***Official GTX 670 thread***

[bhavv]

now you really are clutching at straws, I've never said the stock cooler is better than a custom one, I've just said that for the 3 FPS difference it makes it's not worth £50 IMO...

People dont buy the custom coolers just for the FPS difference, why cant you understand that?

Reference 7970's are noisy when clocked to 1200mhz, but that's a reference cooler supporting a 29% over clock without throttling down. The reference coolers on the 670/680 would be noisy as hell with this sort of overclock, in fact it probably just wouldnt do it. If you want to over clock go with the wind force or the Asus directcu, which are both very quiet even with increased voltages and clock speeds.

I heard that reference GTX 680s overclocked to over 1200 Mhz remain silent, while reference 7970s are too loud from people that owned both.

 

[Broken Hope]

Here's my MSI OC version at stock.

Boosts up to around 1110.

 

[Things change I've changed]

now you really are clutching at straws, I've never said the stock cooler is better than a custom one, I've just said that for the 3 FPS difference it makes it's not worth £50 IMO...

(or whatever amount of money you want to make out by cherry picking the most expensive reference card you can find)

The thing is your both right in a way, for you it's not worth the extra £50 for the reasons you stated and they are valid reasons, for you, but for Bhavv it could be worth it depending on what he wants and how much he values those needs, take me for example, after the cost of returning my old card and the price of a custom one I've nearly spent an extra £60 over the cost of a reference 670, but if I can get a quiet gpu then for me it has been worth it, but I have friends with 470's that lol at fan noise and would say it's a waste.

Now can we kiss and make up.

 

[bhavv]

The thing is your both right in a way, for you it's not worth the extra £50 for the reasons you stated and they are valid reasons, for you, but for Bhavv it could be worth it depending on what he wants and how much he values those needs, take me for example, after the cost of returning my old card and the price of a custom one I've nearly spent an extra £60 over the cost of a reference 670, but if I can get a quiet gpu then for me it has been worth it, but I have friends with 470's that lol at fan noise and would say it's a waste.

Oh, I thought you were complaining about the KFA2 EX OC all this time lol.

Mine is definitely silent up to 66% fan speed, and that is keeping my GPU temperature well below 70 degrees at 1250 Mhz.

You CANNOT get a reference card that can do that, a ** stop antagonising ** the thermal throttles at 70 and 80 degrees, seeing that he keeps posting links of the reference card running at 70c in an open bench, and 82c in a closed system at STOCK speeds, and apparantly that to him is fine for overclocking the reference card to 1250 Mhz in SLI

 

[psychodil]

People dont buy the custom coolers just for the FPS difference, why cant you understand that?



I heard that reference GTX 680s overclocked to over 1200 Mhz remain silent, while reference 7970s are too loud from people that owned both.

That's only what, a 9% over clock on stock voltage?

 

[Gregster]

I heard that reference GTX 680s overclocked to over 1200 Mhz remain silent, while reference 7970s are too loud from people that owned both.

Agreed. I get well over 1200mhz and close to 1300 and the fan is very quiet on my ref EVGA. Also to note, this is not pushing the card and it is capable of far more.

 

[pgi947]

If I may just chime in, I've owned both a 7970 ref and now the Windforce 670.

The 7970 ref was very very noisy over ~50%. Keeping temps under control was quite a challenge once the card was clocked. As for clocking, with all cards there is no way you are guaranteed to hit 1200mhz on a 7970, without getting savage with the voltages I found it hard to get stable over 1100mhz. Had it just over a week, got fed up with the drivers, sold the card on to see what the green team had to offer and try out 3D Vision. Originally planned to get a ref 680, but I can't argue with the 670.

I'm not saying any are bad cards, but everyones perception of a good or bad card is vastly different.

 

[bhavv]

That's only what, a 9% over clock on stock voltage?

More like around 1300 Mhz on the GTX 680 vs 1200 on the 7970 reference cards.

