. But I doubt the GTX 670, even if it's so competitive, will stay at $400 for 6 months or longer, so hopefully we'll see a deal for $350 or lower before the holidays. On the rare occasion that doesn't happen and the HD 7950 is very close to $300, I'll go for that instead.

 

[Subyman]

Tweaktown is blasted right now, can't read the review

 

[Crap Daddy]

Can nVidia or AMD invest heavily in R&D and other resources to bring just a GPU compute card to just the compute market? Will the compute market alone be enough to be viable?

I think GK110 will be exclusively dedicated to compute and will go in Teslas and Quadros. GK104 is the "one size fits all" for gaming.

 

[SickBeast]

It's interesting. nVidia completely owns the high-end market now. AMD owns the midrange, and Intel owns the low end (with AMD owning some of that as well).

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I am not expert at finance but electricity bill has always been a last consideration for me and many other buyers.I always aim for the fastest single gpu regardless of all the drawbacks.

Which just proves what I said earlier.

Pro tip: if you buy like that you're not getting something that's actually cheaper.

 

[SirPauly]

Wow fortune teller! Please link me to Nvidia's future quarterly report, which hasn't happened yet.

They usually offer some guidance for the next quarter and they offered a drop in revenue and margins but this is only an expectation -- obviously not set in stone.

 

[Don Karnage]

Tweaktown is blasted right now, can't read the review

 

[Don Karnage]

 

[Zebo]

All these potential of price reduction on AMD cards but didn't they already drop the prices recently? and the big question are, can they afford another price reduction and what happens when Nvidia reduce their prices...

these cards cost like $50 to make. Sure they have room.

 

[Don Karnage]

these cards cost like $50 to make. Sure they have room.

If that. They're just like Intel. Each Ivy bridge processor is only like 16 dollars to produce IF THAT as intel has there own fab

 

[Jaydip]

It's interesting. nVidia completely owns the high-end market now. AMD owns the midrange, and Intel owns the low end (with AMD owning some of that as well).

SB do u think u should have waited?

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Don't trust these power consumption numbers as they're completely off. They have the HD 7770 consuming more power than the HD 7950 and the GTX 670 consuming more power than the HD 7970.