ASUS GeForce GTX 670 Direct CU II TOP 2 GB

[Frag_Maniac]

To those saying AMD are in trouble now....

No, they're not. They sold most of their expected stock in the three months when NV weren't at the party.

Let me ask this. Would you buy a GTX 680, or this?

So, based on the availability of this card, I think we'd all buy the Asus 670 DCII over ANY OTHER card. AMD are not in trouble but the 680 sales will be hit hard by cards as good as this.

Hell, might be selling my water cooled 7970 and get me one (or two) of these.

Actually what HAD kept AMD/ATI strong in the past was their leading on performance per dollar. You take that equation away, and things change. To a degree your argument on availability even validates that, because certainly with the 600 series any problems with a lack of stock have been due to it's huge success, not poor yields. So to your question would people buy this or a 680? They'll buy, and even wait for, the card with better performance for it's price, but the 680 will still have a niche in the enthusiast segment of the market. Keep in mind it isn't really so overshadowed by the 670 when you consider they're only $80 apart for models that slightly beat it with non reference coolers and factory OCs, and they only beat a stock 680, not an OCed one.

If that's not enough for you, look at this response, because there will no doubt be more like it to come:

Really thinking about selling at ATI 7950...

At the end of the day, esp in times of recession, lots of people put aside brand bias and look at the hard facts in making their GPU decisions. With comparisons like these, I don't see AMD/ATI keeping a lot of customers on brand loyalty alone. As mentioned, they'll likely have to make some changes to stay competitive, and it's looking like it won't be in the area of better tech, so that leaves price drops as the only solution. I find it odd you accuse of price gouging when if anything, it's the AMD/ATI cards that are priced higher than they should be lately.

As far as standard Direct CU II vs TOP editions, they tested one that retails for $420 that beats it's $500 big brother AND AMD/ATI cards in a similar price bracket, that's all that matters. If anything their non TOP models have sold for reference prices in the past too, and are plenty capable too, they only require a bit of manual OCing and a bit more careful fan and clock settings than the TOP models, which is easy. The TOP models DO get more selectively binned chips on the GPU and VRAM though, so a lot of customers are going to see the extra $20 as worth it. I really don't see any of your arguments as valid.

 

[Xzibit]

Actually what HAD kept AMD/ATI strong in the past was their leading on performance per dollar. You take that equation away, and things change. To a degree your argument on availability even validates that, because certainly with the 600 series any problems with a lack of stock have been due to it's huge success, not poor yields. So to your question would people buy this or a 680? They'll buy, and even wait for, the card with better performance for it's price, but the 680 will still have a niche in the enthusiast segment of the market. Keep in mind it isn't really so overshadowed by the 670 when you consider they're only $80 apart for models that slightly beat it with non reference coolers and factory OCs, and they only beat a stock 680, not an OCed one.

If that's not enough for you, look at this response, because there will no doubt be more like it to come:



At the end of the day, esp in times of recession, lots of people put aside brand bias and look at the hard facts in making their GPU decisions. With comparisons like these, I don't see AMD/ATI keeping a lot of customers on brand loyalty alone. As mentioned, they'll likely have to make some changes to stay competitive, and it's looking like it won't be in the area of better tech, so that leaves price drops as the only solution. I find it odd you accuse of price gouging when if anything, it's the AMD/ATI cards that are priced higher than they should be lately.

As far as standard Direct CU II vs TOP editions, they tested one that retails for $420 that beats it's $500 big brother AND AMD/ATI cards in a similar price bracket, that's all that matters. If anything their non TOP models have sold for reference prices in the past too, and are just as capable, they only require a bit of manual OCing which is easy. I really don't see any of your arguments as valid.

Your kind of forgetting that AMD & Nvidia especially have been building up the "GPGPU" Sub-entry level into HPC for the last couple of years. Last article i read was that Nvidia build a 80% share. Now with Kepler its pretty much saying forget that. Thats a big middle finger if you were about to upgrade or were looking forward to improvements in that area of the new architectures.

It comes down to how many Gamer specific buyers will the 670 get and from where AMD, Nvidia people who were buying 680 or 690s.

How many Folders will Nvidia loose in this series to AMD

I bet the percentages are small because they make there money just south of the $300 price mark.

I'm located in Southern California and I've seen Justin Beiber more times this week then I've seen a 680 or a 690 in stock. I rather be seeing Kate Upton but life isnt fair.

There is other issues aswell as a re-distributor or a reseller / retailer. You have stock to worry about. Your not gonna blindly order something if your unsure it wont make you a profit if your holding a bulk of last generation. You need to get rid of them to make profit and AMD nor Nvidia will have simpathy for you. Why go buying bulk and hurt your margins.

