Founder Brian Posted July 22, 2012 Founder Share Posted July 22, 2012 Special thanks: To Eurocom for providing a discounted price to Tech|Inferno. REVIEW IS OUT: nVidia GTX 680M Performance Review | Tech|Inferno We've managed to snag a 680M from Eurocom and will be testing it in an AW M18x-R1 with 2920xm. The video card will hopefully be here this coming week or two. Eventually we'll purchase another for a full SLi review but for now, we'll be doing a 580M SLi vs 680M (single) comparison. Since the Kepler GPU has a huge gaming advantage over the 580M chip, it should be a pretty interesting match-up and something to think about for M18x-R1 users that are looking to upgrade. So what we need from you, the community is feedback on which games and applications you'd like to see tested (sorry svl7, no furmark ). Here is sample of my current games 1. BF3 2. Crysis 2 3. Mafia II 4. Mass Effect 2/3 5. Skyrim 6. Max Payne 3 7. LA Noire 8. Saints Row 3 9. Just Cause 2 10. COD: MW3 11. Darkness II 12. Serious Sam 3 13. Batman Arkham Asylum & City Application list 1. 3DMark Vantage 2. 3DMark 11 3. Sony Vegas GPU render test 4. Unigine Heaven DX11 Not all the games listed above will be tested due to time constraints. Please pick your favorite app/game and reply to this thread. Thanks. Alright poll is closed, the winners are: 1. BF3 2. Skyrim 3. Crysis 2 4. Batman Arkham City 5. Metro2033 (not in the poll but will be tested). In addition I'll be testing the obligatory synthetics such as Vantage + 3DMark 11. If I have time I'll do a cuda render test but that's not important right now. Oh and a few teaser pics for you guys below. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
widezu69 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Wish I could get me one and do something like a 4GB vs 2GB with a definitive answer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder Michael Posted July 23, 2012 Founder Share Posted July 23, 2012 Please include Quake, Doom and Warcraft in the list of games lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder Brian Posted July 23, 2012 Author Founder Share Posted July 23, 2012 Please include Quake, Doom and Warcraft in the list of games lolYou forgot wolfenstein lol.Sent from my GT-N7000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder Brian Posted July 23, 2012 Author Founder Share Posted July 23, 2012 Poll added, please limit your selections to 5 choices since I'll only be testing 5 games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeny Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 That's awesome brian,I have been dying to see what kepler GTX680s will do against our beloved GTX 580s.I can't wait for you to post your findings and I imagine beyond the FPS and general better performance I understand the new 680ms are more efficient and add better overclocking etc.It's hard to know since no one I know has a 680 in an M18XR1.Great work man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 That's awesome brian,I have been dying to see what kepler GTX680s will do against our beloved GTX 580s.I can't wait for you to post your findings and I imagine beyond the FPS and general better performance I understand the new 680ms are more efficient and add better overclocking etc.It's hard to know since no one I know has a 680 in an M18XR1.Great work man!Yep the kepler's seem to be fantastic overclockers with the proper vbios mod. Since this is a clevo 4GB model, the MSI vbios should help it achieve some pretty awesome numbers. Meaker broke 8K GPU in 3DMark 11 on his single 680M already which beats 580M SLi numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy Gonzalez® Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Have fun with the 680M Brian looks like an amazing card I am retired from mobile powerhouses at least for this year I made a bad decision and purchased a crossfire system not knowing what nightmare that would bring I just build a micro ATX pc with Asus GTX680 TOP and yeah kepler is a good overclocker and performer I want to wait for Haswell and probably Maxwell next year to buy a new laptop i hope to resist the temptation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder Brian Posted July 24, 2012 Author Founder Share Posted July 24, 2012 Have fun with the 680M Brian looks like an amazing card I am retired from mobile powerhouses at least for this year I made a bad decision and purchased a crossfire system not knowing what nightmare that would bring I just build a micro ATX pc with Asus GTX680 TOP and yeah kepler is a good overclocker and performer I want to wait for Haswell and probably Maxwell next year to buy a new laptop i hope to resist the temptation I know man, that 7970M xfire you had was a disaster. Seems they still haven't really fixed anything either so it'll be a long time before its really trouble free (if ever). Oh yeah, the 680M shipped out, it arrives this Friday! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unreal25 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Wow nice! How much does this card cost? (Bought as a single item with cooler and essentials). I'm having trouble navigating through Eurocom website.Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyausz Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 What is better: 680m with 4gb or 7970m? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xonar Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Wow nice! How much does this card cost? (Bought as a single item with cooler and essentials). I'm having trouble navigating through Eurocom website.Thanks!Here's Eurocom's ebay. $790 + $25 shipping for the card alone.What is better: 680m with 4gb or 7970m? Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkStock vs. stock, it's debatable, the 680M is at most 10% better, while the 7970M is better at other things. Worth it for the price premium? Probably not.Overclocked and overvolted, the 680M hands down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder Brian Posted July 24, 2012 Author Founder Share Posted July 24, 2012 Wow nice! How much does this card cost? (Bought as a single item with cooler and essentials). I'm having trouble navigating through Eurocom website.Thanks!I got a discounted rate but it wasn't by too much less than what's on the site. You have to buy the card, x-bracket and pads from them and then call Dell or someone for the 580/680M heatsinks. Since I have 580M SLi, the heatsink wasn't an issue. Here's Eurocom's ebay. $790 for the card alone.Stock vs. stock, it's debatable, the 680M is at most 10% better, while the 7970M is better at other things. Worth it for the price premium? Probably not.Overclocked and overvolted, the 680M hands down.Pretty much what Xonar said. Stock performance is similar but with overvolt + OC, the 680M leaves it in the dust with respect to synthetic benchmarks so far. We'll see how it does in actual games but I anticipate it doing very well since nVidia traditionally has