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GTX 680 differences

It has to be an active displayport adapter to get 120 Hz.

I would get the Windforce and overclock it a tad.

All it is to overclock is open overclocking program, type in number you want to overclock by, press enter done.

Save yourself £20 in the process and get an excellent cooler.

Can't speak to the EVGA cooler as I've not used it but their warranty support is excellent (as is Gigabytes).
 
Ok it's down to two now then. The KFA2 with 4gb of vram was too much esp when I plan on going SLI and it'll cost me £500 for one when i get one next time.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-193-EA
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-193-EA

I can't really find any reviews on the EVGA SC TWO card, is it really new or something?

A bit petty but gigabytes turquoise PCB is a bit off putting when I'm making my PC look pretty nice, however the 3fan may be better than EVGA?

Anyone have any EVGA SC TWO reviews as I don't want to make a naive decision :) Thanks.
 
Rusty0611 said:
You only need to consider 4GB if you're going tri-SLI and multi monitor in the future.

Otherwise the level of settings you need to hit the VRAM limit on a 2GB card won't be achievable anyway due to not having enough GPU power.

Adapter for 120 Hz:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-000-SR

Pricey.
Click to expand...

Thats mini displayport, not displayport. I don't plan on using displayport anyway, I'll be using DVI. Also I found an active display port to DVI for £20 on the rain forest, made by startech too! XD

In terms of this, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-093-GI

Due to it being 3 fans, do you need a backplate to prevent warping to the PCB?
 
Yes you're right - apologies. For some reason I thought the cards above (w/o DVI) had mDP.

Nah I don't think you need one a backplate. I haven't got one.
 
Rusty0611 said:
Yes you're right - apologies. For some reason I thought the cards above (w/o DVI) had mDP.

Nah I don't think you need one a backplate. I haven't got one.
Click to expand...

You have SLI windforce right? How are all the temps in the case? I have an Antec 1100 with an Ivy i5 3570k on closed loop water cooling, corsair h60 and 200mm top fan and 5 internal 120mm fans.

My 3570k is currently sitting at 32c idle with no graphics card in the case, since ivy gets hotter than sandy, i guess this is a good temp for a H60 cooler?

I'm leaning towards the gigabyte windforce but don't want to buy it only to have bad case temps when I go SLI with it.
 
Have evga ever made a non-blower cooler before? o_0?

I would be wary if it's their first attempt. Maybe I'm being unfair but it looks like one of those rubbish Gainward GOOD ones.

Imo the kfa2 ltd oc is out because the white pcb looks like a bad attempt at recreating the interior of the Razor from star wars. Plus the MDT outputs only allow for one 120hz panel, which puts me right off.

As for which one is faster, it's all pot luck. I would look for the best cooler/warranty/support combo at the cheapest price.

..With a dash of aesthetic considerations ;)
 
You can run into problems going SLI with two Windforce type cards. The problem is that the top one will suck in the hot air from the bottom for cooling as the heat from it rises. You really need decent case cooling if you have two non-reference cards of this type.

I don't know what the performance of the Antec 1100 is like for this. Does it have a side fan? If it doesn't two Windforces might be a bad idea as it's often better to have a side fan exhausting (i.e. drawing the hot air away from the two cards) and then another fan blowing on them (from the front).

I don't have 2 Windforce cards - I have a bog standard reference MSI 680 and then the Windforce. Windforce in top slot, reference in second PCI slot. The reference card actually clocks slightly higher (to 1280) but I have them both set to 1260.

My case, CPU, GPU temps are fine. I don't go above 60c in BF3 and in Heaven 3.0 I kept them both under 70c allbeit with the fans quite loud. Not unbearably so but noticeable.
 
My top card maxes around 71c under stress on the auto fan profile. It doesn't 'throttle' down at all though.

My case cooling is pretty poor though. 2x120mm in the roof (static pressure corsair fans as I preferred the look) and a 200mm in the front. Windowed panel.

I also have a prototype aurora non-cooling loop in the front which is blocking airflow from the front fan, lol.
 
