GTX 680 4Gb vs. GTX 770 2 Gb

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TurboJ

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Sep 8, 2013
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I will be soon upgrading my GPU, and in my price range, I basically have two (or three options). Main use will be gaming; BF4, Rome2, basically any of the most rig-demanding games - I want the new GPU to be able to handle all that. Eventually I would like to go SLI too, and do water cooling.

*For about 350 € I can get different GTX770s with 2Gb ram (EVGA, Gigabyte, Asus, Palit etc.)
*For about 310 € I can get an Asus GTX680 with 2Gb ram
*For about 310 € I can get a Zotac GTX680 with 4Gb ram

...is the RAM amount going to be important within the next 18 months?
How about card manufacturers, what would you say was best for me when my plan is to go OC'd SLI on water (in the long run that is)?

When both are overclocked to the max, will the 770 still be noticeably faster than the 680?
 
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The 770 is basically a faster 680, the amount of Vram doesn't matter unless you game above 1080p or multiple displays. Always go with the best single card you can afford and a well balanced system. Get a second card later. Thats been my rule.



 
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Even at 2560x1600 VRAM isnt to important right now its not til you get to 3 monitors 5760x1080 that you will notice a difference http://alienbabeltech.com/main/gtx-770-4gb-vs-2gb-tested/3/
 
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That is incorrect (according to Newegg). GTX 770s come in 2 flavors: 2GB and 4GB. So 2 770s will yield at most 8GB of VRAM, and at least 4GB of VRAM.
 
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dude your just wrong just because you have 2 4 gb cards they only run 4 gb total even if you had ten cards in sli you still get only 4 gb
 
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Exactly.
SLI actually CLONES the exact same Video RAM between cards. GPU1 accesses its own VRAM to produce FRAME#1, and GPU2 accesses its own VRAM to produce FRAME#2.

The Video Buffer is thus EXACTLY equal to the amount of a SINGLE card (if you had one 2GB and one 4GB it would be the LOWEST value of 2GB.)

There's little need for more than 2GB in the near future though unless you decide to get a TRIPLE MONITOR setup.
 
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Which card?
I'm not sure what you actually have access too, however:

1. Don't get a GTX680. I believe the 770's although nearly identical have been slightly modified to work better in SLI.

2. There are not only different companies, but also different cooling solutions between them. I like the MSI, Asus and EVGA (EVGA with ACX) coolers. In particular I like the Asus which has a backplate and many modifications.

3. Another options is to SLI 2xGTX760's. I like the MSI TF variant. That would give really great performance for $520 USD (not sure of cost there). This is the one I mean:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127745

Very few people SLI much after the first card is purchased. If you wait too long the card may disappear, or else it's worth putting the money towards a faster single card. I've seen cards disappear within 12 months.

Card choices:
GTX 770 2GB models (in order):
1. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121770

2. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127741

3. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130921
*EVGA has different variants. This is the best one I think. They charge a slight premium for a very small overclock which also probably is a bit noisier.

GTX 770 4GB:
1. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127747

2. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125462

3. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130945

LIQUID COOLING:
It's quite expensive to do this and a little complicated to setup properly. The way cards are now designed with GPU on well cooled cards already nearing the MAXIMUM you will gain little performance. It would also be difficult to improve on noise levels unless you know what you're doing. It's possible though. Keep in mind the pump also adds noise in addition to the radiator fans.

With good case cooling you should be fine on air. For SLI I recommend:
- two front 12cm fans (speed controlled if possible)
- two top-rear (same as above), or alternatively a single exhaust fan AND a CPU liquid cooler
- SIDE PANEL FAN (Intake or Exhaust is uncertain. I recommend Intake)
 
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They have to contain the exact same information, as the graphics cards process independently of each other. It's a very good idea to get the EXACT MODEL anyway.

2GB vs 4GB:
While I don't think 4GB is needed for a while, I can't say for how long. If I was buying two 770's for about $1000 total I would keep them for three years at least. Adding in the fact that it's about $400 for a 2GB and $460 for a 4GB I recommend the 4GB model.

Having said that, as I said for $520 USD a 2x(GTX760 2GB) is a really awesome way to go as well and play any game quite nicely. I guess it depends how much money you want to throw at it. There's a point at which you've completely WASTED your money anyway depending on your setup. 3D needs more processing power. Triple monitor needs more processing and VRAM. For a single monitor though, a 2xGTX760 2GB will play almost anything at highest quality, 60FPS.

There will always be a new game, like Crysis 3, which sucks the life out of a computer but do you want to spend another $500 just for it to look SLIGHTLY better?
 
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I just looked into the option of two 760s in SLI too. Looks like that would offer mostly Titan-level gaming performance for only ~450 €. That's only 100 € more than the single 770 I have thought about until now. My ultimate goal has been to get twin 770s eventually (buy the second card in 3-4 months time when I can afford it). But in reality my budget is very limited and I don't know when I could fork out the extra to get that second 770...

Sounds very tempting, the 2x760 SLI... Could I use them to the full with a stock clocked 2500k?

Looks like my system power consumption would be VERY close with 2x760. I'm running an XFX 550W Pro PSU. GTX 760 shows 170 watt max power, let's assume 190W per card for a factory OC model. That's 360w for the cards. The 2500k is 95W max, so that would be 455W PLUS peripherals, wih stock CPU clocks. What do you say? I do of course plan to upgrade my PSU too, eventually. But that could take a couple more months.
 
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You should have a minimum of 750 watt psu im sure you would blow out a 550 watt
 
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Not sure where your getting 95 watts max for a 2500k either its more like 150 watts.170+170+150 thats 490 watts alone i would think a good 650 watt could do it but id go atleast 700.550 watt your maxing out ur psu pretty much under load
 
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Power Supply for 2x GTX760:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_760_sli_review,4.html

Note it calls for at LEAST a 700W PSU.
After looking at what is available, THIS is the one I recommend for $100:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182073

*It's important to note that quality varies, even within the same company. User reviews are a good guide.

Main buying points:
- quality
- good reviews
- sufficient overall power
- enough 6-pin/8-pin connectors (four, so YES)

 
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I can reccomend the rosewill capstone i have one and works great with my one gtx 770 altho i have a 1200 watt on the way for sli i know its overkill but i like knowing i can run 2 titans if need be lol
 
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