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What are you thinking: Used Fermi for SLI, or go with Kepler?

  • Thinking of getting adding another cheap, used Fermi for SLI!!!

    Votes: 20 18.3%
  • Thinking of selling my Fermi and going with Single High-End Kepler (670/680)!!!

    Votes: 70 64.2%
  • Thinking of waiting to see what lower-end/cheaper Keplers bring to the table!!!

    Votes: 19 17.4%
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TL;DR version:

My well-OC'd GTX670 basically matches my well OC'd SLI 470's in terms of performance, while consuming just over 1/2 as much electricity (total system power), runs 27C cooler, and does so UTTERLY SILENTLY. I am very well pleased with this card.

In the test of GTX470 SLI vs GTX670, 470SLI wins slightly in most cases, and holds all the wins that are of any significant amount (generally about 10%), but 670 wins a few test by a small margin. The setups are very close basically, but on average the 470's are probably about 7% faster.

Furthermore, the 670, SLI470, and 7970 (all OC'd), and stock 680, all share performance that is eerily close to one another. Not a lot separates any of them on any test EXCEPT Metro 2033 and Crysis/WH. In those tests, Arni's OC'd 7970 DESTROYS the nV offerings. Presumably these two games are heavily memory bandwidth restricted, and the 7970 has a huge advantage in that regard. Oh, also the 7970 crushes in Mafia 2 w/o PhysX. However that user used the Demo vs. my using the actual game, plus he's on a Sandy at 5.0GHz whereas I'm ... not. Unknown how these facts affect the scores.

After all is said and done, the final Clocks I've settled on are: 1337c/1750m at 1.162V. These are not what the tests were done at, however. See below for the actual clocks. They are a little slower than my final clocks, but oh well.
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GTX670 Unboxing Thread

This thread is intended to be a resource for folks trying to make a buying decision, in particular people who currently have Single Fermi cards who are going to be looking at the FLOOD of Fermi's I'm sure will soon be available on our Marketplace. Many I'm sure will be considering an upgrade, either to a Kepler, OR by adding a used Fermi to their existing rigs. There seems to be a lack of comparative benchmarks out there that compare SLI Fermi's to Kepler (aside from 590 results ... which actually should mirror these fairly closely)

670 (or 680) owners, please feel free to post your own MATCHING benchies to the thread. When I say matching I mean please RUN THE SAME SETTINGS, otherwise it doesn't mean anything. I've also decided to invite 7950 and 7970 owners to OC their cards as much as possible and contribute as well, so ... feel free everyone. But let there be NO FANBOY ARGUING on my thread!!!

Important Note for our AMD Contributors: Please note that not all bench runs done in the 470/670 comps below are AMD-compatible, for various reasons (due to PhysX, 32xCSAA, etc). I've marked each test that is NON-Compatible, and I'm in the process of adding a section to the end of the post here that shows my 670 scores using settings we can compare 'apples to apples' with
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Rules to get added to OP: Post AT LEAST 4 of the benches available, at the specified settings, using normal OCN image upload procedures. Adding Spoiler tags and your system info for each (as seen below for Dimmy and Windfire's submissions below) is also greatly appreciated! And Please DO NOT CHERRY PICK which you submit based on your winning/losing
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My Current Setup:
i7 930 at 3.9GHz (195 x 20), Asus Rampage III Extreme, GTX670 at 1345c/3225m (1.162V) in PCI-Ex 2.0 (16x/16x)

NOTE: Some of the synthetics were run slightly higher (noted below) as I thought I was stable at 1350/3247 but Heaven had two artifacts pop up so I reduced it slightly for the game benches.

