Zotac GTX670 AMP! Edition Review

$ingh

Broken In
*i.imgur.com/Iwu3f.jpg​


Introduction:-



It is always good to have the fastest graphics card around but in reality the higher the cost the smaller the audience that can afford it. Can’t you get your hands on the GeForce GTX 680? Don’t fret, the GeForce GTX 670 is NVIDIA’s next best thing, and it delivers impressive gaming performance without inducing sticker shock. Nvidia has built is a slightly detuned version of the fastest single GPU based graphics card in the world. With a small reduction in the CUDA Cores and core clock speeds, Nvidia launches its Geforce GTX670.



Today we’re looking at the Zotac Geforce GTX670 Amp Edition that packs 3.5 billion transistors and features seven out of eight SMX (Streaming Multiprocessor) units fully enabled, for a total of 1,344 stream processors, just 192 fewer than that of the GeForce GTX 680’s GPU. There are 112 texture units, and 32 ROPs, the latter matching the GTX 680’s total. The stock base and boost clocks of this card are 915MHz and 980MHz, respectively. ZOTAC decided it could do better and raised the clocks to 1,098MHz (base) and 1,176MHz (boost). The memory subsystem on the 680 was effectively grafted onto the GTX 670, unchanged: There are 2GB of GDDR5 running on a 256-bit memory bus. ZOTAC overclocked the memory from 1,502MHz to 1,652MHz. Fitted with two large fans and massive heatsink, the cooler should do a pretty awesome job, but as with everything here, we need to put it to the test before deciding.






*i.imgur.com/sEq2t.jpg





Block Diagram of Kepler :-


One of the key design principles when designing Kepler was "Faster" and to enable this NVIDIA have developed what they call an "Extreme SM architecture" that contains (per GPU) 1536 CUDA core which offer improved instruction throughput, texturing and geometry processing over previous GPUS. In Kepler, or the GTX 680 variants, we have various hardware blocks which perform specific tasks with the GPC being the master high level hardware block with dedicated resource for rasterization, shading, texturing and compute.




*i.imgur.com/JxjCz.jpg​


Specifications:-


• Interface: PCI Express 3.0* x16 (Compatible with 1.1)
• GPU: GeForce® GTX 670
• Core clock: 1098 MHz (base) – 1176 MHz (boost)
• Stream Processors: 1334
• Memory Clock: 6608 MHz
• Memory Size: 2GB
• Memory Interface: 256-bit
• Memory Type: DDR5
• DirectX: DirectX® 11
• OpenGL: OpenGL® 4.2
• Ports:
• DVI X 2 (DVI-I and DVI-D)
• HDMI-Ports X 1
• DisplayPort-Ports X 1
• VGA (With included DVI-to-VGA adapter)
• Max Resolution: 2560 x 1600
• SLI Supported: Yes (3-way)





Looks and Impression:-



*i.imgur.com/rmBwC.jpg


*i.imgur.com/fR3mO.jpg


*i.imgur.com/7TJDY.jpg


*i.imgur.com/B9QEO.jpg


*i.imgur.com/JzxBG.jpg​


Vrm Design And Heatsink:-



*i.imgur.com/jWug6.jpg


*i.imgur.com/Sygq1.jpg



Accessories & Content:-



*i.imgur.com/TtlFN.jpg​



Test setup and Testing Methodology:-




All the testing is done inside the cabinet with Amd rig and processor overclocked to 4.5GHz, Rest configuration is mentioned below:-

Hardware:-


  • AMD BULLDOZER FX 8120 @4. 5Ghz
  • ASROCK 990FX EXTREME 4
  • KINGSTON 8GB 1600 CL10
  • CORSAIR FORCE 3 60GB SSD
  • ZOTAC GTX670 AMP EDITION
  • COOLER MASTER TPC-812
  • SEASONIC PLATINUM 1000W


Software:-

  • Windows 7 64bit Service pack 1
  • Driver version 310.70

Benchmarks:-



Starting up the testing with some popular benchmarks 3dmark 11, 3dmark vantage and Unique Heaven.




