GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard [RESOLVED]

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GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard [RESOLVED]

Post by sushi »

I am thinking about getting a (expensive) new gaming computer.

So regarding the graphiccard, would you guys take
a) nVideo GeForce GTX 680, 2048 MB GDDr5, PCI-E
or
b) the more expensive (+110 EUR) Gainward GeForce GTX 6800 Phantom, 4096 MB GDDR5

analogue question regarding soundcard (+89 EUR
a) onbord 7.1 sound
or
b) creative sound blaster recon 3D fatal1ty professional (+ 89 EUR), or an even more expensive soundcard.

While I am willing to spend some substantial money on the computer I do not want to waist it on stupid things that do not improve the systems gaming performance.

third question: does it make any sense to take a more powerfull powerunit (trusting it might run smother/ with less sound since not running under full load)
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard

Post by Jokerle »

Definitely external soundcard! I have brought the Asus Xonar DX. Its amazing with a nice headset. Impressive 7.1 emulation. I was literally blasted away by the sound of bf3 tank shells after switching (I also had to lower the volume a lot, lol)

110 euro extra for 4Gb GPU is not worth it, if you dont run resolutions higher than 1080p resolution.
Not sure if the Geforce 680 is worth it penny-per-performance wise, I have bought 2 months ago the gtx 670. 680 is definitely faster, though (Paired with what CPU? at least sandy bridge generation I hope)

What is a more powerful power unit for you? I found that quality is worth the extra euros here. 500-600W high quality should be enough.
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard

Post by TheYonderGod »

Unless you're running at higher than 1080p, don't get the 4GB.

Definitely yes get a sound card. Not that fatality crap though, basically anything you see with that branding is just a gimmick to trick uniformed people.
What headphones do you have though? If you don't already have a nice pair, save some money on the sound card if you need to and get some headphones.
Go for a Creative Z, Titanium HD, or Asus Essence ST/STX. Or even just a Xonar DG/DS/DX is a HUGE improvement over onboard without being too expensive.

If you are super into quietness, then yes, getting a more powerful PSU with a fan that turns off when it's at low load is an....okay idea. Personally I think it's a huge waste of money though.
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard

Post by knorren »

About the powersupply, I could have bought a 600W when I got my new computer but instead I took the Zalman 750W (heatpipecooled) for three reasons. The 600W was out of stock, the 750W ensures me that it will run smooth and stable and finally, the difference in price is so small.

About the memory on the GTX680, well if you really want the best, why don't you get the GTX Titan! ;)
If there is one thing that BF3 uses alot of it's memory, both physical RAM and VRAM so if I had the money I would go for the 4GB. I actually found that the price difference is more like 70€ than the 110€ you are talking about.

Soundcard, well that's a question for the gods.
I play with my onboard for the gamesounds with my 2.1 system and then I have a Sennheiser USB G4ME headset for Teamspeak, so in other words, I'm using two soundcards at the same time. :)
I truly recommend the Sennheiser PC headsets, they are comfortable and the sound is crystal clear.
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard

Post by expandas »

Regarding power supplies, you should always pick quality over quantity. Your run-of-the-mill GTX680 rig should only need around 500w of power at stock voltages, 750w if you plan to SLI. A higher quality PSU will be more efficient at delivering power and quieter than the competition.
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard

Post by Necromancer »

a 650W power supply should suffice for any future single GPU system.
as everyone said above, quality of the PSU is more important. it should last you many many years and a high efficiency will save you some money during the years of work.

about GPUs - im not up to date, but i trust the THG suggestions for GPUs (best GPU for the money articles)
i doubt a 4GB card will give you any advantages in the near future. if im not wrong most games capped at 1 gig of date regardless of how much VRAM you got. It'll mostly come in fact when running very high qualities (1080+) which aren't popular today. and by the time they will be the technology will already be further ahead. your GPU will be able to handle those, but probably there will be a more cheaper GPUs that will give the same results in the market.
so if you ask me i think its a waist of money. i'd rather buy a GPU that costs less, and upgrade it sooner then if i'd buy a super duper 4GB GPU for more money.

edit:
get SSD for your operation system and an SSD to install your games on. that would give you a nice boost in loading times.
Last edited by Necromancer on Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard

Post by .Sup »

Get the most expensive card on the market.

