Man did nvidia cheap out on the reference gtx670

[lavaheadache]

The 680 reference design is just as poor. I couldn't believe it when I had mine. Sure the card performs well but if you have any kind of eye when it comes to electronics, it doesn't take much to tell the cards are built to make $$

 

[toyota]

Warmer than a 460, and with louder fans, to boot.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/542?vs=598

yep my 560 idles in upper 20s to low 30s and only goes to low 60s during demanding games. all while being basically inaudible. you would think if they were going to make card that throttles at 70 C, they could at least put a beefier cooler on it.

 

[ViRGE]

Warmer than a 460. And with louder fans, to boot.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/542?vs=598

Open cooler versus a blower. You can compare the two, but it's not really accurate. Especially since blowers are the more expensive cooler.

 

[toyota]

Open cooler versus a blower. You can compare the two, but it's not really accurate. Especially since blowers are the more expensive cooler.

my 65nm gtx260 used much more power than the gtx670 yet ran cooler and quieter and it had a blower fan too.

 

[skipsneeky2]

yep my 560 idles in upper 20s to low 30s and only goes to low 60s during demanding games. all while being basically inaudible. you would think if they were going to make card that throttles at 70 C, they could at least put a beefier cooler on it.

That was exactly the point i was trying to put across,have taken apart my 5 year old 8800gts 512mb,that card even had a better cooler then the gtx670 if not identical to your gtx260.

Love what nvidia did with the size,the amount of memory,performance is great and the price is alright,but i do feel sorta screwed when it comes down that cooler for sure.

 

[lopri]

Check this video out (skip to 2:30 mark where you get to see the physical card) and compare the build quality of todays' high-end "gaming" cards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRxFJOwlO9s&feature=player_embedded

My HD 3570 is built like that and that was many years ago. (still have it) Heck my 8500 GT had a better build quality than GTX 460 and still running strong.

Today's "reference" designs for gaming market regressed considerably both for AMD and NV. And custom-solutions from AIB's are a lottery (that you more often than not lose).

 

[Jionix]

Today's "reference" designs for gaming market regressed considerably both for AMD and NV. And custom-solutions from AIB's are a lottery (that you more often than not lose).

I would disagree a bit. AMD still does a good job engineering their cards. I think the 5000 series, especially the 5970, are great examples. But maybe all the recent layoffs that AMD has had is going to change this.

Nvidia, on the other hand, has had several notable problems occur over the last couple of generations --- from problematic chip design (bumpgate, late and hot fermi), to exploding cards (yes, the 590).

 

[Cookie Monster]

The GTX670 reminds me of the 7900/7950GT. Those cards had the most bare minimum cooling Ive seen for a card at that time.

Im surprised nVIDIA didn't re-use the GTX560Ti PCB or even the GTX470. Would have been perfect but I guess they wanted to cut just about everything they can.

 

[Cookie Monster]

The 680 reference design is just as poor. I couldn't believe it when I had mine. Sure the card performs well but if you have any kind of eye when it comes to electronics, it doesn't take much to tell the cards are built to make $$

That is good engineering

 

[amenx]

Havent bought a 670 or 680 so cant comment there, but have always been impressed general build quality of NV cards since 8 series. Fermi may have been hot and late, but were built like tanks and could take it. If I suspected build quality was sub-par, I would switch sides in a heartbeat.

 

[ViRGE]

The GTX670 reminds me of the 7900/7950GT. Those cards had the most bare minimum cooling Ive seen for a card at that time.

Actually that's an interesting comparison. Similar to GK104, G71 was an unusually small GPU for its performance level.

 

[amenx]

Nvidia, on the other hand, has had several notable problems occur over the last couple of generations --- from problematic chip design (bumpgate, late and hot fermi), to exploding cards (yes, the 590).

The 590's problem was driver related which was quickly resolved after the initial reviews. No hardware recalls or fixes were made to the 590 which in the end turned out to be a good card.

 

[Magic Carpet]

What's the shortest 670 PCB design, by the way?

