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Upgrading from GEFORCE 670 Need help

M

MCRAYGSX

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 27, 2004
Messages
501
Hi everyone its been a while since I've posted here but something came up and I need your professional input. I am currently running EVGA GEFORCE 670 FTW+ with 4GB rams. But I think its time for upgrade to 680. Here is what I am looking at and can someone tell me the advantage each one has. And which of those TWO MSI is newer and better. Not sure about EVGA due to lack of information on their web site, but MSI has fully custom PCB has high quality solid capacitor for lower temperature, higher efficiency. Which one should I go for ?

EVGA GeForce GTX 680 FTW Core clock 1084 MHz $444
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2827138&CatId=7387

MSI GeForce GTX 680 Power Edition N680 Core clock 1019 MHz $449
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4805061&CatId=7387

MSI N680GTX Twin Frozr Geforce 680 Core clock 1058MHz $469
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127672
 
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I would just go with the one with the highest clock -- and it helps that EVGA is pretty reliable and reasonable for RMA's and stuff. Though the MSi's have better cooling, so you might be able to push them farther if you were going to manually overclock.

But, may I make a suggestion? If you have an overclocked 670 as it is, buying an overclocked 680 isn't going to net you much more performance and you'd be spending in excess of $450.

I'd honestly just wait. Do whatever makes you happy, but you're probably going to want the next flagship Nvidia card in the 7xx series and you'll end up spending way more than you need to in a relatively small time frame. The 680 isn't going to take a game from unplayable to playable when compared to an overclocked 670 right now. Plus, upgrading from a 670 to Nvidia's next flagship card will most likely be an improvement worth paying a premium for most enthusiasts. :)
 
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You are absolutely correct, Currently for EVGA GEFORCE 670 FTW+ w/blackplate I paid $439 which is already crashing in sometimes when the temperature reaches +85c (while playing metro 2033 the temp easily reaches 96c, Thus I plan to return the card back to the vendor and since those MSI are only $10-$20 more and that EVGA Geforce 680 is for $444 over tigerdirect so instead of getting the same 670 why not pay like 10-20 more buck and get 680.. or should I just give up on NVidia and try AMD.
 
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How about troubleshooting your current problem before you throw money at it? You won't notice any difference going to a 680 from that card.
 
Well if you get your full money back, go for it. If not, just RMA.
 
I believe the FTW and the Twin Frozr are both reference cards. The only difference between them is the heatshink - in which case the Twin Frozr will be quieter and cool better.

The 680 power edition are just 680 lightnings that didn't quite pass the overclocking test, but it still has the same features on the lightnings such as the upgraded vrm and cooling. (And other nifty features such as the backplate and gpu reactor) Theoretically you can still flash lightning bios onto it and it'll most likely out overclock the reference cards unless you get extremely lucky in getting a golden reference card.

If you're upgrading from a 670 then the 680 power edition will be your best choice.
 
Agenesis said:
I believe the FTW and the Twin Frozr are both reference cards. The only difference between them is the heatshink - in which case the Twin Frozr will be quieter and cool better.

The 680 power edition are just 680 lightnings that didn't quite pass the overclocking test, but it still has the same features on the lightnings such as the upgraded vrm and cooling. (And other nifty features such as the backplate and gpu reactor) Theoretically you can still flash lightning bios onto it and it'll most likely out overclock the reference cards unless you get extremely lucky in getting a golden reference card.

If you're upgrading from a 670 then the 680 power edition will be your best choice.
Click to expand...

Thanks for making it more clear for me, For some reason I cannot find the review of MSI 680 POWER EDITION anywhere on the web and strangely I cannot even find this PE model on the MSI's web site either, did they discontinued 680 Power Edition ? All I found on their web site was LIGHTENING version http://us.msi.com/product/vga/N680GTX-Lightning.html
 
All you need to do is sort out your temperature issues, Kepler starts throttling at 70 degrees C.

No good RMAing the card as the card doesn't have an issue, no good upgrading to a 680 as you won't see a cracker of a difference.
 
JohnleMVP said:
Sit on the upgrade. Wait 1-2 months for newer cards.
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I can sit on it but my G70 FTW+ is still under 30 day return period and its already giving up on me so I thought better return this and get something better even if its slightly better. My return has already been approved for full return except shipping. So its either 680 or 7970 GE for. According to what Agenesis explained above MSI sounds like a good deal.
 
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You're temps are way too high, you're card isn't giving up on you at all.
 
MCRAYGSX said:
I can sit on it but my G70 FTW+ is still under 30 day return period and its already giving up on me so I thought better return this and get something better even if its slightly better. My return has already been approved for full return except shipping. So its either 680 or 7970 GE for. According to what Agenesis explained above MSI sounds like a good deal.
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Ahh. You added your monitor setup! 1 680 would be a good start, then add another if you dont like the FPS with full eye candy on.
 
Totally go for it man getting a max of 5% gain for hundreds of dollars to play those console ports another 40fps faster is dam worth it!!!! omg lol
 
MCRAYGSX said:
Thanks for making it more clear for me, For some reason I cannot find the review of MSI 680 POWER EDITION anywhere on the web and strangely I cannot even find this PE model on the MSI's web site either, did they discontinued 680 Power Edition ? All I found on their web site was LIGHTENING version http://us.msi.com/product/vga/N680GTX-Lightning.html
Click to expand...

I don't think they even ever had marketed the power edition... It just kinda appeared. Since MSI claims to bin Lightning cards so as long as they keep on making them and binning them they should have a decent amount of chips that doesn't pass specific oc ratio.

As for the 670 vs the 680... Well it's a reference 670 vs a non-reference 680. Overclocking alone should allow the 680 pe to pull ahead. A typical reference 670 will get up to 1200 and little above on air if you're lucky. And along with that comes noise and throttling. A flashed 680 pe/lightning on the other hand on average gets to 1350, 1400 and above with some luck. The previous one I had clocked at 1410 and with the default fan profile and it hovered at around 60-70c gaming. At that clock it'll blow away all other gpus such as the 7970 lightning/matrix. There's also no throttling and the fan remains relatively quiet up to 40%. And 60% cools a 1.4ghz 680 at 70c so it should give you an idea of how good the lightning cooler is.

And if you're moving to all of that for just $20-$30 more - I don't see why not.
 
thank you Agenesis it makes sense to go for 680 now the question remains should I order

MSI GeForce GTX 680 Power Edition N680 Core clock 1019 MHz $449
or
MSI N680GTX Twin Frozr Geforce 680 Core clock 1058MHz $469
 
If you can return your card, then go for it. I'd personally save the $20 and OC the card myself. It's only a difference of 39MHz between the two.
 
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