Nvidia lost the performance crown to the AMD in late 2011, when the latter released the HD7970. Nvidia is now fighting back with the release of the GTX680, based on the new 28nm manufacturing process.
Performance
Nvidia’s GTX680 outperforms the AMD HD 7970 more often than not.
In the Hardware Canucks review, the site found that the GTX680 was on average 12 percent faster than the HD7970. It did particularly well when 4x anti-aliasing was turned on, managing an even higher 15 to 16 percent improvement.
What should be commended however, is the performance improvement Nvidia has made between generations. There is a 36 percent performance improvement over Nvidia’s previous generation GTX580.
Geforce GTX680 angle
Other sites such as AnandTech found impressive performance increases of their own. In the AnandTech review, the GTX680 managed a 28 percent improvement over the HD7970 at 2560 x 1600, “and by continually higher amounts at lower resolutions.”
There are a select number of games such as Metro 2033 where the HD7970 is ahead of the GTX680, but these are few and far between. In the AnandTech review, the HD7970 beat out the GTX680 at the 2560 x 1600 resolution, albeit by a mere 4 percent.
Quotable Quotes
Here is a range of quotes from GTX680 reviews around the web:
Hardware Canucks: “NVIDIA’s newest flagship card is superior to the HD 7970 in almost every way. Whether it is performance, power consumption, noise, features, price or launch day availability, it currently owns the road and won’t be looking over its shoulder for some time to come.”
Guru3D: “We certainly like the GeForce GTX 680, it is quite amazing what NVIDIA is able to do with the GK104 which we still think was intended to be the mid-range chip.”
Legit Reviews: “Nvidia told us from the start that the GeForce GTX 680 is designed for gamers. Our testing showed that this card did phenomenally well with DirectX 11 game titles and is currently the overall fastest graphics card for gaming.”
Geforce GTX680 ports
Toms Hardware: “GeForce GTX 680 is now the fastest single-GPU graphics card, and not by a margin that leaves room to hem or haw. Making matters worse for AMD, the GTX 680 is priced right between its Radeon HD 7970 and 7950.”
Anandtech: “But in the meantime, in the here and now, this is by far the easiest recommendation we’ve been able to make for an NVIDIA flagship video card. NVIDIA’s drive for efficiency has paid off handsomely, and as a result they have once again captured the performance crown.”
Price
Pricing is another aspect where the GTX680 puts the HD7970 under pressure. Despite being more powerful than the HD7970, the GTX680 comes in at the same price point.
Local pricing is set to start at just below R6,000, which undercuts the current HD7970 entry level price of R6,600.
The trend continues internationally, where online retailer Newegg has the GTX680 listed for $499 (R3,827.69) and up, which the cheapest price for in stock HD 7970 cards starts at $549 (R4,211.22).
Geforce GTX680 rear
Conclusion
Nvidias GTX680 is faster, runs cooler, and costs less than AMDs HD7970. Impressive, but even more so when you consider the GK104 architecture it’s based on was supposed to be the replacement for the mid range GF104 cards, rather than a high-end competitor.
AMD will have to hand over the ultimate single card performance crown to Nvidia for the time being, and consider price cuts if they want to remain competitive on some level in the high-end graphics card market.
Related Articles:
First local GTX 680 pricing emerges
History of ATI/AMD dual-GPU cards
History of Nvidia dual-GPU cards
Loading ...
But the main question is:
Can it run King Arthur 2 in Ultra Quality?