Review: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified 4GB — Graphics
NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 680 graphics card became an instant hit with deep-pocketed enthusiasts as soon as it was launched back in March. Built as a gamers’ card and packing in the enviable qualities of performance, features and energy efficiency into one tidy package, it remains to this day our choice for a high-end build.
AMD’s hit back with the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition and has encouraged add-in board partner Sapphire to take the fight straight to NVIDIA with the HD 7970 TOXIC 6GB, but the green team’s own partners have parried the AMD thrust with pre-overclocked GTX 680s from the likes of KFA², Gigabyte and ASUS, amongst others.
Now muscling into this single-GPU, £500 territory is EVGA. Its best air-cooled GTX 680 is the Classified 4GB, designed from the grounds-up to beat the NVIDIA reference card in every way.
In a category where triple-slot-taking cards and outlandish cooling isn’t rare, EVGA’s Classified still manages to turn heads. The card is significantly larger than any other GTX 680 we’ve seen before — it makes the PCI bracket look small in comparison — and the only meaningful contribution NVIDIA has made to it is to supply the underlying GPU; everything else is EVGA’s work.
Measuring about an inch longer and taller than a standard GTX 680, EVGA doesn’t bother with the popular open-sided, triple-fan coolers we’ve seen on many competing cards. Rather, an 8cm radial fan — yup, it really is 8cm — pushes air over an enclosed area and out of the back, and the extra-large board and shroud is needed to house the fan without encumbrance.
Extra airflow is required because EVGA clocks this beastie in at 1,111MHz core, with GPU Boost up to 1,176MHz, compared with the 1,006/1,058MHz clocking of a standard GTX 680. The GPU Boost speed, which is the average frequency the core will run at most of the time, is competitive against other premium GTX 680s.
Turning it around confirms that, while obviously rather large, it still retains the two-slot profile of the reference card; EVGA’s gone longer and wider rather than taller.
Two 8-pin power connectors are de rigueur for any aftermarket top-line card, enabling up to 375W to course through its silicon veins. Sitting next to the connectors is the header for what the firm calls EVBot, which is a device that’s able to properly over-volt the card. Bear in mind that it’s an optional extra, retailing for around £50, and more on this later.
Hard to see but present nonetheless, to the right, is a three-position BIOS switch. Before enthusiasts begin salivating with untapped frequency promise, there’s no obvious difference between the three states. The firm says that the latter two positions enable ‘extreme overclocking mode,’ designed for water- and LN2-cooling, where NVIDIA’s overclocking-orientated Power Target control is disabled. This statement is important, readers, as it means the base PCB is built for enhanced cooling in mind, though, interestingly, the GTX 680 Hydro Copper uses a smaller PCB.
Last but not in a line of EVGA-specific goodies, also carried on over from the GTX 580 Classified, are voltage-monitoring points, and the firm is to release a small adapter for easy attachment of voltage probes.
The sheer size of the card is best emphasised by a look at the backplate that carries the usual NVIDIA quartet of DVI-D, DVI-I. HDMI and DisplayPort. Users looking to attach three screens and run Surround Technology can do so with any combination of outputs. Two SLI fingers, hidden by a plastic cover, are there for attaching second, third, or even fourth card to the system.
If you paid attention to the first part of this review you’ll know the card ships with 4GB (4,096MB) of memory, or double that of a standard GTX 680. We’re not aware of any shipping 4Gbit devices clocked in at 6,000MHz-plus, so EVGA needs to use 16 2Gbit chips — eight on each side — to constitute the 4GB buffer. The eight Hynix chips on the backside are identical to those found on the reference card. Speeds, too, are the same, as EVGA keeps memory chugging along at an effective 6,008MHz — we’d really have liked to see it higher on this best-in-class card, though, perhaps, the lower-than-expected clocks are an indication that a double-sized buffer doesn’t scale so well on this GPU.
EVGA GTX 680 Signature 2 review
TechRadar Verdict
Pros
- +
GPU Boost works well
- +
Good clock and memory speed
- +
Good results with some games
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Hello, and welcome to another edition of Wildly, Offensively Expensive Graphics Cards. Excuse this burlap sack I’m wearing, we’ve had to cut a few corners in light of the sheer opulence of all the top end GOU’s we’ve been testing.
