OFFICIAL KEPLER "GTX680" Reviews

[RussianSensation]

Also gotta lol at all the people who said the 7970 was a failure for being only 40% faster than the 6970, but now that the 680 is even less compared to the 580, its the best card ever

I think you totally missed the crux of that argument though. The fact that you are comparing 40% performance increase of HD7970 vs. 6970 to 30% increase of GTX680 vs. 580 shows that you didn't carefully read why people were disappointed with the HD7970's pricing:

Price/performance curve

HD7970 replaced HD6970 at $549 MSRP price point not at $369 MSRP. So it offered 45% more performance for 49% more price. This doesn't move the price/performance curve at all.

GTX680 beats GTX580 by 30% at $499. So GTX680 actually gives us 30% more performance at the same price as the GTX580 was. This actually moves the price/performance curve.

If you wanted to actually take a legitimate stab at GTX680, then you could say it's a $500 card that really is a successor to the GTX560Ti. TechReport did say this:

Also, the GeForce GTX 680 is a massive generational improvement, extracting roughly twice the performance of the GeForce GTX 560 Ti from a similar class of GPU. Still, we're a little disappointed Nvidia isn't passing along more of those gains to consumers in the form of higher performance per dollar, as has happened in the past. Half a grand is a lot to ask for a mid-sized chip on a card with a 256-bit memory interface. - TechReport Review

From that perspective, GTX680 is also overpriced, sure. But the way you presented that many people here are biased in that they were bashing HD7970 but are now hailing GTX680 as the best GPU ever is not consistent with the actual reasons of why HD7970 was criticized in the first place.

 

[Vesku]

Great gaming only card, shame I'm now well into the gaming + compute camp. Will be tempting though in 6-9 months when it is $300-350.

 

[mak360]

In the UK, not one is out of stock (from the major sellers - the same happened for the HD7970)

 

[OCGuy]

From the hardocp review:

We found out quickly that the GTX 680 could hold its own and sometimes dominate the Radeon HD 7970 at 2560x1600"

There goes the 1080p only theory.

 

[Vesku]

Woah there, didn't see you helping me explain why using % increase of 7970 vs 580 was a bit wonky pre-680 launch.

While NVIDIA pricing it at $500 is a good thing, it's still attaching an extra premium to 28nm. Because despite the name it really is the successor to the 560ti/570 tier.

I guess you totally missed the crux of that argument entirely. The fact that you are comparing 40% performance increase of HD7970 vs. 6970 to 30% increase of GTX680 vs. 580 shows that you don't understand what were were talking about at all:

Price/performance curve.

HD7970 replaced HD6970 at $549 MSRP price point not at $369 MSRP. So it offered 45% more performance for 49% more price.

GTX680 beats GTX580 by 30% at $499. So GTX680 actually gives us 30% more performance at the same price as the GTX580 was.

If you wanted to actually have a solid stab at GTX680, then it's a $500 card that really is a successor to the GTX560Ti.

Also, the GeForce GTX 680 is a massive generational improvement, extracting roughly twice the performance of the GeForce GTX 560 Ti from a similar class of GPU. - TechReport Review

In that case, GTX680 is also overpriced, sure. But the way you presented your argument of people bashing HD7970 is not consistent with how the argument went at all.

 

[Zebo]

Oh, I know we won't see $300 anytime soon...I'm just saying that's what I'd personally pay for an upgrade. I do think $500 is a fair price for the performance, but in reality, nVidia probably surprised even itself in how badly it could beat its own flagship with the next-gen midrange.

For example - the GTX460 came out at $230 and was a bit faster than GTX285. In a vacuum that was an amazing deal, but the 480 had of course already been introduced, so it couldn't price it much higher (well, that and the HD5850 problem).

In this case, nVidia didn't have its high-end card to set parameters on pricing, and luckily had performance in spades, so it could drive the price up. If AMD had actually competed in this round on pricing, I think we'd see the GTX680 at $350 or so.

It's difficult to compare those price spaces (250 vs 500) as the high end always sux if you track price/performance in a linear fashion. Even now the 680 is crappy deal compared to say $250 GTX 570's which offer 70% of the performance for half price. But it's always been this way, at the tippy top you pay a premium for that privilege and that's the cards GTX 680 is being compared to. Ther it's a bargain.

