Introduction

ASUS GTX 680 DCII TOP Market Segment Analysis Radeon

HD 6970 Radeon

HD 7850 Radeon

HD 7870 GeForce

GTX 580 Radeon

HD 7950 Radeon

HD 7970 GeForce

GTX 680 ASUS GTX

680 DCII TOP Radeon

HD 6990 GeForce

GTX 590 Shader Units 1536 1024 1280 512 1792 2048 1536 1536 2x 1536 2x 512 ROPs 32 32 32 48 32 32 32 32 2x 32 2x 48 Graphics Processor Cayman Pitcairn Pitcairn GF110 Tahiti Tahiti GK104 GK104 2x Cayman 2x GF110 Transistors 2640M 2800M 2800M 3000M 4310M 4310M 3500M 3500M 2x 2640M 2x 3000M Memory Size 2048 MB 2048 MB 2048 MB 1536 MB 3072 MB 3072 MB 2048 MB 2048 MB 2x 2048 MB 2x 1536 MB Memory Bus Width 256 bit 256 bit 256 bit 384 bit 384 bit 384 bit 256 bit 256 bit 2x 256 bit 2x 384 bit Core Clock 880 MHz 860 MHz 1000 MHz 772 MHz 800 MHz 925 MHz 1006 MHz+ 1058 MHz+ 830 MHz 607 MHz Memory Clock 1375 MHz 1200 MHz 1200 MHz 1002 MHz 1250 MHz 1375 MHz 1502 MHz 1502 MHz 1250 MHz 855 MHz Price $340 $240 $330 $380 $380 $450 $500 $520 $700 $750

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680 was introduced just weeks ago and has taken the enthusiast market by storm. It offers great performance at significantly reduced power consumption. NVIDIA's dynamic overclocking algorithm works well and provides a nice speed boost for the card. We are now seeing the first custom GTX 680 board designs pop up, the ASUS GTX 680 Direct CU II is the first to reach our labs.ASUS has chosen to go triple slot with their GTX 680 Direct CU II TOP. The triple slot DirectCU concept has been introduced a while ago and has been very successful with users who have large cases and want to focus on better thermal performance and reduced noise levels.In addition to the new cooling solution, ASUS has increased the clock speeds of the card significantly. Base clock is now at 1058 MHz, and the card will ramp up to 1280 MHz when conditions allow. Pricing is increased by a reasonable amount, ASUS is asking $520 for their card.