GTX 770 or GTX 680 and which Manufactureres

Mark Ka · Feb 25, 2014

So much choice and confusion. Nvidia's GTX 770 is currently cheaper than the GTX 680. Does anyone know why, and of the too cards which should I get? Do I get 2 or 4gb, my thinking was 2gb. And which Manufacturer should I get? my options are:- MSI, Zodiac, Palit, Gigabyte, Asus, EVGA, and Gainward. Bearing in mind I had to return my ASUS 660 TI DC2 because it had over heated, I have also heard about Asus having issues with their Cards.

THX

Mark

Ahmadjon · Feb 25, 2014

770 is a rebranded 680, and 680 disappearing on stores now, so if you use single 1080p monitor 2gb would be plenty if you use higher resolution then 4gb would be useful for brand choose between Asus, Gigabyte, EVGA and MSI!
I prefer MSI Twin Frozr cards they are really quite and powerful cards on the market

Jake Thorn · Feb 26, 2014

MSi N770 Lightning cards would be what I suggest, though they are hard to come by.
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Computer-Graphics-N770-LIGHTNING/dp/B00CZ58WQ2
That's about the only place I've been able to find them.

BlankInsanity · Feb 26, 2014

Your best bet is MSI, EVGA or Gigabyte I don't reccomend for reasons I'll keep to myself to prevent a flame war. I own the Gigabyte GTX 770 and it performs well, dissipates heat incredibly, just wish I lived in a colder environment. EVGA I'm told is nice but certain ones use the reference PCB which limits your OC capabilities. MSI's Lightning version is already OCed exceptionally, and cools great two for a dual fan design, but because its OCed so much there isn't much OC headroom left. Gigabyte's PCB allows the most OC potential due to it's voltage limitations I might be slightly wrong.

Take into consideration Gigabyte Windforce is quite long(it's like a fry in my case though, 600t) however is pretty quiet, infact the silentess of the three. MSI does a fabulous quality job on there parts, the lightning does infact beat all three in performance though only by a negligible difference though.

The MSI TF Gaming GTX 770 however competes with the EVGA GTX 770.

BlankInsanity · Feb 26, 2014

Jake Thorn :

you can get a GTX 770 4GB for that price, Amazon is overpriced in certain products. I was lucky enough to find my parts at a reasonable price on Amazon but by all means Newegg, if they actually don't give you hassle with your CC then go with them.

Beezy · Feb 26, 2014

im putting my vote in for an ASUS DirectCUII cooling card.

Jake Thorn · Feb 26, 2014

BlankInsanity :

It's a lightning, I know you can get a 4gb for that price, I recommended Amazon and it's that expensive because most other places are sold out. Newegg has been sold out for awhile, got 1 770 Lightning from them for ~$340 around 1/1 but they've been sold out since, and no one else seems to carry them, unless you are willing to get a used card. The 770 lightning is the best 770 available and comes only in 2gb models so that is also why I would buy it.

770s run out of GPU horsepower anyways before they hit the 4gb ceiling even in SLI, so a 4gb model is almost a waste when you could get a lightning, and memory overclock for better performance.

caj · Feb 26, 2014

770 is the way. 4gb if you depend to sli in the future and if you have more than 1 monitor or gaming at higher than 1080p. Brans would be no 1Evga then asus direct cuii , msi then gigabyte.

caj · Feb 26, 2014

Depends. On top tier cards evga is nvidia no1 and most loyal retailer and 3rd party aftermarket. Even their stock coolers on ref 780 and 780ti have proved worthy of their name and reputation. Asus too mostly their large coolers give a alarge headroom 4 overclocking thou 4 the cost of space

Jake Thorn · Feb 27, 2014

Neither Caj nor Amin is correct.

