GTX 660 Ti SLI vs GTX 680

[BranNutz]

Yah BF3, GW2, Arkham City, all the good stuff.

Will a 660ti be an upgrade from 470 2xSLI or roughly the same?

 

[cannondale06]

Yah BF3, GW2, Arkham City, all the good stuff.

Will a 660ti be an upgrade from 470 2xSLI or roughly the same?

a single 660ti is certainly slower than a gtx470 sli and 660ti sli would be about a 45-50% upgrade from gtx470 sli.

 

[DrexelDragon]

Yah BF3, GW2, Arkham City, all the good stuff.

Will a 660ti be an upgrade from 470 2xSLI or roughly the same?

It'll be a good upgrade but like I said in my previous post; you won't be able to average 120fps with any form of SLI config. If you can, try going for a 670 SLI which is what I am most likely going to do. Will average around 100fps in many games.

 

[Forceman]

Yah BF3, GW2, Arkham City, all the good stuff.

Will a 660ti be an upgrade from 470 2xSLI or roughly the same?

about a 45-50% upgrade

You're not saying a single 660 Ti is going to be 45-50% faster than 470 SLI are you? Cause that isn't true. A single 660 Ti is 50-60% faster than a single 470, so probably about even with 470 SLI (depending on scaling, etc). Lots less power and heat though.

 

[cannondale06]

You're not saying a single 660 Ti is going to be 45-50% faster than 470 SLI are you? Cause that isn't true. A single 660 Ti is 50-60% faster than a single 470, so probably about even with 470 SLI (depending on scaling, etc). Lots less power and heat though.

no I thought he was referring to 660ti sli.

 

[Slyr7.62]

You're not saying a single 660 Ti is going to be 45-50% faster than 470 SLI are you? Cause that isn't true. A single 660 Ti is 50-60% faster than a single 470, so probably about even with 470 SLI (depending on scaling, etc). Lots less power and heat though.

No offense to cannondale, I'm quoting Forceman because he's most "on the money". The 670 uses about as much power as the 470. A word about framerate: I shoot for a 60fps average. I actually mainly play older games so I can easily get something like 60 fps MIN, if not more. Not running 1080P even helps more.

The review someone might want to checkout for comparing the 660 to the 560 and 460, not SLI is:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/08/16/galaxy_geforce_gtx_660_ti_gc_3gb_video_card_review/
Pages 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12, lower part of the page.

I'm referring to the BF 2 photo below this text. Guess I'll show the skyrim pic also.
Performance always varies by game, although faster setups are usually #1 in numerous games.
The 660 is twice as fast as a single 460 and about 50% faster than a single 560(or 470), depending on the game. I'll use the picture below for reference(well, I mean I'll calculate a couple points just using my head). A singl 660 Ti is actually really close to 470's in SLI. The 660 can OC very well and gain 5 or 6 fps depending on the game.
Average FPS: 660 = 75fps, 560 = 50fps, 460 = 37fps(ignore). 100% effective 560/470 SLI would be 100fps, 80-85% effectiveness would be 80-85fps for 470 SLI.
A single 660 gives about 90% the performance of 470 SLI.
I'd recommend a single 670 for a decent upgrade though. That, or 660's in SLI.
Although, I figure it's smarter to get a 670 then when they drop $50-100 get a 2nd for SLI. Buying a good used card can be fruitful. Depends how much $$$ someone has to begin with.
---If someone is only using a single 1080P monitor a single 660 or 670 is fine. The power usage is actually pretty close also. See 3rd pic below. Do know that the CPU is also using alot of power, it's not just the GPU. So if you CPU is lesser than a i7-3770 OC'd to 4.8 then you'll use even less power.
p.s. - In the pics below going from BF 3 to Skyrim for those settings it's interesting that the FPS of the 460 and 560 basically stay the same but the 660 drops from 75 fps to 65fps. The minimum framerate of the 660 (or 670) is still vastly superior to the 560/460/470. Remember the 660 actually beats the 580 also. Some games don't take as much advantage of SLI.

