Nvidia’s GTX 680 arrives! “Faster, Smoother, Richer” – is it enough to take the Performance Crown?

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i7 920 reference 2.66 GHz, overclocked to 4.2 GHz using the 21x multiplier; Turbo is off and HyperThreading is on.
• Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P (latest BIOS, PCIe 2.0 specification; CrossFire/SLI 16x+16x).
• 6 GB OCZ DDR3 PC 1800 Kingston RAM (3×2 GB, tri-channel at 1200MHz; 2×2 GB supplied by Kingston)
• GeForce GTX 680, 2 GB (1006/3000MHz and also overclockesd, 1156/3025MHz), supplied by Nvidia
• GeForce GTX 590, 3 GB reference clocks, Galaxy clocks (607/1707 MHz), supplied by Nvidia.
• GeForce GTX 580, 1.5 GB reference design and clocks (772/2004 MHz), supplied by Nvidia
• PowerColor Radeon HD 7970, 3 GB with custom cooling at stock clocks (925/1375MHz) and also overclocked (1100/1400MHz)
• AMD Radeon HD 6990, 4GB reference design and stock clocked (850/1250MHz), supplied by AMD
• AMD Radeon HD 6970, 2 GB reference design and stock clocks (880/1375MHz), supplied by AMD
• Onboard Realtek Audio
• 2 x 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 hard drives; one for AMD and one for Nvidia
  
• Thermaltake ToughPowerXT 775W power supply unit supplied by Thermaltake
• Thermaltake Element G Case supplied by Thermaltake
• Frio OCK CPU cooler, supplied by Thermaltake
• Philips DVD SATA writer
• HP LP3065 2560×1600 thirty inch LCD. 
• Three ASUS VG236 23-inch 1920×1080 120Hz LCDs supplied by ASUS/Nvidia and used for Surround/Eyefinity 5760×1080 resolution.
• Asus VG278 27″- 120Hz 1080p display and 3D Vision 2 Glasses supplied by Nvidia/ASUS.
  

Test Configuration – Software

• NVIDIA GeForce 296.10 WHQL drivers for GTX 580 and GTX 590 and 300.99 release drivers for the GTX 680; High Quality
• AMD 12.2 WHQL Catalyst drivers; High Quality – optimizations off; use application settings
• Windows 7 64-bit; very latest updates
• DirectX November 2010
• All games are patched to their latest versions.
• VSync is forced off in the control panel.
• AA enabled as noted in games; all in-game settings are specified with 16xAF always applied; 16xAF forced in control panel for Crysis.
• All results show average, minimum and maximum frame rates except as noted.
• Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games.
• Windows 7 64, all DX10 titles were run under DX10 render paths; DX11 titles under DX11 render paths.

The Benchmarks

Synthetic

• Vantage
• 3DMark 11
• Heaven 3.0

• Wolfenstein

• Batman: Arkham Asylum (3D & PhysX tests only)
• Mafia 2 (3D & PhysX tests only)
• Super Street Fighter IV, Arcade Edition (3D Vision comparison only)
• Left 4 Dead 2
• Serious Sam 3 BFE

• Crysis
• Far Cry 2
• Just Cause 2
• World-in-Conflict
• Resident Evil 5

• BattleForge
• Alien vs. Predator
• STALKER, Call of Pripyat
• Metro 2033
• F1 2010
• H.A.W.X. 2
• Lost Planet 2
• Civilization V
• Total War: Shogun II
• Crysis 2
• Dirt 3
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Batman: Arkham City

Before we get to the GTX 680’s performance in gaming, let’s look at overclocking, power draw and temperatures.