{"id":29157,"date":"2012-04-05T09:33:43","date_gmt":"2012-04-05T08:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=29157"},"modified":"2012-04-08T05:00:31","modified_gmt":"2012-04-08T04:00:31","slug":"680-pt-two-overclocking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/680-pt-two-overclocking\/","title":{"rendered":"The GTX 680 Arrives! &#8211; Part Two, Maximum Overclocking vs. the HD 7970"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n                          google_ad_client = \"pub-7021221536180758\"; \/* 468x60, created 11\/11\/09 *\/ google_ad_slot = \"1949837292\"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Nvidia has released its long awaited GeForce GTX 680 based on its brand new Kepler DX11.1 GK104 architecture two weeks ago.\u00a0 On release day, we\u00a0brought you Part One of our GTX 680 series, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=28910\">Nvidia\u2019s GTX 680 arrives!\u00a0 \u201cFaster, Smoother, Richer\u201d \u2013 is it enough to take the Performance Crown?<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>We found that\u00a0the GTX 680\u00a0beats the HD 7970 in every metric including performance &#8211; and it is priced $50 less.<a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/680-1-300x234.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/680-1.jpg?resize=300%2C234\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We now have had two more weeks hand&#8217;s on experience testing the GTX 680 versus the HD 7970 and we have learned quite a bit more that we would like to share with you.\u00a0 In Part One, we learned that the GTX 680 does indeed overclock.\u00a0\u00a0 We were able to get it stably up from its stock base clocks (1006\/3004MHz) to a decent\u00a0overclock (1156\/3029MHz)\u00a0which compared favorably with our overclock of the HD\u00a0from stock\u00a0(925\/1375MHz)\u00a0to overclocked\u00a0(1100\/1400MHz).\u00a0 However, we did not adjust the voltage nor the fan speed, \u00a0nor did we\u00a0find our maximum overclock for\u00a0each card&#8217;s memory.<\/p>\n<p>For Part Two, we will compare the performance of our overclocked GTX 680 to our overclocked HD 7970 as a starting point as we overclock each of them to the edge of stability by maxing out the voltage and fan speed to give you an idea of what future Super Overclocked versions of each of these cards\u00a0may be like and how they may related to each other in terms of performance as faster and faster overclocked versions of each card appear.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/7970-gtx680.jpg?resize=300%2C179\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In Part One, we compared the relative performance of\u00a0the GTX 680, GTX 580 and GTX 690, as well as the\u00a0HD 7970, HD\u00a06970 and HD 6990.\u00a0 The dual-GPU cards of the last generation were generally faster although overclocked, the GTX 680 and the HD 7970 approached their performance in some games.\u00a0 The HD 6970 and to a lesser extent, the\u00a0GTX 580 were left in the dust.\u00a0 This time, we will only be comparing the \u00a0HD 7970 to the GTX 680 and we shall overclock them each as far as we can.\u00a0 This time we shall adjust the voltage as far as it is useful and as far as our overclocking tools &#8211; MSI&#8217;s Afterburner for Radeon and EVGA&#8217;s Precision X for GeForce &#8211; will allow us.<\/p>\n<p>We are also going to revisit the &#8220;Power Usage&#8221; section as befits overclocking in this review.\u00a0 We noticed that the HD 7970 drew about 44W more than the GTX 680 when both were overclocked without any voltage adjustment and we look forward to seeing what happens to each cards&#8217; power requirements when the clocks go up with additional voltage.<\/p>\n<p>AMD has already launched most of its 28nm\u00a0DX11.1 series &#8211; $550 for their\u00a0flagship single-GPU\u00a0HD 7970\u00a0\u00a0&#8211; as well as their\u00a0HD 7950, HD 7870 and HD 7850,\u00a0down to their\u00a0entry-level enthusiast\u00a0HD 7770 and HD 7750 cards. To compete, Nvidia has launched its new Kepler architecture 28nm DX11.1 GeForce lineup with its GTX 680 flagship heralding the rest of the series as forthcoming. The reference GTX 680 is an overall better value than the reference HD 7970 as it\u00a0comes with a MSRP of $499 which is $50 less than the slower HD 7970. However, we still need to answer the question: <em>Is an overclocked HD 7970 worth the $50 premium over the GTX 680?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>That question is important because we expect that Nvidia will shortly launch it&#8217;s own entire\u00a028nm DX11.1 line-up based on their GK104 &#8220;Kepler&#8221; architecture.\u00a0 We expect to see the GTX 670 and GTX 660 as well as the GTX 550 launch within a few months and we need to see what this new\u00a028nm Kepler\u00a0architecture brings over their\u00a0GF110\/100 series besides DX11.1 and a smaller process.<em> <\/em>Overclocking our GTX 680 to its maximum\u00a0may give us some idea of future GK104 core scalability as Nvidia refines their process.