EVGA GTX 670 FTW review

Let me just start with this: this card is a beast.

It is truly an amazing card.

When it first came in the mail and I unboxed it, I was shocked at just how good looking this card was. This card is by far one of the best looking cards out there. It is sleek black that is very shiny. On the front of the shroud it also has "FTW edition" in blue. I really, really like that. It is kind of a way to show off your card. Its a way to say "that card is for the win." It also has "GEFORCE GTX" In large green block letters on the top, this is what you will see if you have a case window. I have a case window, and it puts a smile on my face when I look in and see Geforce GTX.

Every EVGA GTX 670 FTW is hand picked from the batch. This is because it is EVGA's signature 670. Each and every FTW edition is the top of the line, from there they factory overclock it. This makes each FTW special. No two FTWs are the same, which I kind of like. Its nice to know my card is unique in its one way.

It came with some stickers, a case badge (which I have put on my case), a drivers CD, a massive poster,  the installation guides, and some powersupply connectors.


The card itself, is rather large. No, not the biggest out there, but it is pretty big, being dual slot and about 10 inches long. It barely fit in my Antec 902 V3 case. When I say barely, I mean it. I had to move fans, unplug wires, reroute wires, and slide it in at an angle.

Off topic but looking back this was funny: When installing the GTX 670 FTW, I accidentally unpluged the cable that connected the case power button to the motherboard, so when I went to turn it on  nothing happened, I panicked. Completely overlooked the connection, until about 20 minutes later when  saw it. That was a huge relief, and when I powered the case on everything worked perfectly.

Alright, back on topic.

After installing it and installing the latest drivers I decided to try one of the most graphically demanding games out there, Battlefield 3.  I set everything to ultra, 16x anti aliasing, anything that could be set to the highest was set to the highest, resolution at 1920 by 1200, full 3D, and a second monitor that was opened to skype chat.

The average was 65 FPS. Which is insane. That is amazing for one card, no sli.  I played for about 3 hours, towards the end of which the card started to get a little hot. I set my custom fan settings and it came right back down to 50c from 85c. That cooling is all due to the massive blower fan and the fact that the FTW uses the gtx 680 PCB. The blower fan on the FTW is far larger than regular 670s. This results in stunning cooling. Another great feature about this card is that 98 percent of the hot air from inside the card is blown through the card and outside the case. This means the card will not heat up any more components (for the most part) with its exhaust. The GTX 690 exhausts all its hot air inside the case, which when the exhaust air is 90c, can heat up the case and internal components quick.  I am very impressed with the cooling of this card.

This card is factory overclocked to the clocks of a gtx 680. But it doesn't stop there. Thanks to nvidia, Depending on how cool the card is it will overclock its self even farther. The base clock on a FTW is 1006 MHz. While playing battlefield 3 I saw it go up to 1330 mhz. Thats also amazing. It overclocks its self based on temperature, so if you were to get a gtx 680 water block (since the FTW uses the 680 PCB) you could overclock this card massively

I decided to run the Windows Experience Index on my computer just to see how the GTX 670 FTW stacks up. It is on a 1-7.9 scale. With 7.9 being the highest. This card got a 7.9 by its self. I was shocked when I saw that number. Not even my 3770k gets a 7.9. In fact, my 3770k gets a 7.8. That goes to show you just how good the 670 FTW is.

The software that comes with it, EVGA's hand crafted "Precision X" is also very good. Working with it is a breeze, and overclocking is also a breeze. You can set GPU voltage, fan speed, core/ memory clock speeds, even have a heads up display of your card information ie: heat. I will not be overclocking my card for quite sometime, I do not see it necessary as of now. This card is already a beast.

Another plus about this card is that it came from EVGA. EVGA has amazing technical support, forums, and amazing warranties. This card came with a 3 year warranty. That is a really nice thing to have, just in case something goes wrong.

There is only one downside to this card: it doesnt have a backplate. Granted its not needed, but its nice to have. Only a small thing, and doesnt inhibit performance at all. It is merely for protection of the back of the card.

I cant wait to pick up another EVGA GTX 670 FTW. I can only imagine what two FTWs can do.

In conclusion, this card really is For The Win. This card has amazing cooling, an amazing look, EVGA's backing, amazing clocks, and can run the latest games with ease.

                             This is one of the stickers that came with the FTW, and yes, that is my case.

This is my card. As you can see it looks amazing. You can also see the "FTW" on the card, and the massive blower fan. Sorry about my brothers knee getting in the picture.

