Reference cards (Galaxy) ?!?

[chimpbagel]

Hello everyone,
what about the reference cards, like the Galaxy GTX670 2GB?
They are as cheap as $318 USD, and what is the real difference with the custom cards? (Asus, Gigabyte)

Will there be a 10 or more fps difference? (in games like BF3, or Far Cry 3)
I will be playing on a 21 inch monitor, and the planned resolution is 1680 x 1050
Or should i get a Jetstream 670?
Any good advice? Or maybe an AMD Card?
Please keep it under $400!
I live in the Netherlands.

Thanks!

 

[dennis555]

It's worth $318 as that is a good deal. At your resolution a stock gtx 670 is already a little overkill. However listing your other PC specs is probably a good idea. What's 10 more FPS when you're already getting 90-129 fps stock in BF3 (That's at 1920x1080 you may see more)..

 

[chimpbagel]

i7 2600k, a Asrock Extreme4 and the Rosewill Hive 750watt...
Good enough?
And will it fit in the NZXT Tempest 410 Elite?

thanks for replying anyway!

 

[ubercake]

I use two reference GTX 680s and have no complaints.

Custom cards are there to offer, in most cases, enhanced cooling solutions, factory overclocks, and the ability to overclock the cards a little more than the reference cards. With the resolution you're using, I'd go for the Galaxy card because that's a pretty good deal for excellent performance.

Here are some reference card benchmarks that illustrate the framerate at that resolution:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_670_review,20.html

Here's the jetstream you mentioned:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/palit_geforce_gtx_670_jetstream_review,19.html

Around a 1 FPS gain in BF3; Negligible.

And here's a fairly heavy duty overclocked DirectCU II Asus card that will give you a whopping 2FPS!:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_geforce_gtx_670_directcu_ii_top_review,19.html

Based on the resolutions listed, you can conclude the reference 670 is a great option at your monitor's resolution. Also, if you're considering different brands, I'd go with EVGA, Asus or Gigabyte reference cards if they're within your budget.

Driver issues with my AMD/ATI 5850s are what turned me off to AMD and on to Nvidia a couple of years ago. I haven't had any driver issues with Nvidia cards. Everyone has their own story to tell, but based on my experience, it will take a lot for me to even think of AMD when it comes to video cards again.