NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 Video Card Review @ [H]

Link said:
Did anyone get bothered by the size of the PCB being smaller than usual for a $400 card?
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No, why would we?

It's 1/2 of a GTX690- actually a little bigger. The review at TechReport goes over the evolution of these cards' design.
 
Link said:
Did anyone get bothered by the size of the PCB being smaller than usual for a $400 card?
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Why would a smaller PCB be a bad thing? That sounds like a great thing in a card with this level of performance.
 
Lord_Exodia said:
How does this sound?

7970 new msrp $379.99
7950 new msrp $299.99
7870 new msrp $229.99
7850 New msrp $189.99
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I don't see how AMD can chop another $100 off cards they've already chopped about $100 from already with some brands at least with the 7970. But at the high end right now AMD is kind of out of the game so maybe this is what they have to do short term.
 
heatlesssun said:
I don't see how AMD can chop another $100 off cards they've already chopped about $100 from already with some brands at least with the 7970. But at the high end right now AMD is kind of out of the game so maybe this is what they have to do short term.
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The problem is, people loved them last gen because of their performance/price ratio. So far this gen they are totally failing at that level. With driver and CFX issues there is really not a whole lot going for them right now.
 
-Sn1PeR- said:
Yes. 2GB is relatively easy to exceed at 6048x1080 these days (even with only SMAA in Arma 2 (no MSAA)). Granted that's more pixels total, but still...
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What sort of wacky monitors are you running to get a 6048x1080 resolution? :eek:
 
jihadjoe said:
What sort of wacky monitors are you running to get a 6048x1080 resolution? :eek:
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I'll answer for him. He's using Bezel Correction. He starts with the standard 5760x1080 (3x 1920x1080) and the width of his monitor bezels has him creating that 6048x1080 res so everything lines up correctly between the monitors (1&2 and 2&3).

I use 6010x1080 and apply 125 pixels to account for the width of my monitors bezels (5760+250=6010).
 
Cobalt35 said:
So it's not working on any AMD 990FX chipset motherboards and you blame Asus and nVidia? :confused:
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I don't think it's *any*. It seems localized to the Sabertooth so yes a bit of Asus. Yes I CAN blame Nvidia a bit because they make SLi certification a retarded process. Crossfire was a breeze to set up and the first time time I try SLi there's an issue because it has to check for a certified BIOS, etc.

Asus and Nvidia will most likley square it away but it just sucks cause I wanna play! :p
 
MavericK96 said:
The problem is, people loved them last gen because of their performance/price ratio. So far this gen they are totally failing at that level. With driver and CFX issues there is really not a whole lot going for them right now.
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Agreed, and with the pricing on them poor compared to the GTX 670/680 cards, they really need another big price drop to even come close to being an option, let alone a good one, for anyone to buy.

I mean really... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423 $400 custom-cooled gtx680-speed after stock OC gigabyte gtx 670 with quiet heatsink-fan, vs. noisy Radeon 7970 with poor crossfire drivers/etc. and worse speed for $470 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103201) with a "I guess it might come" $20 rebate available. Heck, even apples-to-apples cooling-wise (here's the Gigabyte 7970 with same cooler as the GTX 670 has: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125413 ) it's still slower, costs $510 shipped, and has worse driver support + features, runs hotter, and consumes more power (for those who care).

I can't figure any objective buyer would grab one at this point.
 
Ok update for Sabertooth 990fx owners. The latest bios didn't fix it but a fresh install of Win7 did. Not an option for all but at least it's something. Now after having SLi Surround set up properly on the windows desktop (haven't tested in game yet) I do have to say it is NOT as mature as eyefinity. Eyefinity was much easier to set up as was crossfire.

Now I'm hoping in BF3 these two 670s kick ass and take names. I was getting around 55fps in operation firestorm in medium settings at 3x1680x1050 monitors. Hopefully I can bump it up to high and still get higher FPS.

I'll update my twin reference GTX670 adventure as I go.
 
My next video card.

Also, the last line of the article starts with a typo "nvidia has a hell of a video car"
 
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heatlesssun said:
I don't see how AMD can chop another $100 off cards they've already chopped about $100 from already with some brands at least with the 7970. But at the high end right now AMD is kind of out of the game so maybe this is what they have to do short term.
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Easy. Their yields per wafer are higher than nvidia's. This means AMD is likely making more money per Tahiti chip than nvidia is making on each GK104. Nvidia can't seem to produce working GK104s in decent volumes. Read about it here:

http://semiaccurate.com/2012/05/08/nvidias-five-new-keplers-raise-a-red-flag/

So even if the 7970 were priced the same as the GTX670, AMD is probably still making more money on it than nvidia is making on that GTX670. We'll have to see if TSMC can improve yields for GK104s somehow.
 
kyle what are your thoughts on say axing a 680 and going dual 670s in sli as im on a 750w gold psu only and was thinking sli 680s in the future
 
Wow, this was one of the most uninformative reviews done by Hardocp. Can't believe that you would not throw in the 680 and 7970 in the benches. This whole pricing argument doesn't make any sense to me. It is about performance and 670 bests 7970 in most tests and also is 2-4 fps slower than a 680. That to me is more informative than reading benches against a completely worthless card (aka 7950) and an old generation dinosaur now the 5 series.

