670 vs 670

Unless you are getting some stutter in Skyrim due to running out of or near the VRAM limit, a newer card will not help. Even if it is more powerful.

Bethesda games are notorious for a slight stutter, but its in the engine itself. Some ini tweaks may help, placing a heavily modded game on a SSD also helps to an extent, as it helps the streaming data (textures) load faster reducing HD hitching.. But the core slight stutter will always be there.

One other thing to keep in mind is about the papyrus scripts. The engine can really only handle 1 maybe 2 scripts effectively. So if you have a lot of mods that use custom scripts this will cause issues as well. be conservative with mods that require scripts.

One way to find out, is run eVGA Precision of Afterburner while playing. Chances are the GPU is only working at about 50% or so. But also check the VRAM use. If these are both OK, then the card itself isn't working hard. Therefore, there are other issues to deal with.


I only say this because there may be not need for a new card in your particular situation. Or at least, it may not help any. A 580 should still be having its way with Skyrim, even modded.

AMD and Nvidia sub out their manufacturering to numerous companies, these are all marketing gimmicks.

Get the best version of the card you want with your VRAM requirements & BUDGET, read reviews with a grain of salt, but I look for heating issues, NOISE complaints, and driver issues, if a slew of each, I would pass on that card.

I tend to not care about OC'd version or not and never OC my video cards, just buy performance I need in the first place, although determining that can be quite a chore.

They are the same card and the same company. The difference is Amazon is selling one and a vendor is selling the other. I own that card and have also owned an EVGA Vanilla version 2GB non overclocked. You will be happy with either. The vanilla version will overclock better, but the already overclocked version doesn't need to. They are both quiet and do not run hot. I set a fan profile for mine, but the hottest it has been was running Ungine Heaven maxed out. It hit 61C during that. I wanted the SC model, mostly because of the 4Gb of Vram and the backplate. The vanilla version didn't have one so it cost me $20 to get it. With US prices, that made me paying $15 for an extra 2GB of Vram. Another thing that has not been mentioned is the design of the card blows most of the hot air out the back of the case. Many, if not most, of the non reference designs do not do that. If Amazon has the same policy in the UK as they do in the US, it would be a no brainer to me. Amazon here has the best customer service of any place. If you buy from a vendor, you have to use the vendor's return policy. But, if you buy that card, I think you will be quite happy with it. I have yet to play a game that will work it hard.