\u00a0 And we shall get an idea if AMD&#8217;s &#8220;Tahiti&#8221; architecture will be able to scale enough\u00a0for highly overclocked versions of the HD 7970 to\u00a0catch up to the GTX 680.\u00a0 AMD is loathe to drop pricing on the HD 7970 as it would cause a cascade effect on their entire line up which has been premium-priced over the last generation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/7970-1.jpg?resize=300%2C174\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>To properly bring you this review, we purchased a\u00a0PowerColor HD 7970 from NewEgg and put it through its paces with the very latest AMD performance drivers &#8211; Catalyst 12-3 which is even newer that the set we tested for the GTX 680 launch.\u00a0 We are also using the very latest WHQL GeForce drivers 300.10 which is an upgrade over the launch drivers but appears to have no performance differences in our games.<\/p>\n<p>Today you will see us pit our\u00a0PowerColor HD 7970, which is now further overclocked from 1100\/1400MHz to 1200\/1575MHz, against the new GTX 680 which is further overclocked\u00a0from 1156\/3029MHz to 1181\/3604MHz.\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes it is a bit confusing when talking about the GTX 680&#8217;s &#8220;stock&#8221; clocks because there is a dynamic GPU Boost which further automatically increases the clocks\u00a0by +50MHz to +100MHz over the &#8216;base clock&#8217; of 1006\/3004MHz\u00a0 There is another way to look at it; we ultimately boosted the GTX 680&#8217;s clocks by +175MHz on the core and +600MHz on the memory while we boosted the HD 7970&#8217;s clocks by +275MHz on the core and +200MHz (+400MHz, the way Nvidia reports it) on the memory clocks.<\/p>\n<p>We continue to benchmark with\u00a021 modern games and with 3 synthetic benchmark at 1920&#215;1200\u00a0and 2560&#215;1600 resolutions and with details fully maxed and with 4x or 8xAA\/16xAF applied whenever possible.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Is the overclocked HD 7970\u00a0worth $50 more than its rival, Nvidia&#8217;s GTX 680?<\/h3>\n<p>We declared the GTX 680 the performance winner and could find nothing compelling to recommend the HD 7970 at fifty dollars more, two weeks ago.\u00a0 We\u00a0believe that AMD is immediately going to respond to Nvidia&#8217;s GTX\u00a0680 launch by allowing their partners to overclock the current HD 7970 and we expect to see super-overclocked &#8220;halo&#8221; cards,\u00a0appear at the tech sites so as to give the impression that the HD 7970 is not so far behind the GTX 680.\u00a0 One of these such cards is the Sapphire &#8220;Toxic&#8221; HD 7970 and it is expected to be clocked at 1150\/1500MHz.\u00a0 Since our own PowerColor HD 7970 can supass this overclock (1200\/1575MHz), we believe that we have a very fair representation of what is coming in the near future for our evaluation today.<\/p>\n<p>Widespread e-tail availability of\u00a0the GeForce GTX 680 has not happened yet. So\u00a0one still has a little time to decide what to do and this review is designed to help with an important potential upgrade.\u00a0 Since we do not want any <em>chance<\/em> of our CPU &#8220;bottlenecking&#8221; our graphics, we continue testing both of our graphics cards with our Intel Core i7-920 at 4.20GHz (approximately the same performance as a mildly overclocked Core i7-2700K), 6 GB Kingston DDR3 using a Gigabyte X58 16x + 16x PCIe CrossFire\/SLI motherboard. <img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Next page...\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-includes\/js\/tinymce\/plugins\/wordpress\/img\/trans.gif?w=720\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><!--pagetitle: Introduction--><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Next page...\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-includes\/js\/tinymce\/plugins\/wordpress\/img\/trans.gif?w=720\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>Before we take a look at overclocking and power draw, let&#8217;s check out the testing platform.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><!--pagetitle: Test Configuration--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><strong>Test Configuration &#8211; Hardware<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">Intel Core i7 920 reference 2.66 GHz<\/span>, overclocked to 4.2 GHz using the 21x multiplier<span style=\"font-size: small;\">; Turbo and HyperThreading are on.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P (latest BIOS, PCIe 2.0 specification; CrossFire\/SLI 16x+16x).<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">6 GB OCZ DDR3 PC 1800 Kingston RAM (3&#215;2 GB, tri-channel at 1200MHz; 2&#215;2 GB supplied by Kingston)<\/span><\/li>\n<li>GeForce GTX 680, 2 GB (1006\/3000MHz and also overclocked), supplied by Nvidia<\/li>\n<li>PowerColor Radeon HD 7970, 3 GB with custom cooling at stock clocks (925\/1375MHz) and also overclocked.