After all, this is Nvidia’s most powerful iteration of the new Kepler architecture, pushed even further than its reference GTX 680 — a card so powerful only AMD’s HD 7970 can look it in the eye.
Does that mean we have another fastest graphics card ever? Well, sort of.
Like the reference GTX 680 compared with AMD’s vanilla HD 7970, this EVGA offering certainly wins the impressive stats war against its closest rival from the red camp, Sapphire’s HD 7970 Vapor-X.
When Nvidia’s GPU Boost kicks in all the way, this card runs with a core clock of 1,167MHz (around 100MHz quicker than the reference card and Sapphire’s boosted HD 7970) and memory at 3,104MHz. That’s 6,208MHz by Nvidia’s conventions. You won’t find bigger numbers from an AMD card, but that’s chiefly because the two differ so significantly in architecture.
Nvidia’s 1,536 CUDA cores belie an absence of shader cores — an indication that Kepler is to Graphics Core Next what Stickle Bricks are to Lego, just as compute shaders can’t be equated to CUDA cores with particular accuracy.
So it has the big specs. How does it use them? Almost exactly as well as Sapphire’s HD 7970 Vapor-X, actually. Credit where it’s due — this EVGA card produced the highest ever FPS score in our Heaven 2.5 benchmark at 2,560 x 1,600: a supreme 33.4.
Sadly we used up all the party poppers when the reference GTX 680 and HD 7970 GHz edition went above 30 frames, but to go into the lead is mighty impressive.
It comes down to intelligent boosting when the card’s under strain, and relaxing down into an idle state when there’s nothing taxing to render on-screen.
Just a few generations ago, if you told a card to run at 100MHz beyond its factory core clock, it’d stoically maintain that number whether you were trying to run Crysis at the IMAX or draw cats in MS Paint, which meant it could get quite warm (read: grotesquely melted). With GPU Boost, the card knows it doesn’t need to run overclocked values when they’re not needed, and in this case, drops its power usage from 195W to an idle 15W. You’re welcome, environment.
It means the card leads a less rugged life, too. But before we geek out about idle states too much, let’s make it clear that this EVGA GTX 680 Superclocked doesn’t offer a significant advantage over Sapphire’s similarly priced HD 7970 GHz Edition with the Vapor-X cooler. In fact, at 1080p the Sapphire card has it beat.
Of all the games we tested with both cards, only Batman: Arkham City and DiRT 3 favoured the EVGA silicon.
At 2,560 x 1,600 it claws a bit nearer the Sapphire’s pace, but the winner is clear. A lot of this comes down to driver support, and which games play nice with certain manufacturers, but the fact remains that despite those impressive specs, Sapphire’s Vapor-X has this one pipped. Just.
EVGA GTX 680 Signature 2: Price Comparison
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Ad creative by day, wandering mystic of 90s gaming folklore by moonlight, freelance contributor Phil started writing about games during the late Byzantine Empire era. Since then he’s picked up bylines for The Guardian, Rolling Stone, IGN, USA Today, Eurogamer, PC Gamer, VG247, Edge, Gazetta Dello Sport, Computerbild, Rock Paper Shotgun, Official PlayStation Magazine, Official Xbox Magaine, CVG, Games Master, TrustedReviews, Green Man Gaming, and a few others but he doesn’t want to bore you with too many.
Won a GMA once.
0024 1006MHz vs 954MHz
3.09 TFLOPS vs 0.37 TFLOPS
32.2 GPixel/s vs 3.82 GPixel/s
1502MHz vs 800MHz
4GB vs 2GB
6008MHz vs 1600MHz
192GB/s vs 12.8GB/s
- 176W below TDP?
19W vs 195W - 1 newer version of DirectX?
12 vs 11 - 0.1 newer version of OpenCL?
1.2 vs 1.1 - Has a VGA connector?
- 121mm narrower?
146mm vs 267mm - 43mm lower?
69mm vs 112mm
Which comparisons are the most popular?
EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified LE
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AMD Radeon RX Vega 8
MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
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Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 DDR4
EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified LE
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Nvidia Quadro M6000
MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
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Gigabyte Radeon RX 550
EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified LE
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Zotac GeForce GTX 970
MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
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AMD Radeon R5
EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified LE
vs 9000 Radeon3
AMD Radeon3
0004 MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
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Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT
MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
vs
Palit GeForce GT 610 2GB
MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
vs
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050
MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
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Nvidia GeForce GTX 750
MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
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Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti
MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
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AMD Radeon RX 580 5.
0 /10
3 Reviews of users
Functions
Reason value
Reviews not yet
7.3 /10
3 Votes 9000
4.7 /10
3 votes Quiet 9 votes
0004 reviews yet there are no
8.0 /10
3 Votes
Reliability
reviews yet there are no
/10
9000
954MHz
The graphics processing unit (GPU) has a higher clock speed.
Turbo GPU
1058MHz
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB)
When the GPU is running below its limits, it may jump to a higher clock speed to increase performance.
pixel rate
32.2 GPixel/s
3.82 GPixel/s
The number of pixels that can be displayed on the screen every second.
FLOPS
3.09 TFLOPS
0.37 TFLOPS
FLOPS is a measure of GPU processing power.
texture size
129 GTexels/s
15.26 GTexels/s
The number of textured pixels that can be displayed on the screen every second.
GPU memory speed
1502MHz
800MHz
Memory speed is one aspect that determines memory bandwidth.
Shading patterns
Shading units (or stream processors) are small processors in a graphics card that are responsible for processing various aspects of an image. nine0003
texture units (TMUs)
TMUs take texture units and map them to the geometric layout of the 3D scene. More TMUs generally means texture information is processed faster.
ROPs
ROPs are responsible for some of the final steps of the rendering process, such as writing the final pixel data to memory and for performing other tasks such as anti-aliasing to improve the appearance of graphics.
nine0003
Memory
effective memory speed
6008MHz
1600MHz
The effective memory clock is calculated from the size and data transfer rate of the memory. A higher clock speed can give better performance in games and other applications.
maximum memory bandwidth
192GB/s
12.8GB/s
This is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored in memory. nine0003
VRAM (video RAM) is the dedicated memory of the graphics card. More VRAM usually allows you to run games at higher settings, especially for things like texture resolution.
memory bus width
256bit
A wider memory bus means it can carry more data per cycle. This is an important factor in memory performance, and therefore the overall performance of the graphics card.
versions of GDDR memory
Later versions of GDDR memory offer improvements such as higher data transfer rates, which improves performance.
nine0003
Supports memory debug code
✖EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified LE
✖MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
Memory debug code can detect and repair data corruption. It is used when necessary to avoid distortion, such as in scientific computing or when starting a server.
Features
DirectX version
DirectX is used in games with a new version that supports better graphics.
OpenGL version
The newer version of OpenGL, the better graphics quality in games.
version of OpenCL
Some applications use OpenCL to use the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for non-graphical computing. Newer versions are more functional and better quality.
Supports multi-monitor technology
✔EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified LE
✔MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
The video card has the ability to connect multiple displays.
This allows you to set up multiple monitors at the same time to create a more immersive gaming experience, such as a wider field of view. nine0003
GPU temperature at boot
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB)
Lower boot temperature means the card generates less heat and the cooling system works better.
supports ray tracing
✖EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified LE
✖MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
Ray tracing is an advanced light rendering technique that provides more realistic lighting, shadows and reflections in games. nine0003
Supports 3D
✔EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified LE
✔MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
Allows you to view in 3D (if you have a 3D screen and glasses).
supports DLSS
✖EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified LE
✖MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) is an AI based scaling technology.
This allows the graphics card to render games at lower resolutions and upscale them to higher resolutions with near-native visual quality and improved performance. DLSS is only available in some games. nine0003
PassMark result (G3D)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB)
This test measures the graphics performance of a graphics card. Source: Pass Mark.
Ports
has HDMI output
✔EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified LE
✔MSI GeForce GT 710 2GB
Devices with HDMI or mini HDMI ports can stream HD video and audio to an attached display.
HDMI connectors
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified LE)
More HDMI connectors allow you to connect multiple devices such as game consoles and TVs at the same time.
HDMI version
Unknown. Help us offer a price.