Need help choosing brand for nvidia gtx 670/680

[keinlebenkonig]

So I am a first time builder and freely admit that don't know much.. my budget is about $500 and I am looking to get the best "future proofing" i can.
Here is what i am running:
AMD FX-8350
gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 (rev. 3.0)
seasonic x650
gskill aries 16gb @ 1866
Panasonic viera 50" 1080p (will probably switch to a 2-3 monitor setup when budget permits)

Through my own research I have narrowed down to a few cards (though I'm open to suggestions)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121707

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125422

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127698

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

I am trying to get the bang for my buck as far as raw speed/power, acoustics and warranty etc...

Thanks for the help!
Kein-leben Konig

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Gigabyte or Msi.

 

[cookybiscuit]

They're all equal in speed, just OC it. Stupidly Nvidia voltage locked them all, so they don't go too far. The Asus wins by a significant margin on acoustics, Tom's has a review on it with a video comparison to the other cards and it just doesn't make any noise. I have one and can say the same, it takes about 50% fan to keep it at 75C at my OC of 1254/7k, you wouldn't know the fans had even spun up.

After that, the Gigabyte one is next quietest, wouldn't personally bother looking at anything but those two.

That said, look at the 7970. Its considerably faster at stock and the same price, after a decent overclock they aren't even comparable to a 670.

 

[bystander]

EVGA allows voltage tweaks with EVGA Precision X. Interestingly, with one EVGA card and one MSI card in SLI, Precision X allows for voltage increases on both cards. These are cards from a year ago, so I guess it is possible they added hardware locks on voltage increases, but I am able to currently, with Precision X (requires an EVGA card).

 

[cookybiscuit]

EVGA allows voltage tweaks with EVGA Precision X. Interestingly, with one EVGA card and one MSI card in SLI, Precision X allows for voltage increases on both cards. These are cards from a year ago, so I guess it is possible they added hardware locks on voltage increases, but I am able to currently, with Precision X (requires an EVGA card).

Are you sure? Mine has a voltage slider but it doesn't matter what I do with it the BIOS is locked to 1.175v.

Easy way to try, give it an extra 5v and see if it catches fire.

 

[bystander]

EVGA allows voltage tweaks with EVGA Precision X. Interestingly, with one EVGA card and one MSI card in SLI, Precision X allows for voltage increases on both cards. These are cards from a year ago, so I guess it is possible they added hardware locks on voltage increases, but I am able to currently, with Precision X (requires an EVGA card).

Are you sure? Mine has a voltage slider but it doesn't matter what I do with it the BIOS is locked to 1.175v.

Easy way to try, give it an extra 5v and see if it catches fire.

You could be right. I personally don't OC much. I have enough power without the need to push the cards and I don't need added noise.

 

[keinlebenkonig]

They're all equal in speed, just OC it. Stupidly Nvidia voltage locked them all, so they don't go too far.

I was leaning towards the gigabyte and asus, having heard a lot of good about them... when you say Nvidia locked them I take it that means ALL current Nvidia cards are locked?

 

[cookybiscuit]

Everything Kepler is locked. I believe when they first launched the MSI 680's weren't, but now they are.

 

[keinlebenkonig]

If I could up my buget enough to snag a asus TOP model 680 would it really be worth the extra $? or am I better off with say the asus 670 above?

 

[cookybiscuit]

No way. The 680 in itself is a waste of money, marginal increase in performance for a massive bump in price. Also the TOP version is unnecessary, just like the non TOP theres no guarantee it will actually overclock amazingly well.

Also, make sure you've considered the 7970.

 

[keinlebenkonig]

Are there any 7970s in particular that you could recomend?

 

[cookybiscuit]

If I were picking one I'd go for either of the non reference HIS ones, had a 7950 with a HIS cooler and it was exceptionally quiet. Whatever you buy make sure its not voltage locked first, I believe the Asus one is and the Gigabyte one is for sure.

 

[keinlebenkonig]

before i had started my build, I was looking at a His x2 7970 turbo because i read something abut it being a brilliant cooler for ocing but i cant seem to find one in stock anywhere

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

http://www.amazon.com/HIS-GDDR5-PCI-E-Graphics-H797QMC3G2M/dp/B0093RJ08E/ref=sr_1_19?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1363647989&sr=1-19&keywords=his+iceq

1 left ^

 

[keinlebenkonig]

wow... how did i not find that?! its a bit too far out of my budget though...

as far as amd cards go, what do you think about these two?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150632
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161429

I know that the HIS is supposed to be incredibly quiet with supposedly great ocability but I don't know much about the xfx other than it seems to be a favorite for 7970s

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

HIS H795QMC3G2M Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

 

[keinlebenkonig]

HIS H795QMC3G2M Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Thanks for the input! I'll be going with that card (maybe a 2nd a bit later) unless the 7970 version on newegg magically comes in before I order...

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Putting my new build together this weekend.Keep us posted on your build.

 

[keinlebenkonig]

good luck! I'll let you know how everything turns out

 

[keinlebenkonig]

Well, I went with the HIS 7950, a massive upgrade over the temporary 610 I was running... and its clocking easily up to 1200 / 1400 mhz (no voltage change)

Thanks for the help!