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">Onboard Realtek Audio<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">2 x 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 hard drives; one for AMD and one for Nvidia<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">Thermaltake ToughPowerXT 775W power supply unit supplied by Thermaltake<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">Thermaltake Element G Case supplied by Thermaltake<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">Frio OCK CPU cooler, supplied by Thermaltake<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">Philips DVD SATA writer<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">HP LP3065 2560&#215;1600 thirty inch LCD. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\">Test Configuration &#8211; Software<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">Nvidia GeForce 300.10 WHQL drivers for the GTX 680; High Quality<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span>AMD 12.3 WHQL Catalyst drivers; High Quality &#8211; optimizations off; use application settings<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">Windows 7 64-bit; very latest updates<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">Latest DirectX<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">All games are patched to their latest versions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">VSync is forced off in the control panel.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">AA enabled as noted in games<\/span><span style=\"font-size: small;\">; all in-game settings are specified with 16xAF always applied; 16xAF forced in control panel for <em>Crysis.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">All results show average frame rates except as noted.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small;\">Windows 7 64, all DX10 titles were run under DX10 render paths; DX11 titles under DX11 render paths.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\">The Benchmarks<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Synthetic<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Vantage<\/li>\n<li>3DMark 11<em><\/em><\/li>\n<li>Heaven 3.0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><strong>OpenGL<\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Wolfenstein<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><strong>DX9 <\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Left 4 Dead 2<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Serious Sam 3 BFE<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><strong>DX10<\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Crysis<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Far Cry 2<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><\/em><em>Just Cause 2<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><\/em><em>World-in-Conflict<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Resident Evil 5<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><strong>DX11<\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><em>BattleForge<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Alien vs. Predator<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>STALKER, Call of Pripyat<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Metro 2033<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>F1 2010<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>H.A.W.X. 2<\/em><em><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><\/em><em>Lost Planet 2<\/em><em><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Civilization V<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Total War: Shogun II<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><em>Crysis 2<\/em><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><\/em><em>Dirt 3<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Deus Ex: Human Revolution<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><em>Batman: Arkham City<\/em><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Before we get to the performance charts, let&#8217;s look at overclocking, power draw and temperatures.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><!--pagetitle: O\/C'ing. Power Draw &#038; Temps--><\/p>\n<h2>Overclocking, Power Draw &amp; Temperatures<\/h2>\n<p>In our charts we use the memory clocks as Nvidia and AMD each express them. \u00a0You can multiply the AMD clocks by 2X to get the equivalent data rates if you wish; or cut the Nvidia clocks in half. \u00a0At any rate, Nvidia has actually clocked its card&#8217;s memory much higher than AMD&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the settings\u00a0(base clocks before GPU Boost are used for the GTX 680):<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>GTX 680<\/strong> (1006\/3004MHz \u00a0stock)<\/p>\n<p>1156\/3029MHz \u00a0 &gt;&gt;&gt; \u00a01181\/3579MHz) &#8211; 1181\/3604MHz<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>HD 7970<\/strong> (925\/1375MHz stock)<\/p>\n<p>1100\/1400MHz \u00a0&gt;&gt;&gt; 1125\/1575MHz \u00a0&gt;&gt;&gt; 1200\/1575MHz<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This evaluation is based on overclocking each card in three steps as far as they will go;\u00a0first at stock and then with a substantial core overclock, followed by a memory overclock which is finally followed by a voltage increase. \u00a0This appears to be representative of each card&#8217;s performance \u00a0scaling by overclocking these cards.