3dmark 11



3DMark 11 is the very latest benchmark test from the house of Futuremark, which has brought out some of the most comprehensive benchmark applications for PC enthusiasts and gamers. 3DMark 11, as the name might probably suggest, makes use of the Microsoft DirectX 11 API and puts every feature on it at its disposal to use, creating astonishing realistic visuals. In the process, it evaluates DirectX 11-compliant GPUs and lets gamers know what to expect from upcoming games that make use of the API in terms of visual realism.





*i.imgur.com/nnUKN.jpg


3dmark Vantage



3DMark Vantage is a full DirectX 10 compliant synthetic benchmark designed to test the DirectX 10 abilities of your video card and computing power of your PC. 3DMark Vantage focuses on the two areas most critical to gaming performance: the CPU and the GPU. With the emergence of multi-package and multi-core configurations on both the CPU and GPU side, the performance scale of these areas has widened, and the visual and game-play effects made possible by these configurations are accordingly wide-ranging.


*i.imgur.com/4v9gP.jpg​


Unique Heaven



Unique Heaven was one of the first demos that supported DirectX 11. Heaven is a technology demonstration of the Unigine engine which supports DirectX 9 through 11 and OpenGL. Version 2.0 adds more scenes and, optionally, more complex dissolution features. Although there is some controversy surrounding the benchmark and as to whether it is an accurate representation of what to expect from future games in regard to DirectX 11, we still decided to use this test to get an insight into the potential of future gaming.


*i.imgur.com/CYSWe.jpg​


Benchmarks Continues:-


Continuing the benchmarks with Some Games, and software used to check frames are Fraps and internal benchmarks of the Games.




Hitman Absolution


The game takes place in the United States, and features an online option. In addition, the game features "instinct mode" which allows 47 to predict enemy patrol routes, much like the "sonar vision" that was featured in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction, "eagle vision" in Assassin's Creed, "tracker mode" in Crysis 2, and "Detective mode" in Batman: Arkham Asylum. The game has also been improved in all aspects to provide a more console-like third person shooter experience along with the classic stealth elements the series is known for. Game tested at Ultra High settings at different resolutions.


*i.imgur.com/Ml7zb.jpg​



Farcry 3



Far Cry 3 is an open world first-person shooter, which also features role-playing game elements including experience points, skill trees, and a crafting system. The player has the ability to take cover behind objects to break enemies' lines of sight and also to peek around and over cover and blindfire[clarification needed]. The player also has the ability to perform silent "takedowns" by performing melee attacks from above, below, or close behind. Game tested at Ultra High settings at different resolutions.


*i.imgur.com/Lq5Zi.jpg​


Battlefield 3


Arguably the most anticipated online shooter title among real gamers - PC gamers, Battlefield 3 is the latest addition to some of the most engaging online multi-player shooter franchises. It combines infantry combat with mechanized warfare including transport vehicles, armored personnel carriers, main battle tanks, attack helicopters, combat aircraft, pretty much everything that goes into today's battlefields. The infantry combat is coupled with role-playing elements, which makes the experience all the more engaging. It also has a single-player campaign which added a few gigabytes to its installer.
Behind all this is a spanking new game engine by EA-DICE, Frostbite 2. It makes use of every possible feature DirectX 11 has to offer, including hardware tessellation, and new lighting effects, to deliver some of the most captivating visuals gamers ever had access to. Not playing this game on PC is grave injustice to what's in store. Faster PCs are rewarded with better visuals. Game tested at maximum possible settings Achieved.




