NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Review: Retaking The Performance Crown
by Ryan Smith on March 22, 2012 9:00 AM ESTThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Prior to the launch of our new benchmark suite, we wanted to include The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which is easily the most popular RPG of 2011. However as any Skyrim player can tell you, Skyrim’s performance is CPU-bound to a ridiculous degree. With the release of the 1.4 patch and the high resolution texture pack this has finally been relieved to the point where GPUs once again matter, particularly when we’re working with high resolutions and less than high-end GPUs. As such, we're now including it in our test suite.
Skyrim presents us with an interesting scenario. At anything less than 2560 we’re CPU limited well before we’re GPU limited, and yet even though we’re CPU limited NVIDIA manages to take a clear lead while the 680 still finds room to push to the top. For whatever the reason NVIDIA would appear to have significantly less driver overhead here, or at the very least a CPU limited Skyrim interacts with NVIDIA’s drivers better than it does AMD’s.
In any case 2560 does move away from being CPU limited, but it’s not entirely clear whether the difference we’re seeing here is solely due to GPU performance, or if we’re still CPU limited in some fashion. Regardless of the reason the GTX 680 has a 10% lead on the 7970 here.
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jospoortvliet - Thursday, March 22, 2012 - link
Seeing on other sites, the AMD does overclock better than the NVIDIA card - and the difference in power usage in every day scenario's is that NVIDIA uses a few more watts in idle and a few less under load.I'd agree with my dutch hardware.info site which concludes that the two cards are incredibly close and that price should determine what you'd buy.
A quick look shows that at least in NL, the AMD is about 50 bucks cheaper so unless NVIDIA lowers their price, the 7970 continues to be the better buy.
Obviously, AMD has higher costs with the bigger die so NVIDIA should have higher margins. If only they weren't so late to market...
Let's see what the 7990 and NVIDIA's answer to that will do; and what the 8000 and 700 series will do and when they will be released. NVIDIA will have to make sure they don't lag behind AMD anymore, this is hurting them...
theartdude - Thursday, March 22, 2012 - link
Late to market? with Battlefield DLC, Diablo III, MechWarrier Online (and many more titles approaching), this is the PERFECT TIME for an upgrade, btw, my computer is begging for an upgrade right now, just in time for summer-time LAN parties.CeriseCogburn - Tuesday, March 27, 2012 - link
GTX680 overclocks to 1,280 out of the box for an average easy attempt...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
See the feedback bro.
7970 makes it to 1200 if it's very lucky.
Sorry, another lie is 7970 oc's better.
CeriseCogburn - Tuesday, March 27, 2012 - link
So you're telling me the LIGHTNING amd card is cheaper ? LOLFurther, if you don't get that exact model you won't get the overclocks, and they got a pathetic 100 on the nvidia, which noobs surpass regularly, then they used 2dmark 11 which has amd tessellation driver cheating active.... (apparently they are clueless there as well).
Furthermore, they declared the Nvidia card 10% faster overall- well worth the 50 bucks difference for your generic AMD card no Overclocked LIghtning further overclocked with the special vrm's onboard and much more expensive... then not game tested but benched in amd cheater ware 3dmark 11 tess cheat.
Reaper_17 - Thursday, March 22, 2012 - link
i agree,blanarahul - Tuesday, March 27, 2012 - link
Mr. AMD Fan Boy then you should compare how was AMD doing it since since the HD 5000 Series.6970= 880 MHz
GTX 580=772 MHz
Is it a fair comparison?
GTX 480=702 MHz
HD 5870=850 Mhz
Is it a fair compaison?
According to your argument the NVIDIA cards were at a disadvantage since the AMD cards were always clocked higher. But still the NVIDIA cards were better.
And now that NVIDIA has taken the lead in clock speeds you are crying like a baby that NVIDIA built a souped up overclocked GK104.
First check the facts. Plus the HD 8000 series aren't gonna come so early.
CeriseCogburn - Friday, April 6, 2012 - link
LOL+1
Tell 'em bro !
(fanboys and fairness don't mix)
Sabresiberian - Thursday, March 22, 2012 - link
Yah, I agree here. Clearly, once again, your favorite game and the screen size (resolution) you run at are going to be important factors in making a wise choice.;)
Concillian - Thursday, March 22, 2012 - link
"... but he's correct. The 680 does dominate in nearly every situation and category."Except some of the most consistently and historically demanding games (Crysis Warhead and Metro 2033) it doesn't fare so well compared to the AMD designs. What does this mean if the PC gaming market ever breaks out of it's console port funk?
I suppose it's unlikely, but it indicates it handles easy loads well (loads that can often be handled by a lesser card,) but when it comes to the most demanding resolutions and games, it loses a lot of steam compared to the AMD offering, to the point where it goes from a >15% lead in games that don't need it (Portal 2, for example) to a 10-20% loss in Crysis Warhead at 2560x.
That it struggles in what are traditionally the most demanding games is worrisome, but, I suppose as long as developers continue pumping out the relatively easy to render console ports, it shouldn't pose any major issues.
Eugene86 - Thursday, March 22, 2012 - link
Yes, because people are really buying both the 7970 and GTX680 to play Crysis Warhead at 2560x.... :eyeroll:Nobody cares about old, unoptimized games like that. How about you take a look at the benchmarks that actually, realistically, matter. Look at the benches for Battlefield 3, which is a game that people are actually playing right now. The GTX680 kills the 7970 with about 35% higher frame rates, according to the benchmarks posted in this review.
THAT is what actually matters and that is why the GTX680 is a better card than the 7970.