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Which 680 to get?

Roverno

Roverno

Roverno

Associate
Joined
24 May 2011
Posts
1,790
Location
West Sussex
Hi all,

budget of about £530 for a GPU in my friends new system which is not built yet. z77 based i5 3570k, 128gb ssd, 8gb ram 1600mhz.

Got 750W XFX in the budget which should be plenty for 680s right? they have pretty low consumption?

So yea, looking at a 680 but unsure what to go for... The EVGA that have just come into ocuk look pretty decent.
 
I went for the KFA2, not installed it yet but it was the warranty that swung it for me - KFA2 took over BFG's UK base so you're in good hands with them.

EVGA are also very, very good, and the OcUK branded cards are obviously dealt with by the retailer.
 
I personally went for the cheapest reference one I could - looking at reviews of the aftermarket ones the small extra bump in speed isn't worth the massive jump in price

e.g. reference ones seem to be able to do high 1200's without too much issue and even the best non-refence ones struggle to get in the the 1300's consistently

ultimately there's not enough reviews (pro or user) to be able to really comment at this point
 
Humm this is telling me that they are really all the same and even the aftermarket coolers make little differnece, best just to get the cheapest with good support. Which looks like KFA2 or OCUK value.

Thanks
 
Got a good deal on the one in sig was £469 then the price whent up to near £500 in the same day :)
 
If you're willing to spend a bit more money then the KFA Hall of Fame edition may be worth keeping an eye on as it has a Voltage chip on it which will hopefully allow you to fully adjust the voltage on the card, allowing you to overclock it potentially much higher, which is well worth waiting for if you plan to overclock and feel thats worth it :)
 
Well we have just spotted the Phantom 4GB in stock today and are extremely tempted. Easily the best looking card, with an extra 3GB, plus plenty of OC room. Any reason not to get this card other than the price?
 
Err yeah i did mean 2GB, my bad. Had the 7970 on the mind...

Will be playing at 1080 120Hz for the most time. And as i understand having 4GB memory will be little benefit over 2GB at that resolution? but does the 120hz make a significant difference?

The cooler does look amazing though :p
 
Roverno said:
Err yeah i did mean 2GB, my bad. Had the 7970 on the mind...

Will be playing at 1080 120Hz for the most time. And as i understand having 4GB memory will be little benefit over 2GB at that resolution? but does the 120hz make a significant difference?

The cooler does look amazing though :p
Click to expand...

120hz doesn't make a difference - it just means that it's preferable to get faster frame rates to get the full benefit of the faster refresh rate

2GB is currently fine for 1080p and by the time it isn't there'll be a faster card at the same price point with more VRAM IMO
 
The phantom will not clock consistantly higher than a reference board. Yes it has more power phases and 6+8 pin but it will still cap out at 1.175v and physically cannot draw more than 1.21~v

You might lose the silicone lottery on a phantom and have a card that barely reaches 1.2ghz core stable, whereas you could win big and get a 1.3ghz core on a reference board.

If you go for the phantom you are paying a premium for the cooler design, whether that's acceptable to you or not is the issue.
 
Well I just pulled the trigger on the Gigabyte 680 on today's special.

Still an obscene price but a £40 discount for one with UK RMA and 3 years warranty.

Wanted to wait for a custom cooler but wanted one for this upcoming week and by all accounts the reference is super cool and quiet anyway.

At least that's how I'm justifying it.

.
 
OptimaLnrg said:
The phantom will not clock consistantly higher than a reference board. Yes it has more power phases and 6+8 pin but it will still cap out at 1.175v and physically cannot draw more than 1.21~v

You might lose the silicone lottery on a phantom and have a card that barely reaches 1.2ghz core stable, whereas you could win big and get a 1.3ghz core on a reference board.

If you go for the phantom you are paying a premium for the cooler design, whether that's acceptable to you or not is the issue.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that limitation on voltage i guess is what really kills it. Would jump for it otherwise.

The only reason for us avoiding the reference design is the horrific green writing on the side of the card. It pretty tacky and not even central, why Nvidia why?

Think its going to be a bit of a waiting game to get one with a non-ref cooler at a reasonable price.
 
^ I don't like the green logo either, would make reference look completely out of place in my system.

I don't mind paying extra for aesthetics. That's more important to me than extra voltage. But the phantom charges a huuuuuge premium for the cooler. I can't comment on the 680 version, It's probably a lot better than the 580 (which is naff imo) because the 2 fans will cause less turbulence and whining than the 3 on the 580.

Both a card with stock voltage control and a card with modified will perform fairly similarly in games scenarios where it really matters to me. People may say the extra few fps gained from the higher clocks could prolong the life of the card, but who buys a modified 'ultra' version of a flagship card and keeps using it long enough for the few extra fps to matter?

Of course if you want the best benchmark scores, you need MOAARRRRRRRRRRRR voltage!
 
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Just ordered a EVGA GTX 680 from OCuK - £429 is a great price imo even if its 'only' the reference card. Only 4 left after mine, get em before they sell out!
 
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