<\/p>\n<p>Each of our competing video cards was overclocked as far as it could go without exceeding the core voltage or thermals so as to throttle the respective GPUs.\u00a0 We got 100% stability from each of our GPUs at the noise-expense of running their cooling fans each at 85%.<\/p>\n<p>We used MSI&#8217;s Afterburner to overclock our PowerColor HD 7970 and EVGA&#8217;s Precision X for our GTX 680. \u00a0Both utilities allowed for quite a bit of control over each card&#8217;s overclock and we were also able to adjust the voltage. \u00a0Overclocking the GTX 680 beyond the stock overclock was easy. No one should let the boost clocks intimidate them. Using EVGA Precision tool, simply push the sliders to the right as far as you dare and set the clocks. \u00a0We finally settled on +175MHz on the core and 600MHz on the core.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMax3DMark11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-29239\" title=\"VoltageMax3DMark11\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMax3DMark11.jpg?resize=279%2C300\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMax3DMark11.jpg?resize=279%2C300 279w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMax3DMark11-955x1024.jpg 955w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMax3DMark11.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 279px) 100vw, 279px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We did exactly the same thing with our PowerColor HD 7970. Its stock clocks are 925\/1375 and we pushed them beyond the fastest AMD partner-overclocked Radeon HD 7970&#8217;s clocks to 1200MHz\/1575MHz.<\/p>\n<p>We always use EVGA&#8217;s Precision overclocking tool for Nvidia cards. They recently added integrated GPU voltage adjustments. In addition to the EVGA GeForce GTX 680, EVGA has also introduced a new version of its popular \u201cPrecision\u201d overclocking software, EVGA Precision X. It allows you to fine tune your GeForce graphics card, including GPU Clock speed, GPU Voltage, Memory Clock speed and Fan speed.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>EVGA Precision X features many new and key features:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00b7 Brand New GUI \u2013 Built from the ground up for the next generation of graphics accelerators.<\/li>\n<li>\u00b7 Advanced Hardware Monitoring \u2013 See GPU vitals in real time.<\/li>\n<li>\u00b7 In Game Monitoring \u2013 See your GPU vitals, without leaving your game.<\/li>\n<li>\u00b7 Frame Rate Target \u2013 GeForce GTX 680 will adjust power\/clock dynamically to match set framerate.<\/li>\n<li>\u00b7 Fan Curve \u2013 Setup and advanced fan profile.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.evga.com\/precision\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.evga.com\/precision', 'Learn More about EVGA Precision X']);\" target=\"_blank\">Learn More about EVGA Precision X<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Temperature<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Our ambient (room temperatures) were fairly warm &#8211; 74-78F &#8211; so as to approximate a warm Spring day. Be aware that we used our <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/thermaltake-element-g-case\">Thermaltake Element G<\/a> case which has excellent airflow for an oversized midtower. The GTX 680 runs quite cool at even our first mild overclock, in the low to mid-50s C even under load. However, once the core speed increased, so did the temperatures until we were idling in the low 60s when we hit near the 1300MHz peak on the core from boost and temperatures would rise into the low-80sC.\u00a0 In comparison, the PowerColor HD 7970 tolerated higher temperatures into the low 90sC.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Precision1234Mhz80c.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-28961\" title=\"Precision1234Mhz80c\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Precision1234Mhz80c.jpg?resize=448%2C327\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Precision1234Mhz80c.jpg?resize=448%2C327 800w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Precision1234Mhz80c-300x219.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>You can see from the performance charts what effects increasing the\u00a0core speed has on the GTX 680 &#8211; from the reference speed of 1006\/3006MHz , past adding +150MHz to finally settling on +175MHz.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Power Draw<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">We did a rough comparison by using our entire system running identical stressful benchmarks while monitoring with Kill-A-Watt. Previously, our GTX 680 drew 195W at idle before any voltage adjustments.\u00a0 Here is the GTX 680 in our system at idle when it is fully overclocked with the maximum voltage boost.\u00a0 It uses ten watts more power at idle when overclocked.