EDIT EDIT: Price update - I've heard the 670 might get down to $350 on holidays.

 

[Forceman]

no I thought he was referring to 660ti sli.

Yeah, that's what I figured, but it wasn't clear from your post and I didn't want the OP to get the wrong idea.

 

[DrexelDragon]

No offense to cannondale, I'm quoting Forceman because he's most "on the money". The 670 uses about as much power as the 470. A word about framerate: I shoot for a 60fps average. I actually mainly play older games so I can easily get something like 60 fps MIN, if not more. Not running 1080P even helps more.

The review someone might want to checkout for comparing the 660 to the 560 and 460, not SLI is:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/08/16/galaxy_geforce_gtx_660_ti_gc_3gb_video_card_review/
Pages 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12, lower part of the page.

I'm referring to the BF 2 photo below this text. Guess I'll show the skyrim pic also.
Performance always varies by game, although faster setups are usually #1 in numerous games.
The 660 is twice as fast as a single 460 and about 50% faster than a single 560(or 470), depending on the game. I'll use the picture below for reference(well, I mean I'll calculate a couple points just using my head). A singl 660 Ti is actually really close to 470's in SLI. The 660 can OC very well and gain 5 or 6 fps depending on the game.
Average FPS: 660 = 75fps, 560 = 50fps, 460 = 37fps(ignore). 100% effective 560/470 SLI would be 100fps, 80-85% effectiveness would be 80-85fps for 470 SLI.
A single 660 gives about 90% the performance of 470 SLI.
I'd recommend a single 670 for a decent upgrade though. That, or 660's in SLI.
Although, I figure it's smarter to get a 670 then when they drop $50-100 get a 2nd for SLI. Buying a good used card can be fruitful. Depends how much $$$ someone has to begin with.
---If someone is only using a single 1080P monitor a single 660 or 670 is fine. The power usage is actually pretty close also. See 3rd pic below. Do know that the CPU is also using alot of power, it's not just the GPU. So if you CPU is lesser than a i7-3770 OC'd to 4.8 then you'll use even less power.
p.s. - In the pics below going from BF 3 to Skyrim for those settings it's interesting that the FPS of the 460 and 560 basically stay the same but the 660 drops from 75 fps to 65fps. The minimum framerate of the 660 (or 670) is still vastly superior to the 560/460/470. Remember the 660 actually beats the 580 also. Some games don't take as much advantage of SLI.

EDIT EDIT: Price update - I've heard the 670 might get down to $350 on holidays.

Problem is, the guy up there wanted to average 120 fps on the newest games...I don' think any setup can handle that really...Unless you SLI 690's but that's not even worth it haha

 

[Slyr7.62]

Problem is, the guy up there wanted to average 120 fps on the newest games...I don' think any setup can handle that really...Unless you SLI 690's but that's not even worth it haha

You can average 120 FPS sure, but it won't be in the "newest" games. That is just not very realistic. 120FPS average is for those 120 hertz monitors to work with vsync.
Some games can do that with a 670 SLI for instance but a few can't. Crysis 1 and 2, Skyrim......Max Payne 3 I guess, I'm not sure.


Hey Drexel, so have a PSU with @ least 650W?

 

[DrexelDragon]

You can average 120 FPS sure, but it won't be in the "newest" games. That is just not very realistic. 120FPS average is for those 120 hertz monitors to work with vsync.
Some games can do that with a 670 SLI for instance but a few can't. Crysis 1 and 2, Skyrim......Max Payne 3 I guess, I'm not sure.


Hey Drexel, so have a PSU with @ least 650W?

