GeForce GTX 670: MSI v EVGA v Gigbyte v Asus, etc.

[CuzaWat]

I plan on getting a GeForce GTX 670 for my build. Is any particular manufacturer clearly superior, or even just preferred, since the price point between them is not too much of a difference? I was leaning towards the ASUS, but I forget how I came to that decision. Thanks.

 

[nsouter853]

Honestly despite what people say you will barely ever see any real performance difference between specific models/manufacturers of the same card. It will be like 2-5 FPS difference if even that much.

My personal reccomendation is the EVGA GTX 670 FTW. It's a 670 with a 680 board and cooler, overclocked to a stock 680's clock speeds. EVGA is also a super reputable and respected brand.

Good luck!

 

[CuzaWat]

Sounds good. And now I have an intelligent answer as to why I picked the EVGA. Thanks.

 

[eric4277]

i'd go msi power edition. it is the best one out. IT has reports of coming out the box with 1200-1300 boost clocks. (so you pretty much dont have to overclock it ever.) it runs cooler than the rest. Asus dcuII is the only one that runs quieter but its still very quiet. If you did want to overclock msi will give you the highest clock of the bunch. i would not go with evga because they are pretty much running a reference design. you will not overclock or have higher stock clocks than msi, asus, or gigabyte. IMO MSI > Asus > Gigabyte > the rest.

 

[eric4277]

also, the evga will run hotter. Everyone is on the evga bandwagon. I dont know why but evga cards are way over-hyped

 

[CuzaWat]

Which one would you suggest? Below is the build I'm contemplating, would it provide sufficient airflow/cooling to negate the higher temps?

Edit: so you recommend MSI, didn't see your earlier post.

Would like to get other suggestions.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.30 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Samsung 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($96.49 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($399.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1242.69
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-04 18:46 EDT-0400)

 

[Embra]

Asus or MSI.

 

[JamesSneed]

I like big quiet fans so the newer Gigabyte card GV-N670WF2-2GD with 2, 100mm fans appeals to me: http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4282#ov

I couldn't find any review of that card since its so new but anandtech did review the new GTX 660ti that has the same cooler:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6159/the-geforce-gtx-660-ti-review/19

EDIT: Also been eyeballing the 4GB version from from Galaxy now that its went down in price but I still think I prefer the Gigabyte card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162118

 

[pezonator]

There's nothing wrong with any brand, it's really up to you and personal preference. Some cards require 3 slots while others only use 2. I know that MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte vent some air back into the case while EVGA pushes all air out the back.

That's why I chose the EVGA 670 FTW. 2 slot design on a 680 board that vents all air out the back, a good overclock, quiet and reasonable temps. No issues in the past few months.

 

[bigcyco1]

The Asus 670 TOP and MSI 670PE run the coolest and are a little better then the rest though that is argumentative honestly bottom line all are very good

 

[exeedorbit]

I went for the Gigabyte one. It's the one that seems to run the coolest/quietest because of its 3 large fans. Also, it is the same price as the reference model. Only bad thing about it is indeed that it pushes hot air back in your case.

 

[nsouter853]

In the end it doesn't make a huge difference what 670 it is, what might matter is the customer service. This is where EVGA beats any other manufacturer out there.

Also, if you do decide to go EVGA, make sure to get the GTX 670 FTW, not the normal GTX 670. It's the one pezonator and I talked about, with 680 specs/board.

 

[bigcyco1]

I went for the Gigabyte one. It's the one that seems to run the coolest/quietest because of its 3 large fans. Also, it is the same price as the reference model. Only bad thing about it is indeed that it pushes hot air back in your case.

It doesn't run the coolest,quietest i know that for a fact but it's a good choice if you trust Gigabyte I trust EVGA,MSI,ASUS more but it's a personal choice.

 

[17seconds]

This roundup is for GTX 660 Ti's, but some of the conclusions should apply to the GTX 670 versions.
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/56432-gtx-660-ti-roundup-asus-evga-gigabyte-galaxy-msi-22.html

The page about "performance oddities" is interesting.
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/56432-gtx-660-ti-roundup-asus-evga-gigabyte-galaxy-msi-21.html

 

[bigcyco1]

This roundup is for GTX 660 Ti's, but some of the conclusions should apply to the GTX 670 versions.
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/56432-gtx-660-ti-roundup-asus-evga-gigabyte-galaxy-msi-22.html

