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Review: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB graphics card

by Tarinder Sandhu on 22 March 2012, 13:00 4.5

Tags: NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qabdu5

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Testing methodology

GPU comparisons

Graphics card GPU clock
(MHz)
Stream
processors
Shader clock
(MHz)
Memory clock
(MHz)
Memory bus
(bits)
Graphics driver
  NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (2,048MB) 1,006+ 1,536 1,006+ 6,008 256 ForceWare 300.99
  NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 (3,072MB) 607 1,024 1,215 3,414 384 x 2 ForceWare 296.10
  NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (1,536MB) 772 512 1,544 4,008 384 ForceWare 296.10
  AMD Radeon HD 7970 (3,072MB) 925 2,048 925 5,500 384 Catalyst 12.2
  AMD Radeon HD 7950 (3,072MB) 800 1,792 800 5,000 384 Catalyst 12.2
  AMD Radeon HD 6990 (4,096MB) 830 3,072 830 5,000 256 x 2 Catalyst 12.2

HEXUS high-end test bench

Processor Intel Core i5-2500K (3.33GHz, 6MB smart cache, quad-core, LGA1155)
Motherboard Intel Desktop Board DP67BG
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance (9-9-9-24 @ 1,600MHz)
Power Supply Corsair AX750W
Monitor Dell 30in 3007WFP
Disk drive(s) Crucial RealSSD C300 (256GB)
Chassis Corsair Graphite Series 600T
Operating system Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit, SP1)

HEXUS high-end benchmark suite

3DMark 11 Performance and Extreme presets
Aliens vs. Predator DX11, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, very high quality
Battlefield 3 DX11, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xMSAA, 16xAF, ultra quality
Batman: Arkham City DX11, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 8xMSAA, extreme quality
Crysis 2 DX11, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, ultra quality
Just Cause 2 DX10, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, very high quality
Total War: Shogun 2 DX11, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xMSAA, 16xAF, high quality
Power Consumption To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record mains power draw both when idle and whilst playing Batman: Arkham City
Temperature To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record GPU core temperature both when idle and whilst playing Batman: AC
Noise A PCE-318 meter is used to record noise levels when idle and whilst playing Batman: AC
Overclocking Pushing the graphics card as far as it will go, we increase speeds and re-run the Crysis 2 benchmark
HEXUS bang4buck A custom metric used to evaluate comparative performance with price factored in

Notes

We have decided to benchmark six cards on brand-new drivers. The entry price for this high-end ensemble is £300. You probably aren't considering a GeForce GTX 680 if the budget is just £150. However, giving you a broader picture, albeit on slightly older drivers, a 15-GPU roundup can be found here. Also, on older drivers but perhaps of interest, you can see how two GeForce GTX 580s in SLI and two Radeon HD 7950 OCs in CrossFire perform in our benchmarks right over here.