Check this video out (skip to 2:30 mark where you get to see the physical card) and compare the build quality of todays' high-end "gaming" cards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRxFJOwlO9s&feature=player_embedded

My HD 3570 is built like that and that was many years ago. (still have it) Heck my 8500 GT had a better build quality than GTX 460 and still running strong.

Today's "reference" designs for gaming market regressed considerably both for AMD and NV. And custom-solutions from AIB's are a lottery (that you more often than not lose).

Agreed. Unless you're an engineer or very technical savvy, it's diffcult for an average Joe, to comprehend what actually is quality. This is the most quality card, I have purchased.

 

[thilanliyan]

I would disagree a bit. AMD still does a good job engineering their cards. I think the 5000 series, especially the 5970, are great examples. But maybe all the recent layoffs that AMD has had is going to change this.

Exactly, at least on the AMD side, I absolutely trust their higher end reference designs.

The last nV reference card I owned was a 8800GTS 640, and that looked to be high quality too.

 

[ShintaiDK]

The GTX670 reminds me of the 7900/7950GT. Those cards had the most bare minimum cooling Ive seen for a card at that time.

Im surprised nVIDIA didn't re-use the GTX560Ti PCB or even the GTX470. Would have been perfect but I guess they wanted to cut just about everything they can.

How do you define the HD7970GE then?

Also owning both a GTX680 and GTX670. I´m not sure if people just argue to argue or actually own the cards.

 

[Will Robinson]

Surely then you must go out and purchase the GHz Edition as it soundly defeats both of your GTXs?
Only then will you know....

 

[poohbear]

The 680 was the replacement for the 560 ti. There's one guy who was on another forum that says he has a real gtx 680 in his basement. It was faster than 670 sli.






Just having some fun.

yes & that same guy shoots lightning bolts out his as$.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Surely then you must go out and purchase the GHz Edition as it soundly defeats both of your GTXs?
Only then will you know....

With worse driver support.

 

[Homeles]

How do you define the HD7970GE then?

Also owning both a GTX680 and GTX670. I´m not sure if people just argue to argue or actually own the cards.

You don't have to own the card to be able to tell that its power delivery circuitry is lacking.

With worse driver support.

Got proof? No? Well, what can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

 

[cmdrdredd]

You don't have to own the card to be able to tell that its power delivery circuitry is lacking.


Got proof? No? Well, what can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

It has been covered in many threads. It took months to fix crossfire issues with new games before. Nvidia had working drivers more quickly. I owned an HD 6950 and most things worked but some issues like flashing textures or missing textures in new releases didn't get fixed immediately and I had to resort to some hacks from the community. Take Rage for example. Regardless of what you think of that game go back and look at some of the issues people had with amd cards getting missing or corrupt textures and how long it took for an official fix. It means a lot to me when a new game works on one set of hardware and the other has some type of issue. It doesn't happen all the time but I know I have experienced it more on and hardware in my personal usage.

Drivers make a lot of difference. Even with the best hardware, without a really solid driver from the get go you will lose a bit of momentum at release.

 

[RussianSensation]

What's the shortest 670 PCB design, by the way?

Zotac GTX670 DUAL KING D5 2GB:

Looks to be the size of the GTX670 PCB.

I agree that Reference 670 isn't a great design but non-reference GTX670s are built like tanks. There is nearly no reason at all to get a reference 670 or 680 for that matter imo when Zotac, Asus, Gigabyte are making such excellent cards.

Forget reference cards. After trying out the Sapphire Dual-X HD7970, I doubt I'll ever go back to reference blower design. The reduction in noise levels is unbelievable.

Zotac AMP! GTX670:

More pictures of this awesome card here.

I can't think of a single high performing card that runs quieter than the Asus Direct CUII 670/680 series, not just recently, EVER:

GTX670 Direct CUII under full load video

The previous generation high-end cards don't look particularly amazing in terms of build quality either:

7800GTX 256mb / 7800GS / 6800 GT

6800 Ultra at the bottom looks like the standout:

9700Pro and X800 Pro don't look anything special:

I think NV should have just reused the GTX680 PCB for the 670 version or used a higher quality fan/bearings and people wouldn't complain that much about the rattling noises it currently makes.

