Gigabyte, Asus CUII or CUII TOP Gtx 670?

[8009]

Ok i m not making another thread of general reviews and opinions about these card versions, i m just seeking info that is suitable for my system. The system is the most powerful and expensive i have ever built, Lian Li 351, Asus Rampage IV Gene, i7 3820, 16gb 1600 Kingston HyperX, Force GT 120gb SSD, 1TB caviar black, i have the money ready for the gpu and i am between the three ones i mention on the title.

Specifics that apply to me: i have a 1900x1200 and a 1900x1080 screens. I am not planning on getting a bigger one any time soon. Also, i will use a single card. I also have the sff Lian Li case. Taking these into account, and that money for any of those three cards is not an issue, i am considering the following:

How likely is it i will have issues with the gigabyte one, with the pci 3.0 things, forced to turn to 2.0 for workability? I ve read that this problem exists.
Will there be a compatibility advantage/certainty if i get an asus one, since i also have an asus motherboard?
I am not an overclocker, but i may become one with the new system, how worth it is to go for the top asus instead of the non-top one?
How likely is i will have issues with the top model, since i read of cases that users are instructed to UNDERclock their top models to the non-top ones levels for them to work?
Can it be that all problems with gigabyte and asus will dissapear with updates since we are just in the beginning of their release to the public?
How much should i take my particular case under consideration? The Asus ones blow the hot air inside the case, the Lian Li has two big 120 fans blowing everything to the back, i think it must be a good airflow but i havent tested it in real life yet.
How much cooler is the top asus from the non-top? The "20%" cooler that it says on the box, refers to the non-top model or to the reference fan model?
WIll i see any real benefit with the top model over the non-top, in the resolutions i will be using?
Which of the three will be most cool itself, and most cool towards the insides of the Lian Li 351?

Any suggestions welcome

 

[xander89]

Ok i m not making another thread of general reviews and opinions about these card versions, i m just seeking info that is suitable for my system. The system is the most powerful and expensive i have ever built, Lian Li 351, Asus Rampage IV Gene, i7 3820, 16gb 1600 Kingston HyperX, Force GT 120gb SSD, 1TB caviar black, i have the money ready for the gpu and i am between the three ones i mention on the title.

Specifics that apply to me: i have a 1900x1200 and a 1900x1080 screens. I am not planning on getting a bigger one any time soon. Also, i will use a single card. I also have the sff Lian Li case. Taking these into account, and that money for any of those three cards is not an issue, i am considering the following:

How likely is it i will have issues with the gigabyte one, with the pci 3.0 things, forced to turn to 2.0 for workability? I ve read that this problem exists.
Will there be a compatibility advantage/certainty if i get an asus one, since i also have an asus motherboard?
I am not an overclocker, but i may become one with the new system, how worth it is to go for the top asus instead of the non-top one?
How likely is i will have issues with the top model, since i read of cases that users are instructed to UNDERclock their top models to the non-top ones levels for them to work?
Can it be that all problems with gigabyte and asus will dissapear with updates since we are just in the beginning of their release to the public?
How much should i take my particular case under consideration? The Asus ones blow the hot air inside the case, the Lian Li has two big 120 fans blowing everything to the back, i think it must be a good airflow but i havent tested it in real life yet.
How much cooler is the top asus from the non-top? The "20%" cooler that it says on the box, refers to the non-top model or to the reference fan model?
WIll i see any real benefit with the top model over the non-top, in the resolutions i will be using?
Which of the three will be most cool itself, and most cool towards the insides of the Lian Li 351?

Any suggestions welcome

You cant really go wrong with any of them. From what ive heard the Asus seems to have a fair amount of issues ( just judging by the number of threads ive seen)

I would either go with the EVGA or giga one in my opinion. mainly for aesthetic reasons tbh. I think they look a lot nicer than the Asus card. Ive seen a lot of giga cards with very high boost clocks out of the box ( mine included) with up to 100mhz more than the advertised boost clock. Mine came out with 1158mhz boost and I'm overclocked to 1313mhz on the core and memory isnt bad either.

All are good. I found the giga was cheaper than the rest so that pretty much sealed the deal for me, oh and the cooler is a beast!

 

[EarthDog]

I would say the Asus (havent run across any threads myself, but sure I just missed them), and of those two, the cheapest one.

 

[xander89]

I would say the Asus (havent run across any threads myself, but sure I just missed them), and of those two, the cheapest one.

The Giga and asus CUII are the same price ( on newegg) $399.99, i think they both have the same warranty ( in terms of length). I suppose it boils down to which cooler is better. (which is better im not too sure tbh) All i know is mine didnt go over 65c while running furmark with the fan on auto. On 3dmark usually around 60. Thats with mine overclocked to 1313mhz

 

[8009]

You cant really go wrong with any of them. From what ive heard the Asus seems to have a fair amount of issues ( just judging by the number of threads ive seen)

I would either go with the EVGA or giga one in my opinion. mainly for aesthetic reasons tbh. I think they look a lot nicer than the Asus card. Ive seen a lot of giga cards with very high boost clocks out of the box ( mine included) with up to 100mhz more than the advertised boost clock. Mine came out with 1158mhz boost and I'm overclocked to 1313mhz on the core and memory isnt bad either.

All are good. I found the giga was cheaper than the rest so that pretty much sealed the deal for me, oh and the cooler is a beast!

Aesthetics is the last thing i care about really. And doesnt the EVGA have a reference fan? Does your giga have the same problem i read elsewhere, that it can't work with the pci 3.0 and had to be turned to pci 2.0?

