Performance tests

Testbed:

• Intel Core i7-3960X (o/c to 4 GHz) CPU
• ASUS Sabertooth X79 motherboard on the Intel X79 chipset
• MSI X79A-GD45(8B) motherboard on the Intel X79 chipset
• 8GB of 1866MHz DDR3 SDRAM from Corsair
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 3TB SATA2 HDD
• WD Caviar Blue WD10EZEX 1TB SATA2 HDD
• Enermax Platimax 1200W PSU
• Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, DirectX 11
• 30" Dell UltraSharp U3011 monitor
• VSync disabled
• AMD Catalyst 12.7beta; NVIDIA Drivers 304.79

Benchmarks:

• 3DMark 11 (FutureMark) — DirectX 11.0, Performance settings.
• Aliens vs. Predator (Rebellion/SEGA) — DirectX 11.0, Shaders 5.0, Very High settings, run from in game.
• Crysis Warhead (Crytek/EA) — Cargo, DirectX 10.0, Shaders 4.0, Very High settings, batch file, timedemo available by e-mail request.
• Crysis 2 Maximum Edition (Crytek/EA) — DirectX 11.0, Very High settings, Central Park level, launched with the Adrenaline Crysis 2 Benchmark Tool.
• DiRT: Showdown (Codemasters) — DirectX 11.0, Ultra High settings, launched as follows: dirt showdown.exe -benchmark example_benchmark.xml.
• F1 2010 (Codemasters) — DirectX 11.0, Ultra High settings, run as follows: "formulaone.exe -benchmark example_benchmark.xml". Game provided by NVIDIA.
• Hard Reset (Flying Wild Hog) — DirectX 10.0, built-in benchmark, maximum quality settings.
• Heaven Benchmark 2.0 (Unigine) — DirectX 11.0, High settings.
• Just Cause 2 (Avalanche Studios/Eidos Interactive) — DirectX 11.0, Super High settings, run from in game.
• Metro 2033 (4A Games/THQ) — DirectX 11.0, Super High settings, PhysX disabled, run from in game.
• Total War: Shogun 2 (Creative Assembly/SEGA) — DirectX 11.0, maximum quality settings.

In our i3D Speed GTX 670 was tested both at reference GPU clock rate (915 MHz) and increased GPU clock rate (1084 MHz). All today's graphics cards work at clock rates at nearly 1100 MHz, except for the Zotac one. According to our tests it gives a 3% performance boost only, so we won't take it into account.

Final thoughts

The capability rating compares each graphics card with GeForce GT 430, which is considered a baseline, or 100%. The rating is based on both synthetic and gaming results and shows, as the name implies, what a product is capable of.

The usability rating is obtained by dividing each card's capability rating by its price. It basically shows whether a given product is over or underpriced, considering what it can do, and thus how reasonable it is to buy it.

The complete ratings can be found in our i3Dspeed. Below are just the parts relevant to today's review.

Sorted by capability (high to low)

As you see, the overclocked GeForce GTX 670 has the same capability rating as the reference GeForce GTX 680. (And there's even more to expect from Palit GeForce GTX 670 JetStream.) Judging by this, a regular user probably doesn't need a GeForce GTX 680 if they can buy an overclocked GeForce GTX 670 with the same bells and whistles.

Sorted by usability (high to low)

The overclocked GeForce GTX 670 is the leader in its group. Just bear in mind that we assume that both reference and factory overclocked solutions cost the same.

ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II Top is definitely an overclocker's choice, with the factory overclocking and matching utilities. Unlike other DirectCU cards, this one occupies only 2 slots, providing more space for your PCI cards.

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Overclock Edition is also an excellent product, although it's clock rates are a bit lower. It has a noiseless cooling system and is based on the Gigabyte's Durable PCB that heats up less.

Palit GeForce GTX 670 JetStream is factory overclocked, catching up with a reference Palit GeForce GTX 680. Moreover, the graphics card has an excellent bundle, with two quite useful adapters.

Zotac GeForce GTX 670 AMP! Edition is the most factory overclocked of the four, easily outperforming even the GeForce GTX 680! The only disadvantage is that the cooling system is somewhat noisy.

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