Lets examine clock speeds first and foremost
ASUS 770
Base: 1058MHz Boost: 1110MHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121770

Evga 770 Superclocked
Base: 1111MHz Boost: 1163MHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130921

Gigabyte 770 Windforce
Base: 1137MHz Boost: 1189MHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125463

MSi N770 Lightning
Base: 1150MHz Boost: 1202MHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127742

As you can see, the MSi Lightning is the best of them all stock, and if we factor in overclocking, the Lightning will crucify the others. And as far as 4gb vs 2gb is concerned:
http://alienbabeltech.com/main/gtx-770-4gb-vs-2gb-tested/3/
Absolutely not worth the sacrificed performance of reducing the 256bit memory bus speed from 360GB/s to 200GB/s with a 4gb card.

caj · Feb 27, 2014

You sir are wrong. You are comparing a stock 770 between a superclocked 770. Tgey are 2 diff vers. And yes everyone know the msi lighteningbis simply overpriced. You can manually overclok it yourself with stock coolers. So stop comparing a superclocked version against stock... its jus doesnt justify the price unless next you intend the op to gobfor hydro copper gpu with a hefty price tag.

Jake Thorn · Feb 27, 2014

caj :

How exactly am I wrong? That's not stock, that's ASUS's oh so special DirectCUII card
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_770_Direct_Cu_II_OC/
Same clock speeds as the one I posted. Those cards are not "stock", none of them are.

From Amir

Get A GTX 770 By Asus But Get The Non-Reference Model...

The OP mentions only that he has a preference for a 2gb card and had to return another because of heat issues, The N770L solves the heat issue and is 2gb. And the price is very much justified, ~$80 more at most, for a card capable of reaching 1500MHz. The N770L is a very justified comparison, and you do a disservice to the OP to say otherwise.

caj · Feb 27, 2014

80$ doesnt justify a price maybe for overclocking enthusiasts . 80 might seemvlike a breeze 4u but doeant translate into performance sumthing that the op can manually do himself. If the op sinks a another 100 he can easilybattain a 780 which will beats the 770 hands down.

Jake Thorn · Feb 27, 2014

caj :

~$80 at most, and and here it is with free shipping for only $370, a $40 difference
http://www.shopblt.com/item/msi-computer-n770-lightning-nvidia-pcie-2gb/mstar_n770lightning.html
If that's not good enough, wait for them to get back in stock and it will be even lower. As far as the OP not being able to do the overclocking himself, I'd be more than happy to send him an Afterburner profile for an N770L with 1350MHz clock he could run with the stock cooler, and a good case. No effort on his part, other than installing software, which he'd have to do anyways.

caj · Feb 27, 2014

If 80$ isnt a big deal for the op and heat was really a issue instead of a lightening I could suggest the op to sink that money into a waterblock or 3rd party aftermarket cooler. Msi lightening doesnt justify for futur sli as those cards are often manafactured limited in supply. I would only suggest a lightening if the op has no budget issues or if he extreme overcloxking or living in a extreme climate where still d waterblock will do a much better job.

Jake Thorn · Feb 27, 2014

caj :

Really? This is getting to be silly, first, any 770 can SLI with another 770, they don't need to be carbon copies, so worrying about getting another N770L down the road is pointless. A single card solution is better anyways, especially given that since we're talking about only getting 1 770 now, OP won't likely get another for a couple years, at which point newer cards will have come out. Second, I've already said that $80 is the most amount of difference you're going to get. You could get the card RIGHT NOW for a $40 difference, and less with patience. Third the only point in getting a water block would be to go beyond 1350MHz, which a) you don't need to do, the stock air cooler is good enough, b) would be better off getting an air cooled 780 if you had the money for a water block, and c) you would become more limited by voltage and wattage than heat with this card past 1350MHz.

