KFA2 GeForce GTX 680 LTD OC 2048MB 1268mhz – SLI update

Rating: 9.0.

Yesterday we published our UK exclusive review of the new strictly limited edition KFA2 GeForce GTX 680 LTD OC 2048MB with a staggering boost speed of 1,268mhz. If you missed the review, head over here for a recap. Our conclusion in one line? – if you have a nice fat bank balance then it is one of the most enjoyable ways to quickly part with £559.99.

Since we published the review, we received emails asking if we could run a few tests in Sli, and measure system power consumption. Today, we aim to please.

As we said in the main review, these cards are extremely difficult to find due to the tight threshold for 1,200mhz certification, and we are fortunate enough to have one of the samples in the UK.

We may be giving this away to one lucky reader but we first needed to first solve a tiny issue, how could we run SLI tests with a paired boost speed of 1268mhz? We only have one KFA2 LTD OC card at hand.

Regular readers will remember our recent review of the ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme III cooler. In this review we used the Asus GTX 680 Direct CU II TOP and spent a couple of hours modifying the card. The end result? A 16c core temperature reduction supported by a 22c VReg temperature drop.

Above, the Asus GTX 680 Direct CU II TOP before modification (left) and after modification (right). The Accelero Xtreme III Cooler is without a doubt the highest performing air cooler for the GTX680.

We slotted this modified card into our high end system with the KFA2 GeForce GTX 680 LTD OC 2048MB 1268mhz boost. This is the same system we used for the last section of our review yesterday, here.

We will compare sections of this article against an array of performance leading graphics hardware from the current and last generation.

Ultra High End System:

Processor: Core i7 3960 X Extreme Edition @ 4.6ghz
Cooler: Antec 920 H20
Memory: 16GB G.Skill 2,400mhz @ 10-11-10-30
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Extreme
Power Supply: Enermax Platimax 1200W
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Lian Li PC-A77FR Aluminium Red Full Tower Case
Monitors: Dell U3011, 3x Ilyama ProLite E2472HDD
Boot Drive: Patriot WildFire 120GB
Secondary Drive: 1TB Samsung
Monitor: Dell U3011

Now the final part of the configuration was to match the speed of both cards. The Asus GTX 680 Direct CU II TOP ships at faster clock speeds than the reference card, 1137mhz on the core (from 1,006mhz), with a boost speed of 1,202mhz. This is however still significantly slower than the KFA2 GeForce GTX 680 LTD OC 2048MB which runs at 1,202mhz with a core boost of 1,268mhz.

Using MSI Afterburner we ensure that the card speeds aren't linked in the settings panel. We then overclock the Asus GTX 680 Direct CU II TOP to the same 1,202mhz core/1267mhz boost speeds.

Both cards with the clock speeds matched, running in SLi. Thanks to the Accelero Xtreme III cooler the Asus GTX680 Direct CU II TOP has no problem running at these enhanced speeds. We used a minor Core Voltage increase for added stability.

Become a Patron!