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"680-IdleWVolt\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/680-IdleWVolt.jpg?resize=300%2C334\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Now we ran our benches continually and looked for the peak usage of power with our GTX 680 overclocked as far as it would go stably with the\u00a0fan\u00a0at 85%\u00a0and with\u00a0the maximum\u00a0voltage increase.\u00a0At\u00a0stcock, the\u00a0absolute peak power usage was a blip at 451W. Now let&#8217;s see how far the total systen power draw increases when we overclock and overvolt our GTX 680.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"680-MaxTempV\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/680-MaxTempV.jpg?resize=300%2C300\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Our system\u00a0draws 44W more with the overclocked\/overvolted GTX 680 over the stock GTX 680 &#8211;\u00a0the very same amount that the HD 7970 draws on the stock fan profile and stock voltage.\u00a0 Now let&#8217;s crank up the voltage of the HD 7970 and fan to 85%\u00a0and see how far over 495W it climbs.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_29231\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29231\" class=\" wp-image-29231\" title=\"7970-MaxTempV\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/7970-MaxTempV.jpg?resize=300%2C323\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/7970-MaxTempV.jpg?resize=300%2C323 500w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/7970-MaxTempV-278x300.jpg 278w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-29231\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">HD 7970 OC &amp; Overvolt Maximum Power Draw<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The PowerColor HD 7970 when overclocked and overvolted draws 102W more than overclocked on the stock fan profile and with the\u00a0stock voltage. \u00a0It also uses over 100W more than the GTX 680 in the same situation and in the same system!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Noise<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Both cards are extraordinarily quiet for high-end flagship cards. It appears that Nvidia has especially tuned the GTX 680 to be quiet somewhat at the expense of cooling. It will be interesting to see what cooling designs their partners implement.\u00a0 However, when a fan is turned up to 85% it becomes annoying.\u00a0 The GTX 680 might be a little quieter than the PowerColor HD 7970 but it is subjective and neither are ideal over 60%.\u00a0 We use 85% to keep the cards cool and stable only for benches.\u00a0 When we play games for ourself, we move the clocks\u00a0to maximum for\u00a0the stock voltage and fan profile.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s head to our performance charts to see how the Super Overclocked HD 7970 fairs against a highly overclocked reference GTX 680 and peer a bit into the future performance of these cards.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><!--pagetitle: Performance Summary Charts--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Performance summary charts &amp; graphs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Here are the summary charts of 21 games and 3 synthetic tests. The highest settings are always chosen and it is DX11 when there is a choice; DX10 is picked above DX9, and the settings are ultra or maxed. Specific settings are listed on the Main Performance chart at the end of this page. The benches are run at 1920&#215;1200 and 2560&#215;1600 with separate charts devoted to dividing games by their DX pathway to keep the graphs relatively short.<\/p>\n<p>All results, except for Vantage and 3DMark11, show average framerates and higher is always better. In-game settings are fully maxed out and they are identically high or ultra across all platforms. Let&#8217;s break down our master chart into several smaller charts and graphs. First up, let&#8217;s look at OpenGL and DX9 together, then DX10 and fnally DX11 games separately.<\/p>\n<h2>Futuremark &amp; Heaven synthetic tests<\/h2>\n<p>3DMark11 is Futuremark&#8217;s latest DX11-only benchmark and here are the default benchmarks detailed results of the GTX 680 at maximum overclock. \u00a0Notice the voltage slider is pushed all the way to the maximum at right.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMax3DMark11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-29239\" title=\"VoltageMax3DMark11\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMax3DMark11.jpg?resize=480%2C514\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMax3DMark11.jpg?resize=480%2C514 1000w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMax3DMark11-279x300.jpg 279w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMax3DMark11-955x1024.jpg 955w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-27910\" title=\"gtx560ti448-3dMark11-stock-1\">Unfortunately, scores are completely meaningless when they are presented in this way but they do offer supporting data to accompany our game benches. Here is the chart with Vantage and the detailed score:<\/p>\n<p class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-27910\" style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"gtx560ti448-3dMark11-stock-1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMaxVantage.