GTX 460 to GTX 680

[Joppsta]

I'm considering upgrading from the evga 460 1GB to the 680 but I'm also wondering if I should wait for non-reference designs first? I am not really a fan of the blower coolers since... well when the 460 ramps up it's noticeable. I'm usually cruising at 60C for most gaming applications with the blower after tweaking the fan curve (it would get to like 70C before the thing reacted, which is really loud for those wondering).

I'm also wondering if I should hang fire for a model with more ram since 2GB is rather low? I am not the "most informed" in this area so I guess you tell me ^^

So the basics of my system.. bear in mind I haven't entered the realm of OC'ing yet:

Asus P8Z68-V LX
i7-2600K @ 3.4GHz
8GB RAM
GTX 460 1GB
650W Corsair Gold PSU (AX650)

I am wondering if i need a new power supply, I'm under the impression that i don't thanks to the 680's power efficiency though? How much more would it consume compared to the 460? I understand that the performance difference would be very noticeable though, right?

I've seen these things going for around £400, is that a good "ballpark figure" to aim for or what's the range of price? I'm really wondering about waiting for non-reference designs though and whether it would be worth it to do so.

Cheers in advance,

- Joppsta

 

[GhOsT1321]

If you are in no hurry, then I would wait for a non reference design, something like the ASUS Direct CU, or a MSI Twin Frozr III design.
Regarding the 2GB, it should be fine for one monitor. What resolution are you playing at?

The 680 consumes about 80 watts more than a 460 under load. I think your current power supply can handle it.

£400ish seems about right.
GeForce GTX 680 PCI-E - Scan.co.uk

 

[PP Mguire]

I have only heard of one 4GB card that will be released and it is coming from Gigabyte. It is supposed to be their high end card so expect a very high end price. From what's suggested by reviews this thing can even handle triple monitor gaming so I think on a single monitor you'll do just fine.

Minimum PSU requirement is 550w for this card, so you're fine there.

Non-reference would be your preference. If you prefer something quieter and cooler then I'd say so, but it may take a while before they start popping out (the good ones).

 

[Joppsta]

Thanks for the help guys, I'm more of an EVGA man myself since... they are in my opinion the best card company on the green side but I don't know, they have a tendency to stick with blower EE designs rather than doing something like the MSI's twin frozr which is more what I'm looking for I guess. I'm running stuff at 1080p on a single monitor but I'll probably want to load up 2 screens at some point. SLI'ing these things would allow me to do more than one monitor easy right?

I'm not very familiar with the whole SLI thing (most of my friends don't dabble in it either, you get some strange issues with it sometimes I hear?) so any information on that would be sweet too.

Any ballpark figure on how long it'll take for non-ref designs to start hitting the mainstream? I mean, it seems like it took around 3 months with the radeon 7000 series of cards? Would that be a good "estimate" ?

 

[PP Mguire]

I'm an eVGA fan myself and yea they stick to the stock reference blower designs because they are typically the most efficient.

You don't need SLI to run more than 1 monitor on the 680. The 680 is the first Nvidia card capable of doing more than just 2 monitors and according to some reviews it does 2D Surround pretty good with only 2GB of RAM.
SLI is hit and miss really. Strange issues can be with games not fully supporting or profiles not being used or anything. Basically all SLI is, is putting 2, 3 or 4 Nvidia cards together to increase performance. It isn't guaranteed to help in all games but in some you can get almost 50-100% increase in performance. I used to run SLI back in the day, but it really is a pain and so I stopped.

 

[Joppsta]

Sorry to be necro'ing here but I see no point in opening another thread on the same subject:

There are now some non-ref designs hitting shelves now and a friend of mine is saying I should wait for GK110 or the "GTX 685", I'm just wondering if there is any point in this? The 680 is a good enough card already for now so I'm not really seeing the point in waiting?

Also it seems non-ref designs use more juice, would that mean I need a better PSU?

 

[PP Mguire]

GK110 is most likely going to be released as a 780 either in August or the holidays so I wouldn't wait.
Actually most non-reference designs are aimed at more cooling, less noise, or use less power. Since the chip is the same most will use relatively the same amount of power so your PSU will be fine.

 

[Joppsta]

GK110 is most likely going to be released as a 780 either in August or the holidays so I wouldn't wait.
Actually most non-reference designs are aimed at more cooling, less noise, or use less power. Since the chip is the same most will use relatively the same amount of power so your PSU will be fine.

Thanks

I intend to run max 2 screens at 1080p, some may hiss at this but it will more than likely only be one for quite a while. Is there any need for me to go for a larger RAM than the 2GB offered by most solutions? I mean, I guess these cards are kind of "meant for" multi-monitor setups and I intend to have one in future so would it be detrimental to only have one monitor used? I'm not into the Nvidia surround or trip monitor gaming thing so that's not a big deal for me.

I'm guessing that means the 2 gigs shall be enough, right?

 

[PP Mguire]

Yes. Larger memory is more intended for super high resolution triple monitor gaming.

 

[tj_extreme]

Yes. Larger memory is more intended for super high resolution triple monitor gaming.

Or if you're running lots of texture mods and such. Quoted from the best!