On the AMD side, the reference HD7970 is actually better than reference HD4870/4890 and is no worse than HD5870/6950/6970 cards. The difference is none of those 5870/6950/6970 cards could overclock 25-35%. HD5850 could but I am pretty sure at those levels its reference design also wasn't that quiet. Essentially the reference HD7970 blower design is overwhelmed by the extra power consumption that HD7970 itself draws over HD5870/6970. A lot of people here overclock 7970 to > 1125mhz and that causes the reference 7970 design to deal with way more power than it was designed to do. If HD5870 could overclock 25%, that reference design would also fail at quiet noise levels.

This is the most quality card, I have purchased.

What's so amazing about that card? It has no premium PCB, no solid state caps, no premium components of any kind. It looks like a reference designed 9600XT with a cheap Sapphire after market heatsink strapped on that pales in comparison to what Zalman used to make back in those days. 9600XT was also slow and was a fast card like GTX670 series is. I recall it was 40-50% slower than 9800Pro/XT. Is GTX670 40-50% slower than HD7970 / GTX680?

With modern cooling cases, for single-GPU card owners, I really don't see the point of buying a reference design card unless watercooling is involved (for full waterblocks). I heard all the negatives associated with dumping the hot air into the case for years which made me hesitant to purchase a non-reference card, but my HD7970 @ 1150mhz has not made any temperature differences in my case despite running at 99% load 24/7 for 3 days now. In fact, after switching from HD6950 @ 6970, my room is significantly colder. I am honestly confused because HD7970 is suposed to draw more power in overclocked states than my HD6950 @ 6970 speeds did.

From now on, I probably won't recommend blower type of cards for single-GPU users with decent cases. I don't even know why I waited this long to make the jump to after-market versions.

The Tyan Tachyon 9700Pro was one of the best after market 9700 Pros at the time iirc:

How does that compare to today's after market cards? It's not even close.

Why in the world wouldn't someone pay $30 more for an Asus Direct CUII that has a backplate for which EVGA charges $25 on Newegg I believe (Or $10 for Backplate cards?), has premium components and an after market cooler that's head and shoulders above most 670s:

Do you guys have really such poor airflow that your case cannot deal with 200-250W of heat dissipation? Hard to believe considering a lot of us were running Core i7 @ 4.0ghz and Q6600 @ 3.4ghz for years and at those speeds and voltages those CPUs alone were consuming as much as our modern GPUs. If you have a case with 2 front 120mm fans, a 1 rear exhausting 1x 120mm fan and a large 230mm fan at the top, that's all you need to deal with any high-end non-reference designed GPU. If you have a case with good airflow, a card dumping all the heat into the case should make almost no difference at all.

I think in this day and age the $20-30 premium over non-reference cards is almost a no brainer. You get better components, better coolers and quieter noise levels. The reduced noise levels alone are worth the premium.

 

[tweakboy]

tweakboy is here, have no fear!!!

Yucky that is a cheap PCB, this is why you buy vendors cards and what not instead of reference cards also. gl

 

[Stuka87]

I understand some people had to get reference cards because 670's were so hard to come by. But now that they are easier to find, don't get a reference design. Some reference designs are better than others (For both AMD and NV), the 670 just happens to be on the "less good" side of that.

And like RussianSesnsation states, the extra 20-30 bucks for a non-reference design is well worth it. Not only because the PCB is typically far better, but because you typically get a good cooler. No the cooler may not exhaust out the back of the case, but if you are buying a high end GPU, you should already have a case that cools well to go with it.

 

[Silverforce11]

As long as it works and can run OC who cares.. 2 years later when it dies, doesn't matter!! It's no longer under warranty!

ps. Srsly don't worry... u can always bake it back to life.

 

[utahraptor]

Well, for $30 more anyone could have the MSI power edition . No corners were cut on that baby!