• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Question on Gigabyte Windforce Blocks

Sextron

Sextron

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Apr 30, 2010
Messages
1,866
So, I'm looking to buy a new video card soon, and from all the 670 leaks that are going around, I'm thinking I'm going to end up getting one. Specifically, the Gigabyte 670 Windforce card seems to be a beast.

I also want the potential to WC my card in the future, so there needs to be some water blocks for whatever card I end up getting.

Now, from the thread below, it looks like the Gigabyte 670 uses the same layout as their 680. So, my question is: Is the Gigabyte 680 Windforce card a reference design, or are there any water blocks that fit it?

Here's the thread on the 670:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1253432/gigabyte-gtx-670-oc-version-hands-on/540#post_17182440
 
Yes, the reference 670 uses a short PCB design. The Gigabyte card in the link doesn't use a reference 670 design, though.

To clarify, I plan on buying a 670, not a 680, and would like the option of WC'ing it in the future. The non-reference Gigabyte 670 card seems to OC better than a reference 670, though.

So, I'm torn between better performance, or WC potential.
 
Sextron said:
Yes, the reference 670 uses a short PCB design. The Gigabyte card in the link doesn't use a reference 670 design, though.

To clarify, I plan on buying a 670, not a 680, and would like the option of WC'ing it in the future. The non-reference Gigabyte 670 card seems to OC better than a reference 670, though.

So, I'm torn between better performance, or WC potential.
Click to expand...

That non-reference Gigabyte card doesn't look to be much cheaper than a GTX 680.

Why not just spend the little bit more and get the better card that already comes with a full sized board and is guaranteed to be compatible with full cover blocks.
 
As per post 64 in the thread I linked to, comparing the price of the 680 in AUD to the price of a 670 AUD to the USD cost of both cards would put the cost of the 670 at $380 USD. That's $120 cheaper than the 680. I'd say that's more than a little bit.
 
If you know you're going water, you might as well get reference, because under water it'll most likely be better than the windforce.
 
Tsumi said:
If you know you're going water, you might as well get reference, because under water it'll most likely be better than the windforce.
Click to expand...

I don't doubt that water would cool better than the Windforce cooler, it's just that Gigabytes PCB layout seems to be able to push higher clocks than the reference layout. The voltages are locked on all the 600 series cards, so far, so I it isn't possible to up the voltages to allow for a better OC.

Also, I don't "know" I'm going to do WC. In fact, I know that I won't right away, as it's not in my budget. It will be at least a couple of months before I would WC any card I got.
 
Sextron said:
As per post 64 in the thread I linked to, comparing the price of the 680 in AUD to the price of a 670 AUD to the USD cost of both cards would put the cost of the 670 at $380 USD. That's $120 cheaper than the 680. I'd say that's more than a little bit.
Click to expand...

Good luck finding a GTX 670 for $380, let alone a non-reference model like the Gigabyte one.

Standard GTX 670s are going for $400 or more right now.
 
you could always go mcw-82 route, even though it doesn't cover the memory. Most don't even OC the memory on those cards anyway saving juice for the proc.
 
Omegas said:
you could always go mcw-82 route, even though it doesn't cover the memory. Most don't even OC the memory on those cards anyway saving juice for the proc.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm leaning towards just getting a non-reference card and doing just a GPU block if I want to WC. Non-reference 670s seem to be quite a bit better than the reference design, from what I'm seeing so far.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top