Yes, yes about that! Haha I have a Corsair TX 650M; a very good 650 watt PSU. I'm hoping it will hold up

 

[Slyr7.62]

Yes, yes about that! Haha I have a Corsair TX 650M; a very good 650 watt PSU. I'm hoping it will hold up

Yeah, that's a good one. 670 SLI actually uses about as much power as a single 480 so you should be set.
670 SLI uses about 400W in reality, or ~70% of max power, which helps efficiency. Gives you room to OC or add a HDD or 2 if you wanted.

By the way that's total system power use. Some websites use high power OC'd CPUs which effect usage.

 

[cannondale06]

Yeah, that's a good one. 670 SLI actually uses about as much power as a single 480 so you should be set.
670 SLI uses about 400W in reality, or ~70% of max power, which helps efficiency. Gives you room to OC or add a HDD or 2 if you wanted.

By the way that's total system power use. Some websites use high power OC'd CPUs which effect usage.

I used 300 actual watts at times with just a single oced gtx670 and 2500k at 4.4.

 

[Slyr7.62]

I used 300 actual watts at times with just a single oced gtx670 and 2500k at 4.4.

Adding another OC'd 670 to that setup I'd say the max wouldn't be any more than 450, 75% of a 600 PSU at most. Thnx for the input.

 

[DrexelDragon]

Yeah, that's a good one. 670 SLI actually uses about as much power as a single 480 so you should be set.
670 SLI uses about 400W in reality, or ~70% of max power, which helps efficiency. Gives you room to OC or add a HDD or 2 if you wanted.

By the way that's total system power use. Some websites use high power OC'd CPUs which effect usage.

Yeah I figured I'd be alright. Do you think I should just go with stock 670s then? Rather than ones with 8+6 power inputs?

 

[Slyr7.62]

Yeah I figured I'd be alright. Do you think I should just go with stock 670s then? Rather than ones with 8+6 power inputs?

Yes, I'd stick to the ones with 6+6 inputs. I don't think that takes much away from the overclock compared to 6+8, if you decide to.

 

[DrexelDragon]

Yes, I'd stick to the ones with 6+6 inputs. I don't think that takes much away from the overclock compared to 6+8, if you decide to.

Alright so, now we're looking for 670s with 6+6 inputs and a little to no over clock out of the box in order to be safe on the power and to give some headroom to over clock myself. I was looking at the EVGA FTW. Any other good ones meeting the req’s?

 

[Quartz-1]

I am now debating on whether or not I want to swap it for a new GTX 680 or a pair of 660 Ti's. They'd be roughly the same price since I bought close to a $600 680. From what I could tell/hear, 660 Ti's in SLI perform up to 50% better than a single 680.

I remember reading an article - sorry, but I can't remember where - that indicated that 3x 660 gave equivalent performance to 2x 680. Personally, I'd go for the single card just to avoid any SLI glitches.

 

[jojoenglish85]

I remember reading an article - sorry, but I can't remember where - that indicated that 3x 660 gave equivalent performance to 2x 680. Personally, I'd go for the single card just to avoid any SLI glitches.

I believe that was the ASUS video, but i could be wrong. SLI 660 is definitely gonna get you some pretty visuals indeed on a 2560 x 1440p res monitor. If you got 3 of them then your rig would be set for a long time to come especially with new drivers in the future that will cut most of the bugs out of SLI

 

[Slyr7.62]

Alright so, now we're looking for 670s with 6+6 inputs and a little to no over clock out of the box in order to be safe on the power and to give some headroom to over clock myself. I was looking at the EVGA FTW. Any other good ones meeting the req’s?

Yes, the stock blocked Gigabyte with 2 fan cooler.
NE - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125438 - $20 rebate.
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-WIND...qid=1346601732&sr=8-1&keywords=GV-N670WF2-2GD

I know you and I like the blower fan design but the "big fan" will cool way better and be extra quiet. PS - If you don't know the new GPU's have a "boost" clock which increases the core speed ingame 60-100 Mhz by itself.

I remember reading an article - sorry, but I can't remember where - that indicated that 3x 660 gave equivalent performance to 2x 680. Personally, I'd go for the single card just to avoid any SLI glitches.