Its nice to look at benchmarks and be cheerleaders but once you get off the benchmark high and stop cheerleading there is many more factors out there.

Anyways i'll put this card on my Maybe list.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Actually I didn't forget HPC OR folding, I just don't think they realistically factor into the enthusiast GPU battle in a significant way. The former is more of an advanced industry niche, and the latter one that at best is for the few that choose to spend countless hours trying to win stuff with folding points.

The bottom line is, the GTX 670 DOES primarily fit and serve a gaming specific demographic, and it appears to do it quite well. I think Nvidia learned with the initial Fermis that they can't realistically make a one size fits all product, nor do they need to with their recent success.

I see more doubting Thomases than cheerleaders here, because those praising it are basing their comments on bench results and more significantly, performance to price comparisons, not rhetoric. By comparison the few doubters stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. If anything Nvidia are not only beating AMD/ATI on tech advances, but at their own game of value as well.

I think the maybe will come down to IF you can manage to snatch one with the many, many consumers KNOWING they want one, and that's an availability issue that speaks more of success than failure.

 

[1c3d0g]

NVIDIA 0wnz this round hands down.

 

[HTC]

Great achievement from nVidia: no doubt about it. The fact that this card can, sometimes, have better performance then a stock 680 is quite impressive.

Still, i think the 10.0 score is excessive because the card has problems with some titles @ multi-monitor, just like the 680, not to mention the other cons stated by the reviewer: something like ... say ... 9.8 would be more appropriate, IMO.

 

[mrthanhnguyen]

anyone know when will this asus directcu 2 top available in us. There's no retail have this. They just have gigabte, evga,.. no asus

 

[ChristTheGreat]

WOw, the card is less expensive than the GTX 680, and perfom better? xD

 

[Xzibit]

Actually I didn't forget HPC OR folding, I just don't think they realistically factor into the enthusiast GPU battle in a significant way. The former is more of an advanced industry niche, and the latter one that at best is for the few that choose to spend countless hours trying to win stuff with folding points.

Seams like you did forget cause your lumping sub-level into there Quattro and Tesla series. So building 80% a sub-entry level HPC doesnt matter. Laughable. Those are still sales and $ to a company. Name one company that likes loosing money to a competitor ?

The bottom line is, the GTX 670 DOES primarily fit and serve a gaming specific demographic, and it appears to do it quite well. I think Nvidia learned with the initial Fermis that they can't realistically make a one size fits all product, nor do they need to with their recent success.

I see more doubting Thomases than cheerleaders here, because those praising it are basing their comments on bench results and more significantly, performance to price comparisons, not rhetoric. By comparison the few doubters stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. If anything Nvidia are not only beating AMD/ATI on tech advances, but at their own game of value as well.

With that logic the Southern Island series is a myth cause AMD managed it with gaming performance being slightly behind while still improving power usage and folding. Seams you have a selective memory cause architectually Nvidia just streamlined Fermi while taking out the FP work horse. Heck a 680 is on par with a 560 Ti. Try looking up some folding sites see how the 680 is doing by users so far.

So to you tech advancing is taking out the torque persay of a chip and selling it at a higher Price point. Gotcha. Doesnt matter once you take out that and streamline the process of Fermi you some how arent improving power usage. Hey you know what i'm take out the supercharger on a V8 and say i improved it, heck you can still hit 100mph but it wont do burn outs but you save gas. Hey that other car does the same thing and uses same amount of gas but the supercharger is still in it must be low-tech then.

I think the maybe will come down to IF you can manage to snatch one with the many, many consumers KNOWING they want one, and that's an availability issue that speaks more of success than failure.

All i can say is ignorance is bliss.

 

[DannibusX]

I'm getting one. At least one.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Seams like you did forget cause your lumping sub-level into there Quattro and Tesla series. So building 80% a sub-entry level HPC doesnt matter. Laughable. Those are still sales and $ to a company. Name one company that likes loosing money to a competitor ?

What's laughable is your trying to lump a thread about a GPU that's clearly slated for a gaming demographic into a baseless argument about a lack of credibility to their HPC customers. Who are you kidding? Anyone with half a brain can see the initial Fermis having HPC power was just to turn the heads of that industry and get investors interested. You make it sound like they were intending all along to keep making chips with both HPC power and gaming features. Common sense dictates that is not practical. This industry is just as much about specializing as any other high tech industry.

