670 vs 670

[Chips]

Is it worth paying the the extra for the superclocked GTX670 rather than the standard GTX670?

 

[logicearth]

Not really. They overclock it the same way you can. However, they normally cheery pick from the bins for those that have better overclocking abilities for factory overclocked cards.

 

[JackALope52x]

Hey Chips,

Nice card choice, I just picked up a factory OC Asus 670 myself. Anyways to answer your question, it really depends on the user. If you are techy enough to overclock the card yourself then it probably wouldn't be worth spending the extra money. If you have no idea what you are doing when it comes to overclocking and don't want to learn then I would say go for the OC version. I chose the factory OC version because it was only $10 more and I get lazy. Hope this helped and no matter what choice you make, you won't be disappointed.

 

[kbrady1979]

Unless I am missing something, those cards are exactly the same. Scrolling down the page, they have the exact same part number: 04G-P4-2673-KR

EVGA GeForce GTX 670 4GB Superclocked
EVGA GF GTX 670 4GB SC Graphics Card with Backplate (The SC here stands for Superclocked)

Both have 4GB of RAM, both are Superclocked, and judging by the pictures, both have the nice backplate. I don't know why one is so much more expensive.....probably somebody trying to make a killing off of it.

 

[Wishmaster]

Really a personal opion there, and what you intend to do with it.

Personally, I prefer a factory OC card.
Theres no need to apply any OC settings at Startup or with a 3rd party application. It just runs that way by default. The card is covered under warranty.
Although I do Overclock, I typically do not mess with the GPU that much.

However, as mentioned, if you are a avid Overclocker and will be OCing every asepect of your PC yourself anyway then theres not really much reason.
Aside from the fact they are supposedly a bit better binned chips, theres not much reason to pay extra.


SC cards are nice for a small boost over ref design without having to do anything with it other than set 3D settings you prefer.

 

[Dude]

Like mentioned above those are both non reference cards. Overclocking is simple but buying one already overclocked is a plus if the price is right. Always get a name brand card over a reference card. Most name brands have superior fans on them.

 

[Chips]

Hey Chips,

Nice card choice, I just picked up a factory OC Asus 670 myself. Anyways to answer your question, it really depends on the user. If you are techy enough to overclock the card yourself then it probably wouldn't be worth spending the extra money. If you have no idea what you are doing when it comes to overclocking and don't want to learn then I would say go for the OC version. I chose the factory OC version because it was only $10 more and I get lazy. Hope this helped and no matter what choice you make, you won't be disappointed.

Yep, I wanted it for my turbo charged highly modded copy of Skyrim. I mean, all those HD textures and multiple followers were becoming just a tad too much for my poor old GTX 580. I heard that the 670 and 680 would get rid of all the stuttering graphics and odd CTD so I thought I'd go for it!

Unless I am missing something, those cards are exactly the same. Scrolling down the page, they have the exact same part number: 04G-P4-2673-KR

EVGA GeForce GTX 670 4GB Superclocked
EVGA GF GTX 670 4GB SC Graphics Card with Backplate (The SC here stands for Superclocked)

Both have 4GB of RAM, both are Superclocked, and judging by the pictures, both have the nice backplate. I don't know why one is so much more expensive.....probably somebody trying to make a killing off of it.

Yes, I notice that now! I didn't see the "SC" before and thought it was just a basic model. Wonder why the very same card is going for such different prices on the very same site?

 

[crankypenguin]

Hey Chips,

Nice card choice, I just picked up a factory OC Asus 670 myself. Anyways to answer your question, it really depends on the user. If you are techy enough to overclock the card yourself then it probably wouldn't be worth spending the extra money. If you have no idea what you are doing when it comes to overclocking and don't want to learn then I would say go for the OC version. I chose the factory OC version because it was only $10 more and I get lazy. Hope this helped and no matter what choice you make, you won't be disappointed.

Yep, I wanted it for my turbo charged highly modded copy of Skyrim. I mean, all those HD textures and multiple followers were becoming just a tad too much for my poor old GTX 580. I heard that the 670 and 680 would get rid of all the stuttering graphics and odd CTD so I thought I'd go for it!

Unless I am missing something, those cards are exactly the same. Scrolling down the page, they have the exact same part number: 04G-P4-2673-KR

EVGA GeForce GTX 670 4GB Superclocked
EVGA GF GTX 670 4GB SC Graphics Card with Backplate (The SC here stands for Superclocked)

Both have 4GB of RAM, both are Superclocked, and judging by the pictures, both have the nice backplate. I don't know why one is so much more expensive.....probably somebody trying to make a killing off of it.

Yes, I notice that now! I didn't see the "SC" before and thought it was just a basic model. Wonder why the very same card is going for such different prices on the very same site?

The name of the game is profit. People and companies will use any gimmick to try and push profits as high as possible. In this case, it seems they added the term *Super Clocked* and raised the stats a little bit ( something you can do on your own ) and save the money. I see this very often with computer parts. A good example is two video cards, same part number but one is a solid color, while the other is painted and has the logo imprinted on the fan...guess which card will cost a little more. You really have to pay attention to minor details if you want to save money when purchasing hardware

 

[AddRAM]

newegg just dropped the price on this MSI 660 OCd card $20 and they are throwing in a game, and a $20 rebate card. I might try to grab 1.

MSI N660 TF 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Newegg.com

 

[Solarstarshines]

Like mentioned above those are both non reference cards. Overclocking is simple but buying one already overclocked is a plus if the price is right. Always get a name brand card over a reference card. Most name brands have superior fans on them.

Keep in mind pre clocked cards suck at overclocking more they are limited
Most reference cards will do that plus anyway and some reference cards do a better overclock them a pre clocked card that is from experience with a diamond reference HD6870 and a MSI Twin frozr Pre OC cards worked great together but the diamond overclocked higher and better same with my 7970's I flashed to ghz edition they oc better then GHZ ed cards call me crazy but they do

 

[Wishmaster]

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.

 

[Faladu]

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.

 

[Chips]

Thanks for all the handy feedback. Same cards but with different company logos, aye? Interesting.

 

[essenbe]

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.