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GTX 670 - OCUK value, MSI OC or EVGA SC?

ed79

ed79

ed79

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Right, I think I'm going to order tomorrow, but which one....

OCUK value (Palit?) - boosts to 980 - £310
MSI OC - boosts to 1045 - £330
EVGA SC - boosts to 1045 - £354

Not bothered about breaking overclocking records, so ref design is fine (and I perfer an external exhaust design).

What I'm not sure of though is, are the quoted boost clocks correct - I seem to have read in other threads that in fact the 670s automatically boost higher than that anyway?

Right now I'm going for the MSI, but is it worth buying a pre overclocked version, or might I find that they don't actually boost any higher than an OCUK value version does anyway?
 
Ah damn! My last card was a 460 ref. and that was fine. TBH I read all the 680 reviews where they said how amazingly quiet they were, so when the 670 came out I just read the benchmark graphs then decided to buy one!

I take it the 670 ref can be louder than 680 ref?
 
ATM I wouldn't get the EVGA SC.

Quite a few of the cards in the US have had problems and EVGA are expediting swaps upgrading customers to FTW versions of the card due to the widespread problem.

I have one bought in the UK and I have the same problem ootb - artifacts and driver crashes at stock speeds. Am in the process of RMA'ing it.

Also agree that the noise of the reference cooler is very annoying even at idle - loud enough to be heard over the rest of the case/cpu/psu fans when idling. And the character if the noise is very harsh.

I got a Gigabyte windforce in the meantime and the noise difference is night and day!
 
I returned my reference cooler Gainward 670 within a few hours as the fan noise was unbearable at all times, even at "idle".

If you're worried about noise, I'd avoid the stock cooler cards.
 
lowrider007 said:
They seem to be, going on what people are reporting on here.

You may be fine with it though, everyone has different tolerances for noise, was/is your 460 completely silent on load or does it ramp up?
Click to expand...

I went from 8800 GT to the GTX 460 - idle was louder but load noise (and temps) were quieter. I've got an old Lian Li case which looks nice but is quite cramped inside by modern standards and air flow ain't great, so it could be a problem.

Edit: although I remember at the time the 460 came out there was lots of talk about them being too loud in contrast to what the reviews said - but mine (an OCUK value (Inno3D) ref model again!)) was fine to my ears.
 
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Reference 670 has a cheap HS and cooler, way to cheap for a £300+ card so stay clear. Personaly I would go with the gigabyte windforce, great cooler and great UK based warranty.

nvidia-gtx680-heatsink.jpg


2.jpg
 
ed79 said:
I went from 8800 GT to the GTX 460 - idle was louder but load noise (and temps) were quieter. I've got an old Lian Li case which looks nice but is quite cramped inside by modern standards and air flow ain't great, so it could be a problem.
Click to expand...

I would play it safe and grab the Gigabyte windforce tbh, it's definitely worth it over the reference designs, more expensive but then it will probably have better resale value in the long run.
 
onering said:
ATM I wouldn't get the EVGA SC.

Quite a few of the cards in the US have had problems and EVGA are expediting swaps upgrading customers to FTW versions of the card due to the widespread problem.
Click to expand...

I take it there's no chance of me buying the SC tomorrow and getting a free FTW upgrade soon then? ;)
 
Gigabyte does sound good.

Problem is though that long term I'd probably want a 2nd 670 for SLI (another reason why I liked the ref design). That and the cost...

I think I'm going to dive back into the official 670 thread and update myself on peoples experiences in the real world.

Quick question though, has anyone gone from either a 460GTX or 570/580 and if so how does the noise of the 670 compare? Another plan I had was to get a 570/580 at a discounted price, and use that until nvidias full future range (685 / 7xx series ?) becomes clear.
 
Lucky I read this thread as I was tempted by the reference MSI OC model. However, the rest of my system is fairly quiet and I don't want to return to the days of a howling GPU.
 
RavenXXX2 said:
Reference 670 has a cheap HS and cooler, way to cheap for a £300+ card so stay clear. Personaly I would go with the gigabyte windforce, great cooler and great UK based warranty.

nvidia-gtx680-heatsink.jpg


2.jpg
Click to expand...

Blimey - I have to agree that looks cheap!
 
Go for the gigabyte windforce, probably the best 670 judging by what I've read. Ofcourse I am biased since I own it, but it is super cool, super quiet and can OC a little nicely too.

At stock settings my windforce boosts to 1175 :) at £360, compared to the others you posted the choice seems clear.

Edit: my bad, it's £370. Still, worth the extra 15 considering how much you're already spending.
 
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ed79 said:
I take it there's no chance of me buying the SC tomorrow and getting a free FTW upgrade soon then? ;)
Click to expand...

In theory I think they are replacing all affected 670 SC cards with FTW cards. On the EVGA forums they are doing cross shipping to swap cards this week.

I've asked EVGA EU support and there is not a clear answer as to what their policy this side of the Atlantic is yet. And no idea if they have enough FTW's for everyone yet?
 
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