One of the best, perhaps best 670 out there
review by
iardas
I've been using the Gigabyte 670 for the last 3 weeks and I can not be happier. After selling my 590, I had my doubts over the 670 series GPUs. Few benchmark sites out there claimed that the 670's potential was almost as fast as the 590 in certain games and at first I did not believe this, but after using the GPU myself, I am not really missing my 590 even a bit.
?
I have over 80 titles on Steam and been playing few of them frequently lately. The GPU intensive games I play are Alan Wake, Battlefield 3 and Crysis 2. I can easily say that when everything is maxed at 1080p resolution, i rarely go below 60 on all these titles. This is an incredible feat for a single card, single GPU solution. The results are so impressive that I am not thinking of buying a 2nd 670 for the moment.?
?
The Gigabyte 670 is factory overclockd to 980mhz, instead of 915mhz which is the regular 670 speed. Yes there are other GPUs out there which are factory OCed to even higher mhz, over 1000, but what Gigabyte 670 makes up in difference is the cooling solution they came up with. The GPU has 3 fans that cool itself and you hardly notice any sound below 75% fan speed. After 75% you can hear the sound of the fans spinning but not that much. Also trust me, unless you are extremely sensitive about heat, you would not need to work your GPUs' fans over 70% of its speed. I currently OCed the 670 even more than it's factory OC, and I hit 72 degrees maximum on heavy load. My fan speed is 70% at max. Also please note that my ambient temperature in the summer is extremely high and my room is humid. I am sure that when the weather gets normal, or when i get some AC unit for my room, the temperatures will be even lower.
?
The only downside for this GPU, if there is any, is that people with small cases might not want to SLI this card because the card does not take the heat out from the rear of the case. Instead the heat is pumped inside the case because of the fan design, and just go with the air flow of your case. Since I have a full tower and good cooling solution this is not a problem for me, however it could be a problem for people with small or mid towers.
?
The Gigabyte 670 is priced at 400$ on newegg.com. It is a great price and it makes this GPU one of the best, if not the best 670 currently available in the market. You might want to go for an Evga 670 for warranty purposes but I believe the Gigabyte 670 is a bit better than the Evga 670 GPUs in terms of cooling and heat.
?
The only reasons that I might want to SLI this beast are for 3Dvision and 120hz gaming. Other than that if you have a 60hz screen and only game at 1080p 2D, than look no further. When you compare price/performance, this card also beats any 680 out there. Even an 670 SLI is on par with a 690 GPU, and it is currently going to cost you 200$ lower.
?
If you are in the market for a great single GPU solution. Look no further. Gigabyte 670 would make you happy.
Pros | Cons |
---|
Quiet, 680 pcb, fast, cool | Fan design could be an issue for small tower setups for SLI |
Ratings