NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Review: Retaking The Performance Crown
by Ryan Smith on March 22, 2012 9:00 AM ESTBattlefield 3
Its popularity aside, Battlefield 3 may be the most interesting game in our benchmark suite for a single reason: it’s the first AAA DX10+ game. It’s been 5 years since the launch of the first DX10 GPUs, and 3 whole process node shrinks later we’re finally to the point where games are using DX10’s functionality as a baseline rather than an addition. Not surprisingly BF3 is one of the best looking games in our suite, but as with past Battlefield games that beauty comes with a high performance cost
NVIDIA’s cards have always done well at Battlefield 3, which puts the Radeon HD 7900 series in a bad position from the beginning. Short of the GTX 680’s massive lead in the Portal 2 bonus round, this is the single biggest victory for the GTX 680 over the 7970, beating AMD’s best by 28% at 2560, and by continually higher amounts at lower resolutions. Based on our experience with BF3 I’d hesitate to call the 680 fully fluid at 2560 as large firefights can significantly tear into performance relative to Thunder Run, but if it’s not fully fluid then it’s going to be very, very close.
What’s also interesting here is that once again the GTX 680 is doing very well compared to the dual-GPU cards. The GTX 590 and 6990 never pull away from the GTX 680, and at 1920 with FXAA the GTX 680 finally squeaks by and takes the top of the chart. Performance relative to the GTX 580 is also once again good for that matter, with the GTX 680 beating its predecessor by 48% at almost every resolution.
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saturn85 - Tuesday, March 27, 2012 - link
can we have folding@home benchmark?warmbit - Tuesday, March 27, 2012 - link
I invite you to the statement of GTX680 card performance based on the results of the eight websites (tom's too):http://translate.google.pl/translate?hl=pl&sl=...
lhotdeals - Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - link
I never posted a reply to reviews... but the conclusion of this review leaves me baffled. It is clear that 680 has its advantages, but looking at the numbers, the 680 and 7970 trades punches pretty equally in terms of performance. 680 does beat the 7970 in power usage and noise level, but the actual lead is miniscue...I do not see how the reviewer can reach the dominating position of the 680 in the conclusion... It is nothing but misleading to an otherwise great review with tons of data points.
sngbrdb - Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - link
"...at the end of the day it’s NVIDIA who once again takes the performance crown for the highest performing single-GPU card."Are you kidding me?? Are we looking at the same charts? This card only "excels" on the lower end of resolution and quality settings. And in many of your charts, the cards that beat it in higher resolutions are conspicuously absent in the lower-resolution charts (the GTX 590 and Radeon 6990 are frequently missing).
GPU reviews need to be written by someone who isn't biased toward a brand, and Mr. Smith, that is clearly not you.
CeriseCogburn - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
Sorry, you can't lie to yourself forever - how about a massive database with percentages and totals from many reviews...http://translate.google.pl/translate?hl=pl&sl=...
At the highest resolutions amd still loses. Amd also loses the lower and lowest Enjoy.
sngbrdb - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
My comments are about the conclusions Mr. Smith draws form the charts he displays, not about whether the card does better elsewhere. The charts that Mr. Smith shows and the conclusions he draws from them are not logical... there may be other data out there that supports his conclusions, but that would mean the data he's displaying here is flawed/inaccurate. Either way, you can't look at those charts and act like the 680 has slaughtered AMD, you end up sounding like a fanboy.And charts need to be consistent about the cards being compared... you can't put a card in the chart for one resolution, and leave it out in another.
CeriseCogburn - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
Yes, and anandtech's charts percentages are at the link I provided, that prove you incorrect, period.Reality doesn't make anyone a fanboy.Ignoring reality does.
_vor_ - Saturday, March 31, 2012 - link
So does replying to nearly all 40 pages of discussion flagrantly waving the NVIDIA banner. Maybe you need to look up the word hypocrisy.CeriseCogburn - Friday, April 6, 2012 - link
Vor you're angry because you got caught waving the amd flag * incorrectly*.There wouldn't be a need if there wasn't false information being spread about.
It's no wonder it happens when the amd card loses.
Addressing it is helpful and the right thing to do.
sngbrdb - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
Um.... the charts at the link you provided point back to this article. Please do your research before being rude.From the article:
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Sources of data:
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Anandtech - www.anandtech.com/show/5699/nvidia-geforce-gtx-680-review