much better drivers and game support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unreal25 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Hm the pricing is kind of steep compared to 7970M. In any case I'm looking forward to see the performance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xonar Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Hm the pricing is kind of steep compared to 7970M. In any case I'm looking forward to see the performance! Yes and that is my current dilemma. Perhaps if I give it a couple months the choice will be clearer, but I can't stand the wait. This generation reminds me of the jump we saw from nvidia with the 7xxx to 8xxx. Such a massive increase in performance from both sides this time around though. Anyways, can't wait for Friday. Sent from my Sensation 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One23Forty Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I read that the m18x heatsinks for the 7970m are slightly bigger than those for the 6990m, but both are compatible with each other. Is there a similar situation with the 580m/680m or is the part the exact same? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder Brian Posted July 24, 2012 Author Founder Share Posted July 24, 2012 I read that the m18x heatsinks for the 7970m are slightly bigger than those for the 6990m, but both are compatible with each other. Is there a similar situation with the 580m/680m or is the part the exact same?Yes the 580M heatsinks are compatible with 680M so you don't have to purchase new ones. You might need to buy a new x-bracket for the back + thermal pads. I'll let you know when I get my card in a few days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveh98 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Anyone with 6990/580 SLI setups, I would strongly advise waiting a bit to see what plays out. It's not like there are many games that won't play at nearly the highest settings. My gut feeling is that the 680M will prove to be less hassle, have much better driver support, and also BETTER image quality. AMD rarely gets called on this but their image quality is poorer than the Nvidia offerings. Back in the 6800 Ultra ATI 800XT(I think they were called that) there were similar debates but with Nvidia doing maneuvers to get better performance at the sacrifice of IQ. Nvidia will likely prove to be worth the price but those prices should come down a bit in a few months when the enthusiasts get their fix. Just my .034Edit: surprised no one wants to see Metro2033 benched. That thing kills cards at max settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xonar Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Edit: surprised no one wants to see Metro2033 benched. That thing kills cards at max settings.I agree Metro would be a great game to test, but I don't think Brian owns it. The list is based off games he owns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder Brian Posted July 25, 2012 Author Founder Share Posted July 25, 2012 Sorry guys I totally forgot about Metro. I do own it but it's not installed but I'll include it as one of the default games to be tested when I get the 680M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Line Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Hey Brian, do you plan on getting the 2nd card in the future? Seems like some peole were having hard time installing 7970m (driver related) cf in R1, probably it won't affect future 680m sli owners Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder Brian Posted July 26, 2012 Author Founder Share Posted July 26, 2012 Hey Brian, do you plan on getting the 2nd card in the future? Seems like some peole were having hard time installing 7970m (driver related) cf in R1, probably it won't affect future 680m sli ownersYup if this single one works then the plan is to get a second one for sli in the future.Sent from my GT-N7000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 3dm11 P and X (if you have the registered version). Many thanks Brian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhmonroy Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Yup if this single one works then the plan is to get a second one for sli in the future.Sent from my GT-N7000Hi,I can assure you it will work, because yesterday I received one for my M17x R3 which is very similar to your M18x R1.You will need to pull the x-bracket from your 580m, and put it in the 680m,also, you will need to find the card ID form your system, and do the following with the latest nvidia driver:Using Notepad, open nvcv.inf from the 'Display.Driver' directory (I suggest you copy a backup of file elsewhere)(Using the replace function)Replace all occurences of DEV_11A0&SUBSYS_51051558 with DEV_11A0&SUBSYS_xxxx1028 (You can replace any GTX 680M Dev ID code you wish)Replace all occurences of %NVIDIA_DEV.11A0.5105.1558% with %NVIDIA_DEV.11A0.xxxx.1028% <------ my Hardware ID, your one may differ.Replace all occurences of NVIDIA_DEV.11A0.5105.1558 with NVIDIA_DEV.11A0.xxxx.1028I don´t know why, but the clevo card (vendor ID 1558) is recognized as a dell card (vendor ID 1028)I can assure you that the difference with the 580m is amazing, the idle temps,are as low as 28ºC, and without any overclocking, just above 60 something after running 3dmark11, cinebench, 3dmark vantage, etc. The whole system is much cooler now.Luck with your card.Julian 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder Brian Posted July 26, 2012 Author Founder Share Posted July 26, 2012 Hi,I can assure you it will work, because yesterday I received one for my M17x R3 which is very similar to your M18x R1.You will need to pull the x-bracket from your 580m, and put it in the 680m,also, you will need to find the card ID form your system, and do the following with the latest nvidia driver:Using Notepad, open nvcv.inf from the 'Display.Driver' directory (I suggest you copy a backup of file elsewhere)(Using the replace function)Replace all occurences of DEV_11A0&SUBSYS_51051558 with DEV_11A0&SUBSYS_xxxx1028 (You can replace any GTX 680M Dev ID code you wish)Replace all occurences of %NVIDIA_DEV.11A0.5105.1558% with %NVIDIA_DEV.11A0.xxxx.1028% <------ my Hardware ID, your one may differ.Replace all occurences of NVIDIA_DEV.11A0.5105.1558 with NVIDIA_DEV.11A0.xxxx.1028I don´t know why, but the clevo card (vendor ID 1558) is recognized as a dell card (vendor ID 1028)I can assure you that the difference with the 580m is amazing, the idle temps,are as low as 28ºC, and without any overclocking, just above 60 something after running 3dmark11, cinebench, 3dmark vantage, etc. The whole system is much cooler now.Luck with your card.JulianThanks for the heads-up Julian! Will keep that in mind when the 680M arrives tomorrow. And welcome to Tech|Inferno!Edit: @jhmonroy is HDMI out working for you with the 680M? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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