My Previous Setup:
i7 930 at 3.9GHz (195 x 20), Asus Rampage III Extreme, SLI GTX 470 at 800c/900m (1.087V) in PCI-Ex 2.0 (16x/16x)

Note that GTX470 cards at 800/1800 should provide performance comparable to the following: GTX590 (with a small OC), SLI 480 (with a small OC), SLI 570 (with a small OC), SLI 560ti 448 (with a small OC), SLI 560ti 384 (with a massive OC)

Benches to be Run:

3dMarkVantage (High Preset, PPU Off) *
3dMark11 v. 4.90 (Performance) *
Unigine Heaven 3.0 (All Maxed, 8xAA, Extreme Tess, etc) *
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat Benchmark (all settings maxed/High HBAO/10.1/Tessellation/CHS all on) *
Lost Planet 2 Demo Benchmark (All Maxed, 32xCSAA, Test B) *
Mafia 2 (all maxed) *
Metro2033 (All Maxed except ADoF is off cause I hate it)
Just Cause 2 (All Maxed/Everything On/32xCSAA, No Bokeh Filter, DARK TOWER benchmark)
Crysis (All Maxed, 16xQAA, Assault Harbor benchmark, 2nd run results) *
Crysis 2 (All Maxed, 4xAA, Edge AA, Central Park benchmark)

* Denotes benchmarks that are available free, either as a standalone benchmark, or part of game demo

Notes:
Where possible, I did them all them at 1920x1080 for you guys so more people can compare. All NVCP settings were left at Default.

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Temps and Power Usage Numbers

Below I compared temps and power usage for both setups, both at idle, and at full load. Number were observed during a Crysis bench, maxed out, for 10 loops. Power consumption for the 670 is just over HALF that of the SLI 470's. GPU temps of course are over 20C lower. Perhaps most notable is that the System (mobo temp) actually went DOWN while the bench was running, instead of increasing by almost 10C as it did with the 470's.

Idle (470 SLI)
CPU: 33C
System 31c
Watts: 231
GPU (Top): 45C
GPU (Bot): 41C

Idle (670)
CPU: 34C
System 30c
Watts: 185
GPU: 32C

Load (470 SLI)
CPU: 44C Avg
System 41C Avg
Watts: 718W (max)
GPU (Top): 86C
GPU (Bot): 83C


Load (670):
CPU: 44C Avg
System: 29C Avg
Watts: 380W (max)
GPU (Top): 63C


Screenie after the 670 Run:
375

I feel I should also add ... with the 470's, those were temps with the fans blasting at full. Not that loud with my coolers, but they were running full out. With the 670 ... you CANNOT HEAR the GPU running, even in the middle of a torture test. And my case is VERY quiet to begin with.

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3dMarkVantage (High Preset, PPU Off) *

GTX470 (800/1800)

345

GTX670 (1350c/3247m)

345

Dimmy's Results (2500K @ 4.6Ghz, GTX 680 stock (max GPU boost 1137Mhz / 3005Mhz memory))
348

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3dMark11 v. 4.90 (Performance) *

GTX470 (800/1800)

527

GTX670 (1350c/3247m)

514

Dimmy's Results (2500K @ 4.6Ghz, GTX 680 stock (max GPU boost 1137Mhz / 3005Mhz memory))
700

Windfire's Results (i7 [email protected], GTX570 SLI (799/1000), Vista 64-bit)
373

Arni's Results - 2600K @ 5.0GHz, HD7970 @1250/1700

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Unigine Heaven 3.0 (All Maxed, 8xAA, Extreme Tess) *

GTX470 (800/1800)

338

GTX670 (1350c/3240m) (Note: Had two artifacts at this clock, lowered clocks for rest of benches)

338

Dimmy's Results (2500K @ 4.6Ghz, GTX 680 stock (max GPU boost 1137Mhz / 3005Mhz memory))
338

Windfire's Results (i7 [email protected], GTX570 SLI (799/1000), Vista 64-bit)
619

Arni's Results - 2600K @ 5.0GHz, HD7970 @1250/1700
338

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat Benchmark (all settings maxed/High HBAO/10.1/Tessellation/CHS all on) *

GTX470 (800/1800)

348

GTX670 (1345c/3225m) (Note: Split-Second hitch at beginning of first test)

348

Dimmy's Results (2500K @ 4.6Ghz, GTX 680 stock (max GPU boost 1137Mhz / 3005Mhz memory))
348

Windfire's Results (i7 [email protected], GTX570 SLI (799/1000), Vista 64-bit)
339

Arni's Results - 2600K @ 5.0GHz, HD7970 @1250/1700

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Lost Planet 2 Demo Benchmark (All Maxed, 32xCSAA, Test B) *

NON AMD COMPATIBLE BENCH (32xAA) - See the AMD Compatibility Section at Bottom.

