Asus GTX680OC for power & quietness? :)

[neshma]

Hey guys,

so im putting together a new gaming rig and trying to keep it as powerful but silent as possible. I got a few quotes and one of the better card in the suggestions was the:

Asus 2g GTX680OC GTX680-DC20-2GDS. It looks like a beast of a card and seems to rate really well in the reviews.

In the same price range was the:

Gigabyte GF GTX680 OC edition PCI-E 3.0 2GB 256bit DDR5
Gigabyte 2G GTX680 GV-N680SO-2GD

I guess im wondering if 2gig vs 4gig makes a big difference and more importantly how people stack these cards up against each other (or similar in the same price range). It sounds like the Asus is definitely quieter and gives more power for the moneys worth? Any other suggestions in the same price range?

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: new few weeks BUDGET RANGE: up to $700 (same range as stated cards but prices may be different here in australia see below for the price list)

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Graphics mainly for gaming (Crysis 3, Dues Ex 3, Upcoming power heavy RTSs, Star Citizen etc.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: currently running a gigabyte GTX460 GDDR5 1gb 256bit, Thermaltake 750W Tough Powe

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: going for an i7 3770/i7 3820 likely, SSD main HD, 32gig RAM

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: www.cpl.net.au/ www.centrecom.com.au COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Australia

PARTS PREFERENCES: I bow to your better knowledge than me

OVERCLOCKING/SLI OR CROSSFIRE: doubtful, but i do like sli/xfire for the idea of future compatibility

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200, planning on running a dual screen setup hopefully 2x1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: stability stability stability Id rather a safer card than punchy but prone to die on me. Hoping this setup will last me 4 years or so!

Would love to get your opinions cheers guys, its a massive help

Nesh

 

[azathoth]

Unless you are running Nvidia 3D surround, 2GB of VRAM will be the exact same as a 4GB version.

For a quiet card, look for one that has an aftermarket cooler with larger fans.
Small fans spin really fast, and create a lot of noise.
Larger fans need to spin slower to create the same airflow, reducing noise.

 

[neshma]

larger fans. good suggestion thanks!!

Any thoughts on the cards themselves? better suggestions than these two?

 

[calumconroy]

ASUS. Great performance and by far the best cooling / fans because of the DirectCU II system.
No i'm not a fanboy, I like MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte but ASUS are best for what you want

 

[DarkSable]

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Graphics mainly for gaming (Crysis 3, Dues Ex 3, Upcoming power heavy RTSs, Star Citizen etc.

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: going for an i7 3770/i7 3820 likely, SSD main HD, 32gig RAM

Sorry for being the ass who points this out, but you're wasting money left and right.

1) An i7 is going to give you ZERO benefits over an i5. In some games it'll actually be slower - the only difference between the two chips is that the i7 has hyperthreading, which doesn't help games one bit. And no, the i7 isn't "future proofing," because it's the same amount of power as the i5. (There's also no such thing as future proofing, but that's beside the point.)

So if you get the i5 instead, for no loss in performance, you save $100.

2) As for 32 GB of ram, that's just... well, a waste of money, and pointless, to boot. Playing battlefield 3, with Photoshop AND 20 tabs open in chrome, my computer doesn't even hit 7GB of my 8. (And I don't have a page file.)

Get 8GB of fast RAM. There's another $100 for no performance hit.

3) The 680 is a bad choice. It's a measly 5% faster than a 670, and when you overclock it, it's even less. It also costs $100 more; that's not worth it. Get the 670 - if you want one with an amazing warranty, get EVGA. As for the amount of VRAM needed, having more does NOT make a card faster unless it doesn't have enough. (That is to say that going to 1GB from 512MB will make a huge difference, but going from 2GB to 14GB will make virtually no difference.)

You can't play games on dual monitors at once, so 2GB is going to be plenty. If you imagine yourself going to games on three monitors one day, get the 4GB one... but only if you see yourself buying the third monitor before the graphics card is outdated, or it's a waste. (Also, keep in mind, even right now, it'll take two 670s/680s to run games smoothly on three monitors.) So there you go - another $100 in your pocket.



I just saved you $300 for only a 5% performance hit. You're likely also way overspending on the motherboard and power supply, so that's another $100. Now take a minute to think, and tell me... is that really worth it, especially when a single 670 will max out basically any game out there at 120 frames a second, much less to say 60fps?

