Another "which card" thread

[Dzzope]

Originally Posted by GT7R

But all the other cards are a 670 reference which is much worse than the 680 ref.

That'll teach me to open my mouth before I check every link... :P

[Adzsask]

Hmm all reference, so I would choose purely on warranty, but I just installed SLI 670 twin fan galaxy models in my friends new PC...quietest PC I have ever heard that was air cooled, and there were two cards in there! idle 30C load 60C.
Newegg.ca - Galaxy 67NQH6DN6KXZ GeForce GTX 670 GC 4GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Also, for $4 more you get 4GB VRAM with this model(2GB is $440, 4GB is $444)

[elmorejohn46]

All look like the refrence design so I would choose the cheapest and the one with the best warranty,I would go with a ASUS or the Gigabyte that has dual fans or more .I have two of the asus directCU II GTX670 for a sli setup and it is super quiet and overclocks very good.

[NyteOwl]

Vid cards idled at 30 and loaded to 60 but how much did the temps in the rest of the system rise, especially under load sicne most of that ehat is staying in the box for the case fans to deal with?

[elmorejohn46]

As long as you have a good case with good cooling and with the reduction in power useage and less heat I see no heat build up.They idle in the 30c and around 60c's running a heavy load.my Cpu is water cooled so the 6 120mm fans keeps the hot aur out.My cpu runs at 25c to 28c idle and around 65c loaded and that is with it clocked at 4.8g

[GalaxyTech]

While I personally tend towards the dual fan GC edition cards, I can say that the Galaxy 670 GC single fan edition is a beast of a card for the price. Considering it's got 680 clocks, a 680 reference cooler, and our custom 680 PCB, I'd say it's a lot closer to being a GTX 680 minus an SMX unit than it is to being a highly customized 670. Although the dual fan cooler is quieter there's certainly nothing loud about the reference cooler on the 680 either.

Plus, as has been said, I'm always around to make sure rebates, replacements, troubleshooting and the like get taken care of post haste.

[Dzzope]

Originally Posted by NyteOwl

Vid cards idled at 30 and loaded to 60 but how much did the temps in the rest of the system rise, especially under load sicne most of that ehat is staying in the box for the case fans to deal with?

Unless your case has like 1 80mm fan(yes I'm exaggerating) then this isn't a problem..

[NyteOwl]

Water cooled AND 6 120mm case fans? geez. :)

The case is an Antec P182. 2 Scythe Slipstream 1200rpms (front and lower intakes), 2 scythe Sipstream 800rpms (rear and top exhaust) and an 800rpm Slipstream on the CPU heatsink. (these may be changed soon to Noctuas).

My system currently idles with motherboard(x58)@37C, CPU(QX9650-3.8GHz)@38C, video(HD4870 blower-30%)@40C in an approx 20C ambient.

[Dzzope]

I'd def look at a custom cooled solution.. the stock heatsink is rubbish in comparison to most after-market ones.. Galaxy GC, Gigabyte windforce, MSI PE, Asus DCII etc etc are all options at about the same price just above stock...

The MSI PE looks really sweet, especially being one of the better clocked, cooler, quieter, gets a $25 MIR and Borderlands2 on top for the price of $410
But any of the above will be good.. I would get the cheapest available of those..

[NyteOwl]

Again, I'm rather concerned about dumping all that GPU heat into the case. As it is now, it runs at reasonable temps even during gamings essions) without being unreasonably noisey. Indeed It's almost silent under the desk except when I ramp the GPU fan wheh gaming. I don't want to have to go to faster and hence noisier fans for extra cooling due to the GPU if I can avoid it.