GTX470 (800/1800) (Woe to you, oh Earth and Sea ... for the Devil Sends the Beast With Wrath, Because He Knows That Time is Short!)

338

GTX670 (1345c/3225m)

338

Dimmy's Results (2500K @ 4.6Ghz, GTX 680 stock (max GPU boost 1137Mhz / 3005Mhz memory))
338

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Mafia 2 (all maxed) *

NON AMD COMPATIBLE BENCH (PhysX On) - See the AMD Compatibility Section at Bottom.

GTX470 (800/1800) (note: GPU usage is pathetic on this test ... PhysX implementation sucks)

338

GTX670 (1345c/3225m)

338

Dimmy's Results (2500K @ 4.6Ghz, GTX 680 stock (max GPU boost 1137Mhz / 3005Mhz memory))
(this bench is from free steam demo, I don't have full game. Bret ran full game bench, so results may be incomparable).
338

Windfire's Results (i7 [email protected], GTX570 SLI (799/1000), Vista 64-bit)
(all maxed) - my CPU should be at 3.88GHz but somehow it is recognized as 3.21GHz
375

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Metro2033 (All Maxed except ADoF is off cause I hate it)

NON AMD COMPATIBLE BENCH (Advanced PhysX On) - See the AMD Compatibility Section at Bottom.

GTX470 (800/1800)

498

GTX670 (1345c/3225m)

486

Dimmy's Results (2500K @ 4.6Ghz, GTX 680 stock (max GPU boost 1137Mhz / 3005Mhz memory))
678

Windfire's Results (i7 [email protected], GTX570 SLI (799/1000), Vista 64-bit)
527

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Just Cause 2 (All Maxed/Everything On/32xCSAA, No Bokeh Filter, DARK TOWER benchmark)

NON AMD COMPATIBLE BENCH (32xAA, GPU H2O simulation on) - See the AMD Compatibility Section at Bottom.

GTX470 (800/1800) (note: for some reason the top card would only do about 85% usage, while the bottom stayed maxed ... probably hurting the score here)

341

GTX670 (1345c/3225m)

339

Dimmy's Results (2500K @ 4.6Ghz, GTX 680 stock (max GPU boost 1137Mhz / 3005Mhz memory))
338

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Crysis (All Maxed, 16xQAA, Assault Harbor benchmark, 2nd run results)

NON AMD COMPATIBLE BENCH (16QxAA not supported on AMD) - See the AMD Compatibility Section at Bottom.

GTX470 (800/1800)

570

GTX670 (1345c/3225m)

570

Dimmy's Results (2500K @ 4.6Ghz, GTX 680 stock (max GPU boost 1137Mhz / 3005Mhz memory))
570

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Crysis 2 (All Maxed, 4xAA, Edge AA, Central Park benchmark)

GTX470 (800/1800)

341

GTX670 (1345c/3225m)

341

Dimmy's Results 1 (2500K @ 4.6Ghz, GTX 680 stock (max GPU boost 1137Mhz / 3005Mhz memory))
341

Dimmy's Results 2 ((2500K @ 4.6Ghz, GTX 680 stock (max GPU boost 1245/3386 memory))
350

Arni's Results - 2600K @ 5.0GHz, HD7970 @1250/1700
251

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AMD-Compatible Benchmarks

*Section IN PROGRESS*

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Lost Planet 2 Demo Benchmark (All Maxed, 4xAA, Test B) *

GTX670 (1345c/3225m)

338

Arni's Results - 2600K @ 5.0GHz, HD7970 @1250/1700
Lost Planet 2:
348

==============================================================================
Mafia 2 (all maxed, Apex PhysX OFF) *

