Recommend a 680

[Gunslinger08]

Looking to pick up a 680 soon. My requirements:
- Quiet
- Factory overclocked. I'm not going to overclock myself.
- Sold on Amazon

I'd really like to get the ASUS DC2T, but it's way overpriced on Amazon and only for sale by a 3rd party. Any other card recommendations?

 

[blackened23]

What is your budget?

 

[sze5003]

Newegg has the twin frozr for $448 ends today. I'm waiting for the vapor x 7970 GHz. Amazon also has it for same price.

 

[Gunslinger08]

What is your budget?

<$600. The lower the better.

 

[Gunslinger08]

Newegg has the twin frozr for $448 ends today. I'm waiting for the vapor x 7970 GHz. Amazon also has it for same price.

Unfortunately I won't be able to buy until Friday or Monday.

 

[blackened23]

If budget is your primary concern, the Asus card may be better because it generally runs around 520$. That being said, i'm a huge fan of the MSI lightning but it costs 600$, personally I think it's the best 680 out there by far -- but it may stretch your budget a bit. As far as differences, the lightning allows full voltage adjustment on the core while the asus doesn't (without a hardmod), and the asus is triple slot while the lightning is double. Triple is very bad for SLI if there is any chance of going that route.

For budget cards look at:

Gigabyte windforce, asus DC2 (bear in mind that it is triple slot, which I don't like). For ultra premium the Lightning is the one to get IMHO.

It should be mentioned that if budget is a factor, that the ATI cards are a great deal as well, you can easily find a good aftermarket 7970 for 425-450ish. Generally speaking it's the same speed as the 680 and overclocks with less hassle (due to kepler voltage restrictions on most cards), but people tend to have strong brand preferences with GPUs.

 

[BD231]

MSI twin frozer, it's the quietest 680 out there and overclocks like mad.

 

[blackened23]

MSI twin frozer, it's the quietest 680 out there and overclocks like mad.

Ah yes, the TF3 is another to consider. I think it runs right around the 510-520 mark usually, it uses the older design.

 

[sze5003]

Do you qualify for the amazon credit card?

 

[Durvelle27]

i recommend this performs the same but cost a lot less

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB 384-bit $449 AR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202001

 

[sze5003]

i recommend this performs the same but cost a lot less

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB 384-bit $449 AR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202001

That's what I want. But its been oos for a while now.

 

[Gunslinger08]

i recommend this performs the same but cost a lot less

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB 384-bit $449 AR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202001

I had actually planned on getting a 7970, but after some research I chose the 680 because:
- Seems like every 7970 has someone complaining about noise
- PhysX looks nice in Borderlands 2
- SLI seems to be less susceptible to microstutter than CF. I may buy another card at some point to support newer games at 2560x1440

 

[The Alias]

I had actually planned on getting a 7970, but after some research I chose the 680 because:
- Seems like every 7970 has someone complaining about noise
- PhysX looks nice in Borderlands 2
- SLI seems to be less susceptible to microstutter than CF. I may buy another card at some point to support newer games at 2560x1440

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131471
eliminates any noise problem and both sli and by the time newer games require the extra horsepower you're better off buying a new generation card saves you power and driver issues

 

[BD231]

Ah yes, the TF3 is another to consider. I think it runs right around the 510-520 mark usually, it uses the older design.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2271827

$488 if you act now. The reason I like this card is because it keeps temps in the 50c range at load while still being quiet. If I were buying right now I'd just go with the card that offers the best temps to avoid clock throttling if you decide to overclock, which happens at something like 70 or 72c? Can't remember the exact number but I know it's low.

 

[Rezist]

I'd recommend a 670 IMO.

 

[raghu78]

I had actually planned on getting a 7970, but after some research I chose the 680 because:
- Seems like every 7970 has someone complaining about noise
- PhysX looks nice in Borderlands 2
- SLI seems to be less susceptible to microstutter than CF. I may buy another card at some point to support newer games at 2560x1440

The HD 7970 Ghz is simply the faster card at 2560 x 1400.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_7970_Toxic_6_GB/28.html

2560 x 1600

HD 7970 (925) - 88
GTX 680 - 89
HD 7970 Ghz - 97

http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/grafikkarten/2012/test-nvidia-geforce-gtx-660/5/

2560 x 1600 4x AA

HD 7970 Ghz - 165.4
HD 7970 (925) - 149.4
GTX 680 - 147.5

Also the sapphire vapor-x cooler does a very good job of keeping temps low and without much noise.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/09/24/sapphire_vaporx_radeon_hd_7970_ghz_edition_review/9

"The VaporX fan unit installed on the SAPPHIRE HD 7970 did a great job of keeping the card well cooled, clocking in 4 degrees Celsius cooler at idle than the reference Radeon HD 7970 at idle and 17 degrees cooler under load. The GTX 680 performed comparably to the reference Radeon HD 7970. While overclocked, the SAPPHIRE HD 7970 temperature did not increase, however, the fans did spin up slightly higher than they did at the stock speed"

If you want a GTX 680 the Gigabyte GTX 680 OC is a very good card. custom GTX 680 PCB with 5 + 1 power phases compared to 4 + 1 on reference GTX 680. excellent Windforce 3x cooler.

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

 

[ZimZum]

I'd recommend a 670 IMO.

This,

The 680 is not worth the price premium over the 670. Its around 5% faster and $100+ more expensive. Spend that extra coin on games.

 

[RussianSensation]

If you can't get on the deal for that MSI TF 680 for $450 on Newegg, I'd get a GTX670 MSI Power Edition and overclock it. 680 is not worth it at all over the 670, unless it's $450 or less.

 

[balane]

I've been using the Gigabyte Windforce 680 for a few months now and it's been great for me. It doesn't overclock that well unfortunately but it's plenty fast for me at 1920x1200. One thing I like about it is that it's very quiet. I bought it just before the performance increasing drivers from AMD came out, or the GHz edition of the 7970. If I had to do it over again, knowing what I know now, I would likely go with the 7970 GHz instead. Still, the Gigabyte GTX 680 has been an exemplary graphics card for my needs even though I slightly prefer the AMD cards.

 

[3DVagabond]

I'd recommend a 670 IMO.

Me too. 1st choice MSI 670PE.