Antec1100Pic4.jpg


Antec 1100, has 4 120mm internal fans near the front, one 120mm internal fan behind the CPU backplate, one top 200mm fan, one back 120mm and two side 120mm fans. Not to mention the PSU fan is facing the BOTTOM of the case it pushes in/out from the bottom of the case, not from inside the case

Thanks for the advice and info, will help me make an informed decision :)


EDIT: Does the windforce blow air out or in? This looks quite good: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-003-LL
 
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The windforce blows air over the fins of the heatsink and onto the card. The air escapes all over the place, away from mobo, towards mobo, from rear and front of card, etc. If the case airflow is rubbish that air can be re-circulated through the card and raise the temp.

The lian li blower thing is unnecessary tbh.
 
OptimaLnrg said:
Have evga ever made a non-blower cooler before? o_0?

I would be wary if it's their first attempt. Maybe I'm being unfair but it looks like one of those rubbish Gainward GOOD ones.

Imo the kfa2 ltd oc is out because the white pcb looks like a bad attempt at recreating the interior of the Razor from star wars. Plus the MDT outputs only allow for one 120hz panel, which puts me right off.

As for which one is faster, it's all pot luck. I would look for the best cooler/warranty/support combo at the cheapest price.

..With a dash of aesthetic considerations ;)
Click to expand...

Hi All, The signature 2 is NOT the first time EVGA have used the dual coolers, we have done this on 580, 570 cards as well! FYI the signature 2 is the fastest selling EVGA 680 at the moment in the UK, from what I see and here from clients: it is outselling all other 680 cards 2-1! Also for you ref, we are just about to launch a 670 signature 2 as well :)
 
evga_Lee said:
Hi All, The signature 2 is NOT the first time EVGA have used the dual coolers, we have done this on 580, 570 cards as well! FYI the signature 2 is the fastest selling EVGA 680 at the moment in the UK, from what I see and here from clients: it is outselling all other 680 cards 2-1! Also for you ref, we are just about to launch a 670 signature 2 as well :)
Click to expand...
Hi Lee

Is there any reviews out on some of the big tech sites showing the 680 signature 2? I'm after comparing it with the gigabyte windforce 3. I was told by a friend that his 580 DS Superclocked sounded like a jet engine and still hit 90c+ constantly in his HAF 912 case.

Although I don't really hold this against EVGA, as I follow reviews and stats to make an informed decision but unfortunately I can't find anything on the Signature 2 for the 680.
 
I can only say the following: these are my fastest selling sku on the 680 cards, and as you can see EVGA have a lot of versions. Also feedback from channel clients suggests this card is outselling other brands versions 2-1! I know this sounds likes hype it up talk, but this is the feedback I get from the channel. Review units are in the process of going to the channel and you will see these soon. My guys in tech are telling me they are quite....very quite........I don't think you will be disappointed :)
 
I wasn't sure because evga seems to churn out an abundance of blowers.

If I was buying evga now I would go sc2 simply because I intend to watercool and the cooler design would probably command a better re-sale value.

But.. too late ;)
 
Just like to thank everyone again for their input.

Decided to go with this one: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-093-GI

The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680 WindForce 3x OC. With little to no information regarding the Signature 2 from EVGA. I had to go deep to find something on it, I did however find some youtube videos of the card in action whilst showing evga precision in the corner and noticed the card ran 77-79c for one guy consistently throughout the games he played.

Whilst the windforce has been reviewed and shown to only get low to mid 60s so I've opted for that card, £10 cheaper too...

So putting aesthetics aside, as I think the blue PCB really does look terrible but I won't be seeing that much, even with a window side panel!
 
The temperatures were probably down to a pretty tame fan curve. Even my reference can keep under 70c fairly easily.

To be fair I would say both are very nice cards and you're not missing out whichever way you choose.

Welcome to the GTX680 Gigabyte Windforce 3x club. Although I'm not a huge fan of the blue PCB I like the aesthetics of the cooler.
 
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