Tri-Sli or Quad-SLI doesn't work quite as well as SLI. It's all about the drivers and there are scaling issues. Not to mention Tri-Sli is only good for something like 25x16 res or higher with AA cranked to take away the CPU bottleneck. Tri-SLI 660's would cost about $900 so someone with that kind of cash would probably SLI 680's instead for about $100 extra. Unless someone didn't actually get Tri 660's all at once. Tri-SLI is for Epeen Lol.

 

[Quartz-1]

Tri-Sli or Quad-SLI doesn't work quite as well as SLI... Tri-SLI is for Epeen Lol.

One thing I've consistently read is that tri-sli and tri-fire give you a smoother gaming experience as microstutter is much lessened.

 

[DrexelDragon]

Yes, the stock blocked Gigabyte with 2 fan cooler.
NE - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125438 - $20 rebate.
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-WIND...qid=1346601732&sr=8-1&keywords=GV-N670WF2-2GD

I know you and I like the blower fan design but the "big fan" will cool way better and be extra quiet. PS - If you don't know the new GPU's have a "boost" clock which increases the core speed ingame 60-100 Mhz by itself.



Tri-Sli or Quad-SLI doesn't work quite as well as SLI. It's all about the drivers and there are scaling issues. Not to mention Tri-Sli is only good for something like 25x16 res or higher with AA cranked to take away the CPU bottleneck. Tri-SLI 660's would cost about $900 so someone with that kind of cash would probably SLI 680's instead for about $100 extra. Unless someone didn't actually get Tri 660's all at once. Tri-SLI is for Epeen Lol.

Yep, I'm very familiar with Kepler, I had a 680! I've heard good things about the Gigabyte but I just don't really like the look of it :/

 

[Slyr7.62]

Had to work "all day". So here's my replies.

One thing I've consistently read is that tri-sli and tri-fire give you a smoother gaming experience as microstutter is much lessened.

Hmm, I've never heard about that with Tri-Sli. I know provides more FPS. Some people either can't afford Tri-Sli or don't have a mobo or PSU to support it.

Yep, I'm very familiar with Kepler, I had a 680! I've heard good things about the Gigabyte but I just don't really like the look of it :/

Right, you had a 680. You know about the boost clock. Almost don't have to OC, but I'd want the base clock to be at least 1000Mhz, which is easy.

I won't recommended changing brands to another card with a blower fan. I'll link you an MSI and ASUS. They too have multiple fans similar to the Gigabyte.
If you don't like the looks of any of these 3 then I'd stick with the Evga FTW since the warranty is tried and true as far as I know.
If you have good cool airflow, the temps won't be high. It's all about good airflow with a blower fan card, or 2.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127685
Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121637
-------------------
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-DisplayPo...F8&qid=1346650186&sr=1-1&keywords=MSI+GTX+670
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-GeForce-...id=1346650235&sr=1-1&keywords=GTX670-DC2-2GD5

 

[matrix563]

how is a 680 with low or no aa at 3600x1920? (3 24 inch monitors)

i was using 2 6970's previously

 

[Slyr7.62]

how is a 680 with low or no aa at 3600x1920? (3 24 inch monitors)

i was using 2 6970's previously

That's not too many more pixels than 5Kx1K.
Apparently a HD 7970 does pretty well against a 680 for about $50 less. Then you'd have AMD drivers though. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125413

Some sites like to test with 4x or 8x AA so the FPS is lower than otherwise. kitguru.net: then [H] - http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/03/22/nvidia_kepler_gpu_geforce_gtx_680_video_card_review/9

BF 3 High settings, Field of View @ 70, no AA. 16 AF. GTX 680 got 72 FPS @ 5760 x 1080.

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphi...ics-Card-Review-Kepler-Motion/NVIDIA-Surround

 

[metallicaband]

um how is that humorous? its actually pretty sad that a 660ti cant even beat a nearly 2 year old gtx580 across the board. if it could not beat the 570 then it would be a total failure IMO. I think some of you have just set the bar way too low for this generation of cards.

