Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680 Super OverClock Review
Power Consumption, Noise, Temps
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Somewhat surprisingly, despite being outfitted with five cooling fans and being clocked much higher than the reference card, the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680 Super OverClock consumes only slightly more power. While idle, the Gigabyte card consumed only 4 more watts, and under load that delta shrunk to only 2 watts. Also note that the GeForces consume significantly less power than the Radeons, hinting at the GeForces' better power efficiency.
We also monitored temperatures throughout testing and were somewhat impressed with the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680 Super OverClock's cooling. The oversized, triple-slot wide cooler and five fans clearly outperform the two-slot reference cooler; Gigabyte's card was a full 13'C cooler under load. Further, in real-world conditions, the Gigabyte card's cooling fans never spun up past 48%. The five small fans on the GeForce GTX 680 Super OverClock, however, emit an audible high-pitched whine under load, which may irk some users. The card isn't loud in real-world situations, but it may be bothersome to users sensitive to certain sounds.