With that logic the Southern Island series is a myth cause AMD managed it with gaming performance being slightly behind while still improving power usage and folding. Seams you have a selective memory cause architectually Nvidia just streamlined Fermi while taking out the FP work horse. Heck a 680 is on par with a 560 Ti. Try looking up some folding sites see how the 680 is doing by users so far.

So to you tech advancing is taking out the torque persay of a chip and selling it at a higher Price point. Gotcha. Doesnt matter once you take out that and streamline the process of Fermi you some how arent improving power usage. Hey you know what i'm take out the supercharger on a V8 and say i improved it, heck you can still hit 100mph but it wont do burn outs but you save gas. Hey that other car does the same thing and uses same amount of gas but the supercharger is still in it must be low-tech then.

HELLO? Is anyone home? Did you forget we are talking about a GAMING GPU here? You can rant and harp all you want about small niche secondary uses, but at the end of a day what SELLS a product is catering to it's PRIMARY target base. You would make a horrible salesman. Nvidia, like Intel, are very good at efficiently putting their R&D where it counts, and their latest products and prices clearly indicate that. It passes innovation AND value onto their target customers, more than I can say for AMD/ATI lately.

All i can say is ignorance is bliss.

Well, sounds like you have a lot of practice at it. After all, the die hard AMD/ATI fanboys seem to spend more time trying to rain on the parades of happy Nvidia customers lately than enjoying their own products, all the while in denial of the rather obvious comparisons. Ignorance indeed, blissful, I'm so sure. You don't sound too happy to me, and the beer mug slapping smiley just makes you look too sauced to discuss it rationally and calmly.

 

[N3M3515]

because certainly with the 600 series any problems with a lack of stock have been due to it's huge success, not poor yields.

Wrong, it's a combination of poor yields and problems at TSMC with 28nm process.
Not saying gtx 680 wasn't a success, but that's not the reason of poor supply.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Wrong, it's a combination of poor yields and problems at TSMC with 28nm process.
Not saying gtx 680 wasn't a success, but that's not the reason of poor supply.

Yields are relative to the change in tech, and they are easily doing as well at it as are AMD/ATI. The only ones really mastering small die in large quantities is Intel, but then they have Hafnium up their sleeve. If AMD/ATI's yields were so good, they wouldn't be charging more for product that performs worse than the competition, and conversely, if Nvidia's yields were so bad, they'd not be inclined to undercut the competition's prices.

 

[Xzibit]

What's laughable is your trying to lump a thread about a GPU that's clearly slated for a gaming demographic into a baseless argument about a lack of credibility to their HPC customers. Who are you kidding? Anyone with half a brain can see the initial Fermis having HPC power was just to turn the heads of that industry and get investors interested. You make it sound like they were intending all along to keep making chips with both HPC power and gaming features. Common sense dictates that is not practical. This industry is just as much about specializing as any other high tech industry.

HELLO? Is anyone home? Did you forget we are talking about a GAMING GPU here? You can rant and harp all you want about small niche secondary uses, but at the end of a day what SELLS a product is catering to it's PRIMARY target base. You would make a horrible salesman. Nvidia, like Intel, are very good at efficiently putting their R&D where it counts, and their latest products and prices clearly indicate that. It passes innovation AND value onto their target customers, more than I can say for AMD/ATI lately.Well, sounds like you have a lot of practice at it. After all, the die hard AMD/ATI fanboys seem to spend more time trying to rain on the parades of happy Nvidia customers lately than enjoying their own products, all the while in denial of the rather obvious comparisons. Ignorance indeed, blissful, I'm so sure. You don't sound too happy to me, and the beer mug slapping smiley just makes you look too sauced to discuss it rationally and calmly.

So the introducion of HPC in the sub entry-level was just to catch investors eyes ? Did you bother to even look at Nvidia stock 1y or 5yr as you formulated that in your brain ? Guess not cause that would require common sense. Here a little hint 2007 was Nvidias high has been steadly dropping ever since.

Do you even know what you type as you type it or just have mentality of I believe what I want along with the attitude.

I dont know if your trolling or the part of your brain that uses common sense is missing. Troll away buddy. Have a good one.

 

[Vizzy]

when will this card be available? I want to purchase one asap!

 

[Anggoro]

just too hard to be ignored.
irresistible.
let people enjoy this for a while and then release 660ti.
good bye competition at least until q3 2012(or another price drops from AMD,whichever comes first).

 

[uber_cookie]

Anyone interested in 7950? will try getting 2 of these

 

[W1zzard]

system specs updated ^^

 

[Vizzy]

is this card available in US yet? I can't find it on any website

 

[blibba]

system specs updated ^^

You're still listing three sticks of RAM

 

[aCeFr3aK]

So should this be my upgrade from my trusty radeon 4870 512mb?