Here is what the "GEFORCE GTX" Looks like from the outside looking in. Yes, that is my computer.

All in all, this card really is For The Win. This card is amazing. I highly recommend any high end user to buy this card.

Here is a link to all its specs: http://www.evga.com/products/pdf/02G-P4-2678.pdf

GTX 680 SLI vs GTX 690 vs GTX 670 FTW SLI

Ahh this debate again. Seems people cant find the answer, but here it is.

The fact of the matter is that two 680s are faster than one 690. This is true for several reasons.

The most prominant being the different 680 models. You can buy two 4gb Vram 680s. That doubles the vram of the 690 right there. But lets say you dont have the money to do that.

Then you are stuck with going with two 2gb 680s. But they are still faster.

This is true based on two solid facts.

1. The GTX 690 is two 680s smushed together on one PCIe slot. This means you are trying to feed double the amount of information through one slot. Its logical thinking that two cards spread out over two slots will be faster than two cards on one slot.

2. You can overclock the two 680s to way past their factory clock. This means you are overclocking two 680s. But on the 690 you are bottlecapped on how much you can overclock. This means that the two 680s rain supreme again.

How much faster are two 2gb 680s? only about 2-3 percent. Not much, but they are the victors.

Not only that, but the gtx 690 has massive cooling issues. Instead of the heat blowing out the back of the case like a 670/80 does. it blows in the case. Yup, all the extra heat trapped in your case. GTX 680 is the clear winner.

The GTX 680 (base model) is priced at 500 USD

The GTX 690 is priced at 1050 USD.
_____


If you want the best bang for your buck SLI the GTX 670 FTW edition. Dont get all scared because its a 670.

The 670 FTW edition is actually a 670 at the clocks of a 680, with the same amount of vram, the same cooling system. You are only loosing 200 CUDA cores.

So the question then becomes how much slower are 2 gtx 670 FTWs compared to two gtx 680s?

about 2-5 percent. Yup 2-5 percent. And 200 dollars cheaper if you are sli-ing two FTWs instead of two 680s.

So that means that two 670 FTWs are almost the same as a gtx 690. They are about 6-9 percent slower (without overclock) so for 2 hundred dollars less you get minimal performace drop.

I have a gtx 670 ftw in my case now. And my gosh its amazing. 70 FPS on battlefield 3 will all settings to ultra.

Beware: the gtx 670 FTW is no normal 670. It has the same dimensions as a 680. Just beware of that before you put it in a small case and find out it doesnt fit. This is because the gtx 670 FTW has the cooling of a 680. Making it run very cool.

The gtx 670 FTW comes factory overclocked to the specs of a gtx 680. BUT its memory clock is actually HIGHER than a 680. So your 2gb 670 FTW will have better memory than a base 2gb 680.

I call the FTW the GTX 675. yes this is what I refer to it in conversation. Because it is a 680, just with 200 less cuda cores, and a higher memory clock. Hence the name: GTX 675.

The GTX 670 FTW is priced at 407 USD.

The GTX 670 FTW also has the best name of a GPU out there.
_______

Heres a link to gtx 690s: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600315498%20600328254&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20GTX%20690

Heres a link to gtx 680s: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600315498%20600311819&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20GTX%20680

Heres a link to the GTX 670 FTW: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787

Logitech g510

This keyboard is simply amazing.

Im using it to type this right now, and this is the best keyboard I have ever used. I think its even better than the Razer Black Widow. This board is incredible.

The keys just feel right, they are perfect. Granted they take a little bit of getting used to, but my god are they amazing.

This board also has 18 "G" keys. You can make these keys do anything you want. Macro/ any computer function/ anything. They are super helpful in all games, granted a little cheap. But hey, I take whatever edge I can get.

This board also has an LED screen that can display whatever you want. For example, as of right now since im not gaming I have it displaying my CPU and RAM usage. When im gaming I have it show whatever stats I want it to.

The Logitech g510 features backlit keys. I love this. Not only that, but you can make the color of the backlighting whatever color you want. I have them a nice blue to go along with my SteelSeries mouse that also glows blue. I dont even need to have a light on anymore, all the keys are perfectly visible while backlit.

There is only one thing that I absolutely HATE about this board. The fact that there is no way to tell if the caps lock key is on or off. It sounds small but its incredibly annoying at times. I wish there was some sort of light on it the same way my macbook has.

The g510 also has built in audio, so you can plug in your headphones right into the board, which is a nice feature.

Overall I highly recommend this board. Im addicted to it. I can type and game with incredible ease and comfort.

