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Originally Posted by Frag Maniac

Good point, I was kinda thinking that too. Even though I plan on using it short term, you never know what the future brings. So I might as well not OC it until I really need to, just to ensure it will last, esp since warranties are no more than 3 yrs on GPUs these days. I thought I'd be on this temp get-me-by GTS 250 1GB for only 6 months or so. It's been a year and a half.

Lol I'm the same way. How many times did I say I was going to upgrade from the 465? Took me over 2 years.

Originally Posted by PP Mguire

With this 580 I don't need to OC anything at all to get max settings. I'm sure with a 670 you wont need any OC at all for a while either.

Good point, I was kinda thinking that too. Even though I plan on using it short term, you never know what the future brings. So I might as well not OC it until I really need to, just to ensure it will last, esp since warranties are no more than 3 yrs on GPUs these days. I thought I'd be on this temp get-me-by GTS 250 1GB for only 6 months or so. It's been a year and a half.

Originally Posted by Frag Maniac

I'm not counting on a price drop anytime soon. Some are worried there will be price gouging instead due to how well it performs. The ASUS I was referring to is a TOP btw, and is said to retail for $420. They may come out with a standard version that has no OC, like they did with their 570, but ASUS says they put GPUs and VRAM from top bin selection in their TOP models, so I think the extra $20 might be worth it.

Then again, I've never been the type to go for a max OC on a GPU. Instead I usually match the highest factory set cards. With reasonable OC settings and such a good cooler, and especially if I set fan speed a bit higher, I have to wonder if the chips that aren't top bin would really be an issue, because I really don't think I'd use it for more than 2-3 years, until Maxwell comes.

With this 580 I don't need to OC anything at all to get max settings. I'm sure with a 670 you wont need any OC at all for a while either.

Originally Posted by PP Mguire

Yea, Asus make some pretty boss coolers. My 580 runs 65c TOPS in a hot house.

Maybe if we are lucky the prices will drop since 400 is pretty cheap for release considering the performance capability of this little card.

I'm not counting on a price drop anytime soon. Some are worried there will be price gouging instead due to how well it performs. The ASUS I was referring to is a TOP btw, and is said to retail for $420. They may come out with a standard version that has no OC, like they did with their 570, but ASUS says they put GPUs and VRAM from top bin selection in their TOP models, so I think the extra $20 might be worth it.

Then again, I've never been the type to go for a max OC on a GPU. Instead I usually match the highest factory set cards. With reasonable OC settings and such a good cooler, and especially if I set fan speed a bit higher, I have to wonder if the chips that aren't top bin would really be an issue, because I really don't think I'd use it for more than 2-3 years, until Maxwell comes.

Originally Posted by werty316

I never say it was too small. I was describing the look of it.


(Click on the pic for a larger version)

I don't know if a lot of reviews pointed this out but one did mentioned that the quality of the heatsink was not that great consider how much the video card costs. I mean, just look at the damn thing. EVGA did a good job but Nvidia did a piss-poor job.

Oh gotcha, I thought you meant by quality you were saying that it should be bigger or copper or something.

I never say it was too small. I was describing the look of it.


(Click on the pic for a larger version)

I don't know if a lot of reviews pointed this out but one did mentioned that the quality of the heatsink was not that great consider how much the video card costs. I mean, just look at the damn thing. EVGA did a good job but Nvidia did a piss-poor job.

Originally Posted by Frag Maniac

Coincidentally I had just checked some reviews on the ASUS, Gigabyte, Palit and Zotac non reference 670s before checking back here. Giga's cooler kinda sucks, but the other 3 are pretty good. Zotac wins on performance slightly, but is more expensive, has some HS screw issues that requires remounting them with washers, and is triple slot. The Palit performs near equal to the ASUS but is loud at load.