You might say, "Well I have the money, so I might as well spend it!" I'll just tell you to stop being stupid. Yeah, you have the money, but would you throw $1000 into the toilet just because you had it? You're WAY better off saving as much money as you can and upgrading down the road. (I mean, think about it... would you rather have an upgrade after 3 years, and end up with a still decent computer 6 years down the road, or, for the same price, get no better performance, not be able to afford the upgrades, and end up with a computer that barely meets minimum specifications?)

 

[jonjonjon]

why get a i7 3820? i thought the only real advantages of the 2011 was the extra PCIe and more memory bandwidth. if your not doing some ridiculous quad sli or buying the $500-$1000 6 core cpu why go 2011 over 1155?

 

[neshma]

Hi guys I really appreciate the input. DarkSable, some really good points there but no need to get cranky at me, these points are why im hear to learn abit from you guys (I do appreciate you probably hear people with misinformation about i7's and gaming alot which must be frustrating)

1) CPU

So im thinking an i7 for a few reasons. Gaming isnt the only thing I use my comp for, id really like to dig into some digital art on photoshop as well as picking up a gopro camera nad playing with some high def video/compression etc. From what ive heard the i7 would assist with that though I appreciate it doesnt add anything to the graphics side of things.

2a) RAM
regarding the RAM, again a really good point. Is it worth having more RAM for graphics related tasks such as the ones i just mentioned?


2b) RAM
Also you suggest 8gig of really good RAM, any suggestions for what to get?

3) GPU

So im planning on running 2x 26" screens with this rig. There are a couple of games out there which support it (Supreme commander is one) and planetary annihilation whcih is in development will support it. with that considered what would you suggest for GPU?

cheers everyone, again I really appreciate all the help!

Nesh

 

[jonjonjon]

i would just get the cheapest 1600 cas 9 memory.

Kingston Hyper X Blu 8 GB - $29.99
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057Q4ADU/?tag=pcpapi-20

Patriot Viper 3 16GB - $61.50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220686

 

[DarkSable]

Terrible sorry - I didn't mean to get cranky. (I was a bit tipsy, and trying very hard to put sentences together coherently.)


Now then. Here's what an i7 would help with: Not Much.

The apps you're using have to:

1) Support hyper threading (not that many do.)

2) Even be able to use 8 threads effectively. (And considering most are just now getting optimized for dual-core CPUs...)

Even for programs that do help with that, all it does is decrease render time - so applying a Gaussian filter to your image will take 40 seconds instead of a minute.

Personally, it's really not worth it - I have an i5 myself, and have never had an issue with a commercial bit of software being slow. The reason for this is because 99% of the computers using these softwares aren't good computers - thus support for good computers isn't bothered with.


RAM:

It's not worth it for graphics related tasks - the only time you would notice a difference is if you had quad-HD video or something like that. For any other situation, even if it slows down, you can just close other programs you aren't using.

(I do this by default - you'll find that when any program opens in 1 second because of a SSD that it's faster to open a file from scratch than search for it through what you already have open. )

As for what's good, it depends on if you overclock or not. If you do overclock, buy Samsung. It's MILES ahead of anything else on the market, and fairly cheap for an 8GB kit. (It's also half-height with no heat spreaders, because they have a 22nm manufacturing process, so it's guaranteed to not be obstructed by your heatsink.)

If you don't overclock, the CAS 7, 1600MHz ripjaws X from G.Skill is a great kit. If you need low-profile, than I'd look at the Ares line.

GPU:
Like I said, I object to the 680 just because of how bad it looks when put next to a 670.

I'm presuming that these monitors are 60Hz, 1080p. (Remember, the size of the screen doesn't matter - an 11", 1080p monitor is just as graphics-intense as a 26" one.)

That being said, the games that do support it aren't going to be particularly heavy on the graphics... It depends on what you want to do.

If you want to max out any game on Ultra, go with a 670 or 7970 GHz... either of those will smash any modern game.

If you don't care as much about graphics, and just want decent-looking games with playable framerates, I'd look at a 660 or 7870.

Then it's the coolers - if you have a normal sized computer, go with an aftermarket heatsink. (One that doesn't blow out the back and has more than one fan.) It'll keep the card cooler in that setup, and let you overclock.

If you have a small case, or there isn't much airflow by the gpu, go with a reference cooler - it'll do a better job keeping it cool in that situation. (Though you won't be able to overclock in this case with either one.)

If you're one of the lucky owners of a Bitfenix Prodigy, get the reference cooler and have fun overclocking - that case is just amazing.

 

[neshma]

Best answer selected by Neshma.