If I am a consumer spending 400 dollars, the biggest question for me is, is it worth spending a 100 more. Second would be what is the best I can get out of my 400. Your reviews only adress the latter. Might have not done the review at all and no one would have lost on existing information on the internet about the 670 (e.g., it is faster than older generation; duh and faster than 7950, duh).

:rolleyes:
 
I said 7970 and 680. 7970 is not there and that card has been running at 439.99 lately. More interested in knowing that. 680 is there, fine.
 
If it helps, the GTX 680 and the 7970 are directly compared in the original GTX 680 review. Might have to keep a few tabs open to do comparisons but I think all the information is there; you just have to take some time to digest it all. I wouldn't be surprised to see an overall roundup in a single article, eventually...
 
Information is there on many sites in single charts. I come to Hard because I trust their reviews but I also want to provide feedback if I find their review not helpful.

About tabbing, drivers have changed and 7970 has gained significantly in performance (on average 2-4 fps in games). So not fair to compare across reviews using different driver sets.

Also given limited time I have for reading reviews, it was incredibly hard for me to find anything useful in this one. I had to open up Anand to make sense of the 670.

Oh well, if they continue to stick with these kind of comparisons, will be worth looking elsewhere.
 
If AMD doesn't budge on the prices of their cards then I think I can safely declare the GTX 670 as the best bang per buck card so far, in my opinion of course. :D
 
KickAssCop said:
I said 7970 and 680. 7970 is not there and that card has been running at 439.99 lately. More interested in knowing that. 680 is there, fine.
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http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/04/10/sapphire_hd_7970_oc_edition_video_card_review/5

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/05/10/nvidia_geforce_gtx_670_video_card_review/7

Batman Arkham City 2560 X 1600 FXAA High
HD 7970 OC (950) avg 49.9 fps min 33 fps
HD 7970 OC (1280) avg 62.2 fps min 36 fps
GTX 670 (980 turbo) avg 44.7 fps min 28 fps
GTX 670 (1234 turbo) avg 49.7 fps min 30 fps

Battlefield 3 Ultra 4X MSAA 2560 x 1600
HD 7970 OC (950) avg 40 fps min 27
HD 7970 OC (1280) avg 50.7 fps min 34

Battlefield 3 Ultra FXAA 2560 x 1600
GTX 670 (980) avg 51.5 fps min 30 fps
GTX 670 (1234) avg 58.1 fps min 36 fps

These are games where Nvidia does relatively better and still the HD 7970 OC wins. In other demanding games like Alan Wake , Metro 2033, Crysis 2, Crysis Warhead the HD 7970 OC will decimate the GTX 680 OC / GTX 670 OC. Take your pick :cool:
 
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raghu78 said:
These are games where Nvidia does relatively better and still the HD 7970 OC wins. In other demanding games like Alan Wake , Metro 2033, Crysis 2, Crysis Warhead the HD 7970 OC will decimate the GTX 680 OC / GTX 670 OC. Take your pick :cool:
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The 7970 is a good card but the only thing that's been decimated is the price of the 7970 since the launch of the 680.
 
raghu78 said:
That will be corrected with the launch of the Radeon HD 7970 Ghz edition (say 1050 Mhz) :D Not to forget in real volume :p

http://www.techpowerup.com/165559/AM...z-Edition.html

http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/News/299...0-a-boost.aspx
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The 7970 doesn't have more supply, it just has way less demand (and for good reason), hence they're available readily.

GTX 6xx series has been selling like hotcakes apparrently:

SKYMTL on 3/29/2012 said:
At this point though, all of my retailer contacts have indicated the same thing: most people are more willing to go on a GTX 680 waiting list and get their card "whenever" than buy a HD 7970 right away. Several large retailers have hardly sold any HD 7970s since the GTX 680's launch. I can't give exact numbers or my sources are toast but let's just say that most are down in the single digit sales for the last 2 weeks combined. So (IMO) up to this point, AMD's strategy is certainly NOT paying off.
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http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums...Count-on-it.&p=5076770&viewfull=1#post5076770

More recently, from a second source (neoseeker reviewer)...

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/Nvidia_GTX_670/16.html
It is true AMD's 7000 series graphics cards are more readily available in the market, but the fact of the matter is this has nothing to do with production. Instead the issue is Kepler based graphics cards are in high demand. We have talked to a few retailers and the word from them is Kepler is selling at nearly a 4 to 1 ratio over Southern Islands. This leaves plenty of volume available for AMD, but makes it appear as if Nvidia is lacking the same volume,when this is not necessarily the case.
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Single digit sales? I'm not a retailer, but that seems impossible (or maybe just impossibly bad). How large is large, I wonder.
 
