Which is the better GTX 660 card? (board pics included)

[Deanodarlo]

The noise of a card is important to me. Looking at the options the ASUS and the MSI card are really quiet it seems, if reviews can be trusted. KFA2 not sure about.

The MSI is the fastest clocked wise. But which is the better build wise. Look at these board pics:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_660_Direct_Cu_II/3.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_660_Twin_Frozr_III/3.html

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/44641-kfa2-nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-ex-oc/?page=2

also which company is better at RMA?

In the UK, I know Gigabyte are really good at RMA and have a lot of respect for the service I have received in the past. The Gigabyte model seems to have noisy fans however. A GTX 570 model I just had was the same - ramping up fans quite aggressivelly.

Here are some more boards for comparision:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_660/3.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_660_OC/3.html

 

[hokies83]

Get Galaxy.. Buying another brand your just buying a Gpu Galaxy built with another company's sticker on it.

 

[blackened23]

I vote MSI, I've always loved their aftermarket cards.

 

[Deanodarlo]

I think Galaxy are the same as KFA2 in the UK.

 

[blackened23]

:thumbsup:

Get Galaxy.. Buying another brand your just buying a Gpu Galaxy built with another company's sticker on it.

Huh? KFA2 is Galaxy in Europe....

Anyway, I've used a ton of products over the years and have used several iterations of lightning GPUs from MSI and have loved them - because they are generally
awesome overclockers, have top quality parts, and for me have always been reliable.

This is from their product page:

Twin Frozr III Thermal Design
- Propeller Blade Technology generates 20% more airflow than traditional fan design
- Dual 8 PWM fans with SuperPipe technology provide better heat dissipation.
- 22 degree cooler and 10.2 dB quieter than reference design!!

Afterburner Overclocking Utility
- Support GPU/Memory Clock offset and Power limit control.
- Support in-game video recording.
- Support wireless control by android/iOS handheld devices.
- Support built-in DX11 effect test.

All Solid Capacitor
- 10 years ultra long lifetime (under full load).
- Lower temperature and higher efficiency.
- Aluminum core without explosion. "

Aluminum core without explosion. Now you can't beat that - With the MSI GPU you know it won't explode :thumbsup: (MSI doesn't have the best english translators I guess?) On a serious note, i've really enjoyed their GPUs - i've used 3 of their aftermarket products and have loved them all.

 

[hokies83]

I think Galaxy are the same as KFA2 in the UK.

Yes.

 

[blackened23]

Another thing to consider with brand consideration: Hardwarecanucks uncovered this investigation regarding performance anomalies on GTX 660 boards -

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...roundup-asus-evga-gigabyte-galaxy-msi-21.html

They found that while some cards achieved higher top boost frequencies, they did so through a means of frequent throttling. The asus cards did this, as did several other brands. MSI has a special BIOS on their cards which prevents this sort of "throttling " behaviour, and you can view this at the TPU 660 roundup - while the MSI TF3 660 did not achieve quite as high of a boost frequency as the asus DC2T, the MSI outperformed it consistently across all tests because it did not throttle. Galaxy has the same thing as far as I can tell, they have boost speeds that are "sticky" as opposed to varying so much.

It should also be noted that EVGA is the worst in regards to this throttling behaviour, see chart below. Hardwarecanucks is doing a follow up to this article later this month, I believe.

So what i'm getting at here? Brand matters! I wouldn't buy EVGA. Look at how badly it does in the above test! Clockspeeds all over the place. Asus boost clocks start high but immediately nosedive and throttles quite a bit. Galaxy does well in this test as does the MSI. Now this is all preference but I really love MSI TF3/4 cards - so I would recommend the MSI TF3 660.