The Giga and asus CUII are the same price ( on newegg) $399.99, i think they both have the same warranty ( in terms of length). I suppose it boils down to which cooler is better. (which is better im not too sure tbh) All i know is mine didnt go over 65c while running furmark with the fan on auto. On 3dmark usually around 60. Thats with mine overclocked to 1313mhz

So the asuses blow the air inside the case. In which direction? Do we know that? The Windforce if i am not mistaken blows it out the back from the second slot openings? Or inside the case too?

 

[xander89]

Aesthetics is the last thing i care about really. And doesnt the EVGA have a reference fan? Does your giga have the same problem i read elsewhere, that it can't work with the pci 3.0 and had to be turned to pci 2.0?

I havent heard of those issues before. But im running a SB setup so cant use PCIE3. Even if it is an issue PCIE3 only gives 1% better performance at best over PCIE2, i wouldnt worry about it . PCIE3 wont be giving us any real gains for a while yet. And if it is an issue I'm sure it will be solved with a driver/bios update soon enough. I would not say its enough not to buy the card.

So the asuses blow the air inside the case. In which direction? Do we know that? The Windforce if i am not mistaken blows it out the back from the second slot openings? Or inside the case too?

The windforce cooler also blows air into the case. The EVGA is pretty much a stock cooler but it works fine. ( also that does blow out the slot at the back so if raising you cases ambient temps is an issue maybe it will be better for you?)

 

[8009]

One more i wonder about, since i saw some unboxing videos, does the 670 come factory sealed? I don't fulle trust the sellers i am forced to buy from, want to make sure i dont get a second had, tampered with, or refurbished card...

 

[kyleboy77]

Tom's Hardware has a good article comparing a bunch of 670's. I'd go with the gigabyte it seems people are getting very good clocks out of it, and has an effective cooler. As previously stated the Asus seems to have some issues.

 

[EarthDog]

Can someone link to the Asus cards having issues please? TY!

 

[xander89]

Can someone link to the Asus cards having issues please? TY!

i dont think there is an overall issue with the card, but im just thinking along the lines of cards that have had little or no overclocking ability, blue screens etc etc.

There is one bloke on the vid card review on this site who had to return his. Ive seen a fair few threads kicking about ( mainly on other forums.)

 

[kyleboy77]

There are a number of one egg reviews on newegg for the CUII top with a variety of issues

 

[xander89]

There are a number of one egg reviews on newegg for the CUII top with a variety of issues

i would never trust egg reviews as a rule of thumb, but i have seen a fair few threads!

 

[Knufire]

I would say the Asus (havent run across any threads myself, but sure I just missed them), and of those two, the cheapest one.

+1 to this. I haven't heard of any abnormal issues with the ASUS.

 

[kyleboy77]

i would never trust egg reviews as a rule of thumb, but i have seen a fair few threads!

xander89: I don't generally put much faith in egg reviews however, when there are nearly as many one eggs as five eggs reporting doa or other early failures it starts to make me weary.

 

[Brando]

If you get the asus go for the non top. They'll both probably oc the same since they're supposed to be identical. That way you won't get stuck with something that can't run at specified speeds that you won't be able to sell later. The price went down to $400 and it's a good deal. It's a nice card but my TOP crashes unless I downclock it. Not that I can't make it work but if I sell it one day i have to tell the buyer that it won't work right without tweaking and I'd rather not have to. Amazon is being nice about the whole thing and it looks like they're going to cross ship me a non TOP and credit me my $30 back. Since they don't have any TOP models and don't look like they will any time soon.

 

[crazyflow]

I went with the GTX 670 MSI power edition oc. It costs the same as the direct CUII TOP and doesn't seem to have any issues. Im waiting for UPS to deliver it, any minute now . The stock core clock is at 1019Mhz, once the new afterburner update comes out, it will have triple voltage capabilities which is going to make it very good to overclock. It also has two blue led lights on the fans which i think is cool. Anti dust removal is only loud for like 15 seconds

 

[xander89]

just finished leak testing, so had a chance to tweak my graphic card overclock ( which tbh i wasnt expecting much as my temps were so good with my winforce cooler/i wasnt hitting anywhere near the 70c throttle limit) Managed to get an extra 17mhz on the core. Running at 1330 now, and managed a fair bump on the memory as well. XD not too shabby. I think the backplate is also helping a fair bit.almost hitting 10900 graphics score on 3d mark 11. ( overall is low because i dont have HT turned on atm.)

I think its safe to say that either will yield you almost identical results. they are identical in price and the coolers seem to perform similarly and they both seem to overclock well ( the majorit of the time). i wouldnt let it take up too much of your time deciding .

 

[crazyflow]

the MSI 670 is a beast! I can run the witcher 2 without ubersampling at 1080p with 60fps all the time, with ubersampling it runs at 30fps average, which is very very playable. Im impressed and metro 2033 runs at 30-50fps with everything max except AA and physx on

 

[MongGrel]

Yeah I was going to mention something about Brando having some probs with the ASUS, but he's all ready posted here.

I'm still considering one myself and it just might be a bad card.

Hmm might have to rethink things a bit, but yeah I always take any Egg reviews with a several grains of salt to begin with.

The forums can be pretty entertaining some days hehe.

Now I'm i stall mode, have to pay to get my Jeep fixed anyways possibly unless one or two things I read works.

So I'll just watch things a bit, nice looking MSI card too, though I've never used one.

And the Windforce, still just watching things I guess.

 

[EarthDog]

If his card doesnt work at stock, that a problem. Brando needs to RMA that thing.