GTX680 to arrive at the end of February!

Gregster · 27 Jan 2012 at 10:58

My cpu is @ 4.6 (2500K I5) my gfx card is @ 900 Gigabyte 560ti OC (not clocked any more by me)
I love messing with comps and getting the best out of them but I just find gfx cards a chore. Any boost I can get costs me in terms of noise. Ok, I can change the fans for water but I am not a fan (no pun intended) of putting water with electric.
I can sure see why peeps OC everything and good on them, but for me, (maybe lazy) no thanks.
Thats not to say in the future I wont though, as from reading about 28nm, it is an overclockers dream.

adrichardson81 · 27 Jan 2012 at 11:00

My understanding is that the 6xx was supposed to be the oem/mobile line (like the 3xx). If so, it would make sense that it's more or less just a die shrink of the 5xx series. More power efficient for similar numbers would be a big selling point for that sector.

Iirc the 300 came out just before the 400, so it's possible we'll see the flaccid mobile parts out in Feb followed by the hard sh!t in march/April...

bhavv · 27 Jan 2012 at 14:15

gurusan said:
To not clock your GPU is foolish.

Well, that depends on if you need it.

I have the following stable profiles set for my GTX 560 tis:

880 / 2100 - 0.950v (default clocks working on minimum voltage)

900 / 2200 - 0.962v (24/7 setting as it doesnt generate any extra heat)

950 / 2300 - 1.012v (default voltage goes all the way up to 950 Mhz - around 7 degrees hotter than 900 Mhz)

1000 / 2400 - 1.1v (max stable setting, exceeds 90 degrees in Kombustor).

I never need to run them higher than 900 Mhz except for when benching as everything is running completely smooth.

Similarly with my I7 980, it does 4 Ghz on stock volts which is what I leave it at 24/7. When benching it will go all the way up to 4.4-4.5 Ghz, but not a single game I play needs it that high (and Civ V is the only game I play that will utilize the 4 Ghz OC).

The low voltage performance I get out of my stuff is far more desirable than gaming inside an oven, and my 1900 Mhz 7-8-7 ram and 512 Gb SSD seem to provide complete immunity to lag spikes

Keplers will be skipped, I'll be waiting for the GK104 refresh / successor in 2013.

MichaelM · 27 Jan 2012 at 14:36

Overclocking a modern GPU by pushing it into a range of diminishing returns is very different to overclocking a 7970 into its optimal operating range.

Stop applying antiquated logic to the situation, its very misleading.

bhavv · 27 Jan 2012 at 14:44

MichaelM said:
Overclocking a modern GPU by pushing it into a range of diminishing returns is very different to overclocking a 7970 into its optimal operating range.

I agree, its the same scenario as the GTX 460 + 560s were in - the stock frequencies were heavily underclocked below the cards maximum settings.

GTX 570 and 580s however were already pushed to their limits in custom OC models and barely had any extra headroom.

If I was buying 7970s, say they clock all the way up to 1150 Mhz, chances are that going too much over 1 Ghz would begin to provide diminishing gains in comparison to the extra voltage required and heat generated.

But leaving it entirely at stock speed would be stupid, I'd similarly look for the highest stock volt or undervolted frequencies and use those while gaming.

TheRealDeal · 27 Jan 2012 at 14:58

bhavv said:
I agree, its the same scenario as the GTX 460 + 560s were in - the stock frequencies were heavily underclocked below the cards maximum settings.

GTX 570 and 580s however were already pushed to their limits in custom OC models and barely had any extra headroom.

If I was buying 7970s, say they clock all the way up to 1150 Mhz, chances are that going too much over 1 Ghz would begin to provide diminishing gains in comparison to the extra voltage required and heat generated.

But leaving it entirely at stock speed would be stupid, I'd similarly look for the highest stock volt or undervolted frequencies and use those while gaming.

The majority are getting around 1100 without extra volts. Theres a guy on here that got 1200mhz stable with no added voltage. You would have to be pretty unlucky to get a 7970 that cant do well over 1ghz on the core at stock volts.

bhavv · 27 Jan 2012 at 15:01

TheRealDeal said:
The majority are getting around 1100 without extra volts. Theres a guy on here that got 1200mhz stable with no added voltage. You would have to be pretty unlucky to get a 7970 that cant do well over 1ghz on the core at stock volts.

