Best GTX 670 card

[hghtms]

I've searched high and low for the answer to this question. I was looking into the GTX 670 card. I see EVGA, Gigabyte, and ASUS are what most people are recommending. I want to know, no matter the price, which is the best brand and model of GPU in regards to mainly performance. I am NOT using watercooling. I will possibly be overclocking it in the future, as I learn more about it. My case is the NZXT phantom, and my mobo runs only 77W. I will also have an aftermarket fan on the CPU. This being said, the cooling of the GPU shouldnt be a factor in the answering of my question about best brand of gtx 670. Please someone shed any light on this if there's something you feel I'm missing about the cooling aspect, but mainly give me a solid answer. And, as I said, best brand AND model, i.e. EVGA 'FTW' or 'superclocked', etc.

Thanks,
Lost in GPUs

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Asus 670 TOP, for the win on perfor4mance alone .... and after reading the review, you'll see it doesn't need an aftermarket fan

Asus 670 TOP - 10.0 rating
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/33.html

Gigabyte Windforce SC 670 - 9.8 rating
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GeForce_GTX_670_Windforce/33.html

MSI Twin Frozr IV 670 - 9.7 rating
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_670_Power_Edition/33.html

Palit Jetsteram 670 - 97 rating
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Palit/GeForce_GTX_670_Jet_Stream/33.html

Zotac AMP 670 - 9.6 rating
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_670_Amp_Edition/33.html

 

[jemm]

EVGA 04G-P4-2673-KR GeForce GTX 670 Superclocked+ w/Backplate 4GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130785

 

[hghtms]

Is the 4GB Superclocked really necessary when compared to an FTW for most of the games out there right now and upcoming games?

 

[mocchan]

The 4GB version of the GTX670 isn't necessary unless you plan on gaming on resolutions such as 2560x1600...You will see no benefit compared to a 2GB version.

Unless you plan on playing on triple monitors in the future, I would say save money and forget about the 4GB version.

 

[redeemer]

Gigabyte Windforce

 

[hghtms]

So, once again, I'm getting mixed reviews. Is it a personal preference thing or what?

 

[hghtms]

Edit: I have an i5-3570K CPU if that makes any difference.

 

[mocchan]

The Gigabyte Windforce GTX670 is by far one of the best out on the market today IMO. I think a lot of other people will agree as well.

However, if you want just raw performance, the ASUS DCUII TOP GTX670 seems to be best. In terms of cooling, it's on part with the Windforce I believe.

 

[sherlockwing]

I say Windforce, one of the best in cooling/noise while still very good at Kepler Boost and OCing, not to mentiom same price as Reference model. From the aforementioned Techpowerup.com review Gigabyte Windforce left, MSI PE right, ASUS Top 670 have been out of stock for a long time:

p.s i5-3570K is as good as you can get as a gaming CPU, the improvement in gaming you get from more expensive CPUs are not price/performance efficient at all.

 

[LOBOBAST]

After doing my research I decided on the gigabyte windforce gtx 670. However, I'm sad to say I'm one of those who have been getting lots of crashes to windows and "display driver has stopped working and has recovered" during BF3 play.

Bad batch maybe, I don't know but it's been a disappointment to say the least.

 

[mocchan]

^ +1 great charts

 

[sherlockwing]

The Overclock.net user review I mentioned before:

Just read these end-user OC results from Overclock.net:

Gigabyte Overclocks

Same card, too long only the last 90ish have useful information

MSI PE Overclocks

EVGA FTW Overclocks


ASUS DCII 670 Top Overclocks

I could save you the time and give you my conclusion reading through all these and the 1.3Ghz+ OC result tally:

There is no difference in between these card's probablity to reach a stable 1.3Ghz+ OC that can't be explained by just Silicon lottery luck which is not entirely in the manufacture's control.

So instead of focusing on which factory OC card have a higher factory OC and should/could reach the best OC result, you should focus more on which card runs quieter/cools better/cost less

I looked through all the user feedback on there and no Gigabyte user had the problem like what lobobast had so I think that might just be bad luck and not even a bad batch(btw @LoboBast you should RMA like ASAP).

 

[hghtms]

I'm sorry sherlockwing, you are recommending the gigabyte OC card? the one with the 3 fans?

 

[hghtms]

Edit: Sorry, see your post from before sherlockwing. Now, you are recommending this one right? :http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423
The factory OC'ed one. Sorry, just wanna make sure when investing in a GPU. Wanna be 100% sure.

 

[selayan]

The Asus TOP have been out for a while. Though the issues were corrected, they have not restocked them yet. Also, the non top models are locked. So the main 3 brands to go for are MSI PE, EVGA FTW, and Gigabyte OC (three fans).

The evga ftw has high core and boost clock, the gigabyte has a lower one but takes a bit more power, it has a 6 and 8 pin connector. You can pretty much overclock to match the previous.

The MSI PE is more expensive if you don't count the rebate. Boost clock is lower than Evga but its a good card too. MSI voltage technology allows you to overclock much easier since you can adjust gpu clock, memory clock, and PLL clock.

In terms of price, I've seen the Evga ftw for $399 at various sites. Same as the gigabyte. The MSI fluctuates now and then. Lots of good things about the Gigabyte in terms of being quiet and cool. Evga has good customer service and reputability. I'm not sure about Gigabyte, though there is a 3 year warranty.

It really comes out to what you prefer.

 

[jemm]

The 4GB version of the GTX670 isn't necessary unless you plan on gaming on resolutions such as 2560x1600...You will see no benefit compared to a 2GB version.

Unless you plan on playing on triple monitors in the future, I would say save money and forget about the 4GB version.

The OP said:

I want to know, no matter the price, which is the best brand and model of GPU in regards to mainly performance.

 

[selayan]

In Bf3 you could use the 4gb. It uses up nearly 2gb anyway. So performance wise it will perform for you based on the programs that use a lot of Vram. Bf3 is one that is known to use a lot. Others, not so sure they are fine around 2gb

 

[sherlockwing]

Edit: Sorry, see your post from before sherlockwing. Now, you are recommending this one right? :http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423
The factory OC'ed one. Sorry, just wanna make sure when investing in a GPU. Wanna be 100% sure.

My bad for not stressing which one, it is the Gigabyte N670-OC/2GD, aka Windforce 3X. It is just so much more popular(171 reviews) than the non-OC model(1 review on newegg) that I assume everyone would just realize it is the 3 Fan version.

p.s 2 GB is perfectly fine unless you push MSAA and some other highly GPU vram taxing/low visual return stuff to the max along with Ultra everything else. If that's your hobby you will have to pay more to get the 4GB 670/680 or 3GB 7970 Ghz.

 

[mocchan]

The OP said:

My apologies

Though the performance difference is only a matter of a few frames. Regardless, the 4GB, no matter how overkill it may be, will provide more horsepower :lol:

 

[hghtms]

Thanks sherlockwing and mocchan. I am ordering the CPU, mobo, and GPU next weekend after I get paid. I do like to go a little over the top with these kinda things, as to futureproof it. The 4GB I would buy if and only if I have the extra money. Thanks again for all your help, everyone.