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GTX 670 /680 - What are Palit & Gainward like?

Inaharry

Inaharry

Inaharry

Associate
Joined
3 Aug 2004
Posts
252
Hi,

I've been waiting for a while to get 2 x EVGA GTX 670 4GB cards, but they keep getting put back and nobody seems to know when they're likely to be in stock. This seems to be the same for the 4GB GTX 680 cards from EVGA as well.

As my 5870 is really struggling to run 3 screens and I have to keep disabling them, I've been considering paying the premium and going for 2 x GTX 680 4GBs instead, (mainly because there aren't any other 4GB 670s apart from the EVGA ones) but the only 'readily available' 4GB cards are from Palit, (JetStream) and Gainward, (Phantom).

I've never owned one of these makes. Are they generally OK in terms of build quality and warranty? I've read quite a few problems about coil whine on them, but then I've also seen people complaining about that on EVGA and Gigabyte cards too, including AMD based ones.

Also, am I right in thinking that the heatsink shape of the Palit JetStream is like the Gainward Phantom in that it takes up 2.5 slots, because I need to put a Xonar STX PCI-E card in-between the SLI setup?

Thanks!
 
i had a palit jetstream...not worth it all ..overpriced and the card isn't that good...despite the appearance of the cooler ...temps are a lot higher than for example the msi twin frozr which infact has the lowest temps amongs non ref gtx 680's along with the windforce.

also the one i had...made really bad coil whine....and the reviews shows palit jetstreams don't seem to clock well as the other non ref. (could be bad luck but oh well) (my palit got dsr'd pronto)

gainwards..just well overpriced not worth it.

if your adamant on 4gb cards..wait for the evga ones..that's what i'd pick, infact forget 2 gtx 680's go for 2x gtx 4gb 670's better value for money. which is pretty much what you wanted...but i'm just affirming what you said.
 
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yes they are both 2.5 slots. As you can see i've 2 jetstreams and have no complaints what so ever,max out most games with a high fps. BF3 over 70 fps fully maxed,hope this helps
 
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I haven't tried a pallit/gainward 670/680 however when I tried pallit/gainward 560ti/570/580 they were all bad overclockers, so if you can get them really cheap then just bear that in mind... I wouldn't pay over the odds for a gainward card either though, they look nice but actually when you put them to the test they don't justify their extra cost

the reviews of the 680 jetstream come out quite well though (the jetstream windheaven refers to was a 670 jetsream which isn't so good)
 
I have 2 Palit 680s. They don't OC too well but I only paid £385 each for them. I can live with how much I get out of them because of the price I got them for. Considering the EVGA cards are going for over £100 more & I don't think its remotely possible to get anywhere near the 25-30% increase in performance that I saved in price.

If that makes sense...

I just got some shiny waterblocks delivered for them though so I'll see how far they go under water :)
 
i've actually ordered a msi twin frozr gtx 680, should be with me wednesday or thursday, will let you know how well they perform..

*fingers crossed super tight*
 
Thanks very much for all of your feedback, it's been a great help.

I think I'm going to try and hold out another week or two to see if the EVGA 4GB cards appear, preferably the 670 because of the price difference.

If the EVGAs keep getting delayed too much longer, then I'll consider a Palit or Gainward if they're priced a bit more sensibly - I don't really want to pay a 'shortage' premium on cards with a lower OC capability and a shorter warranty unless I've got no other choice.

I would've been more than happy getting an MSI, Gigabyte Windforce or KFA2, but none of them offer 4GB 670 cards and like the EVGAs, the KFA2 680 cards have been delayed a few times as well.

In fact, I emailed both Gigabyte UK and KFA2 to ask if they were planning to make 4GB versions of their 670 cards two weeks ago, but still haven't had any response :(. EVGA on the other hand emailed me the same day, but gave me an expected date of the end of last week......
 
EVGA are having many shortage issues i'm afraid :(

Are you sure you need 4gb? I thought this too and was in he same predicament, but after plenty of research, I found that 2GB is enough at 5760 unless you have 3+ GPU's.

Have a look at 690 benchmarks for your res as it only has 2gb VRAM, you'll see that it isn't really hindered by it :)
 
Rossi~ said:
One thing to remember here, Palit own Gainward.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I didn't realise that. :)


Cleeecooo said:
EVGA are having many shortage issues i'm afraid :(

Are you sure you need 4gb? I thought this too and was in he same predicament, but after plenty of research, I found that 2GB is enough at 5760 unless you have 3+ GPU's.

Have a look at 690 benchmarks for your res as it only has 2gb VRAM, you'll see that it isn't really hindered by it :)
Click to expand...

