upgrading from 9600gt to 680

G

gordonie

New Member
Hello,

I will be upgrading to a gtx 680 as soon as newegg restocks them, and I have a few questions.

First, to replace the 9600gt I am currently using with a 680, I simply just turn everything off, replace it, start windows and do a fresh install of the drivers correct? Are there any complications I could run into upgrading from such an old card to a new one?

Secondly, there are so many different 680's to choose from. I would like to hear everyones opinion as to which brand 680 is the best and why. Like the actual card itself wether it is lowder and cooler or not, how the software side of things are like the drivers for that brand, support, everything. I have no problem if you prefer one over the other but simply saying, "Asus ones are the best just because" is not very informative.

And finally, I might have plans in the future to go into SLI. Now I know there are many complications with sli and I have done alot of research, but if I do go with an sli setup, no more than 2 cards, should I stick to reference cards that vent air out the back or use non-reference cards which do not? I do have a coolermaster HAF X which has over 6 ginormous fans in total, what are your opinions here? Also, I have an Asus z68 so I would not be stacking the cards one on top of another, I could place the second card down a few slots to give better air flow.

thanks guys,
 
jonnyp11

jonnyp11

New Member
what is your power supply? and i'd get the EVGA, otherwise ASUS, then probably between MSI and Gigabyte. (EVGA is probably the most popular and trusted brand in general)
 
claptonman

claptonman

New Member
Take out the 9600gt, replace it with the 680, and load up windows. Uninstall the old drivers and down the new ones. Install, and you're good to go.

The brands of the cards do not matter much. The chips are the same, each company just has different cooling solutions, and some pre-overclock them, which you could do yourself easily.

You said you want to SLI in the future, so you'd definitely want a card that sucks in air and expels it out the back, rather than one that sucks in air and throws it back into the case. Right now, all the 680s out (at least on newegg) expel air out of the back, which it what you want. Here's an example of a 580 that expels air back into the case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125364

When it sucks in air, the air blows on the heatsink, then out into the case. With the ones with a cover on it, the heat blows past the heatsink and out the back.

Right now, all the 680s (again, on newegg) have the same core clock and same cooling style. I would go with either the best priced or the best warranty.

But I'd stay away from Zotac. Off-brand China-made.
 
G

gordonie

New Member
got it thank you thank you.

So even with a really good case with high air flow stick with cards that blow the air out the back? I guess it makes sense, in sli the gain in cooling that non reference cards would have would ne negated by an increase in overall case temp no matter how good the air flow might be, unless ofcourse its ridiculous lol!
 
claptonman

claptonman

New Member
Even if the airflow was really good, it would still be moving hot air from the GPUs past the CPU, RAM, etc, making them hotter.
 
G

gordonie

New Member
So why do people even buy non reference cards with fans that blow into the case at all? It would seem that making the entire system hotter just for maybe making one GPU a little cooler would be a little pointless.

thank you rosewood
 
Spesh

Spesh

New Member
gordonie said:
So why do people even buy non reference cards with fans that blow into the case at all? It would seem that making the entire system hotter just for maybe making one GPU a little cooler would be a little pointless.

thank you rosewood
Click to expand...

If your CPU was watercooled, it would make no difference.
 
claptonman

claptonman

New Member
gordonie said:
So why do people even buy non reference cards with fans that blow into the case at all? It would seem that making the entire system hotter just for maybe making one GPU a little cooler would be a little pointless.

thank you rosewood
Click to expand...

My CPU sits cooler than my GPU, even though my GPU blows air into the computer. At load my CPU gets to around 35-40c, while my graphic card gets to around 60c. As long as you have a good CPU cooler, there isn't a problem. Its much more difficult to get an aftermarket GPU cooler than a CPU cooler.
 
FuryRosewood

FuryRosewood

Active Member
^ this

People think the case is sealed, and the airflow is stagnant, honestly its evacuating the hot air quick enough in most cases that it does not matter.
 
K

Kewl Munky

New Member
I always goes with EVGA. Great warranty policies, they release some drivers for games before nvidia even does, they have their own overclocking utilities, and to top it all off they even have 24/7 phone support. Win win win
 
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