NVIDIA Kepler GeForce GTX 680 SLI Video Card Review @ [H]

[BababooeyHTJ]

Unless the improved power phases and cooling on the GTX 690 let you overclock better.

That doesn't seem to be doing much for the non-reference cards.

 

[Forceman]

That doesn't seem to be doing much for the non-reference cards.

Aren't the non-reference cards that are out now just reference PCBs with different coolers? I'm curious to see what cards with better power will do - like that Palit card with 8+6 power that was reviewed at 1350+. You are right, though, in that 8+8 power on this card might not translate to any additional benefits, since it is feeding two GPUs.

 

[night_2004]

Aren't the non-reference cards that are out now just reference PCBs with different coolers? I'm curious to see what cards with better power will do - like that Palit card with 8+6 power that was reviewed at 1350+. You are right, though, in that 8+8 power on this card might not translate to any additional benefits, since it is feeding two GPUs.

Pretty sure that's the case. The PCB as designed can only be modified for five power phases (I think), so anything that advertises that I'm pretty sure would be a custom board.

 

[Brent_Justice]

No way of knowing yet but theoretically they would be equal if all speeds were equal. However my guess is that the 690 will be downclocked slightly and so, as with all of these dual-GPU cards, it will probably be slightly slower than 680 SLI.

Consider GPU Boost, just like 680 SLI each GPU will operate at different voltages and frequencies independently in real time.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

Aren't the non-reference cards that are out now just reference PCBs with different coolers? I'm curious to see what cards with better power will do - like that Palit card with 8+6 power that was reviewed at 1350+. You are right, though, in that 8+8 power on this card might not translate to any additional benefits, since it is feeding two GPUs.

There have been a couple reviews of the Twin frozor and a few models with a reference pcb with a couple of extra phases soldered on. I've seen a few reports on OCN. They all seem to fall right in where a normal GTX680 does. These cards don't draw much I really doubt that power circuitry is the limiting factor. Not without being able to adjust the voltage, anyways.

You've got to remember that there are reviews with some reference cards hitting 1350mhz stable too, who knows how much that was stress tested. Is that even representative of what most of those Palit cards can do?

 

[Forceman]

There have been a couple reviews of the Twin frozor and a few models with a reference pcb with a couple of extra phases soldered on. I've seen a few reports on OCN. They all seem to fall right in where a normal GTX680 does. These cards don't draw much I really doubt that power circuitry is the limiting factor. Not without being able to adjust the voltage, anyways.

You've got to remember that there are reviews with some reference cards hitting 1350mhz stable too, who knows how much that was stress tested. Is that even representative of what most of those Palit cards can do?

I don't know. I agree that power phases don't really matter much, but my take-away from the Palit review was that the extra power connections allowed the reviewer to set 150% power in Afterburner/Precision, instead of the 132% the reference cards allow - which may be the difference in overclocking. Voltage control would be nice also, if that is ever allowed.

 

[Rizen]

I don't see why voltage control isn't allowed, considering you can control the minimum, just not the maximum. Do the reference based cards have the circuitry to allow this, or is it removed at the hardware level entirely?

 

[MavericK]

Consider GPU Boost, just like 680 SLI each GPU will operate at different voltages and frequencies independently in real time.

True, I guess I meant that I would expect the stock/boost clocks to be a bit lower. Not that that necessarily makes a huge difference, but we'll have to see some reviews.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

I don't know. I agree that power phases don't really matter much, but my take-away from the Palit review was that the extra power connections allowed the reviewer to set 150% power in Afterburner/Precision, instead of the 132% the reference cards allow - which may be the difference in overclocking. Voltage control would be nice also, if that is ever allowed.

Thats a bios limit, you can modify the power limit on any reference GTX680. It won't help your overclock. You have to remember that GTX470 and 570 which drew a lot more juice only had 4-phase vrms and it never held them back with overclocking.

 

[Lord_Exodia]

Got my first card (Asus GTX 680 Ref) about to order second one on Friday (If I can find it in stock)

 

[GoodBoy]

ASUS DCII TOP for pre-order:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00814JQPC/?tag=nisa-20&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Gigabyte Windforce pre-order:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZUDOKG/?tag=nisa-20&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Gigabyte reference in stock May 21st:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007KEAGG2/?tag=nisa-20&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Used the middle to pre-order 2. Will only be my second foray into SLI! My first was an all-in-one type, 9800GX2. I was hoping to get a gtx690 but stock is hard to find.

Any recommendations or tips to a first time dual card SLI user? psu is an enermax 1350w revolutions, mobo is x58 p6t6. I'm thinking my case might need some faster fans (antec P182), but should have room. If not I'll get a different case.

 

[Neo Zuko]

Quick question: for 27" gaming, will a second 680 show a reasonable improvement? I am seeing if I should up my card count from one to two. Is that good future proofing? Or is that overkill?