*i.imgur.com/rzbdH.jpg​


Max Payne 3


Max is back! The long anticipated third release in the Max Payne series is the first game developed by Rockstar, which took over the title from Remedy Entertainment. In this first-person shooter, using an over-the-shoulder camera view, you battle the bad guys using game-changing features like Bullet Time or Last Stand. The maps have scenic locations taking the player to places like New York, Sao Paulo, and Panama.
The Max Payne 3 game engine uses DirectX 11 with tessellation and very detailed textures. Game tested at maximum possible settings Achieved.



*i.imgur.com/ZD4r3.jpg​



Sleeping Dogs


Sleeping Dogs is a 2012 open world action-adventure video game. The core gameplay of Sleeping Dogs consists of giving the player an open world environment in which to move around freely. Sleeping Dogs are played as an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective action-adventure game with role-playing elements. The player controls Wei Shen, a Chinese-American police officer, as he goes undercover to infiltrate the Sun On Yee Triad organization.
Sleeping dogs game engine uses DirectX 11 with tessellation and very detailed textures. We tested the game with details set to the maximum possible.



*i.imgur.com/1qRDG.jpg​



Batman Arkham City


Batman: Arkham City, a sequel to Batman Arkham Asylum, by Rocksteady Games and WB. It was released on the PC platform in November. Batman is imprisoned in Arkham City, an infamous district of the DC Universe that contains the scum of Gotham, most of whom Batman helped put in there. In order to get out, he must go through scores of baddies and encounters many of the iconic supervillains along the way - he's not entirely alone.


The Batman Arkham City uses the same Unreal Engine by Epic as Batman Arkham Asylum and takes advantage of DirectX 11. Benching has done with DX11 Selected and all ultra settings.


*i.imgur.com/QbD38.jpg​


Street Fighter X Tekken


Street Fighter X Tekken is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom and released in March 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, in May for the PC. The game features characters from both the Street Fighter franchise and Namco's Tekken series. In the game, players select two characters and face other duos in tag team fighting matches, in which the objective is to knock out both members of the opposing team. Maximum Settings Playable used for checking frame rate .





*i.imgur.com/gzMMM.jpg​



Overclocking:-


Overclocking with Kepler is totally Different from all other Graphic cards, Kepler’s clocks and voltages will automatically adjust on the fly, depending on the load required. The card will also downclock if there isn’t much load. So a Kepler card is drawing less power, while running cooler and quieter, but can jump right back up to peak clocks in a fraction of a second if necessary.


I Managed to unlock Zotac GTX 670 bios and raised up the power limit to 150% from 132%, By using MSI Afterburner GTX670 AMP Edition clocks Awesome, started off by pushing the GPU Managed to get a set of 1320MHz Boost clock up from the Gpu clock of 1133Mhz, and memory clocks up from 1652 MHz to 1953 MHz which is quite impressive.


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*i.imgur.com/GpkQV.gif​



Summary:-

ZOTAC's GTX 670 AMP! Edition is based on an unmodified NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 PCB paired with ZOTAC's large dual-fan triple slot cooler. In order to maximize this potential, ZOTAC added a massive overclock out of the box, making it one of the highest-clocked GTX 670. ZOTAC's cooler keeps the card at good temperature levels and idle fan noise is super low as well. Only under load does fan noise end up being higher. The card runs at 74°C under load with Maximum overclock settings,


Pros:-



Huge Stock Overclock
Amazing performance
Low temperatures




Cons:-


Noisy Cooler at higher fan Speed
Triple slot cooler design not for all





Specially Thanks to Zotac For providing this review Sample.
 
Last edited:

d3p

PowerHouse
Well overall it was a nice review.

But few findings.

1). Use images clicked by you or mention sources [specially when writing a review]

2). Use ms-excel chart for preparing the charts. In case you're copying, then just mention the source.

3). Also add some pics of the test setup, ambient conditions.

4). Try comparing the results with other cards which you either own or as a review sample.

Rest everything looks fine.
 

amjath

Human Spambot
dude i think he is the reviewer [i think] he has posted this in other forums too
Zotac GTX670 AMP! Edition Review
 
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