Refernce or Non Reference?

[Noc662]

How do you tell the difference between a reference and a non reference? And is one better then the other?

 

[cmdrdredd]

What card are you looking at?

 

[Noc662]

What card are you looking at?

Well Im looking at the hd 6870 and the 7850....but im not trying to make this post about them two cards. I just wanted to know how do you tell a reference from a non reference.

 

[cmdrdredd]

It depends on the card you're looking at which is why I asked. For the 7850 and 6870 the reference cards have a fan design that blows hot air out the back of the case. The non reference designs have different cooling systems usually with heatpipes and multiple fans.

For the GTX 670 the short PCB is the reference design and the non reference ones have a longer PCB. Some have heatpipe coolers with dual fans.

 

[Noc662]

Ok.....so if I see a card with just a fan for cooling it is most likely a reference card?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Ok.....so if I see a card with just a fan for cooling it is most likely a reference card?

Sometimes. See with the EVGA GTX 670 FTW it uses a blower style cooler, but it's not reference design because the reference GTX 670 has a short PCB and a different heatsink design. The FTW card uses the GTX 680 PCB and cooling system. This is why it really depends on the card you're looking at.

 

[JohnnyChuttz]

Hey, not to hijack a thread, but I see you have the card I am looking at getting and an i5.
Do you think the 670 FTW would bottleneck my cheapy 2310?

 

[Jaydip]

Hey man u have a 2500k to take care of that 🙂

 

[cmdrdredd]

The opposite may be true to some extent, the GPU might be just a touch more than that i5 2310 CPU could really push.

 

[JohnnyChuttz]

Hey man u have a 2500k to take care of that 🙂

No, it burned up. Stock cooler, I don't want to hear about it. Haven't edited my sig.

 

[JohnnyChuttz]

The opposite may be true to some extent, the GPU might be just a touch more than that i5 2310 CPU could really push.

It basically fell into my lap after my 2500 died. Same guy at work came across a 670 that I can pick up for next to nothing. Would it be that much of an upgrade over the 560 in my sig?

 

[Noc662]

Sometimes. See with the EVGA GTX 670 FTW it uses a blower style cooler, but it's not reference design because the reference GTX 670 has a short PCB and a different heatsink design. The FTW card uses the GTX 680 PCB and cooling system. This is why it really depends on the card you're looking at.

I got it now....Thanx

 

[cmdrdredd]

It basically fell into my lap after my 2500 died. Same guy at work came across a 670 that I can pick up for next to nothing. Would it be that much of an upgrade over the 560 in my sig?

It would, definitely help get your minimum frame rates up.