Jake Thorn · Feb 27, 2014

AminWinsGaming :

Are you serious? That starts at $520, that's way beyond what any of the cards I, Caj, or the OP are talking about. Do you not understand we've been arguing over a card that's "not worth it" at $370?

caj · Feb 27, 2014

Jake Thorn :

caj :

Really? This is getting to be silly, first, any 770 can SLI with another 770, they don't need to be carbon copies, so worrying about getting another N770L down the road is pointless. A single card solution is better anyways, especially given that since we're talking about only getting 1 770 now, OP won't likely get another for a couple years, at which point newer cards will have come out. Second, I've already said that $80 is the most amount of difference you're going to get. You could get the card RIGHT NOW for a $40 difference, and less with patience. Third the only point in getting a water block would be to go beyond 1350MHz, which a) you don't need to do, the stock air cooler is good enough, b) would be better off getting an air cooled 780 if you had the money for a water block, and c) you would become more limited by voltage and wattage than heat with this card past 1350MHz.

im clearly aware of that , but not all 770s manafactured are match the msi lightening speed. so ur msi card will down clock to match the new 770. mind you msi & other manafacturers will use different parts so expect diff results, power consumption & temp. u still arent justified

d1versify · Feb 27, 2014

1. EVGA
2. Gigabyte

Jake Thorn · Feb 27, 2014

Caj, my point was that by the time OP would consider a second card, he'd be better off going with a newer single card solution. As far as down locking goes, yes the N770L would down clock, but you not only recieve the benefits of a higher performing card while using only the 1 card, but also can run the N770L at very low temperatures if you choose SLI. The N770L is capable of 55C at 1333MHz with stock cooler, under full load. Heat removal is even more useful in SLI setups, as the cards are very close(usually) to one another. As far as value is concerned, I think that $40 is very much worth it to get the best 770 instead of the reference card.

As far as "different manufacturer materials, processes, etc"..... Tell me what makes this argument unique to MSi. You could say the exact same thing about any other manufacturors card, except that MSi's card is superior.

BlankInsanity · Feb 27, 2014

AminWinsGaming :

You seem to being fanboying Asus extensively. I'm sorry but wtf, do you mean don't get the EVGA or Gigabyte? for one EVGA is the kingpin in customer RMA service, there cards are of quality. Gigabyte, produce exceptional PCBs that can overclock higher than any of the 4 models because of its voltage limitations and triple fan design.

ASUS non-reference models are good yes but not the best, they sacrifice the cooling component for quietness. It is true the ASUS models remain the coolest while on idle however they don't prove that same result when under load. the MSI N770 Lightning is cooler under load than the ASUS model simply because it's cooler are better however I will note that it is louder than the ASUS model.

On gigabyte's side once more, its as quiet as the ASUS model on idle and remains almost as quiet under load aswell due to its triple fan design which you'd expect to create more noise however that is not the case.

Do not throw down some of the top aftermarket cooler brands without some sort of experience with them or benchmarking proof.

ASUS has numerous faulty deliveries and that'll bite you in the ass one day. Sorry for being offensive but you just can't do that to some of the top brands

Beezy · Feb 27, 2014

yeah EVGA and Gigabyte are both great brands, as well as ASUS and MSI. just avoid power color and other brands youve never heard of.

Jake Thorn · Feb 27, 2014

BlankInsanity :

https://imageshack.com/i/4jf92tp

I'm no expert when it comes to documenting stress tests, but my claims are not unfounded. If any of you know of a way to stress test by using more than a "render test" ie: a good all around stress tester that can also be fairly easily documented, let me know, and I'll use that. These clocks have been fully stable for me, and I could go higher, but it has issues with scrypt mining if I do, so I don't really go much higher.

BlankInsanity · Feb 27, 2014

Jake Thorn :

I'm not sure what you're stating here.. is this an ASUS model? what is this? watercooled? do you live in the artic and leave your windows open?

this is a vague response at that a response to me when I haven't spoken to you at all

Jake Thorn · Feb 27, 2014

BlankInsanity :

Its an MSi N770 Lightning, and when you said
"Do not throw down some of the top aftermarket cooler brands without some sort of experience with them or benchmarking proof."

I assumed it was directed at me since I was the one repeatedly claiming you could get 1350MHz on air, and had not provided any proof of it, and Amin said nothing about overclocking.

For the record, I don't live in the arctic, nor do I have a very fancy setup.

GTX 770 or GTX 680 and which Manufactureres

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