EVGA GeForce GTX 680 SC+ Review

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Overclocking Results

Overclocking Results

EVGA includes a number of tools with their cards which facilitate overclocking and while the aforementioned Precision X is the primary means of increasing clock speeds and voltage while monitoring every aspect of GPU performance, their new OC Tuner X will add another handy application to your tweaking toolbox.

OC Tuner allows a user to run a number of OpenGL stress tests on their card in order to ensure an overclock’s stability before entering an in-game environment. This really will come in handy when it comes to dialing in final clock speeds since you’ll be able to quickly to quickly determine whether an overclock will hold up under stressful conditions. It also includes an information tool called NV-Z (a riff on GPU-Z) which lists all manner of specifications for you card and could help when troubleshooting an issue becomes necessary.

With all of that being said, you guys are here for the overclocking results, so let’s get to that. Just remember that any overclock we post has been tested for hours in order to ensure stability. In addition, we maximized the Power Target in every instance.

Unfortunately, overclocking the GTX 680 SC+ above its default Boost clock of 1124MHz wasn’t all that easy without adding a bit of voltage. We topped out at a mere 1169MHz on the core which is still respectable but craving a bit more led us to some voltage tweaking….

With the core voltage set at 1.095V, we hit 1275MHz (which led to in-game frequencies of about 1330MHz) alongside a GDDR5 clock of 6360MHz. Now, the memory clock was low in this instance simply because anything above that point didn’t seem to net us any higher framerates in games. It could be that the games we were testing don’t benefit from higher bandwidth or the GDDR5’s error correction was stepping in but we’ll continue testing and update this review’s forum thread if we learn anything new.

 

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Conclusion

Conclusion

Even though it may be had to find on store shelves, the GTX 680 remains the best option if you are looking for high end performance and with their SC+ version, EVGA has succeeded in making a great card even more appealing. This may be one of the first pre-overclocked Kepler-based products on the market but it feels polished, stable and doesn't come at an outrageous price.

From a performance standpoint, the GTX 680 SC+ delivers in spades. Upon first glance, the clock speeds seem to be conservative but once up and running, the card’s use of GPU Boost allowed core clocks to hover between 1215MHz to 1275MHz in most applications. The result was an in-game performance increase of about ten percent over the reference design, which is impressive. While the SC+ won’t likely “feel” all that much faster within a typical game environment, it is more likely to provide consistent framerates in high resolution, high detail scenarios. This is particularly important in situations where someone wants to use NVIDIA’s 3D Vision, apply high instances of anti aliasing or run a multiple monitor setup.

When the GTX 680 SC+ is put up against the HD 7970, it isn’t hard to see why some of AMD’s board partners are screaming for a price cut. Even with its memory disadvantage, the overclocked EVGA version simply tramples the $549 Radeon in most situations while costing $20 less and still consuming significantly less power. It even provides a much quieter computing experience than the HD 7970.

The stock performance on this card is just the tip of the iceberg since it is more than willing to give up some incredible overclocks as well provided some additional voltage is used. To accomplish this, EVGA provides users with a pair of great applications: Precision and the new OC Scanner X, both of which performed flawlessly in our testing and will help you dial in a stable overclock.

To many, it will look like EVGA has taken the safe route by sticking to the reference design but that isn’t to say that the SC+ is your typical vanilla GTX 680. Its claim to fame is a great looking backplate but we can’t conclusively say whether or not this addition actually lowers temperatures. What we did notice were nearly identical acoustics and temperatures as the reference version even though the SC+'s clock speeds were much higher in some cases. Whether or not this is due to a lower leakage core, the backplate or another factor is anyone’s guess but we still prefer having the backplate over nothing at all.

Like it or not, $530 is a massive amount of money to spend on any graphics card but we can safely say that the GTX 680 SC+ should satisfy your performance needs for a least the next two years. From its in game framerates to an adaptable warranty, we really can’t pick out anything that makes us think twice about recommending this particular card. EVGA has found a recipe for success without charging the end user an outlandish premium and for that, they should be applauded.