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ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II 4GB GPU Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

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ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II 4GB GPU Review - Today we have an ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DC II 4GB video card up for review. Although there is no factory overclock, the video card supports 4GB of memory compared to the default 2GB. We will focus on single display performance in our revamped game lineup that includes Far Cry 3, Hitman: Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs.
 
Overclock the 7970 Ghz and the 7970 leaves the 670 in the dust in most games.
 
"This evaluation has concluded that there isn't any advantage, even in the latest games, to using an ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II 4GB video card over a 2GB equivalent for a single-display gaming. We can honestly say now that 2GB is "good enough" even in the latest games like Far Cry 3 and Hitman and Sleeping Dogs for single display gaming on a GeForce GTX 670. The fact is, the performance isn't high enough with a GTX 670 GPU to allow the advantage of 4GB of memory at 1080p or 2560x1600."

99% of games will not benefit from the extra vram. Games that allow texture mods may allow you to make use of it though. I was having issues with Skyrim stuttering with all of the texture mods I was running (default install was about 7GB and my modded install was 24GB or so). My 2GB 6950 was feeling a bit outclassed so I bought a 2GB 670 only to find that while better it would still stutter like mad in certain areas. I switched the 670 for a 7970 and the stuttering was better but overall performance was a little worse (this was months ago with older drivers when the 670 and 7970 were pretty much even performance wise). Switched the 7970 for a 4GB 670 and the stutter went away. Now I just install any texture mod I run across and opt for 4096x4096 versions if available.

I probably wouldn't buy a 4GB card now that I'm not playing Skyrim every day but it can be helpful in certain rare situations.
 
So this article once again confirms that adding RAM to a video card does not grant it magic powers. The only thing it offers is minimizing a falloff of performance in very high screen depths found with multi-monitor setups. Even with the multi-monitor setup, a single card will show weakness with only having one GPU so multiple GPUs will be needed. Therefore, a high VRAM card has only one clear use; in a SLI or Crossfire setup with multiple monitors. IMHO, these kinds of cards should only be sold in a kit with two or three cards in it. Yeah, it would be expensive but that is the true target audience.
 
^ What about those that only have the budget for one when upgrading the rest of their system, and then can afford the second after a couple/few months? I did precisely this when I was running a 6600GT setup all so long ago.
 
"The performance gap between these two video cards was close in Hitman: Absolution, but favored the reference GeForce GTX 670 over the ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DC II 4GB."

Seriously? Did you not notice in your own benchmarks that the minimum fps jumped from 18 to 28 on the 4GB model?
 
Silverghost said:
"The performance gap between these two video cards was close in Hitman: Absolution, but favored the reference GeForce GTX 670 over the ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DC II 4GB."

Seriously? Did you not notice in your own benchmarks that the minimum fps jumped from 18 to 28 on the 4GB model?
Click to expand...

If you look closely at the graph, you can see that the 18 FPS minimum happened for just 1 second, before immediately returning to higher framerates. These performance drops were happening when the game was switching between a cutscene and controllable gameplay. The minimum framerate for the reference video card did not create visible video lag, it happened as scenes were fading in and out, therefor providing the reference GeForce GTX 670 with a higher framerate the better gameplay experience.
 
Grady_McKinney said:
If you look closely at the graph, you can see that the 18 FPS minimum happened for just 1 second, before immediately returning to higher framerates. These performance drops were happening when the game was switching between a cutscene and controllable gameplay. The minimum framerate for the reference video card did not create visible video lag, it happened as scenes were fading in and out, therefor providing the reference GeForce GTX 670 with a higher framerate the better gameplay experience.
Click to expand...

You did your bench during the Run For Your Life mission but the fading in and out frames hit you claim occurred for me when I ran Hitman's provided bench a couple weeks ago. While I haven't actually gotten around to playing it as I was distracted by FC3 and XCOM I'm still inclined to believe you having seen it first hand during multiple quality setting testing of the same settings in order to establish an average in numbers. Sometimes the hit occurred and sometimes it didn't so I ended up ignoring the minimum frames I got from the bench as those quick 1 second hits at either the start or finish throw the results off but do not reflect visual experience just as you claim.
 
The performance of a single card will be a bottleneck at that high resolution much sooner than 2gb's worth of vram would be - so SLI at different levels of vram would be VASTLY superior benchmark. Can't wait for next week!
 
Dogboy714 said:
Unless you care about image quality. Or smoothness in multi-GPU setups. Or temps. Or power consumption. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You looked real closely at the power consumption #s.

An OC'd 7950 offers similar performance for $140 less. I don't see this card justifying the price. Or close to it.
 
Grady_McKinney said:
If you look closely at the graph, you can see that the 18 FPS minimum happened for just 1 second, before immediately returning to higher framerates. These performance drops were happening when the game was switching between a cutscene and controllable gameplay. The minimum framerate for the reference video card did not create visible video lag, it happened as scenes were fading in and out, therefor providing the reference GeForce GTX 670 with a higher framerate the better gameplay experience.
Click to expand...
Ok. I presumed texture thrashing gameplay. :eek:
 
I have concluded Hitman is the best game right now for showing VRAM capacity performance differences. Just wow at 5760x1200 and 5040x1050, just wow, neat things to show you guys.
 
there needs to be some tests on 3x 2560x1600 portrait mode

will the 4gb benefit at 12megapixel gaming

assuming tri sli gtx 670
 
Brent_Justice said:
I have concluded Hitman is the best game right now for showing VRAM capacity performance differences. Just wow at 5760x1200 and 5040x1050, just wow, neat things to show you guys.
Click to expand...

I am really looking forward to the Nvidia SLI tests that did not make it into the Hitman Absolution article. I am running at 2560x1600 on one 30" screen with two 4GB GTX 680s in SLI, all settings Ultra, 4x MSAA, not sure how to turn on 16x AF, same settings as here,
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/12/20/hitman_absolution_performance_iq_review/
using 310.90 WHQL drivers. I ran the benchmark (have just started the game) and got just 42 FPS avg despite both cards running at 98%, max temps, one card 67C, other card 59C

What are you getting?
 
Hello friends,
can you pls recommend aftermarket cooler for this card? Im little bit worried with the lenght of that plate covering ports - i suspect it will prevent using some huge coolers. Any insights are greatly appreciated.
 
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