 

[Olikan]

overclock vs overclock .....7970 wins!

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/gpu_displays/nvidia_gtx680_review/6

 

[skipsneeky2]

So this isn't even their high end single gpu part Russian?

Thank god my 7970 was a gift or i would be a bit annoyed but if they got a gtx685 or something coming out,damn would the temptation to switch hit me.

 

[Phynaz]

When does the 660 arrive?

 

[Grooveriding]

I guess you totally missed the crux of that argument entirely. The fact that you are comparing 40% performance increase of HD7970 vs. 6970 to 30% increase of GTX680 vs. 580 shows that you don't understand what people were talking about when they were disappointed with the HD7970's pricing:

Price/performance curve

HD7970 replaced HD6970 at $549 MSRP price point not at $369 MSRP. So it offered 45% more performance for 49% more price. This doesn't move the price/performance curve at all.

GTX680 beats GTX580 by 30% at $499. So GTX680 actually gives us 30% more performance at the same price as the GTX580 was. This actually moves the price/performance curve.

If you wanted to actually have a solid stab at GTX680, then you could say it's a $500 card that really is a successor to the GTX560Ti. TechReport did say this:

Also, the GeForce GTX 680 is a massive generational improvement, extracting roughly twice the performance of the GeForce GTX 560 Ti from a similar class of GPU. - TechReport Review

From that perspective, GTX680 is also overpriced, sure. But the way you presented that many people here are biased in that they were bashing HD7970 but are now hailing GTX680 is not consistent with why it was stated that HD7970 was disappointing.

What you're saying is partly true, but he is right as well.

8800GTX cost $599?. GTX 280 cost $499 ($650 for a few weeks!!) and gave 60-80% more performance

GTX 285 cost $499. GTX 480 cost $499 and gave 60-80% more performance.

GTX 580 cost $499. GTX 680 costs $499 and gives 35% more performance.

Nvidia is giving less performance/$ than they should be going on what they have done in the past in similar situations. Actually they are giving half the performance they have on a new node in the past. Also less of an increase over their prior flagship than AMD gave over theirs.

AMD raised their MSRP, but look how the 680 compares to the 7970. It does not have the performance premium over the 7970 that the 580 did over the 6970, 480 did over the 5870 etc.

Going on performance, the 7970 does not need to be significantly cheaper than a 680. If 680s do not see price hikes from their $499 MSRP due to limited supply, the 7970 could be priced for $449-$499 depending.

 

[thilanliyan]

Good choice, you're faster. Unless you have micro stutter or noise issues I see no reason to either.

TBH, I just disable XFire when I'm gaming and just have the 2nd card bitcoin mining in the background. I'm not playing any really demanding games right now (Red Faction: Armageddon), but that might change when I get around to Metro 2033.

As for noise, one is on water, and the other is a MSI TF3 which is pretty quiet even at full blast while mining.

 

[blastingcap]

overclock vs overclock .....7970 wins!

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/gpu_displays/nvidia_gtx680_review/6

Too many variables make an OC vs OC comparison hard, especially since the 680 auto-overvolts if I'm reading it right:

1. quality of chip 1
2. quality of chip 2
3. driver maturity
4. GPU boost also boosts voltage if I'm reading it right so GTX 680 vs 7970 needs to take that into account. Otherwise it's OC+OV 680 vs. OC but NOT OV 7970, which is unfair to the 7970.
5. VRAM limits on games like AVP
6. averages are nice but MINIMUMS are what matter; so if GPU boost is just raising averages without raising minimums....

 

[mak360]

Looking at the overclocking results from various sites, the HD7970 has nothing to fear anytime soon and is ahead in non gaming situations

 

[skipsneeky2]

What you're saying is partly true, but he is right as well.

8800GTX cost $599?. GTX 280 cost $499 ($650 for a few weeks!!) and gave 60-80% more performance

GTX 285 cost $499. GTX 480 cost $499 and gave 60-80% more performance.

GTX 580 cost $499. GTX 680 costs $499 and gives 35% more performance.

