GTX 670vs. 680 = worth the extra bucks?

[JayDeeHobbit]

I'm looking at upgrading from a GTX 570 to an MSI GTX 670 Power Edition OC and from the review Sky did this card should perform close to a standard 680.

For gaming at 1920x1200 do you think a 680 would be worth the extra $100 or so? The 670 is on sale for $380 right now.

[bliz]

680 is really more powerful,if its more than 100$ than the 670 OC don't get it if it's less,take the cheapest 680 and it will destroy the 670 OC anyway so...

[SugarJ]

I think I'd pick up this 680 for the extra $20. $399 after MIR. Galaxy GeForce GTX 680 1006MHZ 2048MB 6008MHZ GDDR5 SLI 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E DX11 Video Card

[Arinoth]

Unfortunately that model tends to run hot and the fan's rather loud too even.

[SugarJ]

I own one. I don't find it runs hot, although I do have it in a Raven 2. The blower fan is no louder than any other stock cooled GPU I've owned.

Edit: I will say I'm waiting to purchase a waterblock for it though, as it is a reference card. I hate all GPU fans.

[sswilson]

I had a similar discussion with ST the other day WRT my purchase of the 680. It's overkill for a single 1920X1200 monitor, but as with my PSUs I like a bit of overhead and I sleep soundly knowing that my vid card will be able to handle anything I throw at it for the foreseeable future.

The question then is whether or not futureproofing / overhead is worth $50 - $100 to you.

[JayDeeHobbit]

Thanks for the replies guys.

If I went 680 I was looking at this EVGA for $450
EVGA GeForce GTX 680 SC Signature 1084MHZ 2048MB 6208MHZ GDDR5 SLI DVI HDMI DP PCI-E DX11 Video Card

This is the MSI 670 for $380
MSI GeForce GTX 670 OC PE 1079MHZ 2GB 6.0GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Video Card

Here is the review Sky did on that MSI 670 = it was so darn close to a vanilla 680.
MSI GTX 670 Power Edition OC Review

Quote Sky: the MSI GTX 670 Power Edition OC’s primary selling point will be its in-game performance. With framerates easily matching or surpassing NVIDIA’s $499 GTX 680, we really can’t think of a better card for a wide variety of in-game situations. In many ways it is a actually a perfect alternative to NVIDIA’s flagship card since MSI’s Triple Overvoltage feature allows for some impressive overclocks with only a moderate amount of voltage. The GTX 680 will tend to pull ahead at higher detail settings but more often than not, the framerate difference between these two cards will never be noticeable to gamers.

Sky certainly seemed impressed. The benchmark numbers were also very close.

I certainly do not mind spending the extra $70 for the EVGA 680 but I'll be danged if I don't look for best value.
@SugarJ - Thanks for the link but I am very wary of Galaxy and I'd lay out extra coin to avoid one.

[great_big_abyss]

Originally Posted by JayDeeHobbit

I certainly do not mind spending the extra $70 for the EVGA 680 but I'll be danged if I don't look for best value.
@SugarJ - Thanks for the link but I am very wary of Galaxy and I'd lay out extra coin to avoid one.

Don't be. They're actually a very underrated company that puts out great graphics cards, and when one does go wrong, they back it up with awesome customer service. They have a REP here on the forum, ya know... Got my 680 replaced even though we couldn't definitively prove that my video card was causing the problem. There was no test that we could run to prove that my card was bad. Zero hassle (aside from pulling the card out of the system and mailing it to them).

My point is, don't be afraid of Galaxy.

[sswilson]

The only real question in my mind would be if there's a chance of a monitor upgrade in your future? The 670 review is comparing a stock OC'd 670 to a vanilla 680, and if you then compare the vanilla 680 with an OC'd 680 version at higher res you'll see that there is a fair difference at the stock OC.

All that remains to answer would be much overhead is still available for OC between the respective stock OC'd cards.

[JayDeeHobbit]

Originally Posted by great_big_abyss

My point is, don't be afraid of Galaxy.

Hmmm... my opinion was formed a few years ago and I believe the company was Galaxy. (not certain)

What happened with the company I'm thinking of was they decided to pull out of the North American Market and left people on this side of the pond high and dry.