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-29240\" title=\"VoltageMaxVantage\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMaxVantage.jpg?resize=360%2C314\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMaxVantage.jpg?resize=360%2C314 1000w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/VoltageMaxVantage-300x261.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We do not graph the synthetic benchmarks but they are presented in the Main Summary Charts at the end of this section. \u00a0Synthetic tests are interesting but they are not necessarily indicative of real world gaming performance. In all three cases, the GTX 680 &#8220;wins&#8221; over the HD 7970 and overclocking makes no difference to the ranking. Next up, let&#8217;s look at DX9 and OpenGL games.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>DX9 and OpenGL<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em>Wolfenstein<\/em> is our only example of OpenGL and it is listed on our chart together with DX9 games without being mentioned as OGL. Unfortunately <em>Rage<\/em> is hard to benchmark so it will have to do until <em>Doom IV<\/em> is released. <em>Left 4 Dead 2<\/em> represents the very popular if aging Source Engine and <em>Serious Sam 3 BF3<\/em> is a very new and demanding DX9 game released late last year on the Serious 3.5 engine that provides impressive visuals and on ultra settings and high resolution, can slow the fastest video cards.<\/p>\n<p>Here is our Open GL and two DX9 games at 1920&#215;1200:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX9-19.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-29249\" title=\"DX9-19\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX9-19.jpg?resize=482%2C921\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX9-19.jpg?resize=482%2C921 482w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX9-19-157x300.jpg 157w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 482px) 100vw, 482px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Overclocking actually catches the GTX 680 up to the HD 7970 in<em> Left 4 Dead 2<\/em>. \u00a0And now at 256ox16oo.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX9-25.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-29246\" title=\"DX9-25\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX9-25.jpg?resize=482%2C921\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX9-25.jpg?resize=482%2C921 482w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX9-25-157x300.jpg 157w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 482px) 100vw, 482px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wolfenstein is much faster on the HD 7970 although it is quite playable on the GTX 680. Both <em>Left 4 Dead 2<\/em> and <em>Serious Sam 3 BFE <\/em>are faster on the HD 7970 than the GTX 680 although there is no practical difference in the gameplay experience. Let&#8217;s check out DX10 games<\/p>\n<h3><strong>DX10 Games<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>We test five DX10 games. Here\u00a0are the results at 1920&#215;1200<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-29247\" title=\"DX10-19\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX10-19.jpg?resize=482%2C1518\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX10-19.jpg?resize=482%2C1518 482w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX10-19-95x300.jpg 95w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX10-19-325x1024.jpg 325w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 482px) 100vw, 482px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And now at\u00a02560&#215;1600.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX10-25.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-29248\" title=\"DX10-25\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX10-25.jpg?resize=482%2C1518\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX10-25.jpg?resize=482%2C1518 482w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX10-25-95x300.jpg 95w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DX10-25-325x1024.jpg 325w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 482px) 100vw, 482px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Out of these five DX10 games, only <em>World-in-Conflict<\/em> is marginally faster on the HD 7970 over the GTX 680; in <em>Crysis<\/em> the situation reverses and the GTX 680 is faster. However, the other 3 games are noticeably faster on the GTX 680. At 1920&#215;1200 the performance gap is wider than at 2560&#215;1600.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>DX11 Games<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Most of our testing emphasizes DX11 games and we bench 13. \u00a0Unfortunately, a chart with 13 games is much too long and we break our DX11 titles into &#8220;older&#8221; and &#8220;newer&#8221; which is mostly based on\u00a0the date\u00a0the games were released. \u00a0Here are our older DX11 games, first at 1920&#215;1200.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/OldDX11-19.