4gb gtx 680? Or 690...

[drmcstroks]

Hello all, I am selling my 6970 xfire setup because I cannot stand the microstudder and poor amd driver support any longer. I've read extensively on the gtx 680- 690, so my question is this: what would be more future proof, 2-4gb gtx 680s in sli, or a 690? I do plan on triple monitor 1080p gaming in the near future..

Current setup:

2600k @ 4.8ghz
800w psu
16gb ripjaws 2133mhz
Ocz vertex 3
2- seagate 1tb hdd's raid0
Asus p8z68 pro/gen 3
Recon Fatality SB
Acer 24" 120hz
Corsair H100

Thx in advance for any advice

 

[iceclock]

the future is unknown -_-

 

[drmcstroks]

More like a $60 difference per card but whatever. It's your money. Don't let me stop you from throwing it at shiny box stickers that don't mean anything.

$529.99-$514.99=$15. where do you get $60 difference?? This is probably why your advice is useless.

 

[iceclock]

useless, this guy mack been around longer than u and me, doubt hes useless.

what ur saying doesnt compute, we can both agree 2 gigs is fine for now, but if u can afford the 4 gig version whynot. its just simply not required tho.

we could call it a premium bonus.

 

[srafig4]

always well prepared for unknown further. most of people pick 4GB version.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1239287/gtx-680-2gb-vs-4gb-worth-the-wait/140

 

[iceclock]

still just a statistic that doesnt count as valid reason or proof tho. just a poll.

 

[drmcstroks]

Nope - This is where you fail to click a very obvious link.



I love when people get on here, ask for advice, then ignore it and do whatever they want anyways.

Have fun burning your money!

Are you serious right now? What link?? I linked 2 cards to you. One is 2gb, the other is 4gb, and there is a $15 difference between them assuming you know simple math. And if you bothered to read the OP, my question was asking which option would be a little more future proof.

 

[stantheman123]

Rember when people said 1gb is more than enough?. people are saying the same thing about 2gb now. But thats not true. 4k is already eating all the 2gb up. either get the 7970 crossfire or 680 4gb sli. 2gb will be incompetent not too soon imo. games like crysis 3 battlefield 4 etc will probally eat it all up

 

[alisoncat]

I'm sort of confused. Whenever I look at benchmarks, the GTX 690 has much better FPS than a GTX 680 4gb or 2gb model. Only the sli version of those models outperform the 690.

So why is everyone saying the 690 is not worth buying? If someone has the monitor for 120hz, then isn't it worth it to get a card that pushes those high FPS in games? I have a GTX 680 2gb on a 2560x1080 monitor, and even that dips below 60fps on some games. And if you have an even higher resolution and are downsampling with your settings maxed out.....

Then again, I might be completely out my league here.

My only issue with the 690 is the memory. I really do worry about games using more than 2gb in the future, and its such an expensive card to invest in. Plus, for close to the same price you can buy two 680 4gb and sli.

So while I do see some downsides to the card, I don't know why it's 100% written off. Unless it really does give a weaker performance than a single GTX 680? And in that case, what's with all the charts/benchmarks showing it kick so much butt?

 

[stantheman123]

I'm sort of confused. Whenever I look at benchmarks, the GTX 690 has much better FPS than a GTX 680 4gb or 2gb model. Only the sli version of those models outperform the 690.

So why is everyone saying the 690 is not worth buying? If someone has the monitor for 120hz, then isn't it worth it to get a card that pushes those high FPS in games? I have a GTX 680 2gb on a 2560x1080 monitor, and even that dips below 60fps on some games. And if you have an even higher resolution and are downsampling.

Then again, I might be completely out my league here.

The op is asking either SLI 680 4GB/2GB OR 690 not a single 680 vs 690 lol

 

[alisoncat]

The op is asking either SLI 680 4GB/2GB OR 690 not a single 680 vs 690 lol

I actually knew this, but was kind of going off on my own tangent. I've seen a lot of people saying the 690 isn't worth it. But I think for some people, it could totally be worth it.

In terms of OP, it makes more sense to just sli the 4gb models, definitely. Doesn't the 690 run cooler than the 4gb sli though? I'm personally waiting for the Titan, because I'm more of a single card fan myself. While it's only 85% of the 690 performance, it also has 6gb of Ram (I think? Or maybe I misread that.) But I'm pretty sure it will at least have 4gb.

 

[stantheman123]

I actually knew this, but was kind of going off on my own tangent. I've seen a lot of people saying the 690 isn't worth it. But I think for some people, it could totally be worth it.

In terms of OP, it makes more sense to just sli the 4gb models, definitely. Doesn't the 690 run cooler than the 4gb sli though? I'm personally waiting for the Titan, because I'm more of a single card fan myself. While it's only 85% of the 690 performance, it also has 6gb of Ram (I think? Or maybe I misread that.) But I'm pretty sure it will at least have 4gb.

Yep i agree. ive had 2 dual gpu cards. a 5970 and a 590. Im sticking with single gpus from now on there quieter and less heat and less driver problems

 

[iceclock]

i dunno, sli-ing or xfire has it advantages but is reserved for people with more money, and bi-gpus run hotter and perform less than the same card x2

 

[drmcstroks]

I actually knew this, but was kind of going off on my own tangent. I've seen a lot of people saying the 690 isn't worth it. But I think for some people, it could totally be worth it.