The ASUS seems to be the best non reference 670 overall and got a perfect 10 score at TechPowerUp. With it's factory OC it outperforms a 680 and it's fans are only an amazing 25db at load. Unlike the 570 Direct CU II it's dual vs triple slot as well. If I get a 670 the ASUS will likely be the one. I've yet to see one for sale anywhere though.

On pricing, I understand the reference 670s compete quite well in their target price range. It's more my hoping for a $350 ceiling due to Maxwell coming out in a couple years, and not liking the lesser cooler combined with a small vent. The ASUS allows for even lower temps with a fan increase though. I could see it maintaining a 70c max with little if any extra fan noise. My case ventilates extremely well, so if I can stay at 70c, not having a rear venting GPU won't be a big deal.

Yea, Asus make some pretty boss coolers. My 580 runs 65c TOPS in a hot house.

Maybe if we are lucky the prices will drop since 400 is pretty cheap for release considering the performance capability of this little card.

Originally Posted by PP Mguire

Sure, the cooler is crap but there are other cards coming out with better coolers already.

Coincidentally I had just checked some reviews on the ASUS, Gigabyte, Palit and Zotac non reference 670s before checking back here. Giga's cooler kinda sucks, but the other 3 are pretty good. Zotac wins on performance slightly, but is more expensive, has some HS screw issues that requires remounting them with washers, and is triple slot. The Palit performs near equal to the ASUS but is loud at load.

The ASUS seems to be the best non reference 670 overall and got a perfect 10 score at TechPowerUp. With it's factory OC it outperforms a 680 and it's fans are only an amazing 25db at load. Unlike the 570 Direct CU II it's dual vs triple slot as well. If I get a 670 the ASUS will likely be the one. I've yet to see one for sale anywhere though.

On pricing, I understand the reference 670s compete quite well in their target price range. It's more my hoping for a $350 ceiling due to Maxwell coming out in a couple years, and not liking the lesser cooler combined with a small vent. The ASUS allows for even lower temps with a fan increase though. I could see it maintaining a 70c max with little if any extra fan noise. My case ventilates extremely well, so if I can stay at 70c, not having a rear venting GPU won't be a big deal.

Originally Posted by werty316

The reference heatsink looks like s*** and you'd think for $400 they would include a better one.

That card is tiny. Not exactly very much room for a huge heatsink since the last half of the shroud is a fan. If it gets the job done I don't see the point in everybody *****ing about a small heatsink.

Edit: eVGA's FTW model uses the 680 PCB and heatsink setup, but they want too much for that.

The reference heatsink looks like s*** and you'd think for $400 they would include a better one.

Originally Posted by Frag Maniac

I agree totally on what was said in the cons. Bummer about the non vapor cooler and $400 price tag. I was hoping it would be like a high mid range 680. I was targeting this card to get me through until Maxwell. Now I'm not so sure. IMO it's bad enough all these Keplers have no full width vent slot, and even EVGA has no plans for a full width one with one DVI port. They're catering to people with multi monitor setups with this I/O plate, and most are probably still using one monitor.

I personally think the price is set just right for once. Sure, the cooler is crap but there are other cards coming out with better coolers already. It beats its target performance line at a cheap price compared to the inflated 680s. It's also very tiny, which can be used in smaller ITX rigs.
AMD has been doing the whole small hole in the back for a while. At 28nm I would hope at stock clocks it doesn't get THAT hot.

I agree totally on what was said in the cons. Bummer about the non vapor cooler and $400 price tag. I was hoping it would be like a high mid range 680. I was targeting this card to get me through until Maxwell. Now I'm not so sure. IMO it's bad enough all these Keplers have no full width vent slot, and even EVGA has no plans for a full width one with one DVI port. They're catering to people with multi monitor setups with this I/O plate, and most are probably still using one monitor.

Wish I could get my hands on one of these in 4GB flavor.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card

Could it be that NVIDIA's latest GeForce GTX 670 can beat AMD's flagship 7900 series graphics cards at a lower cost? Keep reading to find out!


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