Official GTX 680 Owner's Thread

Just got mine in, stock CPU and GPU clock, I rarely dipped below 60fps in 64 player BF3 @ 1200p. Wow.
I needed two overclocked GTX 480s to do that and it suttered with 4xMSAA. The GTX 680 is maxed 4xMSAA and smooth as butter.

Impressed. Experience > Numbers
Don't worry about numbers. Has your experience been elevated? Mine sure did!!!!!

Overclocking tests tomorrow.
 
Got mine yesterday. Put it in my box. BF3 everything maxed out... never knew it could look that beautiful. Didn't really get to tinker with it, had other stuff to do last night.
 
Got mine yesterday as well. Just some random thoughts, as I haven't had time to tinker around with it as much as I would like. Some background first. My previous two cards were a Radeon 5970 and most previously, two Radeon 6970's in crossfire, so this is my first time going with Nvidia since I've started to seriously game on pc.

1. Performance wise, it's a bit of a downgrade from my two 6970's, and that was to be expected. Solid performance and results otherwise for a single gpu. I still need a bit more power, so I may consider adding another 680 for SLI or wait for the high end Kepler that's supposedly coming out.

2. I'm very pleased with the acoustics. Very quiet. When the temps got warm with my previous 6970's, the fans got noticeably loud. I haven't had time to really pushing the gtx 680 yet, but so far, it's been very silent, which I'm very happy with.

3. Right off the bat, drivers already appear to be very solid. I can finally now play Alien Shooter 2 Reloaded without any issues! With my previous 6970's, I would get random graphic corruption and stuttery frame rates while playing. Now, those problems are all gone! Yay for Nvidia drivers! :D

4. Microstuttering versus single gpu gaming - honestly, for me anyway, microstuttering is overrated. Having used two different crossfired cards previously and now using a single gpu, the gameplay experience is roughly the same for me on both setups. One of the main reasons with going with a single gpu this time was so that I could compare my gaming experience between the two setups and for me, they're about the same, minus the decreased performance with single gpu gaming.

5. Text clarity and visual quality on Nvidia cards versus AMD cards - I've read many comments from various people, saying that AMD cards deliver better visuals than Nvidia cards. After having now used a 680, I don't really see it. The colors and text clarity look about the same on my gtx 680 versus my previous Radeon 5970 and 6970's. If anything, Serious Sam 3 seems to look a bit better on my gtx 680, or maybe I'm just imagining things. In any case, they look the same to me.
 
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All of the EK 680 water blocks are in stock at Frozen CPU. I was about to buy four of them for my 4-way GTX 680 setup then I realized that the voltage is locked and the temps are low already, seems kinda pointless. Might just wait for the EVGA Hydro-Copper 4GB as I knock out three birds with one stone. Possible voltage increase plus better power delivery + Water blocks + 4GB VRAM.
 
Vega said:
All of the EK 680 water blocks are in stock at Frozen CPU. I was about to buy four of them for my 4-way GTX 680 setup then I realized that the voltage is locked and the temps are low already, seems kinda pointless. Might just wait for the EVGA Hydro-Copper 4GB as I knock out three birds with one stone. Possible voltage increase plus better power delivery + Water blocks + 4GB VRAM.
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Exactly, I don't think that there's a point in running a surround setup off quad-SLI 2 GB cards.
 
Vega said:
All of the EK 680 water blocks are in stock at Frozen CPU. I was about to buy four of them for my 4-way GTX 680 setup then I realized that the voltage is locked and the temps are low already, seems kinda pointless. Might just wait for the EVGA Hydro-Copper 4GB as I knock out three birds with one stone. Possible voltage increase plus better power delivery + Water blocks + 4GB VRAM.
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I asked a question about the utility of water cooling these things in this thread a day or so ago. I got a response from someone saying that the auto OCing is based on not just the voltage, but temp, and load as well. Hopefully it will still be beneficial.
 
Got my 680 installed about an hour ago. I must say, just doing 'apples to apples' comparisons with benchmark software against my SLI's GTX460's, I'm impressed.... Very happy with this purchase....

-SR
 
Is it true you can't run the fan lower than 30% in 2D mode? I've read the fan isn't exactly silent at 30%, so I'm curious about this. Thanks :)
 
MissJ84 said:
Is it true you can't run the fan lower than 30% in 2D mode? I've read the fan isn't exactly silent at 30%, so I'm curious about this. Thanks :)
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I don't know if you can run it lower than that or not (you can change the fan profile, but I didn't try lowering the minimum), but 30% is about as silent as I can imagine. You'd have to have a pretty quiet computer and room before you were concerned about the 30% fan noise.
 