I did quite a bit of research as well and like you, saw a lot of the 5760 x 1080 benchmarks coming in at some reasonable figures. At that point, I would've easily bought 2 x Windforce cards or got the KFA2 SLI offer that OcUK have, but I've found so many posts recently that say about turning down detail levels at this resolution or not installing certain texture packs because it needs around 2.5GB of VRAM and currently the only way of getting round the problem is to disable Aero before starting certain games because it frees up around 300MB.

In addition to that, I'd like to try 3D surround gaming, so that's why I've been put off the 2GB cards. If I could find something that has definite proof that the problems people have been having are due to a lack of GPU power rather than VRAM, I'd happily go for 2GB, but even the review sites say that 4GB is only needed / recommended for multi-monitor setups.

Maybe I made the wrong decision a couple of months ago by getting two additional XL2420Ts instead of getting one VG278H, (Asus 27" 3D monitor). I kept changing my mind over the DSR period, but ended up keeping the XL2420Ts when I tried a couple of racing games - the immersion was amazing.....it reminded me of playing arcade machines all of those years ago! :p
 
Unfortunately, AMD based cards aren't an option for me any more. I was originally going to get a 7970 when the aftermarket versions appeared, but by that time, the Kepler cards had been released and I've now made an investment in getting 3D monitors that will only work with Nvidia cards.

It's a shame that nobody can agree to a standard when it comes to 3D. Having passive and active 3D is bad enough, but to now have active 3D where the monitors will only work with one type of card, (Acer, Asus and BenQ with Nvidia and Samsung with AMD etc.)

I suppose we've been here before though.....HD-DVD / BluRay, Betamax / VHS. :p
 
3D doesn't use more VRAM btw...

Also: the turning down settings is down to lack of GPU power no? Also, I know I'd rather personally disable Aero stuff that pay over the odds for a 4GB card but that's just me :p
 
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personally, having seen some people run in to issues with 3 screens with only 2GB cards, I would be looking at going 4GB 670 SLI personally... the only reason I've gone with 2GB is because I've decided to go with a single 1600p monitor instead of 3 screen
 
Nuwidol said:
You can also set Aero to automatically disable itself when you launch specific applications. That way it turns back an as soon as the app is closed again & you can save over £300 on graphics cards. Maybe get a third card instead?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, that's really useful to know - I was imagining having to disable aero every time I wanted to start particular games, I didn't think about the shortcut properties.


andybird123 said:
personally, having seen some people run in to issues with 3 screens with only 2GB cards, I would be looking at going 4GB 670 SLI personally... the only reason I've gone with 2GB is because I've decided to go with a single 1600p monitor instead of 3 screen
Click to expand...

This is why I'm finding it so difficult to just go for the 2GB cards. Also, reading things like the end of the conclusion of Anandtech's review of the GTX 690 which is 2GB per GPU. He says that he feels uneasy because some of the 5760 x 1200 and even a couple of 1600p benchmarks wouldn't run on 1GB cards and it's only a matter of time as to when they won't run on 2GB cards either because 2GB has been the high-end standard since 2010.

It's frustrating because the KFA2 GTX 670 2GB SLI offer that OcUK have got on at the moment is soooooooooooo tempting, especially as the OC core speeds match a stock GTX 680....I almost placed the order earlier, but I might hold out until the end of the week just in case it's true about the 4GB EVGA cards appearing.
 
Well, I've been thinking about the pros and cons all evening and I've decided to go for the KFA2 SLI bundle.

My reasoning behind this is as follows:

1. There isn't a lot around at the moment that would actually 'require' above 2GB to run at 5760 x 1080 and if something appears in the short term that does, I can always drop a couple of the settings down. If I then find that in 6-9 months or so that games are appearing that'll need 4GB to run at maximum settings across 3 monitors, I can always sell the KFA2s to go towards whatever is available by then, such as the GK110.

2. Although I considered the Windforce cards like you suggested Cleeecooo, (as they were my first choice originally), it would cost me an extra £110 to get two cards over the KFA2 and the base clock on the KFA2 EX OC is higher than the Gigabyte, (although I've read they both OC fairly evenly). The other thing that originally made me want the Windforce was Gigabyte's warranty, but it appears that KFA2's is good as well, (although a year shorter) and is UK based like Gigabyte.

3. If I wait for the EVGA 4GBs to appear...whenever that may be :p, not only is there a chance that the price may go up over the current pre-order price, but there might not be any free stock after all of the pre-orders are fulfilled and on top of that, it would cost me an extra £210 for two cards, just to have 4GB! :eek: This could go towards another upgrade. ;)

So, I'm pretty sure that I'm making the right decision, (for me anyway...and I get Max Payne 3 bundled which is a bonus :D).
 
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