GTX 680 Vs GTX 690

Logical Fallacy

Hey guys, have been planning my new PC build for a while and finally purchasing the parts tomorrow. I'm building a (i guess) high end gaming PC. I have mostly decided on all the parts, it's the GPU that has me stuck.

I just need to decide if I want to go with the GTX 680 or the 690. The plan behind the build is to future proof as much as possible, be able to run games on highest graphics and record via Dxtory without a major drop in framerate.

While tempted by the GTX 690 I can't help but feel that right now it is just overkill and not needed, and have heard a couple of stories about it struggling with some games simply due to a lack of support.

Any advice or feedback you guys have would be greatly appreciated.

marco_polo

You haven't mentioned what sort of monitor setup you are to get?

No matter what the answer to the above a GTX690 would be a complete waste of money IMO, you should buy something for half the price now and a replacement in two years with the other half of what you would have spent on a GTX690 right now.

Have you a need for any specific Nvidia features?, because if it is just for gaming some the GHz editions of the HD7970 like this ([URL="[url]http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/his_7970_iceq_xsup2_ghz_edition_7950_iceq_xsup2_boost_clock,13.html[/url]"]review[/URL]) are cheaper and perform slightly better than a GTX680, even moreso when overclocked making them a bit better value for money proposition.

Logical Fallacy

I'll just be running a single monitor, there are already two monitors and a tv and a laptop in the room this is going into, if I run a multi screen set up on this I'll start to feel like i am trapped in the Videodrome.

No need for specific Nvidia features, my only concern is performance and how it will hold up while recording. I upload to Youtube so generally speaking Dxtory will always be running.

beno619

Just wondering do you have a separate drive for recordings ?
As marco_polo said no point in a 690 for single monitor setup and also about the 7970 faster cheaper and more future proof than a 680.

Logical Fallacy

beno619 wrote: »

Just wondering do you have a separate drive for recordings ?
As marco_polo said no point in a 690 for single monitor setup and also about the 7970 faster cheaper and more future proof than a 680.

Hey mate, yes, I'll be getting 2 Solid State drives to runt he OS/games from and then another 2T drive just to record onto.

Thanks for the reply, the 7970 seems to be winning the popular vote here.

NTMK

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

Hey mate, yes, I'll be getting 2 Solid State drives to runt he OS/games from and then another 2T drive just to record onto.

Thanks for the reply, the 7970 seems to be winning the popular vote here.

the main thing that will hurt performance when recording is how fast your hdd is. if your not recording massive massive amounts of footage at once then an ssd would be alot better

Logical Fallacy

NTMK wrote: »

the main thing that will hurt performance when recording is how fast your hdd is. if your not recording massive massive amounts of footage at once then an ssd would be alot better

No problem, I can just record to one of the SSD's the transfer to the other HDD for storage.

I'll be honest, if I am getting 7970 and saving some cash I can bump up the size of one the SSD's anyway.

Vicxas

7970 GHZ edition seems to be the front runner for high FPS in games, followed closly by the GTX 680.

The 690 would be major overkill. Cut back and get a bigger SSD or Upgrade your CPU

Logical Fallacy

Vicxas wrote: »

7970 GHZ edition seems to be the front runner for high FPS in games, followed closly by the GTX 680.

The 690 would be major overkill. Cut back and get a bigger SSD or Upgrade your CPU

Thanks man. I'm happy with the CPU i have picked, the only real upgrade I could do would be to go from Quad to Hexa core, and I really don't see the point if I am honest.

A further question, the following 7970's are on Komplette (who I would prefer to buy from as they have all the other parts I want for both comps I am building ) but I can't see any real difference between the two beside the cooling.

Any advice on which to get? And thanks again for all the help folks.

http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ati__amd/80007923/sapphire_radeon_hd7970_3gb_pci_e/details.aspx

http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ati__amd/20179143/sapphire_radeon_hd7970_oc_3gb_pci_e/details.aspx

NTMK

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

Thanks man. I'm happy with the CPU i have picked, the only real upgrade I could do would be to go from Quad to Hexa core, and I really don't see the point if I am honest.

A further question, the following 7970's are on Komplette (who I would prefer to buy from as they have all the other parts I want for both comps I am building ) but I can't see any real difference between the two beside the cooling.

Any advice on which to get? And thanks again for all the help folks.

http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ati__amd/80007923/sapphire_radeon_hd7970_3gb_pci_e/details.aspx

http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ati__amd/20179143/sapphire_radeon_hd7970_oc_3gb_pci_e/details.aspx

the second one its cheaper and has a quieter cooling system and has a small factory overclock on it

marco_polo

Of those two definitely the Sapphire, its very overpriced for a middle of the road non GHz edition HD7970 though. The same card is €366 on HWVS so still works out over €20 cheaper even after accounting for the €18.99 shipping. And this power color has essentially the same and is even cheaper again, delivered for a full €40 less.

Gumbi

Kompett need to get their act together. I really want to buy from them, but even with free shipping HWVS crushes their prices. I would be happy to pay a small premium, but as it stands, their prices are ridiculous.

BloodBath

Blame our VAT rates for that. Not much they can do.

Gumbi

BloodBath wrote: »

Blame our VAT rates for that. Not much they can do.