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-29252\" title=\"OldDX11-19\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/OldDX11-19.jpg?resize=482%2C2057\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/OldDX11-19.jpg?resize=482%2C2057 482w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/OldDX11-19-70x300.jpg 70w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 482px) 100vw, 482px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And now at 2560&#215;1600:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/OldDX11-25.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-29253\" title=\"OldDX11-25\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/OldDX11-25.jpg?resize=482%2C1897\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/OldDX11-25.jpg?resize=482%2C1897 482w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/OldDX11-25-76x300.jpg 76w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/OldDX11-25-260x1024.jpg 260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 482px) 100vw, 482px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And now the &#8220;newer&#8221; DX11 games at 1920&#215;1200<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/NewDX11-19.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-29250\" title=\"NewDX11-19\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/NewDX11-19.jpg?resize=482%2C1959\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And now the same newer DX11 games at 2560&#215;1600<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/NewDX11-25.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-29251\" title=\"NewDX11-25\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/NewDX11-25.jpg?resize=482%2C1957\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/NewDX11-25.jpg?resize=482%2C1957 482w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/NewDX11-25-252x1024.jpg 252w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 482px) 100vw, 482px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>From the above 13 DX11 games, the HD 7970 is faster in 3 games &#8211; <em>BattleForge, Aliens vs. Predator <\/em>and <em>Metro 2033<\/em>. In three games, they trade blows &#8211; <em> Call of Pripyat, F1 2010 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution, <\/em>depending on the resolution. Finally, the GTX 680 is faster in seven DX11 games that we tested: <em>Lost Planet 2, H.A.W.X. 2, Crysis 2, Civilization 5, Shogun II, DiRT 3 <\/em>and<em> Batman: Arkham City.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And when we overclock, the position doesn&#8217;t change in favor of the HD 7970 and the performance gap with the GTX 680 \u00a0is rarely narrowed by more than a percent or two with overclocking. \u00a0Even at 1200MHz, the HD 7970 fails to overtake an overclocked GTX 680. \u00a0It also generally appears that the GTX 680 continues to show its strength at 1920&#215;1200 which diminishes a bit compared to the HD 7970 as the resolution goes up.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Main Overall Summary chart<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>AMD vs. Nvidia Memory Clocks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In our charts we are expressing the memory clocks as Nvidia and AMD expresses them. \u00a0You can multiply the AMD clocks by 2X to get the equivalent data rates if you wish; or cut the Nvidia clocks in half. \u00a0At any rate, Nvidia has clocked its card&#8217;s memory much higher than AMD&#8217;s. One can even\u00a0multiply Nvidia&#8217;s by 2x and AMD&#8217;s by 4x if you want the double data rate expressed so they are both equal.<\/p>\n<p>This is the master chart and it has not been made into a graph as there would be too much information to include and view. \u00a0All of the preceding charts and graphs are based on this two-part chart.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-29232\" title=\"MainChart-1\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-1.jpg?resize=560%2C480\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-1.jpg?resize=560%2C480 800w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-1-300x257.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-29233\" title=\"MainChart-2\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-2.jpg?resize=560%2C448\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-2.jpg?resize=560%2C448 800w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-2-300x240.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">These same two charts are now presented so the GTX 680 is pitted directly against the HD 7970 at each step of their similar corresponding overclock, from stock right up to their individual maximum clocks.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-29234\" title=\"MainChart-SbS-1\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-SbS-1.jpg?resize=560%2C462\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-SbS-1.jpg?resize=560%2C462 800w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-SbS-1-300x247.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-29235\" title=\"MainChart-SbS-2\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-SbS-2.jpg?resize=560%2C428\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-SbS-2.jpg?resize=560%2C428 800w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MainChart-SbS-2-300x229.