GTX670 (1335c/3500m) (used my final OC for this one)

338

Arni's Results - 2600K @ 5.0GHz, HD7970 @1250/1700
338
==============================================================================
Metro2033 (All Maxed except ADoF, Advanced PhysX both OFF)

GTX670 (1345c/3225m)

471

Arni's Results - 2600K @ 5.0GHz, HD7970 @1250/1700
Metro 2033:
700

==============================================================================
Just Cause 2 (All Maxed/4xAA, Except No Bokeh Filter, No GPU H2O Simulation, DARK TOWER benchmark)

GTX670 (1345c/3225m)

338

Arni's Results - 2600K @ 5.0GHz, HD7970 @1250/1700
Just Cause 2:
465

==============================================================================
Crysis Warhead (All Maxed, 4xAA, Ambush, Frost, Avalanche Flythrough benchmarks (using WH bench tool made by Framebuffer) , use 2nd run results)

***Instead of Crysis I'm using WH cause the Crysis BM tool is totally unreliable, plus Crysis BN's on my chip ***

GTX670 (1325c/3600m) (sacrificed some core to crank the memory bandwidth)

400

Dimmy's Results (2500K @ 4.6Ghz, GTX 680 stock (max GPU boost 1245/3375 memory))
400

Arni's Results - 2600K @ 5.0GHz, HD7970 @1250/1700
400
 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Frosty View Post

You better say what 560ti you're talking about because the 470's a lot faster then the original versions.
thats why he put heavy OC..

1Ghz on 560 ti's puts some fear into some 470s
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tx-jose View Post

thats why he put heavy OC..
1Ghz on 560 ti's puts some fear into some 470s
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Not of those 470's are running 850+
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470's are hard to beat when it comes to overclocking.
 

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well in my case my 670 is faster

670 OC 9419 3dmarks 670 is +100/+500
gtx 470s OC 9285 3dmarks 470s are 825mhz !!!

3dmark dont tell the whole story ,i can max everything in bf3 now where as i couldnt use aa in it with the 470 due to the vram running out.
670 is tons quieter too almost cant hear it , where as one time i was eating some soup and it got cold so i put my soup on top the case ,5 mins later it was warm again with the 470s (raven 2)

edit: man some of you other 470 guys are pushin them core clocks gj !!! my pny wouldnt go much over 825 so i settled them there.
 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by dumpsterj View Post

well in my case my 670 is faster
670 OC 9419 3dmarks 670 is +100/+500
gtx 470s OC 9285 3dmarks 470s are 825mhz !!!
3dmark dont tell the whole story ,i can max everything in bf3 now where as i couldnt use aa in it with the 470 due to the vram running out.
670 is tons quieter too almost cant hear it , where as one time i was eating some soup and it got cold so i put my soup on top the case ,5 mins later it was warm again with the 470s (raven 2)
My 470 isnt loud... Well mine is under water and i never go above 50c.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jach11 View Post

My 470 isnt loud... Well mine is under water and i never go above 50c.
Brett and I have the GE's, too. They run real quiet and cool. Every time I hear people talking about 470 noise and heat, I never know how to relate.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tx-jose View Post

thats why he put heavy OC..
1Ghz on 560 ti's puts some fear into some 470s
wink.gif
Dude there's a thread on here that shows the 560ti's can never catch a 470 with a small OC
 

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Thank you brett, can't wait to see some results. I've been debating if it's getting near time to retire my SLI 470 setup as well and this should help alot in shedding some light into some of my questions.
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and sub'd.
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Discussion Starter · #14 ·
I've benched against 560ti's many times. At my testing clocks, 560ti's would need to be at around 950-1000MHz to match 'em.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dumpsterj View Post

