EVGA GTX680 CLASSIFIED
RRP: $659.99 | Website: www.evga.com
Test Machine
• Intel Core i7 3770K
• Asus MAXIMUS V Extreme
• Transcend AxeRAM 2400MHZ
CL9
• Antec HCP 1200 PSU
• Windows7 64-Bit
W
e’ll get right into this and
spare you the humdrum.
We’ve previously reviewed a
GTX 680 here and despite the
slight overclock on this card
you’re looking at an identical
product. At least this is true
where gaming is concerned.
Sure enough this is the highest
clocked GTX 680 we’ve ever
tested with a base clock of
1,111MHz however, don’t be
fooled into thinking the overclock
will make previously unplayable
settings on a reference 680
a thing of the past. It doesn’t
work that way. What you’re
likely going to find is that in the
most strenuous circumstances
this GTX 680 fares no better
than a reference card. 24fps
28 The OverClocker Issue 20 | 2012
performance will no doubt
improve by 13% in some cases
but that puts you at just under
27fps which still isn’t playable.
If you’re a gamer and are
really looking for that additional
performance that will let you
break the 30fps mark then
you just may be interested in
the graphics card. It’s not the
factory overclock as we stated
earlier, but it’s in how far it
will allow you to go over and
above that. Once your base
clock is around the 1,190MHz
that’s when things will start
getting interesting and the
difference between a standard
GTX 680 and this beastly card
become pronounced and dare
we say worth the additional
investment. As true as that is
though, there are still cheaper
ways to go about achieving
this performance especially
because EVGA does have other
GTX 680 cards that will happily
reach these speeds.
So then what’s the point of
the classified card? Well, much
like any “Classified” product
from EVGA, the point is to
produce the best overclocking
experience possible. Given
that the standard GTX 680 has
shown itself to be a nuisance
in as far as reaching those
stratospheric frequencies
which we so dearly desire,
EVGA would have us believe
they have come to our aid,
borrowing nothing from the
reference card save for the
actual GK104 GPU. The card
has been purposely built from
the ground up to need nothing
but a GPU POT (preferably
those by K|NGP|N one would
assume) to make a decent stab
at breaking records; personal
or otherwise. It is in this single
minded design where EVGA
hopes you’ll find justification for
this $659.99 piece of kit.
The classified makes this
price a little easier to swallow
by offering twice the memory
at 4GB, however very few