Forceman said:
I don't know if you can run it lower than that or not (you can change the fan profile, but I didn't try lowering the minimum), but 30% is about as silent as I can imagine. You'd have to have a pretty quiet computer and room before you were concerned about the 30% fan noise.
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Thanks Forceman. My intake fan (Thermalright TY-140) and cooler fan (Scythe Slipstream PWM) both run 300-500 RPM and are sonically invisible in 2D. Same goes for my current gpu, so I'm hoping for similar low DB noise. Can anyone tell me if MSI afterburner allows for lowering percentage below 30%? I'm hoping 20%-30% can be achieved :)
 
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I consider the fan silent at 55% :eek: but that's because my other fans drown it out until about 63%.
 
Sojuuk said:
I consider the fan silent at 55% :eek: but that's because my other fans drown it out until about 63%.
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Well sure... I understand it's very quiet while gaming compared to other cards and I'm happy about that, but I'm in 2D mode quite a bit and more interested in how it sounds in this mode. I'm ready to buy a new monitor and a 680, but if the fan can't be set to below 30%, I'll either have to wait until a mod comes out, Afterburner is updated to reduce fan speed, or wait for non reference cards.

Edit: From everything I've read, Evga Precision X or whatever its called cannot go below 30%. Has anyone tested this with MSI Afterburner, and if not, can anyone test please :)
 
I got my PNY 680 today :)

Installed fine, now to BF3 for some fun.



24lq24m.jpg
 
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Vega said:
All of the EK 680 water blocks are in stock at Frozen CPU. I was about to buy four of them for my 4-way GTX 680 setup then I realized that the voltage is locked and the temps are low already, seems kinda pointless. Might just wait for the EVGA Hydro-Copper 4GB as I knock out three birds with one stone. Possible voltage increase plus better power delivery + Water blocks + 4GB VRAM.
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My card starts to downclock/fluctuate around 58C until I raise the fan above 65-70%, then clocks/OC is steady.
If water can keep these under 55C, it would a huge benefit in maintaining the boost/OC clocks.
 
Got my 2 eVGA 680s Friday and yeah, these things are incredible. From my causual testing they are beating the 3 580s they replaced. Would have bought three at release but these are the hardest nVidia cards to snag since the 780 GTX 512.

If you have 580s and can spend the money, just do it. This is nVidia's best product since the 8800s and in every way for gaming purposes thus far for me 2 is beating 3 from the prior generation in every way shape and form.

Just incredible cards.
 
MissJ84 said:
Edit: From everything I've read, Evga Precision X or whatever its called cannot go below 30%. Has anyone tested this with MSI Afterburner, and if not, can anyone test please :)
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You can set profiles below 30% in Afterburner, but the fan doesn't actually slow down to those speeds. Looks like it is locked to 30% until someone can work on the BIOS.
 
Forceman said:
You can set profiles below 30% in Afterburner, but the fan doesn't actually slow down to those speeds. Looks like it is locked to 30% until someone can work on the BIOS.
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Not really sure if this means much. The fans in the 680 are about the quietest I've not heard in a GPU ever.
 
This is probably the most solid reference design GPU I've ever had. Can play BF3 for an hour or so and the temp never reaches above 58-66c with an OC of +125/500 (fanspeed 65) -- continuing to be impressed.
 
Forceman said:
You can set profiles below 30% in Afterburner, but the fan doesn't actually slow down to those speeds. Looks like it is locked to 30% until someone can work on the BIOS.
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heatlesssun said:
Not really sure if this means much. The fans in the 680 are about the quietest I've not heard in a GPU ever.
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Thank you both and I hope Amazon starts stocking these soon. From what I've read they're quiet compared to everything else while gaming, but I've seen differences in opinion about how quiet they are while idling or in 2D mode. I can't handle very much noise while I'm working, and my current setup is silent outside of any gaming. Last question - What's the RPM reported in GPU-Z while in 2D mode and at 30%? I'm hoping for 1200rpm or less...

Edit: Sorry for all the questions, but I'm about to spend $800+ on this and a new monitor :)
 
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MissJ84 said:
Thank you both and I hope Amazon starts stocking these soon. From what I've read they're quiet compared to everything else while gaming, but I've seen differences in opinion about how quiet they are while idling or in 2D mode. I can't handle very much noise while I'm working, and my current setup is silent outside of any gaming. Last question - What's the RPM reported in GPU-Z while in 2D mode and at 30%? I'm hoping for 1200rpm or less...

Edit: Sorry for all the questions, but I'm about to spend $800+ on this and a new monitor :)
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My cards are overclocked in Precision X with 132% power target, +100 GPU clock and +200 memory clock.

Speeds in GPUZ: My top card is at 55 C 34% fan speeds and in the 1120 to 1220 range. Bottom card is at 46 C 32% fan speed and in the 1020 to 1120 range.

Seriously, I've been buying GPUs for 20 years, have owned just about every top end nVidia GPU in every series since the GeForce256, the 680 fans are the quietest I think I've ever experienced.