Nvidia is giving less performance/$ than they should be going on what they have done in the past in similar situations. Actually they are giving half the performance they have on a new node in the past. Also less of an increase over their prior flagship than AMD gave over theirs.

AMD raised their MSRP, but look how the 680 compares to the 7970. It does not have the performance premium over the 7970 that the 580 did over the 6970, 480 did over the 5870 etc.

Going on performance, the 7970 does not need to be significantly cheaper than a 680. If 680s do not see price hikes from their $499 MSRP due to limited supply, the 7970 could be priced for $449-$499 depending.

LOL i walked into a frys hoping to purchase a $700 8800 ultra and i walked out with a $650 gtx280,but i got my $150 cash back from frys as did a couple other guys.

 

[Imouto]

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2581156&postcount=20

the cards are oc locked. and the bios is digitally signed.

so evga created a special bios, signed it with their debug key, and gave it to the overclockers.

and yes this means no more bios moddding for end users

Interesting info.

 

[OCGuy]

From the hothardware review:

". In comparison to NVIDIA’s previous single-GPU flagship, the GeForce GTX 580, the new GTX 680 is between 15% and 50% faster. "

Sounds good to me!

 

[tviceman]

Supply numbers must be low for this first round.. When only the 680 is launching, and nothing else with it. I wonder how many the respective stores got?

The gtx580 launched by itself, as did the hd6970. I expect the gtx670 will be launched sometime in April; perhaps a month from now.

 

[thilanliyan]

Anyone know where I can find the cooler mount hole spacing info for the 680?

Also, why does the 680 not gain much from OCing? Whereas the 7970 gained a ton?

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/gpu_displays/nvidia_gtx680_review/18

 

[Zebo]

Looking at the overclocking results from various sites, the HD7970 has nothing to fear anytime soon and is ahead in non gaming situations

That sounds useful.

 

[railven]

I noticed no one is talking about the Tweak Town review where it showed power consumption HIGHER than the HD 7970.

Only reason I bring this up is, I wasn't aware that the GPU Boost was based on parameters such as heat and chip quality.

Did TT get their card as a review sample or through some early vendor?

There was a huge flaw there and I'd like to know if it is TT pulling a fast one or there really is a question about results varying based on chip quality.

 

[blastingcap]

Anyone know where I can find the cooler mount hole spacing info for the 680?

Also, why does the 680 not gain much from OCing? Whereas the 7970 gained a ton?

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/gpu_displays/nvidia_gtx680_review/18

It depends on sample quality and other things (which I listed at http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=33179025&postcount=414 ), but I think a critical issue being overlooked is how the 680 has built-in overclock and overvolting that you can't turn off. You can only raise or lower the effect of it. The 7970 stock is stock; no overclock, no overvoltage. So even those reviews claiming to compare OC to OC need to account for the overvoltage of the 680, if I'm reading things right... yet they aren't. OC+OV versus OC isn't quite right.

I noticed no one is talking about the Tweak Town review where it showed power consumption HIGHER than the HD 7970.

Only reason I bring this up is, I wasn't aware that the GPU Boost was based on parameters such as heat and chip quality.

Did TT get their card as a review sample or through some early vendor?

There was a huge flaw there and I'd like to know if it is TT pulling a fast one or there really is a question about results varying based on chip quality.

They were using old drivers.

 

[busydude]

Also, why does the 680 not gain much from OCing? Whereas the 7970 gained a ton?

I think turbo boost plays a huge part in that.

 

[Madcatatlas]

Awesome card!

 

[RussianSensation]

REVIEW LINKS

Xbitlabs Review ~ HD7970 benefits more from overclocking in % terms since its stock speeds are only 925mhz
HotHardware
AnandTech
Bit-Tech
Tom's Hardware
Tech Report
Computerbase
HardOCP
Hardware Canucks
TechpowerUp
Hardware Heaven
TweakTown
Hexus
Guru3D
Legit Reviews
PureOverclock
Overclockers Club
Tech Radar
EuroGamer
PC Perspective
Overclock 3D.net
Hightech Legion

 

[BallaTheFeared]

This card is an awesome GTX 460/560 ti replacement, but an awful 580 replacement.

>performance wise<

In ever other possible way this card is quite a bit better than the reference 580.