Forceman said:
Single digit sales? I'm not a retailer, but that seems impossible (or maybe just impossibly bad). How large is large, I wonder.
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I think you'll find that flagship cards sell in very low volumes anyway, and considering the current pricing situation I don't think it's too unbelievable.
 
slh28 said:
I think you'll find that flagship cards sell in very low volumes anyway, and considering the current pricing situation I don't think it's too unbelievable.
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But it's single digit sales for two weeks. At best, nine 7970s sold in 14 days. That's not even one card per day.
 
So I have a question..
I know it probably has a lot better perfomance but would this be a good upgrade
solely for lower heat and power consuption than my GTX480...

I dont heavily game much anymore. I can max out everything already that I play and Im mainly a photoshop user.. So performance wise im good. I just want to know about heat/power because the 480 is a beast in that department. Maybe I can even go lower than the 670??
 
entropy13 said:
But it's single digit sales for two weeks. At best, nine 7970s sold in 14 days. That's not even one card per day.
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Single digit sales per retailer I think was the reference.
On launch day at the launch time I only saw about 10-15 GTX 680's in stock for each of the largest retailers (in the UK), and they've been mostly out of stock ever since.
 
For roughly $100 - $150 less than the 680, and the 680 only have a 10% to 13% lead in performance. I am very glad i waited and got my hands on one of these to replace my 560ti!
 
KickAssCop said:
I said 7970 and 680. 7970 is not there and that card has been running at 439.99 lately. More interested in knowing that. 680 is there, fine.
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http://www.anandtech.com/show/5818/nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-review-feat-evga/11

T7aqU.png
 
Commander Suzdal said:
Awww, don't be mad, bro. Sure, he posts much more accurate and useful information pro-nVidia than your pro-AMD FUD, but at least you get paid to do it...
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LOL, raghu78 apparrently didn't see the 2nd link that was just yesterday, WELL after price cuts/etc., stating poor sales. I just like to talk shop, seems some can't keep it from hurting their feelings *shrug*.
 
Looks like an awesome card. Same ballpark of performance as the 680, but for less money and with lower power consumption. Also, you can actually get your hands on one and at MSRP. I see them in stock at NewEgg.
 
GoldenTiger said:
LOL, raghu78 apparrently didn't see the 2nd link that was just yesterday, WELL after price cuts/etc., stating poor sales. I just like to talk shop, seems some can't keep it from hurting their feelings *shrug*.
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fanbois are having a field day teaming up. no hard feelings. lets look for revenue numbers from Nvidia today and most importantly gross margins :D
 
Anyone got a non reference 670-680 with a Silverstone FT02 (or similar) case where the motherboards are rotated 90degrees?

I'm just concerned about the heatsink not working "that great" compared to a typical layout.
 
wonderfield said:
I'm a gamer, not a NVIDIA investor. NVIDIA's profit margins are of no concern to me.
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If profit margins aren't great, you can forget future price drops or at least big price drops. If they don't get cash, they don't have the resources to build future generations of cards or work with game developers.

Don't get me wrong...it is definitely low priority for a gamer but if nVidia went bust on a card release you would probably turn around and say that it was bad for competition, etc. God forbid they go bankrupt or anything either :D.
 
I think people are over exaggerating how in trouble AMD is with their 7970. WIth the release of the new clock reference, it will hold about about as much a lead as the gtx 680 over the 670. Is the 670 the better deal, yes it is, but that is almost always the case when you get to the flag ship cards.
 
What's really amazing here, IMHO, is how nVidia is able to sell 600-series cards (that are MUCH cheaper to produce) for more than their 7900 counterparts. AMD may win some, even a lot of the benches, especially if you overclock, but with a bigger die, more complex PCB for 384-bit memory, higher thermal/power requirements ... they're basically screwed this generation. It's not a shock we haven't seen a dual GPU card yet, how do you put all that on one board and meet size/power/thermal requirements?

Sure, we'll start to see GHz+ editions of the 7970 etc, but even assuming they show a performance advantage, I doubt it will be enough to get the kind of pricing AMD needs to make money.

Even more amazing is how nV is beating AMD ... by adopting AMD's strategy :eek:
 
matt9669 said:
What's really amazing here, IMHO, is how nVidia is able to sell 600-series cards (that are MUCH cheaper to produce) for more than their 7900 counterparts. AMD may win some, even a lot of the benches, especially if you overclock, but with a bigger die, more complex PCB for 384-bit memory, higher thermal/power requirements ... they're basically screwed this generation. It's not a shock we haven't seen a dual GPU card yet, how do you put all that on one board and meet size/power/thermal requirements?

Sure, we'll start to see GHz+ editions of the 7970 etc, but even assuming they show a performance advantage, I doubt it will be enough to get the kind of pricing AMD needs to make money.

Even more amazing is how nV is beating AMD ... by adopting AMD's strategy :eek:
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If AMD can make money from selling 6950's at $250 with a 389mm^2 die size, they can certainly make money from selling 7950's at $350 with a 352mm^2 die size. A 7xxx PCB isn't that much more complex than a 6xxx PCB.

Granted nVidia is probably making out like a bandit this gen in terms of margins.
 
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