GF GTX 680/670 Round Up: EVGA, Zotac, MSI, GB, Asus

Next up we have the pair of GeForce GTX 670 cards making an appearance in this round-up, the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 670 AMP! Edition and the MSI GeForce GTX 670 Power Edition with Twin Frozr IV Cooler.

   
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 670 AMP! Edition

The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 670 AMP! Edition is essentially identical to the 680 AMP! on the previous page, save for the different GPU and one omission from its bundle, so we’ll re-use some of our description here.

Like it’s big brother, the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 670 AMP! also has a triple-slot wide cooler. The cooler is comprised of large aluminum heatsinks, linked together by an array of thick copper heat-pipes. Two large fans sit above the heatsinks in an angular shroud, blowing air down on the heatsinks and PCB. The cooler does its job fairly well and it’s relatively quiet too, although we did have an issue with our particular card which we’ll mention a little later.

The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 670 AMP! Edition’s base and boost GPU frequencies are 1098MHz and 1176MHz, respectively, and it’s memory is pushed way above NVIDIA’s reference specifications--1652MHz (6608MHz effective) to be exact. With those frequencies, the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 670 AMP! Edition should be the faster of the two 670 cards featured here. Despite its higher clocks (and hence higher power requirements over reference cards), ZOTAC still outfitted the card with only a pair of 6-pin power connectors. It's got the same output configuration of the other cards too.

Included with the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 670 AMP! Edition, we found a user’s manual and quick installation guide, a coupon for the game TrackMania 2 Canyon, a driver / utility disc, a ZOTAC case badge, and a few adapters—a couple of peripheral to 6-pin adapters and a DVI to VGA adapter. No Assassin’s Creed pack here, but at least ZOTAC saw fit to include a game.

   
MSI GeForce GTX 670 Power Edition with Twin Frozr IV cooler

Finally, we have the MSI GeForce GTX 670 Power Edition with Twin Frozr IV cooler. Although overclocked and fully custom, the slick Twin Frozr IV cooler is the standout feature on the MSI GeForce GTX 670 Power Edition. The dual-slot Twin Frozr IV sports high-density heatsinks, with dual 80mm cooling fans, and thick copper heatpipes that run from the cooler’s base up through the heatsink fins. We should also point out that the cooler’s base is made of pure copper and the entire assembly is nickel-plated. The Twin Frozr IV’s cooler has also been outfitted with custom “propeller blade” fans that reportedly push 20% more air than previous designs. In a move unique to MSI (at least in this round-up), the cooler features dust removal technology as well. The card’s fans will actually spin in the opposite direction (pulling air through up the heatsinks) for 30 seconds upon boot to expel any dust that may have built up within the heatsink assembly. When the 30 seconds is up, the fans will then spin in their normal direction, blowing air down onto the heatsinks.

The customizations on the MSI GeForce GTX 670 Power Edition don’t stop at the cooler. MSI has also overclocked the card, with 1020MHz (base) and 1098MHz (boost) clocks for the GPU. The memory runs at the same speed as reference models, however, at 1502MHz (6008MHz effective). The GeForce GTX 670 Power Edition also has a custom PWM that can handle mode current than reference designs and it’s outfitted with MSI’s “Military Class” components, which is to say it has solid caps and supper ferrite chokes installed. Supplemental power is handled by a pair of 6-pin connectors and the outputs on the card consist of a pair of DVI outputs and single DP and HDMI outputs.

Bundled with the GeForce GTX 670 Power Edition are a quick installation guide and user’s manual, dual peripheral to PCI Express 6-pin power adapters, a DVI to VGA adapter, and of course a driver / utility disc. Also available for the card is a copy of MSI’s Afterburner performing tuning and monitoring tool, which is available for download right from MSI’s website and allows for triple over-voltage adjustments for the card’s GPU, PLL, and memory.