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>No matter how you add it up, the GTX 680 is generally around five percent faster overall than the HD 7970; a little faster at stock and a tiny bit less when both cards are overclocked to their maximums. Both cards overclock superbly so neither card has much of an advantage over the other with headroom on stock clocks and with the stock fan profile.\u00a0 We note, as the clockspeeds increase, the performance scales nicely with both architectures although the Radeon narrowed the gap very slightly when both cards were overclocked.<\/p>\n<p>From our testing, 1200MHz\/1575MHz is not enough for a super overclocked HD 7970 to catch the overclocked reference GTX 680. \u00a0 The Sapphire &#8220;Toxic&#8221; will evidently not be fast enough to take back the performance crown for AMD. \u00a0They\u00a0would have to significantly increase the clocks of the HD 7970 to catch the GTX 680. \u00a0And no matter how you look at it, the GTX 680 has a real advantage by the lower amount of power it uses to achieve the same or slightly better performance.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s head for our conclusion.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><!--pagetitle: Conclusion &#038; The Verdict--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This has been quite an enjoyable now four-week exploration for us in evaluating our new GTX 680 since Kepler Editor&#8217;s Day in San Francisco. We are totally impressed with the cool-running Kepler chip that has such outstanding overclockability for a good price. It slots right above the HD 7970 and it offers more advantages than just price.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We see good overclockability with quietness at stock voltage and fan profile from even the regularly-cooled reference design GTX 680 as well as from the PowerColor custom-cooled HD 7970. \u00a0The GTX 680 is a better value overall than the HD 7970 if you are looking at performance and especially since the HD 7970 is still priced fifty dollars more than the GTX 680. \u00a0From this evaluation, we see that the GTX 680 will not take a back seat to the HD 7970 in overclocking and we do not see this changing in the immediate future.<\/p>\n<p>The competition is hot and AMD offers their own set of features including Eyefinity and HD3D with the competing Radeon HD 7970. However, we still expect that\u00a0AMD will be forced to drop pricing on the reference and stock-clocked HD 7970s and we also expect that they will feature more overclocked and super-overclocked versions as their process continues to mature. Of course, Nvidia&#8217;s partners will do the same and we can expect more overclocked GTX 680s.<\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned, there is a lot more coming from ABT. \u00a0You can expect more great reviews from our Mobile Tech guys and you can expect a Genius product review also this week. \u00a0And don&#8217;t forget to check our forums! \u00a0Our tech discussions are outstanding.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 60px;\">Mark Poppin<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 60px;\">ABT Senior Editor<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px; text-align: left;\">Please join us in our <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/abt\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\">Forums<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px; text-align: left;\">Become a Fan on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142', 'Facebook']);\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px; text-align: left;\">Follow us on <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech', 'Twitter']);\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px; text-align: left;\">For the latest updates from ABT, please <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?feed=rss2\" target=\"_blank\">join our RSS News Feed<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px; text-align: left;\">Join our Distributed Computing teams<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 120px;\">\n<li>Folding@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 164304<\/li>\n<li>SETI@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 138705<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1', 'World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech']);\" target=\"_blank\">World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=29157\"><img decoding=\"async\" align=top title=\"Author: Mark Poppin\" src=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/GTX680ImageLinkfinalPt2.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":29286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2533,7814,5],"tags":[72,5153,5122,5012,121,292,5162,87],"class_list":["post-29157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abt-news","category-articles","category-gaming","tag-amd","tag-evaluation","tag-gtx-680","tag-hd-7970","tag-nvidia","tag-overclocking","tag-overvolting","tag-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}