Whatever issues one may have with the 680, fan noise even at moderate oc levels will not be one of them. Period. End of story.

Not try to dismiss your question but the 680 fan acoustics are perfect, at least when one thinks of high end GPUs.
 
GPUz 0.6.0 shows 1020-80rpm @ 30% idle 2D.

I came from an ASUS GTX 580 DCUII and this reference GTX 680 fan might be ever so slightly louder...maybe an extra dB or 2. This is saying a lot as the DCUII is ranked up there as one of the quietest coolers for GPUs.
 
heatlesssun said:
My cards are overclocked in Precision X with 132% power target, +100 GPU clock and +200 memory clock.

Speeds in GPUZ: My top card is at 55 C 34% fan speeds and in the 1120 to 1220 range. Bottom card is at 46 C 32% fan speed and in the 1020 to 1120 range.

Seriously, I've been buying GPUs for 20 years, have owned just about every top end nVidia GPU in every series since the GeForce256, the 680 fans are the quietest I think I've ever experienced.

Whatever issues one may have with the 680, fan noise even at moderate oc levels will not be one of them. Period. End of story.

Not try to dismiss your question but the 680 fan acoustics are perfect, at least when one thinks of high end GPUs.
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Thank you for the post! It sums up everything I wanted to know...

BM00 said:
GPUz 0.6.0 shows 1020-80rpm @ 30% idle 2D.

I came from an ASUS GTX 580 DCUII and this reference GTX 680 fan might be ever so slightly louder...maybe an extra dB or 2. This is saying a lot as the DCUII is ranked up there as one of the quietest coolers for GPUs.
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I can't imagine it being quieter than Asus' DCUII fans, which is what I own, but I can handle a tad bit louder. Thank you for posting!
 
BM00 said:
This is probably the most solid reference design GPU I've ever had. Can play BF3 for an hour or so and the temp never reaches above 58-66c with an OC of +125/500 (fanspeed 65) -- continuing to be impressed.
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Yep, the experience is fantastic.

Mind = Blown
 
BM00 said:
This is probably the most solid reference design GPU I've ever had. Can play BF3 for an hour or so and the temp never reaches above 58-66c with an OC of +125/500 (fanspeed 65) -- continuing to be impressed.
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How are you guys getting those temps? With the default fan profile I get temps in the low 80s playing BF3.

*goes off to check case cooling*
 
Just sniped a Gigabyte 680 on Amazon. Will be here tomorrow! It'll hold me over till the 4GB eVGA Classified comes out.
 
Same to you! Any idea on what the warranty is for Gigabyte cards? Can't find anything on their website.
 
MissJ84 said:
Thank you both and I hope Amazon starts stocking these soon. From what I've read they're quiet compared to everything else while gaming, but I've seen differences in opinion about how quiet they are while idling or in 2D mode. I can't handle very much noise while I'm working, and my current setup is silent outside of any gaming. Last question - What's the RPM reported in GPU-Z while in 2D mode and at 30%? I'm hoping for 1200rpm or less...

Edit: Sorry for all the questions, but I'm about to spend $800+ on this and a new monitor :)
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Just to backup what heatlesssun has been saying, the fans in the 680 are so quiet. I don't have an Asus dcuii to compare it to but I can't imagine the DCuii fan to be much quieter. I can't see it annoying you while working at all.

Just to answer your other question, the fan speed on mine is 1050rpm at 30%.
 
I been waiting for the new 7xxx ati cards for months and as i wanted 1 with a good custom cooler i waited bit extra.
But just as i was about to invest in a new card the GTX 680 comes out and surprises me :p
I currently decided to get the GTX 680 mainly due to the lower price for basically the same game performance as the current high end ati cards.
But since i want a nice custom cooler on it will wait a bit more ;)

I havent had a Nvidia card since the classic 8800GTS 320MB :D
 
Loving mine so far. Came from a 7970 BEDD and the fan is quieter than the custom profile I used. Highest temp I have was 70 running OCCT.
 
So far after almost a week these cards are rock solid! Just got my tracking number for the high flow brackets form EVGA. I will put them on this weekend when my backplates come in as well..
 
I have two EVGA GTX 680 sc's with high flow brackets on the way and should have em monday. Looking foward to it. ;)
 
cc2096 said:
Just sniped a Gigabyte 680 on Amazon. Will be here tomorrow! It'll hold me over till the 4GB eVGA Classified comes out.
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DisgustipatedAP1 said:
Whoa, you were the other guy? There were 2 in stock and I ordered one. You must have got the 2nd one. Congrats man. :D
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cc2096 said:
Same to you! Any idea on what the warranty is for Gigabyte cards? Can't find anything on their website.
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Joey: (overjoyed) We're bracelet buddies!

Chandler: (horrified) That's what they'll call us!

:D j/k, hardware buddies is totally cool! :D
 
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