GTX 670 or 680?

[Kenadian]

I currently run an N570GTX in my Gaming Computer and it runs everything pretty much maxed out but struggles a bit when I try and record with FRAPS.

I've been considering an upgrade and was wondering if anyone has an idea which would better suit my purposes, a GTX 670 or 680?

BTW, I've decided to go with EVGA this time as I've lost confidence in MSI.

 

[mondo]

The performance difference between them in BF3 is almost non existent but the 680 costs a small fortune, the 670 doesn't. I guess its down to hoe much you want to spend but looking at most reviews the 680 hardly seems worth it over the 670.

 

[JohnnyK]

Isn't a good 7970 faster than both those cards in BF3 and not more expensive than a 670?

First thing I'd do would be to stop using Fraps as it is a resource hog. Try DxTory, PlayClaw or MSI Afterburner (free!) as they are much more performance-friendly. DxTory has the most customization options and offers a demo (that watermarks your recordings).

 

[Kenadian]

I will not ever use ATI/AMD, too many bad experiences with their cards. With a price difference of $10 or so as compared to the 670's, it's not worth the potential emotional backdraft I've experience from them in the past.

I've read that there is roughly a 4% difference between the 680 and the 670 4GB version. Mind you, the price difference between say the 670 4 GB and 680 Signature + is only $60 here atm.

@ Johnny, will DXTory give me the same quality that Fraps will?

I won't be using Aferburner anymore on the new card as it will be EVGA as I hear their EVGA Precision is pretty decent at managing their cards.

 

[Kitlope]

Go with the 670 or perhaps a 7970. A few months ago in October I was in the same boat and decided on the 670 as the 680 was a fair bit more money but without much performance gain. I too went from a 1 GB 570 and going to kepler architecture and doubling the ram with the 670 eliminated all of the hardware lag I would experience, mostly during heavy combat. The burning vehicles were especially lagtastic. Check out this link:

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: January 2013

Here's my card. It's also dead quiet, even when getting pushed and that helped make the sale. IIRC the ATI cards were a bit louder.

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX39494

 

[JohnnyK]

I will not ever use ATI/AMD, too many bad experiences with their cards. With a price difference of $10 or so as compared to the 670's, it's not worth the potential emotional backdraft I've experience from them in the past.

That seems narrow-minded - what was your last ATI card?

They update their drivers much more frequently than nvidia nowadays and you can get new beta drivers on guru3d every few weeks. I definitely do not regret getting my 7950.

@ Johnny, will DXTory give me the same quality that Fraps will?

Yup, you can also use a codec of your choice like Lagarith Lossless, record multiple audio devices etc.

I won't be using Aferburner anymore on the new card as it will be EVGA

So, use it just for recording?

 

[Kenadian]

I fell for the x-series debacle where they were putting RAM on cards that didn't do squat. I went from the x1300 to the x1650GT to some other card and returned them all only to pick up NVIDIA.

After that I tried one more time to pick up an ATI card specifically for Black and White 2. I thought that was a safe bet since the game was created on ATI, brought it home, plugged it in and my creatures had no fur and the flora draw distance was pathetic.

It wasn't bad enough I had to return the bloody card but I had to pay a hefty "restocking fee" for it. All I ended up doing was purchasing the NVIDIA card I was aiming to buy in the first place.

That's when I swore off ATI. I've not just had one bad experience, I've had several.

You can call it narrow minded if you want but I believe going to a product that has given you nothing but grief is just plain idiotic.

NVIDIA has given me no issues over the past several years so I'm sticking with them.

I know some YouTuber's who use DXTory so I just picked up a license this morning and will use it. I like the fact you can record over multiple drives and that you can also split up the audio streams (ingame vs headset) so I'll be giving it a go.

 

[JohnnyK]

After that I tried one more time to pick up an ATI card specifically for Black and White 2.

Release date: October 2005

Man, you can hold a grudge.

Well, if you want, pay more for the lesser product, it's not my money... obviously, the difference is small, but it's there.

 

[Kenadian]

Johnny this isn't a thread for you and I to argue ATI vs NVIDIA. I stated clearly that I'm not using ATI, my reasons are my own so please just accept them.

...and yes I can hold a grudge against hardware because I flat out will spend more money for piece of mind. I don't feel I need to validate this thought process to you either.

You're arguing a m00t point. It makes as much sense for me to use ATI right now as it does for me to go back to AMD when Intel has worked without issue for me for over 8 years.

 

[LeJerk]

just buy an xbox

 

[Kenadian]

lol thanks for the tip LJ.

 

[JohnnyK]

It makes as much sense for me to use ATI right now as it does for me to go back to AMD when Intel has worked without issue for me for over 8 years.

No it doesn't - because Intel-CPUs are simply the better product and have been for a while. My input does not come from brand loyality; I will buy whatever gives me the best performance/quality at the price I am willing to pay.

I'm trying to help you. If you are set on just 2 cards with the same chip manufacturer why not just read a bunch of tests and benchmarks, decide which one is the best bang for your buck and go from there?

To be completely honest, I'd see if you can maintain 60FPS with DxTory (not on full-ultra probably, if that is ok) and even consider skipping the current gen or at least wait til you really need more power.

 

[Kenadian]

I understand that Johnny but I'm not budging on ATI and I don't care what the benchmarks say. All you're doing by pushing ATI is making the topic argumentative as I've stated I'm not using it regardless.

Piece of mind means a lot to me so I'm the kind of person who shops based off brand loyalty. This will not ever change regardless of arguments posed to me.

The reason I'm switching to EVGA is because I've had issues with MSI as of late and have read mostly positive about EVGA. The price is certainly competitive enough for me to move to their camp for now so that's where I'm going.

As for the benchmarks, I have read plenty of them prior to making this post. If I hadn't already decided on a card I would not have posted 670 vs 680, I would have posted best video card or something else.

...see what I'm saying? I've already mostly decided on what I want, I just want the better card between these two.

It's critical that I run ULTRA which the 570 does well but it dips in heavy action sometimes which is ok in pubs but competitive is a deal breaker.

I've been thinking about replacing the 570 for a while now and just happen to have the finances to do something about it now.

 

[Kitlope]

If you look at my link in the earlier post you'll see that the 670GTX is the best bang for your buck card in that price range, although it gives a nod to the ATI 7970.

And FWIW, I've never had a problem with any video card from any manufacturer over the years, so I just buy whatever has the better performance at that time for whatever price range I'm gonna spend. I actually prefered buying ATI when they were still a Canadian company but now that they been gobbled up by AMD it's not so important to me anymore. I'll agree with JK though - nVidia has dropped the ball a bit lately with having consistent, good drivers released regulary. In the autumn I think there was about a 3 month period where not a single WHQL was released, meanwhile ATI had new ones every month or so, like both outfits should. I also prefer to buy ASUS cards, have never had an issue with their GPU's or their motherboards, so I stick with them. But ASUS video cards tend to be a little bit more coin than the others. I had an EVGA 8800GTS for a few years and worked great.