well in my case my 670 is faster
670 OC 9419 3dmarks 670 is +100/+500
gtx 470s OC 9285 3dmarks 470s are 825mhz !!!
3dmark dont tell the whole story ,i can max everything in bf3 now where as i couldnt use aa in it with the 470 due to the vram running out.
670 is tons quieter too almost cant hear it , where as one time i was eating some soup and it got cold so i put my soup on top the case ,5 mins later it was warm again with the 470s (raven 2)
edit: man some of you other 470 guys are pushin them core clocks gj !!! my pny wouldnt go much over 825 so i settled them there.
Agreed ... part of the reason I'm replacing my 470's is that I'm in AZ, and it's about to be 100F+ for four straight months, 24/7. And as you imply, single cards don't need as high of FPS to be smooth as SLI does, so in reality I'm expecting the 670 to lose slightly in terms of raw FPS in the benchmarks, but still be able to match the 470's in terms of max playable settings, whilst kicking out a lot less heat ... which is important when your power bill is nearly $350/mo during the summer and your room is hot even with AC running at all times
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So what is your max observed operating frequency on your 670, might I ask?

EDIT: Added Crysis and Crysis 2 Benchies to the list ... can't have benchmark thread without Crysis, now, can we
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560ti's like the Msi twin frozr 3 hawk can match you. They come clocked at 950mhz out of the box, and can easily run at, or over 1ghz.
 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by psi_guy View Post

560ti's like the Msi twin frozr 3 hawk can match you. They come clocked at 950mhz out of the box, and can easily run at, or over 1ghz.
No, my GTX 470s at 830MHz on the core and memory at stock beat GTX 560 TI 384 at 1GHz+. The 560s miss quite a bit of logic units per clock cycle. A GTX 470 is like 5% slower than a GTX 570 clock for clock.

I'm very interested in your results brett, I'm not jumping the Kepler bandwagon just yet since I like the big dies (waiting for GK 110)
tongue.gif
. Although it must be nice to finally get rid of the heat. My guess is that the GTX 670 will lose with 5-10% overall vs the 470s @ 800MHz while providing smoother gameplay and less heat. Be sure to include frametimes like you always do, that will show the advantage of the 670 clearly.

Virtual +REP
 

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Discussion Starter · #19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by psi_guy View Post

560ti's like the Msi twin frozr 3 hawk can match you. They come clocked at 950mhz out of the box, and can easily run at, or over 1ghz.
Well, I can actually push mine to 840 or thereabouts with the voltage unlock ... there's no 560ti that can beat them at those clocks on air. 470's just scale too well. At 800MHz, something like the Hawk at least has a chance
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Of course, they're about to burst into flames when I push them that hard (94C or thereabouts on the top card).
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBlademaster01 View Post

No, my GTX 470s at 830MHz on the core and memory at stock beat GTX 560 TI 384 at 1GHz+. The 560s miss quite a bit of logic units per clock cycle. A GTX 470 is like 5% slower than a GTX 570 clock for clock.
I'm very interested in your results brett, I'm not jumping the Kepler bandwagon just yet since I like the big dies (waiting for GK 110)
tongue.gif
. Although it must be nice to finally get rid of the heat. My guess is that the GTX 670 will lose with 5-10% overall vs the 470s @ 800MHz while providing smoother gameplay and less heat. Be sure to include frametimes like you always do, that will show the advantage of the 670 clearly.
Virtual +REP
That I believe ... cause I've benched against people w/them many times
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Not sure I'm going to going to do FPS over time charts, if that's what you mean. Too much work
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gallien View Post

My 470's. I think they are faster than 1 670 OC'd
I have little doubt that the 470's will emerge at least slightly victorious even at 800MHz, which is what I'm testing them at
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brettjv View Post

Well, I can actually push mine to 840 or thereabouts with the voltage unlock ... there's no 560ti that can beat them at those clocks on air. 470's just scale too well. At 800MHz, something like the Hawk at least has a chance
wink.gif
Of course, they're about to burst into flames when I push them that hard (94C or thereabouts on the top card).
That I believe ... cause I've benched against people w/them many times
wink.gif
Not sure I'm going to going to do FPS over time charts, if that's what you mean. Too much work
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I have little doubt that the 470's will emerge at least slightly victorious even at 800MHz, which is what I'm testing them at
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Well, I guess that's true. Minimum FPS should suffice too
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Anyways have fun with the new toy
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