When should we start seeing non-reference 780s?

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Tych-0

Gawd
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I'm sort of holding out, mostly for reasons of not being in a rush at all, as I'm upgrading primarily in anticipation of BF4. I figure it may be worth waiting to see if any faster or larger memory versions are released. I'm looking to go SLI so I'd like a cooler similar to the reference so the hot air is exhausted out the back. Is that likely? Maybe I should just grab 2 reference cards? Are there any details out on coming non-reference cards?
 
Tych-0 said:
I'm sort of holding out, mostly for reasons of not being in a rush at all, as I'm upgrading primarily in anticipation of BF4. I figure it may be worth waiting to see if any faster or larger memory versions are released. I'm looking to go SLI so I'd like a cooler similar to the reference so the hot air is exhausted out the back. Is that likely? Maybe I should just grab 2 reference cards? Are there any details out on coming non-reference cards?
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Typically non-reference designs will not be the blower style that vents out the back of the case.

The reference cooler of the 780 is way better than what you would normally expect from a reference cooler. Good heat transfer and the fan has acceptable audio qualities....and i personally think it looks snazzy.

Another benefit of non-reference designs is the additional voltage control and cooling helps with OCing...but these 780s are OCing really well on the reference cooler, upgrading wont make a huge difference. Was reading on OCN some people are only getting an extra ~20mhz or so by converting to water.

Waiting for non-reference this generation seems to matter less, as you're already getting a card closer to it's theoretical max with the beefed up reference cooler.


Edit: I'm running a Titan with flashed no-throttle bios at 1150core / 7000 ram with the stock cooler + a backplate to help cool the ram on the backside of the card. Temps dont go above 84c and the fan noise isn't higher than the other fans in my system. I'd guess temps with a similar OC on a 780 with the reference cooler will be slightly lower...
 
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I'd say we are still about 2-3 week out for more non-reference 780s.

i've been surprised by how quiet these reference coolers are. Compared to my old reference AMD 6950's it is night and day difference. My cards are audible when at 100% fan, but they are still about 10-15db less what my 6950's were putting out at full speed (using my cell phone db meter anyways).
 
I'd say longer than 2-3 weeks, if you look at prior generation GPUs - the lead time between reference to non-reference is usually a period of 2-3 months. This was true of the classified and lightning SKUs from all prior generations, where the lead time was nearly exactly 3 months. Meanwhile, you can still purchase reference PCBs with non reference coolers now - and these should provide adequate results for most of us.

Keep in mind that there is a lot of additional validation and testing associated with non reference SKUs, so that is the cause of the lead time.From what i've read elsewhere, we can expect cards on the market utilizing non reference PCBs in late July or August. Also, the 780 Lightning from MSI is actually slated for an August release, as well.
 
I would just buy a reference card, given that the cooler is quality and there will almost assuredly not be voltage unlocked cards at this time.

I bought my EVGA 680s the day of launch and they do 1300MHz on the reference design. People waited months for the EVGA 680 Classifieds and most didn't overclock much higher than mine.
 
Tych-0 said:
...larger memory versions...
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Probably not gonna happen. It doesn't look like NVIDIA's going to allow a 6GB version of the GTX 780 since that would encroach too much on Titan.

...a cooler similar to the reference so the hot air is exhausted out the back. Is that likely?
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Not likely. The reference cooler is pretty darn good. I can't imagine anybody's going to bother trying to make a better blower style cooler.
 
Rizen said:
I would just buy a reference card, given that the cooler is quality and there will almost assuredly not be voltage unlocked cards at this time.

I bought my EVGA 680s the day of launch and they do 1300MHz on the reference design. People waited months for the EVGA 680 Classifieds and most didn't overclock much higher than mine.
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My reference 680 does 1300 core as well. The 680 lightning I got a few months later only does 1228 core. So indeed, waiting for a non-reference design does not always mean better performance.
 
Zomoa said:
My reference 680 does 1300 core as well. The 680 lightning I got a few months later only does 1228 core. So indeed, waiting for a non-reference design does not always mean better performance.
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That is correct, if you measure performance by framerates alone, however non-reference coolers run much cooler and quieter and that is also a measure of better performance.
 
Blkout said:
That is correct, if you measure performance by framerates alone, however non-reference coolers run much cooler and quieter and that is also a measure of better performance.
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No, that's a measure of how much cooler and quieter they are. Some people don't care.
 
In the case of GTX 780's, the temperature that the card is running at directly affects the performance because of the throttling that occurs when it hits 80 degrees Celsius due to Boost 2.0. Non-reference cards such as the Gigabyte GTX780 Windforce and the EVGA GTX 780 SC w/ ACX Cooler will be able to obtain even higher boost clock speeds because they have been designed to never hit that threshold. That is why in a lot of the reviews those cards are faster that the Titan in some games and applications.
 
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