Thoughts on Video Cards Superclocked & ACX vs. RefPost Date: 2013-11-13 |
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Dax Doomslayer
DS Veteran Keeper of the commas Joined: 29 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4725 |
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Topic: Thoughts on Video Cards Superclocked & ACX vs. Ref Posted: 13 Nov 2013 at 8:27am |
Hi Folks,
Probably a stupid, noobish question. What is the difference between the Superclocked Video cards vs. the ACX Video cards? Also, what are people's thoughts on these cards vs. the stock reference card? I'm currently mulling over my next system and the 780 Ti (x3) and wondering what the pros and cons are on these cards. Any input would be very enlightening!! Edit - changed typ'o to ACX (not ATX) Edited by Dax Doomslayer - 13 Nov 2013 at 8:58am |
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Nav
Admin Group Digital Storm Employee Joined: 15 Jan 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1581 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Nov 2013 at 8:49am |
By ATX do you mean reference cards?
You can see a comparison here of how the SC GTX 780Ti performs against the stock reference card. Article: EVGA GTX 780Ti SC Unboxed, Review and Benchmarks |
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Dax Doomslayer
DS Veteran Keeper of the commas Joined: 29 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4725 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Nov 2013 at 9:01am |
Ooops - I just noticed the typ'o I meant ACX. I'm assuming that's just a different cooling system?
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bprat22
DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Nov 2013 at 9:15am |
Here's an article comparing and talking about the 780 Ti SC with ACX cooler.
Not sure I would put x3 of them in a case, because of the heat pushed into the case, but individually, they perform about 8-10% over reference and stay cooler.
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Dax Doomslayer
DS Veteran Keeper of the commas Joined: 29 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4725 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Nov 2013 at 9:47am |
Thanks Nav & bprat. So bprat, for x3 SLI would you stick with just the reference card or would a SC version be acceptable? Is it just the ACX version that dumps the heat in the case due to the different cooling system? My apologies for being so obtuse but I'm trying to figure out what the differences are (other than performance and overclocking obviously) between the SC cards and the SC ACX card and if there are drawbacks to these vs. the stock reference card that outweighs the performance. Thanks again!
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bprat22
DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Nov 2013 at 9:59am |
If your not going to water cool, then The SC 780, without the ACX coolers would be fine. Problem is, the dual fan ACX , if you examine the pics, sends most of the heat out the sides of the card and into the case. You'd need a real good air cooled case to keep the heat in check. There is a SC version with single fan, similar to the reference design, that blow air over the gpu heat sink and out the back of the card and out of the case. That's the way to go, IMHO, for a multi card setup.
The version Nav spoke of and referenced to, is the non-ACX card.
I normally don't like oc video cards because its usually more stress on the card for little or no benefit, but the 780 has shown a decent bump in performance with oc.
No problem with the questions. Edited by bprat22 - 13 Nov 2013 at 10:04am |
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Dax Doomslayer
DS Veteran Keeper of the commas Joined: 29 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4725 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Nov 2013 at 10:25am |
Good information bprat - thanks. FYI - I'm thinking of the Haf-X case, adding one fan to it and using Noctura if that makes a difference. So are you saying that an SC card has a possibility to would "burn out" easier? That would be a factor to consider - especially if I'm x3 SLI or even SLI...
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bprat22
DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Nov 2013 at 10:31am |
I'm not sure if it would lessen longevity going to oc, but it is more stress. On the positive side, the factory SC is done on the bench, at the manufactures and they tweek the card's hardware to handle it. Plus you still have the warranty because they did it.
HafX case would be real nice for sli. Noctua , also.
I've never considered oc myself, on the video card, but 780 is a plus with it. All depends if you think you'll need the extra 10% or so performance over reference.
Edited by bprat22 - 13 Nov 2013 at 10:33am |
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Dax Doomslayer
DS Veteran Keeper of the commas Joined: 29 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4725 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Nov 2013 at 2:09pm |
What I typically do is try to buy the best I can at the time and I basically use that for 7 to 8 years - lol. My current PC is about 8 or 9 years old but it still runs games OK. However, it's definitely time to upgrade. I just got the Dell U3014 monitor and I want to run games on their highest settings in 2560x1600 darn it!! Thus if the SC cards have a higher chance of burning out from the stress, I may just go with the reference cards. I'm just trying to figure what I'll get when I buy within the next few months (probably no later than March or maybe earlier if something happens where I can't hold off - lol).
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bprat22
DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Nov 2013 at 2:20pm |
I hear what you're saying about buying big for longevity.
For that single Dell U3014 monitor , a sli gtx780 reference will smoke that monitor. Will 780 SC add performance at some point? Yes. But it'll be some time before it's even seen. Tough choices. Edited by bprat22 - 13 Nov 2013 at 2:22pm |
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Meller
DS Veteran Joined: 20 Feb 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1627 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Nov 2013 at 11:49am |
First off, the current SC for the 780 TI is on a reference cooler.
The ACX cooler is an amazing cooler. I'd recommend waiting for it. Also, your SC/FTW/Classifieds (since we're talking EVGA here) are great performance boasts than stock cards (even if they have the ACX cooler). You must make sure that you understand the ACX is the cooler design, it has nothing to do with SC or any type of factory OC. On that note, let's talk 780 Ti. EVGA is about to release one with the ACX cooler. That cooler works so well, that their ACX version will have a base clock of 1006mhz vs the 876 (?) mhz that comes on the reference. that is a big jump for base clock. That means you'll be able to OC it even more for some extremely nice gains. I don't like reference coolers. They leave very little room for OC'ing. GPU's, unlike cpu's, really do show benefit in their OC's. Where you can OC your cpu and might not see a difference, you will in your GPU's. Wait, and buy that amazing ACX version if you really want to get the most out of the card without putting it under water. |
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Dax Doomslayer
DS Veteran Keeper of the commas Joined: 29 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4725 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Nov 2013 at 1:45pm |
Hi Meller,
Thanks for the input. I'm probably not buying for a few months anyway (around March). What about the heat in the case as bprat and others have mentioned? I'm probably going x3 SLI in a HAF X case with Noctura. I appreciate everyone's help with this. |
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Meller
DS Veteran Joined: 20 Feb 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1627 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Nov 2013 at 8:23pm |
Really, you don't need to worry too much about heat in the case as long as your ambient temps are nice and cool.
I've seen plenty of machines running non-reference coolers in 2 way and 3 way sli and temps were fine. I'm not a fan of the Noctua compared to the closed loop coolers like the h100i. I think you'll get better case air flow with one instead of that huge block messing up air flow in the case. You can point it up to exhaust, but then it blocks the back fan blowing in, you can point it towards the back to blow out, but then you have your top blowing out so you lose positive pressure. If you flip the top fans to be intake, you're block air flow. You just lose air flow, which can increase case temps. Remember, positive air pressure = less dust build up. If you run it in 3 way, you'll run into some small issues with cooling on the cards, due to they are pulling air in, which will be from the back of the the card in front. But they don't run extremely hot anyways. Keep your room cool and you'll be fine. If you're really worried about it, you can get a Corsair 900D for less than $300 new, so the upgrade fee shouldn't be bad at all when you build your machine. Do that and put your cards under water. The GTX 780 ti overclocks extremely well. I mean this card loves OC'ing and will let you push it hard. Putting them under water will let you truly utilize all that money you just spend. That'd be my biggest recommendation. Get a case that lets you put all three cards under water. Then air flow in case doesn't really matter, it'll be quieter, temps in the case will be drastically lower... pro pro pro to doing it that way. |
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