Thank you!!

That along with most people accepting semi optimized video games is IMO what's holding introducing truly break through technologies.

 

[matrix563]

well 5720x1200 is the same as 3600x1920, just the orientation of the monitors is different sounds like i should be good then!

 

[DrexelDragon]

Had to work "all day". So here's my replies.
Hmm, I've never heard about that with Tri-Sli. I know provides more FPS. Some people either can't afford Tri-Sli or don't have a mobo or PSU to support it.

Right, you had a 680. You know about the boost clock. Almost don't have to OC, but I'd want the base clock to be at least 1000Mhz, which is easy.

I won't recommended changing brands to another card with a blower fan. I'll link you an MSI and ASUS. They too have multiple fans similar to the Gigabyte.
If you don't like the looks of any of these 3 then I'd stick with the Evga FTW since the warranty is tried and true as far as I know.
If you have good cool airflow, the temps won't be high. It's all about good airflow with a blower fan card, or 2.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127685
Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121637
-------------------
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-DisplayPo...F8&qid=1346650186&sr=1-1&keywords=MSI+GTX+670
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-GeForce-...id=1346650235&sr=1-1&keywords=GTX670-DC2-2GD5

I've been looking at both of those as well. The MSI one looks fantastic and the Twin Frozer cooling is one of the best. The ASUS Top cards are always great, but I've heard that a lot of people are RMA'ing their cards. It seems as if the 670 version of the TOP cards are having some kind of issues so I am going to steer clear of them I think. My airflow is great in my case so I don't think having a blower-type card would be an issue..

 

[DrexelDragon]

Slyr-

what do you think of this card?

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-...-P4-2670-KR/dp/B007Z3HZIA/ref=pd_sim_sbs_pc_3

It's currently $20 off on Amazon on top of the already low 379.99, so it would be 359.99 plus free one-day shipping with my Discover card! Damn, thinking about pulling the trigger; don't know how long it will last for!

Edit:

This one is also $20 off!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008HZ5438/ref=vp_c_ASQNUUYL593HQ?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

its the FTW edition but it's the LE edition. Its slightly underclocked I believe..

 

[DrexelDragon]

Slyr-

what do you think of this card?

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-...-P4-2670-KR/dp/B007Z3HZIA/ref=pd_sim_sbs_pc_3

It's currently $20 off on Amazon on top of the already low 379.99, so it would be 359.99 plus free one-day shipping with my Discover card! Damn, thinking about pulling the trigger; don't know how long it will last for!

Edit:

This one is also $20 off!


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008HZ5438/ref=vp_c_ASQNUUYL593HQ?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

its the FTW edition but it's the LE edition. Its slightly underclocked I believe..

Okay so I signed up for Amazon's Visa Card to get a $30 gift card so now I may go with the regular FTW version! Slyr you alive?? lol

 

[Forceman]

For $10 more, I'd get the FTW version.

 

[DrexelDragon]

For $10 more, I'd get the FTW version.

Yeah, I'm about to press the button; but now I'm also considering the MSI Power Edition one w/ Twin Frozr 4..lol

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008BGXYAS/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[Slyr7.62]

Once again I had to work "all day". Literally I worked from 10am to 9pm.

well 5720x1200 is the same as 3600x1920, just the orientation of the monitors is different sounds like i should be good then!

Yeah, you should be good matrix.

I've been looking at both of those as well. The MSI one looks fantastic and the Twin Frozer cooling is one of the best. The ASUS Top cards are always great, but I've heard that a lot of people are RMA'ing their cards. It seems as if the 670 version of the TOP cards are having some kind of issues so I am going to steer clear of them I think. My airflow is great in my case so I don't think having a blower-type card would be an issue..

Regarding the Asus TOP edition: Just DONT get it. It's OC'd too much and Asus doesn't verify the clocks well enough so numerous people have to RMA it or downclock to not crash.

