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AMD have had it all their own way in 2012 as Nvidia have taken longer than expected to launch their latest ‘Kepler' hardware. The guys in green want to reclaim the high end performance throne with the ‘fastest, most efficient GPU ever built' and today we are looking at the latest high end GTX680 graphics card, courtesy of ASUS.
This review has been long overdue due to some hardware problems with previous GTX680 samples we received. When we finally received a fully working sample we had been forced to move onto other hardware in our ever expanding review queue. The life of a tech site is fast moving, schedules shift on a daily basis. But better late than never, we say.
By now most of you will have read multiple reviews on the high end hardware and we already know it is good. Nvidia always have one goal in mind and that is to win the battle, I do admire them for that.
Sometimes I can question the mental maturity of their PR and marketing division but on a hardware level they rarely disappoint. My only interest is the hardware they release anyway and that is why we are here today.
The GTX680 implements a new system of adjusting the clock speed and voltages dynamically. The goal is to ensure the ultimate performance level while optimising the power consumption. The interesting comparisons will be against AMD's HD7970 and MSI's overclocked R7970 Lightning and seeing how the new card slots into the overall market.
| Product | Nvidia GTX580 | Nvidia GTX590 | Nvidia GTX680 | AMD HD7970 |
| Transistors | 3000m | 3000m x2 | 3540m | 4310m |
| Core Clock | 772mhz | 607mhz | 1006mhz+ | 925mhz |
| Memory clock | 1002mhz | 855mhz | 1502mhz | 1375mhz |
| Shaders | 512 | 512×2 | 1536 | 2048 |
| ROPs | 48 | 48×2 | 32 | 32 |
| Memory amount |
3GB | 3GBx2 | 2GB | 3GB |
| Memory bus width | 384bit | 384 bit x 2 | 256 bit | 384 bit |
Price isn’t bad considering the performance. Small audience, but the bragging rights alone mean it is important.
Nice, good power consumption too, which is something they always struggled with, Like Intel currently who can’t compete in mobile space.
bad samples? tskkk. worth the wait, thanks Z.
MSI R7970 lightning is a great card, well priced too. a lot of the reference cooled cards were £500 when they were released.
I was looking to do an upgrade to this but the price and the fact I need a mobo upgrade (actually whole system) as well pulled me away. I would of done it if I wasn’t heading to college next year and I’m going to get a laptop.
Thanks for that review. Big Green just gave AMD a slap in the face with lower prices and more performance. I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these beautiful cards. It will be really interesting to see what the manufacturers come out with for non-reference cards.