Wow, that I didnt know :eek:

I've not been following it much, the GK104 is what I'm interested in.

rolypolyman · 27 Jan 2012 at 15:25

I dont clock my cpu or my gpu and I dont feel foolish. I'm only playing Skyrim at the moment and its running fine at 1920 X 1080. Couldn't tell you the fps, I just play the game and its fine, why overclock if you dont need to.

555BUK · 27 Jan 2012 at 15:30

YAWN, 7900's overclock really well because of the 28nm process. Similar benefits will be applied to all further AMD and NVidia 28nm releases. If the 7970 was a 40nm card, the overclocks would be a trully momentus feat, but they are not and you would expect a new process to clock much higher.

55nm 3870 = overclocked to ~850MHz
40nm 5870 = overclocked to ~1000Mhx
28nm 7970 = overclocks to ~1175MHz

With new processes, max clock speeds grow by 15-20% each generation. Stop yapping about 7900 28nm overclocks, because growth is nothing spectactular, and does not really exceed expectations.

spankingtexan · 27 Jan 2012 at 15:55

LOL! omg, my cards better than your card, my dads biger than your dad. Face it, 7970 fastest card at the moment (fact) Nvidia's will be brilliant too. Just make your choice and enjoy.

Ghøst · 27 Jan 2012 at 16:01

Yeah I read this whole thread and the 'fanboy factor' is off the scale.

So many retarded comments its unbelievable!

DamoTourettes · 27 Jan 2012 at 16:04

gurusan said:
Most gpus clock at least around 10-15%. Some people gladly pay an extra 100 quid or more for a performance difference like that. To not clock your GPU is foolish.

WHICH IS PRECISELY WHY THE 7970 SHOULD HAVE COME OUT WITH HIGHER DEFAULT CLOCKS.

All this ******** about TDP is absolute *********. You've got a GTX 580 slayer that would kill ALL arguments like this one, on forums like this, and yet you clock it 20-30% slower than it can easily go, which in turn makes your competitors old tech still look good? If AMD were actually looking to completely capitalise on Kepler being late they should and according to drunkenmaster easily *could* have clocked the 7970 much higher.

FACT IS, THEY DIDN'T.

End result? Arguments and potential purchases having heated debates like this, and in the end AMD not selling as many as they could because people are waiting.

Now, the question is, why did AMD do this? TDP = absolute rubbish. Perhaps they were worried about longevity at higher clocks. Maybe they thought their PCB design is crap. Maybe maybe whatever whatever.

If you've got a card that is capable of 30% more performance and you don't release it as such, then you are a business imbecile. Are AMD really that? No. They released the 7970 at the speeds they did FOR VERY GOOD REASON.

Ghøst · 27 Jan 2012 at 16:09

This place is hilarious!

spankingtexan · 27 Jan 2012 at 16:12

MichaelM · 27 Jan 2012 at 16:14

Has a card ever caused so much butthurt before?

oweneades · 27 Jan 2012 at 16:14

bhavv said:
Wow, that I didnt know

I've not been following it much, the GK104 is what I'm interested in.

Yup, mine is sitting pretty at 1125/6600 on "stock" volts.

So far I have seen basically linear performance increases (circa 20%) thanks to the OC (21%) - a polar opposite to the VLIW5 & VLIW4 based cards.

spankingtexan · 27 Jan 2012 at 16:14

Reminds me when I was a kid, seeing who had the most pubic hairs.

Gregster · 27 Jan 2012 at 16:16

Intel didn't release the I5 2500K with a stock clock of 4.6ghz but these chips easily clock to this on air. did they mess up also?

Gibbo · 27 Jan 2012 at 16:19

Hi there

With the new 28nm process on the 7900 series overclocking the GPU can give as high as a 50% boost in clock speeds. ATI have really pulled a blinder here with how well these cards perform when overclock. The gains you can achieve are not just 1-2fps here and there but we could be talking 10fps+ from overclocking alone.

For example an overclocked 7970 beats a 6990 and exchanges blows with a 590. The 7970 clocks as high as 40% above stock speeds and the 7950 clock upto 50%, the performance gains are there to be had and with ATI's dual BIOS setup on both cards makes overclocking both fun and easy.

Gregster · 27 Jan 2012 at 16:21

spankingtexan said:
Reminds me when I was a kid, seeing who had the most pubic hairs.

errrrrrr that statement is just WRONG