The page about "performance oddities" is interesting.
nice]http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/56432-gtx-660-ti-roundup-asus-evga-gigabyte-galaxy-msi-21.html

nice read i am going to check it out i just had bad luck with Gigabyte cards not mobos just cards in the past and they didn't make it right so i will never buy a card from them again so it's a personal thing i am sure they must make decent cards otherwise people wouldn't keep buying their cards

 

[bigcyco1]

I am really shocked fanboys have not high jacked this thread yet with their get the 7970ghz it eats a 670 for breakfast stuff they must be sleeping today lol

 

[17seconds]

I am really shocked fanboys have not high jacked this thread yet with their get the 7970ghz it eats a 670 for breakfast stuff they must be sleeping today lol

No kidding, right? You know it's getting bad when a thread titled: "660 ti use 670 pcb?" (asking so they can use a 670 waterblock on a 660 Ti) becomes a "but you should get a 7950" and "the 7950 can easily beat a stock 670" argument.

 

[CuzaWat]

No kidding, right? You know it's getting bad when a thread titled: "660 ti use 670 pcb?" (asking so they can use a 670 waterblock on a 660 Ti) becomes a "but you should get a 7950" and "the 7950 can easily beat a stock 670" argument.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=33&post=368698&page=1&p=2&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0

Well that's good, I'm still trying to figure out what 670 to get... don't need to start investigating 7950/7970s.

 

[bigcyco1]

No kidding, right? You know it's getting bad when a thread titled: "660 ti use 670 pcb?" (asking so they can use a 670 waterblock on a 660 Ti) becomes a "but you should get a 7950" and "the 7950 can easily beat a stock 670" argument.

Yeah hes a handful sipping that red kool aid a bit to much i have had many talks with him about it :lol:

 

[bigcyco1]

Anyway to get back on topic If you want a 670, the one to get is the Asus. While many non-reference cards add an improved cooler, few have a factory heavily modified PCB, with an efficient VRM design to produce low temperatures, improved voltage regulation circuitry, much better CHiL controller , specially binned chips and voltage control and monitoring support that you won't find on most other non-reference cards. Those are some of the reasons you'll see it get a 10.0 rating at techpowerup, something no other card has ever attained.



Also compare here with the 670's listed:


10.0 Rating Asus 670 TOP
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/33.html


9.7 rating MSI Twin Frozr IV
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_670_Power_Edition/33.html


9.6 Rating Zotac AMP 670
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_670_Amp_Edition/33.html note there are other 670 reviews on that site i just picked ones i found really fast Gigabyte is on there to it get's 9.8 rating i think i forget

 

[17seconds]

Well that's good, I'm still trying to figure out what 670 to get... don't need to start investigating 7950s.

I think the MSI Power Edition/OC at $400 with a free copy of Borderlands 2 is the way to go right now. The MSI Twin Frozr IV cooler seems well calibrated to maintain consistently high turbo boosts. The alternate would be the Asus DirectCU due it being the quietest, but still fast. Check out that review and keep in mind the 660 Ti uses the same GPU as the 670, so the results should be relevant.

Here's other roundups of 670's:
http://hothardware.com/Reviews/GeForce-GTX-680-RoundUp-EVGA-Zotac-Gigabyte-Asus/
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-670-test-review,3217.html
http://www.gpureview.com/gpureviews-gtx-670-overclocking-roundup-article-947.html

 

[eric4277]

i have seen lots of complaints about evga customer service of late. ill say it again. evga uses a reference pcb on all except ftw. the ftw is still using an inferior cooler and will not perform as high as the msi/asus/gigabyte.

Also. Yes the asus/msi/gigabyte vent the heat back into the case, but if you have a properly cooled case with lots of airflow that should not matter in the least. Yes, reference cards exhaust heat out of the case, but run much hotter and thus will not overclock as well as other coolers. typically run ~12-15c hotter and louder at that.

You can get a bad product from any company, there is always the chance of a bad product. I believe roughly 40% of reported DoA's are due to faulty handling/installation from the user or poor shipping.

So you can go with evga because of their "great customer service" which you shouldnt need if they sent you a working product in the first place. and get a louder/loudest card and hottest card with close to reference performance.

Or you could go with Asus and get the quietest cooler, lots of overclocking support and performance and great cooling. possible the pest if you can find the OC model

gigabyte to get a really great deal because they have a great cooler thats quiet and cool and costs the same price as reference. and overclocks well.

MSI PE that could possibly OC to 1250+ at stock everything, runs cool and quiet. and dusts itself out.

The choice is yours.

PS I feel i rag on evga too hard. their cards arent bad. it just doesnt make sense to buy an inferior product when you can get better for the same price.

 

[CuzaWat]

Best answer selected by CuzaWat.