In terms of OP, it makes more sense to just sli the 4gb models, definitely. Doesn't the 690 run cooler than the 4gb sli though? I'm personally waiting for the Titan, because I'm more of a single card fan myself. While it's only 85% of the 690 performance, it also has 6gb of Ram (I think? Or maybe I misread that.) But I'm pretty sure it will at least have 4gb.

Titan no thank you. $899 for 85% of the performance of a 690? Just buy the 690 for $90 more lol

 

[iceclock]

i think in ur case go for the 4gig, i agree its worth the extra 40$ if that.

 

[iceclock]

i meant 670s 2gigs versus 4gigs price -_-

 

[AliTweel]

from my long year experience, the amount of the memory in any VGA doesn't make any sense compared to it's speed.

so in quick answer, you will not notice any difference between the 2GB and 4GB if they are the same speed.

Companies know that Gamers tend to think more memory means more performance but it's wrong, the speed of the memory what counts.

my recommendation is to go with the 2GB, it is future proof and you will not be needing more than 2GB in any game we have now or in future.

I had a 8800 GTX with 768GB and I tested Battlefield 3 a few days ago just for fun and it works good on my 24" monitor.. means memory doesn't count but the speed of the GPU and the speed of the memory what counts.

Also even the GTX670 today can be more than enough unless you plan to record videos with Fraps then you need more FPS.

I recommend 680GTX 2GB and for future just buy another one and do SLI, this will be more wiser choice.

I hope this helps.

 

[iceclock]

interesting im just saying if one cards 389 for 2gbs and ones 440$ why not spend the extra 50$ for 2 gigs of extra vram.

im saying if u can afford it, not must.

 

[drmcstroks]

Believe it or not OP, there's a link in this post... and it's not very hard to find, either:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/389069-33-tomshardware#t2927820

Your price comparison was to a very overpriced 2GB 680 and a normally priced 4GB 680...

Maybe it's showing up differently for you because we live in different areas? But either way, it's only $15 more for me to buy a 4gb vs 2gb, so I'm getting the 4. I plan on OCing anyway.If I never end up using more than 2gb, o well it was only $15.

 

[Derza10]

Maybe it's showing up differently for you because we live in different areas? But either way, it's only $15 more for me to buy a 4gb vs 2gb, so I'm getting the 4. I plan on OCing anyway.If I never end up using more than 2gb, o well it was only $15.

I think what he is saying is you have a 4gb card that costs $529 - and that is about right for a 4gb card... but if you look here you can see the same 2gb card for $470 (it also comes with borderlands 2).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127672

 

[drmcstroks]

He's apparently too dense to get that, but I wasn't going to condescend to spell it out for him - you have more pity than I.

Amazon also has it at $470. $500+ is stupid overpricing for 2GB 680s. Standard 2GB 680s start around $450 and nice ones like the MSI around $470. 4GB cards start around $530 and go up from there.

Anyways, if you're planning on OCing, you're barking up the wrong tree with 680s anyways. 7970s/7970GHz Eds are by far the better option for the combo of overclocking + hi resolution. It's not even close.

Yes I kno 7970 oc better, however, like I said before, I'm tired of microstudder and crappy drivers, which is why I want an nvidia card now. And no I'm not dense, I'm very well aware other sites have the 2gb for cheaper, but I am buying from tigerdirect and only tigerdirect because every time I buy from newegg or amazon they mess up my order.

 

[Derza10]

Yes I kno 7970 oc better, however, like I said before, I'm tired of microstudder and crappy drivers, which is why I want an nvidia card now. And no I'm not dense, I'm very well aware other sites have the 2gb for cheaper, but I am buying from tigerdirect and only tigerdirect because every time I buy from newegg or amazon they mess up my order.

You must be really really unlucky... and even if i had the same issue as you, you can always send it back for the "correct" product... It seems very unlikely they will send you the wrong thing in the first place anyhow... But spending $45 more just because of that fear... seems... well... silly to me.

But as they say, its your money...

If you are dead set on that website and those two cards, then yes the 4gb is the way to go.

 

[drmcstroks]

You must be really really unlucky... and even if i had the same issue as you, you can always send it back for the "correct" product... It seems very unlikely they will send you the wrong thing in the first place anyhow... But spending $45 more just because of that fear... seems... well... silly to me.

But as they say, its your money...

If you are dead set on that website and those two cards, then yes the 4gb is the way to go.

Indeed. Also newegg takes forever to ship to me for some reason. I ordered some ripjaws a few months ago, took 9 days to get to me. When I order from tigerdirect, it takes no more than 2. But yes I'm going to start with 1 4gb card, see how I like it, then maybe order a second down the road. The only thing holding me back from a triple monitor setup and 680sli is the desk space lol

 

[iceclock]

it depends if u take 1day or normal shipping, it all depends what type of shipping u take.

just buy this ull be fine.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp43673kr

 

[drmcstroks]

it depends if u take 1day or normal shipping, it all depends what type of shipping u take.

just buy this ull be fine.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp43673kr

I ordered the twin frozer

 

[iceclock]

doesnt matter, still good

rockon brother 2gb or 4gb version?