The 7970 ref was very very noisy over ~50%. Keeping temps under control was quite a challenge once the card was clocked. As for clocking, with all cards there is no way you are guaranteed to hit 1200mhz on a 7970, without getting savage with the voltages I found it hard to get stable over 1100mhz. Had it just over a week, got fed up with the drivers, sold the card on to see what the green team had to offer and try out 3D Vision. Originally planned to get a ref 680, but I can't argue with the 670.

And with the KFA2 EX OC 670, I got a guaranteed 1215 Mhz clock out of the box, overclocked to 1250 Mhz, running silent at 66% fan speed after a heatsink reseat with <69c temperatures. And that is so far the worst custom version too, the Gigabyte Windforce and Asus DCUII are even quieter with lower temperatures.

With a reference design clocked to 1250 Mhz, I'd be needing 100% exhaust blower fan speed, and still getting over 90 degrees setting off the cards thermal throttles.

 

[andybird123]

I heard that reference GTX 680s overclocked to over 1200 Mhz remain silent,

that is simply not true

 

[Gregster]

that is simply not true

Yes it is.

 

[bhavv]

that is simply not true

Oh so now your the expert spamming baseless opinions as fact when you've never even owned a GTX 680?

 

[andybird123]

Yes it is.

then you have a different definition of the word silent of which I was previously unaware

noisy? not particularly, but silent is a bit of a stretch

 

[andybird123]

Oh so now your the expert spamming baseless opinions as fact when you've never even owned a GTX 680?

that's not true either, I have owned 2 680's

 

[psychodil]

The point I am making bhaav is that the reference 7970 cooler is having to deal with a much higher heat output than it was designed for when over clocked, the 680 cover in your comparison is only having a slightly increased heat output.

 

[bhavv]

that's not true either, I have owned 2 680's

And youre the only person so far that has said they are loud when overclocked, every other GTX 680 owner has told me they are silent.

Maybe you to improve your case's airflow and / or reseat the coolers.

The point I am making bhaav is that the reference 7970 cooler is having to deal with a much higher heat output than it was designed for when over clocked, the 680 cover in your comparison is only having a slightly increased heat output.

And thats why I prefer the GK104 because it has much lower heat output and much better performance per watt.

This to me says that the GTX 670 is the single best graphics card ever made:



Thats why I have one, I only buy the best.

 

[phinix]

Do you guys think that swapping GTX580 to GTX670 would be a good idea?
Less power hungry chip, smaller card, 20% faster...
Would you swap it, having 2560x1440 screen? Of course it would cost aroung £100, hoping that my GTX580 would go for £220...

 

[PCplodder]

Non referance 7970's aren't magically loud......

They are only as loud as the cooler thats on them, and in the Gigabyte Windforce/ Asus DC2's sake at the same fan speed our 'loudness' they are only a little hotter than the 670's once both overclocked, and they are can happily be a little 'hotter' aswell if they like as they dont throttle down like the 670's.

Being loud isnt a problem with Windforce/DC2 7970's atall. At the price they are and with the games they come with they are very good value and about £335. Once overclocked on par/not far behind overall than a 680.

Iv'e owned a 7970, Got rid of it before the price drop and switched to Nvidia for 3D. But they arent bad cards and arent magically noisy with non reference coolers..... You cant compare a non reference 670 to a reference 7970 as they arent the same price. The 670 windforce and DC2 are more expensive than the 7970 windforce/DC specially when you factor inthe free games and extra RAM that is usefull for high resolutions.

Im not bumming AMD, Im just a realist and arent a fanboy of either brand. Im getting a 670 just putting to bed people saying a 7970 is poop because its loud??? DC2 and windforce 7970's are only as loud as the same 670's just a wee hotter

 

[bhavv]

Non reference 7970s are still very inefficient compared to GTX 670 / 680.

More power consumed and more heat output for the same level of performance.

 

[mrbios]

This to me says that the GTX 670 is the single best graphics card ever made:

Lies, the 9500non pro cards that flashed in to 9700pros were and always will be the greatest cards ever made!

 

[bhavv]

Lies, the 9500non pro cards that flashed in to 9700pros were and always will be the greatest cards ever made!

Oh yea, and those