Is it, though? I'm sure it's part of it, but I mean, I could get my mobo for 77 quid on mindfactory, it was 100 on Komplett. That's a huge price difference.

NTMK

Gumbi wrote: »

Is it, though? I'm sure it's part of it, but I mean, I could get my mobo for 77 quid on mindfactory, it was 100 on Komplett. That's a huge price difference.

nope it not just vat (its a ~4% difference between Ireland and germany). Komplett also charge for shipping in the price

dwighet

7970 all the way mate....
Im running a bog standard saphire...no bells or whistles on it...Mild overclock 1050/1450 and getting 60fps with bf3 on ultra settings(vsync and motion blurr enabled) all day @ 1080 res....

btkm8unsl0w5r4

With the next xbox being direct X 11, a 680/690/7970 will be quite future proof. Personally I would go for a 680 and get another for SLI when you need it, the price will have dropped by then. Upgrade your CPU now.

Logical Fallacy

Mathew Little Tuition wrote: »

With the next xbox being direct X 11, a 680/690/7970 will be quite future proof. Personally I would go for a 680 and get another for SLI when you need it, the price will have dropped by then. Upgrade your CPU now.

CPU is now a i7 Intel Core i7 3970X 3.50GHz Sandybridge getting OC'd to 4.2

I kind of lost my **** with Komplett earlier and have gone with a difference source.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

CPU is now a i7 Intel Core i7 3970X 3.50GHz Sandybridge getting OC'd to 4.2

I kind of lost my **** with Komplett earlier and have gone with a difference source.

Well thats the daddy of CPU's right there. If your into building a super system go 690 and then get another for quad sli.:D so long as your PSU will take it....running SLI 680 at the moment myself and the amount of overhead is ridiculous. Only crysis 3 will test it and I am running everything at 2650 x 1600

Gumbi

Mathew Little Tuition wrote: »

Well thats the daddy of CPU's right there. If your into building a super system go 690 and then get another for quad sli.:D so long as your PSU will take it....running SLI 680 at the moment myself and the amount of overhead is ridiculous. Only crysis 3 will test it and I am running everything at 2650 x 1600

The beta? How optimised is that lookin these days? I wanna test out my 7950 on it when it's released

marco_polo

If you are going 6 core the i7-3930X is less than 2/3 of the price for close to the same performance, and even still the i5-3570K is just as competent in any game as either of them.

Unless an extra two cores makes a massive difference to your chosen software while recording (which I don't honestly know, but I wouldn't think so if you are recording uncompressed footage) I can't see the benefit of spending hundreds more.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Gumbi wrote: »

The beta? How optimised is that lookin these days? I wanna test out my 7950 on it when it's released

Nope havent played it, only making a guess. The trailers look fantastic. Have it preordered and not going to spoil it on myself with the beta's.

Went of a 3930k myself and have it clocked at 4.2 on a closed loop water cooler. Very conservative overclock. I couldn't justify the extra price of the xtreme processor would rather spent it on graphics cards. Having said that if I had the balls I would have gone for the full thing.

While its true few programs multithread well, its not the programs now that you make a system like that for. Seeing as the new Xbox will have 8 cores, game code is going to be much more efficient with multiple cores in the future.

NTMK

Mathew Little Tuition wrote: »

While its true few programs multithread well, its not the programs now that you make a system like that for. Seeing as the new Xbox will have 8 cores, game code is going to be much more efficient with multiple cores in the future.

they're 8 AMD cores which atm is equivalent of 4 intel cores game performance wise. unless you are using your rig for video editing or 3d modeling professionally a hex-core intel is not great value for money a sandy/ivybridge i5 will out gun what the xbox/ps4 will have

Logical Fallacy

marco_polo wrote: »

If you are going 6 core the i7-3930X is less than 2/3 of the price for close to the same performance, and even still the i5-3570K is just as competent in any game as either of them.

Unless an extra two cores makes a massive difference to your chosen software while recording (which I don't honestly know, but I wouldn't think so if you are recording uncompressed footage) I can't see the benefit of spending hundreds more.

I'll be using the system for all kinds of **** to be honest, it will just be my primary gaming rig as well. They will be music production, graphic design and more than likely some complex renders happening as well, so I just decide to go full ham on the CPU now while I have the cash for it.

NTMK

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

I'll be using the system for all kinds of **** to be honest, it will just be my primary gaming rig as well. They will be music production, graphic design and more than likely some complex renders happening as well, so I just decide to go full ham on the CPU now while I have the cash for it.

What cpu are you on now?

btkm8unsl0w5r4

NTMK wrote: »

they're 8 AMD cores which atm is equivalent of 4 intel cores game performance wise. unless you are using your rig for video editing or 3d modeling professionally a hex-core intel is not great value for money a sandy/ivybridge i5 will out gun what the xbox/ps4 will have

The point is that games will be much more multithread optimized. I dont think value for money is the OP's primary concern. Building a gaming rig with a 1000 euro graphics card and a older tech CPU is a waste IMHO.

Logical Fallacy

NTMK wrote: »

What cpu are you on now?

i7 3970X 3.50GHz Sandybridge OC'd to 4.2