Gigabyte GTX 770 2GB OC vs. Asus GTX680 DirectCU II 2GB (non-top / non-OC)

[iMacJaz]

I need some help - I live in South Africa,

I have an opportunity to buy either a Asus GTX680 DirectCU II 2GB (the standard baseline) for around $368 (here in South Africa its R3600) or

a Gigabyte GTX 770 OC 2GB for $450 (In South Africa thats around R4400)

I'm deliberating between the two, and have done some serious research and discovered that the GTX770 OC will only be about 10% faster than a basic GTX680, is this true? This is a 22% increase in price, for 10% increase in performance, and what else? GPU Boost 2.0 and a factory-OC card? Maybe a better resale value? Future-proofing?

My system is as follows:
CPU: Core i5 2500K
MB: P8P67-m pro
RAM: 2x 4GB Corsair Vengeance
PSU: Corsair GS600 (600W PSU)
Monitor: Basic Samsung LCD at 1920:1080
My old GPU: Asus GTX560 DirectCU (the basic version) - selling it now

Is there a bootleneck here if I get one of these cards?

Here are the links to both cards: (they're both fairly new)
GTX680 DCII 2GB: http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/GTX680DC22GD5/
GTX770 OC 2GB: http://www.gigabyte.co.za/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4629#ov

Bare in mind that the Asus GTX 680 is NOT the TOP card nor an OC card, Its just the basic 2GB DirectCU II

Which should I go for?

Thanks in advance!

 

[mike69k]

This is really going to come down to what YOU feel is worth it.

The Asus 680 you have listed is a 3 slot card with great cooling. It has better parts on the pcb than the gigabyte one(i.e mosfets), and can generally handle a decently large overclock. I have used this particular model before and could overclock them 10-15% without any issues. I would not be surprised if you could overclock it to the 770 specs. It has a nice back-plate to support the card since it is bigger than your average card. If you are comfortable overclocking and want to save money this may be the way to go for you.

The gigabyte one will be faster out of the box, and also has a great cooling. The 770 is basically a 680 with a few tweaks to increase the clocks. In my experience the Windforce series of cards do not handle overclocks as well, but they do come with a little stock OC. If you have no interest in overclocking this may be the way to go for you.

The only bottleneck you will really have is your monitor. At 1080p either card should be able to handle almost any game. The i-5 is a good pairing for either of these cards.

 

[iMacJaz]

The Asus 680 you have listed is a 3 slot card with great cooling. It has better parts on the pcb than the gigabyte one(i.e mosfets), and can generally handle a decently large overclock. I have used this particular model before and could overclock them 10-15% without any issues. I would not be surprised if you could overclock it to the 770 specs. It has a nice back-plate to support the card since it is bigger than your average card. If you are comfortable overclocking and want to save money this may be the way to go for you.

Thanks for your response, exactly what I was thinking. Plus I do enjoy a bit of overclocking. I don't think the extra R800 ($82) will be worth it. The prices here in South Africa can range due to importing and exchange rates etc. So these are essentially the best deals I can get.

I have enough space for a 3 slot card, and most likely won't SLI so I'll keep my MB. Plus that backplate on that 680 does look absolutely awesome!

I think saving the R800 will be a better decision, plus the second-hand value of a 680 shouldn't be that much less than a 770 if I decide to sell it some day...? hopefully.