But seriously I think GTX670 is more than enough for BF3, if you are like me where highest resolution makes everything too small for poorly seeing eyes.

Addon sound card is one of the things you don't need, if you want it for gaming and movies only. Every motherboard you buy has a very decent onboard audio with all the gimmick effect you get in addon cards.

Better headphones will make more hearable difference. But if you want a cheap unit with highest resolution and detail you can get for the money, about 100€ priced ESS sabre based external DAC send me a PM.
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard

Post by Ghoul »

CPUbenchmark.net click the video card tab there you will see the performance vs cost of all video card on the market. As for power supply they all fail eventually. Corsair has a beautiful 1000w psu with an unheard of 8 year warranty for around $125 with mail in rebate. I also have the fatality sound card you mention and am very pleased with it.
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard

Post by Bock »

If you are stuck on getting a 680, then go with the 2GB card. Yes, some games are starting to use more than 2GB of vram, but those are demanding games at 1080p or higher with 8x msaa enabled, which a single 680 can't run smoothly regardless of memory buffer size. See Crysis 3 for example.

That said, have you considered a 7970 from AMD? It ties, if not beats, the 680 in performance, and can typically be found for a lot cheaper (at least here in the states). Plus you get a 3 GB buffer standard and a lot better memory bandwidth.
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard

Post by zorplex »

TheYonderGod wrote:Definitely yes get a sound card. Not that fatality crap though, basically anything you see with that branding is just a gimmick to trick uniformed people.
What headphones do you have though? If you don't already have a nice pair, save some money on the sound card if you need to and get some headphones.
Go for a Creative Z, Titanium HD, or Asus Essence ST/STX. Or even just a Xonar DG/DS/DX is a HUGE improvement over onboard without being too expensive.
Normally I would agree about the fatality branded hardware, but the Creative cards aren't bad. The fatality line is just a rebranded X-Fi series which was their premier gaming cards. As far as I can tell, the Z and fatality series cards are virtually identical but they have different external accessories. I really like the front bay panel the fataility comes with and the software has some gaming options not available on the Z. It's also cheaper. Save the money and spend the difference on some nice headphones. However, do NOT get multi speaker surround sound headphones. Get a nice pair of stereo headphones and use the software emulated surround sound.
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard

Post by Jokerle »

zorplex wrote:ave the money and spend the difference on some nice headphones. However, do NOT get multi speaker surround sound headphones. Get a nice pair of stereo headphones and use the software emulated surround sound.
A strong point!

AMD just lunched a new card (I think I read it somewhere), maybe there is a price drop the next 1-2 weeks?
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard

Post by sushi »

Thanks for the feedback. I will do some thinking.
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard

Post by knorren »

zorplex wrote:ave the money and spend the difference on some nice headphones. However, do NOT get multi speaker surround sound headphones. Get a nice pair of stereo headphones and use the software emulated surround sound.
[/quote]
That is exactly what the Sennheiser are without the Sennheiser G4ME software. In the software you can choose:
- 2 channels
- 4 channels
- 5.1 Surround
- 7.1 Surround

For me the 5.1 Surround works like a blast in BF3 and TS, sounds like everyone on TS is sitting in my room. ;)
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard

Post by iRawPeanut »

7.1 Surround is broken in BF3, I hope they'll fix that in BF4..


Anyway, no need to go for a 680 on 1080p, I'd say go for the 7970 best bang for the buck.
If you want nVidia go for the 670, but an OC version ofcourse ;)

About sound cards.. I never really used them, so I can't say anything about that
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Re: GTX680 2 or 4 GiG? Onboard sound or soundcard [RESOLVED]

Post by sushi »

Thanks again computer ordered
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