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Topic: Processors

With GeForce GTX 680, Nvidia snatches desktop graphics card crown back from AMD

Summary: Nvidia just launched its latest flagship graphics card, the GeForce GTX 680, and initial reviews show it wiping the floor with AMD's top single-GPU board.

Sean Portnoy

By for Laptops & Desktops |

Nvidia promised great things from its new Kepler GPUs, and it appears that the company may just deliver on those promises. It just launched its latest flagship graphics card, the GeForce GTX 680, and initial reviews show it wiping the floor with AMD's top single-GPU board.

The stock 28nm card has 1,536 CUDA cores, 128 texture units, a core clock speed of 1006MHz, memory clock of 6008MHz, and 2GB of GDDR5 video memory, though manufacturers will offer their own overclocked solutions. It also manages to use less power than its Fermi predecessor (GeForce GTX 580). One key new feature is GPU Boost, which automatically adjusts the clock speed to turbocharge performance when you need it.

Early benchmarks have shown that the 680 defeats the new Radeon HD 7970 in nearly all tests, sometimes by as much as 25 percent. You can check out reviews from Hot Hardware, AnandTech, and PCMag.com to learn more. Even trickier for AMD, however, is that Nvidia is pricing the 680 at $499, or around $50 less than the 7970.

As you might expect, gaming desktop PC builders are already offering the new Nvidia card in their systems. We've heard from AVADirect, CyberPower, Digital Storm, Maingear, Origin PC, and Velocity Micro, and there will clearly be others in the coming weeks.

So it appears that Nvidia has won the latest skirmish in the never-ending graphics card war. Are you going to buy the new GeForce GTX 680? How can AMD respond to the 680's apparent performance, power consumption, and pricing advantage? Let us know your thoughts in the Comments section.

Topics: Processors, Hardware

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32 comments
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  • Seriously? Wipes the floor?

    From what I can see this is just another case of AMD wins some and NVidia Wins some. Heck there are some benchmarks that the AMD Radeon 6990 beats the Nvidia 680. I guess when I read a lead in to an article that says wiping the floor I expect it to actually wipe the floor and not win some lose some and be about the same. So on a couple benchmarks the Nvidia wins by as much as 25%... Oh wait.. Look on other benchmarks the AMD 7970 wins but similar margins.
    bobiroc
    Reply Vote

    • Yes, wipes the floor

      the AMD 6990 is a 900 dollar dual GPU card so its no suprise that it wins in 'some' tests. You would actually expect it to win in all tests so its kudos to the gtx680 that it manages to pip the 6990 in some benchmarks
      Mullered
      Reply Vote

      • My Point is

        Wiping the floor should mean wins on all tests. Many of the tests seem to be on par with differences of only a few FPS. I know winning is winning but I just don't see the extreme floor wiping being outlined here.
        bobiroc
        Reply Vote

      • They said the 7970 single core

        They said the 7970 single core
        support@...
        Reply Vote

  • Patiently waiting

    for a GTX660M to upgrade my M15x
    cym104
    Reply Vote

    • This is about GTX 680, which is only 10-15% faster than AMD's 7970

      So this crown is by small margin.
      DDERSSS
      Reply Vote

  • but actually the point is

    when you take into consideration the power consumption, lower price, turbo boost and all the other features, not to mention that the gtx 680 is actually a 'mid range' card with Nvidia holding back the serious hardware till later, then I think its fair to say nvidia's new architecture wipes the floor with AMD's current architecture
    Mullered
    Reply Vote

    • I see your point

      And yes the 680 is a good deal but it has always been my experience that Nvidia x80 series would be better compared to the AMD Radeon xx80. Now the price point is a different story so AMD will need to adjust on that and the 7980 is due out soon so maybe that will come in at a similar price point. Both companies make good GPUs and this "My GPU is better than your GPU" war will continue on forever. Sometimes (as in the case here) wiping the floor is based on winning by a few FPS which most people do not even notice. I am not trying to criticize NVidia because it is an impressive product but ZDNet's extreme methods of their blogging style.
      bobiroc
      Reply Vote

      • well to be fair

        although I am coming accross as an Nvidia fanboy Im actually hoping the release of the 680 will lead to a signifigant price drop on the AMD 7970 which I will probably then purchase. But I will also wait to see how driver maturity affects the 680 performance figures as nvidia have made signifigant gains in the past simply with driver release
        Mullered
        Reply Vote

      • AMD was making a killing on their cards

        Because nVidia couldn't compete before. Now they'll drop their price and it will be a win for everyone.

        edit - AMD also likely wins on multi-display setups. EyeFinity works really, really well.
        LiquidLearner
        Reply Vote

      • RE: AMD Wins on multi-display set ups

        I have to agree on that one and even though I occasionally game on my PC having the multiple display setup was a win for me. Eyefinity beats whatever NVidia offers hands down.

        This is just another case of AMD waking up a sleeping giant as AMD did with Intel with the release of the Athlon and Athlon64. Let just hope AMD can stay competitive in the GPU arena as it is sad to see them lacking a bit in the CPU war. I still believe AMD offers a good performing product and in many cases a better deal for a consumers performance dollar but Intel is on their game now with their processors and has more resources to stay ahead.
        bobiroc
        Reply Vote

  • NVIDIA rocks

    AMD are famous for writing crappy drivers and crappy development tools. I will always go with NVIDIA
    shellcodes_coder
    Reply Vote

    • You really never bring anything substantial to the conversation

      Do You? Just insults based on your personal bias with no substantial facts to back any of it up. I have used GPUs from both companies over the years and they both have had their share of crappy drivers.
      bobiroc
      Reply Vote

      • ??????????

        http://7fiz.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1837
        http://7fiz.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1837
        http://7fiz.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1593 ?????????? ??????????????

        http://7fiz.com/vb/

        http://7fiz.com/
        sofo
        Reply Vote

    • It Depends

      With nvidia you also get the added benefit of GPUs with engineering defects that cause them to die prematurely. A card with poor drivers is better than no card at all! Google "bad bumps".
      gotamd@...
      Reply Vote

  • I was never aware...

    That AMD was a leader in the graphics market to begin with.

    Once upon a time, they had the lead on price to value, but it has been a REALLY long time since we've seen that.

    If we're talking about a $900 video card getting some better scores, big woop. It's like saying that you could get a $4000 card that can beat them all. What's the point? I (and most people) are still not buying it.

    SLI would be cheaper, and probably perform better.
    thoiness
    Reply Vote

    • AMD has had

      the fastest single GPU card for the last 3 generations...
      LiquidLearner
      Reply Vote

      • That's not true, unless you count late to market entries...

        This has been the story every generation:

        http://www.techpowerup.com/142790/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-590-Is-World-s-Fastest-Graphics-Card.html

        More importantly, price to performance ratio has always been off on the mid-range market for AMD.
        thoiness
        Reply Vote

      • You should reread my statement

        Fastest SINGLE GPU card. Good job linking the 590, which is a dual GPU card.
        LiquidLearner
        Reply Vote

      • Why would we care if it's single or dual GPU?

        You're right that I missed that.

        Isn't performance what matters? I've never heard anyone specify the number of GPUs they want when going out and buying a consumer level card (especially not saying: "I want a single one").

        And for that matter, is there anything but low end, OEM grade cards that NVidia makes single GPU anymore? It seems to me that even my 9800 was dual GPU, and that's going back a few years now.
        thoiness
        Reply Vote
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