The Test

For the GTX 680 launch, the press review driver is 300.99, while the launch driver is 301.10. This driver currently only works with the GTX 680, but NVIDIA will eventually be rolling out a version of the driver that includes support for older cards, which will bring with it official support for driver forced FXAA on Fermi cards. 300.99 is otherwise identical to the 290 series, and has no other changes or new features that we haven’t otherwise mentioned.

CPU: Intel Core i7-3960X @ 4.3GHz
Motherboard: EVGA X79 SLI
Chipset Drivers: Intel 9.​2.​3.​1022
Power Supply: Antec True Power Quattro 1200
Hard Disk: Samsung 470 (256GB)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3-1867 4 x 4GB (8-10-9-26)
Case: Thermaltake Spedo Advance
Video Cards: AMD Radeon HD 7950
AMD Radeon HD 7870
AMD Radeon HD 7850
AMD Radeon HD 6990
AMD Radeon HD 6970
AMD Radeon HD 6950
AMD Radeon HD 5870
AMD Radeon HD 4870
AMD Radeon HD 3870
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285
NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT
Video Drivers: NVIDIA ForceWare 296.10
NVIDIA ForceWare 300.99
AMD Catalyst Beta 8.95.5
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

Meet the GeForce GTX 680 Crysis: Warhead
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  • toastyghost - Sunday, April 29, 2012 - link

    oh look, a fanboy fight in the comments on a hardware site. how very original.
  • jewie27 - Sunday, July 8, 2012 - link

    tonnes? WTF?
  • santiagodraco - Thursday, March 22, 2012 - link

    If you think overclocking RAM (which you imply but which isn't necessarily even true) makes that big of a difference than overclocking the GPU then you are fooling yourself.

    The GPU does the work, not the ram.

    As for price/performance yes the 680 appears to be better now (they are ALWAYS leapfrogging each other) but wait until ATI releases their new variation, cuts prices to match and beats Nvidia by 20% or more... it will happen. Does every time :)
  • vol7ron - Thursday, March 22, 2012 - link

    They're both important.

    What does a fast number cruncher mean, if it's busy waiting on the numbers?

    Both CPU and RAM are important and they can both be bottlenecks.
  • Iketh - Thursday, March 22, 2012 - link

    "The GPU does the work, not the ram."

    LOL you can't say something more stupid!
  • grave00 - Friday, March 23, 2012 - link

    Sometimes I really wish the editors could come in here and mark posts with strong agreement or disagreement with statements. I'd like to know what they think of things like. GPU does all the work vs RAM doesn't do much. I have an uninformed opinion. The interested but uninformed need some kind of truth detector. Maybe just for a few pages worth. I start to lose my grip on what is real in the forum after awhile. fun though it may be.
  • blanarahul - Tuesday, March 27, 2012 - link

    Question -1

    To understand the statement that "GPUs do all the work and memory doesn't", consider this:-

    1. You overclocked your Graphics Card, but only the core and not the memory.

    You ran a benchmark and let's assume you got a score of 100.

    2. Now, you overclocked your memory and ran the same benchmark again.

    You got the score of 101.

    This is what actually happens in MOST cases. It doesn't happen always.

    Question - 2

    Why it doesn't happen always?

    Answer:- If you use extreme methods and take your core clock too high the memory will become a bottleneck.

    Cosider that you try to overclock using Liquid Nitrogen.

    1. After overclocking only the core clock to the maximum.

    Benchmark score:- 150

    2. You overclock your memory too.

    Benchmark score:- 200

    In this case the memory was holding back the GPU Core from operating at it's full potential.

    But this does not happen if don't use extreme methods.

    I hope this helps.
  • CeriseCogburn - Friday, April 6, 2012 - link

    Actually the 79xx series is the 1st time in a very long time amd has had a lead, let alone a lead of 20%, let alone "leap frogging".
    Amd has been behind since the GTX8800 and I don't know how long before that.
    Let's face it, the 79xx for 2.5 months was the 1st time amd played Frogger in a long time and made it across the street without getting flattened before stepping off the curb.
    You're welcome for the correct and truth filled history.
  • SlyNine - Thursday, March 22, 2012 - link

    Sorry but the 7970 is still much faster in crysis min fps, which I would argue is more important then average. It's faster in Metro as well.

    All things considered, the 7970 stands up against the 680GTX well.

    Lets also consider X.264 acceleration, as far as I can tell the 680GTX has none.
  • CeriseCogburn - Thursday, March 22, 2012 - link

    It loses in everything to 680 including 3 monitor performance.
    That's not standing up well, it's larger, hotter, and slower at everything, with far less features and it's $60 bucks more.
    FXAA
    dynamic Vsync
    turbo
    More features I'm sure you fans of the loser underdog don't care about as of 9 am this morning.
    It's EPIC FAIL and it's not standing, it's decked to the ground and can't get up.

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