 

[the54thvoid]

Actually what HAD kept AMD/ATI strong in the past was their leading on performance per dollar. You take that equation away, and things change. To a degree your argument on availability even validates that, because certainly with the 600 series any problems with a lack of stock have been due to it's huge success, not poor yields

No, they have yield problems. From Jen-Hsun Huang himself:

The gross margin decline is contributed almost entirely to the yields of 28nm being lower than expected

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/graphi...er_Than_Expected_Chief_Executive_Officer.html

And yes, the GTX 680 is a good gaming card. Not great because it loses on a few titles to the lower clocked 7970. The GTX 580 was an awesome card - people said it would never be made, but NV made it.

What Xzibit is saying is that the power efficiency is smoke and mirrors as NV removed the compute power from GK104. Another forum poster (Crap Daddy) has been keeping us up to speed with developments suggesting GK110 is compute enabled but focussing heavily on HPC systems.

You're kind of alluding to the statement that all defenders of the 7970 are fanboys, which sincerely isn't the case. The 7970 when clocked at GTX 680 boost clock levels on the whole performs better in terms of fps. They are very similar in performance clock for clock. Most reviewers have accepted that. As for power consumption, well before that I had a GTX 580, so it doesn't bother me.

However, the castration of compute on the GK104 equates to the power efficiency that everyone likes.

I was never going to buy a vanilla 7970 - I'm on water now. But to me the increase in performance of a 7970 when clocked up is great. Likewise for a 680 BUT that's the rub, they both overclock and they both perform similarly. Put on the higher resolutions and the GK104's weaknesses start to get hinted at (because it was always meant to be mid range and boy, if this had been released as mid range 670/660 at about £250 then by christ, AMD would have been screwed.)

GCN may well be a graphic centric architecture and therefore crippling it for power efficiency may have made it a lot weaker. So Nvidia have the upper hand here perhaps.

But back on track. You are clearly missing the point that I made. This specific model of 670 (Direct CU II TOP) is an absolute dream of a card and it destroys the 680 more than it destroys the 7970 simply because the 680 is more expensive.

If I were to chose a card now, I would buy a GTX 670 (and put a block on it). I would certainly not buy a 680 or a 7970 or 7950. But I bought my card before the 680's existed in store and have enjoyed it's performance. For 3 months people were buying 79xx's because Nvidia were late to the show.

So what's next? Next week we might get a GK110 announcement, we might not. For now, I'm patiently waiting for water blocks for the 670's and I'll probably jump on a pair and overclock the socks of them.

Rumour says GTX 680 is going to be replaced with a 685 (just like the GTX 280 gave way to the slightly tweaked GTX 285 and in some respects the GTX 480 was replaced with the GTX 580)

 

[avaya]

when will this card be available? I want to purchase one asap!

It will be "Out Of Stock" until August 2012. gtx 680, 7970, 7950 won't reprice until then.

 

[Casecutter]

i'm take out the supercharger on a V8 and say i improved it, heck you can still hit 100mph but it wont do burn outs but you save gas.

I been using the analogy of a V8 small block that's strong, torque'ie, while decently efficient; then saying the Nvidia has gone with a "purpose built 4Cly with turbo" and sure it betters it in places (gaming).

The last round Nvidia Fermi had been "big block", but got an all around good V8 (under-bored\lower cam) while still stout, durable, all under acceptable cost as GF114. Now I've said Kudos's for the GTX670, although I think they had more motivation from the fact they're receiving the whole wafer and then needing to formulate tier's for each derivative, which had them looking for new strategic value.

I think the whole idea of "dynamic clock" is here to stay; mainstream gaming would do very well with a good little "Supercharged Boxer 6cly"; the right mix of good straight line, with smooth stout throttle response and low center permitting all the power while in a good in a small balanced package.

Due to this new cost structure for such small die approach to work and be super lucrative Nvidia choose a very cost effective chip. But one who's superlative variant could be harvested to attain the GTX680's, while knowing once they had the HP HkMG process down pat the bulk would slot right in 7870-7890's. They’d used those first chips to best Tahiti and take wind out of AMD sails/sales. While they "had to bide their time" for improved process and building a war chest of 670’s and on down. Though I think even Nvidia must know the 680 and 690's were preordain as "Halo submissions" and will be limited editions in the months to come.

 

[Sicko]

It will be "Out Of Stock" until August 2012. gtx 680, 7970, 7950 won't reprice until then.

Where are you getting this info?

 

[Vizzy]

It will be "Out Of Stock" until August 2012. gtx 680, 7970, 7950 won't reprice until then.

what? where did you hear that??