Heres a link to the board: http://www.logitech.com/en-us/gaming/mice-keyboard-combos/gaming-keyboard-g510

Heres what the board looks like:

Graphene Processors

Graphene processors are soon to replace Silicon processors. They only problem is taming this beast.

Graphene was discovered back in 04, and ever since then CPU manufacturer have been all over it.

You think your 3770k Overclocked to 5.0 GHZ is fast? Well, I think graphene at 100GHZ is a lot, lot faster. And yes, that is real.

We are in the begging stages of this new material, and for all we know molybdenite may overthrow grapehene.

There is one major problem with graphene and that is that we cant turn it off... we have yet to figure out how to. But thats okay, right?

The worlds first grapehene processor has already been made. And my god does it look amazing.


Heres a link to the related article: http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-blogs/maxs-cool-beans-blog/4370188/BYT-ON---World-s-first-graphene-based-processor--graphene-based-FPGAs-to-follow-

See, that processor looks incredible.

World of Tanks

World of tanks is BY FAR my game of the year.

This game is a game where you control and drive a tank, and the objective is to either eliminate all enemy tanks or take their base.

Most people would stop there and say "that sounds boring."

But its not.

There are 5 classes of vehicles: Light, Medium, Heavy, Tank Destroyer, and SPG( AKA artillery) My personal favorite is the medium class. Fast, but has enough of a punch.

But the game doesnt stop there. There are 4 (soon to be 5) nations. American, Russian, German, and French. Each nation has about 30 tanks if not more. The tanks go from tier 1 through 10. I play the Russian mediums. I currently have the tier 9 Russian medium and will have the tier 10 Russian medium when it is released.

But it doesnt stop there. Every tank is based on historical documents. For example, the Russian t-54 has 120 MM of frontal armor sloped at 45? degrees in real life and 200mm frontal turret armor. In game its exactly the same.

All the guns have different penetration values and different damage values.

The game gets even more in depth. The angle of armor and slope of armor lets you bounce enemy shells that would normally penetrate. Life and death could mean 2 degrees of turning your tank so that the enemy shell will bounce.

But it gets even more in depth. You have crew in your tank. This varies for every tank but I will use the commander, loader, driver, and gunner as examples.

Say your loader gets hit. Your loading speed is now reduced significantly. Say your driver gets hit, now you cant maneuver nearly as well. It goes on and on.

It gets even better. Your tank has modules. Say your ammo rack gets hit, you either instantly explode or loading time is reduced. If your engine gets hit it can either light on fire, die for a short time, or just get damaged. If your track gets hit, you cant move for a short amount of time.

When you first unlock a tank it is stock. But as you play you get Experience and with that experience you can unlock the next turret, tracks, engine, gun, or radio. In whatever order you want. This experience also makes your crew better. When you first buy a tank your crew starts at 50%. As you play they gain experience, and get higher levels. the higher the percentage, the better they perform.

This game is truly amazing. And it is a great amount of fun. From playing tanks like the King Tiger to the M4 sherman, from the KV3 to the IS3, from the T-54 to the Patton.

I highly, highly recommend this game.

Here is a link to the game: http://worldoftanks.com/

Antec 902 gaming case

Its been a while, but with time on my hands I am back.

I own the Antec 902 gaming case. In it i have a 3770k, Asus P8Z77-V LK, Gskill sniper 2x4 at 1866, SmartSeries thermaltake 850W power supply, seagate 500gb at 7200 RPM, and a Nvidia GTX 670.

I call this case the Hurricane. It has a massive helicopter fan on top, and another fan in back. There is also an option to put a fan in on the see through side of the case, but I do not have a fan installed on that side.

That top fan creates a lot of airflow, and it is super nice to have. There are also fan speed settings right on the case, but I only use the "high" setting since the 3770k gets hot.

There are 2 USB 2x2.0 slots in the front and only 1 USB 3.0 on the front. That is a let down. Even more so since my LK has 4 USB 3.0 slots. One USB 3.0 in the front is actually a huge let down. That is probably the cases biggest con.

This case also glows blue. When it is dark, this case looks amazing. Absolutely amazing. It pairs perfectly with the blue glow of my  Logitech G510 gaming keyboard.

I highly recommend this case. It keeps everything nice and cool, and it looks amazing.

Its cheap too, only 51 dollars US. Heres a link to the case: http://store.antec.com/Product/benclosure/nine-hundred-two/0-761345-45005-8.aspx

This isnt my build, but it lets you see just how amazing this case looks when the glow is on.