Yeah, I'm about to press the button; but now I'm also considering the MSI Power Edition one w/ Twin Frozr 4..lol

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008BGXYAS/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

If you like this MSI, I really would recommend it even though its $20-30 more than the Evga. For me the dual fans make up for it. Superior cooling and low noise. If it's not already OC'd up to the FTW card then it can easily match that. Instead of having the $20 coupon, the MSI says "Get "Borderlands 2" for Free with Purchase of Select GeForce GTX 6-Series Graphics Cards" - Learn more.

 

[DrexelDragon]

Once again I had to work "all day". Literally I worked from 10am to 9pm.Yeah, you should be good matrix.

Regarding the Asus TOP edition: Just DONT get it. It's OC'd too much and Asus doesn't verify the clocks well enough so numerous people have to RMA it or downclock to not crash.

If you like this MSI, I really would recommend it even though its $20-30 more than the Evga. For me the dual fans make up for it. Superior cooling and low noise. If it's not already OC'd up to the FTW card then it can easily match that. Instead of having the $20 coupon, the MSI says "Get "Borderlands 2" for Free with Purchase of Select GeForce GTX 6-Series Graphics Cards" - Learn more.

Damn! That is awful working that much!! Hope you are rolling in the cash!

But I've been deliberating the past few hours and I think I'm gonna pick up two of the FTW cards (btw they get Borderlands 2 free as well!). I love the look, EVGA service is very reliable, overclocked out of the box to 680 speeds and since it's a reference cooler, it should (presumably) draw less power than the MSI card would; which is good for me with my 650 Watt PSU I will sleep on it I think..

 

[Slyr7.62]

Damn! That is awful working that much!! Hope you are rolling in the cash!

But I've been deliberating the past few hours and I think I'm gonna pick up two of the FTW cards (btw they get Borderlands 2 free as well!). I love the look, EVGA service is very reliable, overclocked out of the box to 680 speeds and since it's a reference cooler, it should (presumably) draw less power than the MSI card would; which is good for me with my 650 Watt PSU I will sleep on it I think..

Evga has good service and those aren't customs cards so the power draw isn't too high.
Having 2 jobs is tough work, but fun too. Sometimes things slow down depending on the time of year it's a good roller coaster. Make some money, then have more time to rest or do stuff.
That's the trade off. All the money in the world doesnt mean anything if you can't do something with it. 1 or 2 days off a week is all that's needed certain weeks to make bank but other times its better to have more days to do things.

 

[Vincent Tempus]

My Evga 670 ftw 2gig performs quite well plus the warranty is there. my temps are around 64-65 degrees during game play. For airflow though i have a huge tower fan supplying air instead of running the case open.

Gigabyte isnt a bad company either, the three fans definitely helped keep the temperature a good ten maybe 15 degrees lower though but theres a trade off. The blower fans remove the heat from the case (I have a smaller case) where as the windforce dumps it back into the case.

 

[Slyr7.62]

My Evga 670 ftw 2gig performs quite well plus the warranty is there. my temps are around 64-65 degrees during game play. For airflow though i have a huge tower fan supplying air instead of running the case open.

Nice temps actually for that standard card.

 

[Vincent Tempus]

thanks, but i forgot to mention I did a custom fan curve for it and its running at stock frequencies or slightly above that around 1215 clock and 2-300 on the mem.

 

[DrexelDragon]

Alright decision time; MSI Twin Frozr or EVGA FTW. Can't decide LOL

 

[jojoenglish85]

MSI Twin all the damn way buddy!!!

 

[DrexelDragon]

Alright well I finally made a choice!! I bought one EVGA GTX 670 FTW! I will be picking up a second one for SLI in a few days once Tiger refunds me!!! Can't wait! I think I may post pics of them in my rig as soon as I can

Thanks to Slyr for all his awesome tips and insight and keeping me company on here!!!