nVidia GeForce GTX 680 Quad-SLI review [English version]

Introduction

Welcome international readers! This is the English version of a Dutch review on Hardware.Info. Since we are the first to extensively test a Quad-SLI configuration of nVidia's brand new GeForce GTX 680, we wanted to make these exciting results available to a wider audience. Enjoy!

Yesterday, nVidia introduced the GeForce GTX 680. Our Dutch readers can click here to read our in-depth review. One question we did not yet answer - what kind of performance can you expect when you combine two of these new cards? Or three? Or maybe even four?

That was not an easy question to answer. Getting our hands on two of these cards, much less four of them, on the day of the launch, was about as easy as making penguins fly. However, in the end we were able to track down enough of these cards to show you some results. Together with our own reference model, we were ready for some Quad-SLI GTX 680 action!

ASUS and Zotac

In our race against the clock it was ASUS that came through first. The first nVidia partner to deliver a GeForce GTX 680 to our offices, they gave us the ASUS GTX680-2GD5. It's common that, when a new high-end video card is launched, the samples from the different manufacturers are actually reference models adorned with a manufacturer's own print and logo. That is also the case here. The ASUS card therefore looks somewhat hipper, with a nice design that flows into the ASUS logo.

Zotac was also able to quickly deliver one of their first GeForce GTX 680s to our test lab. The Zotac GeForce GTX 680 2GB is also a reference model with their own print on it. As an extra bonus, Zotac bundles games from the Assassin's Creed series.

We want to express our sincere thanks to Alternate in Ridderkerk for providing us with the last and fourth card. As one of the few chosen shops in the Netherlands, they can pride themselves on having a limited number of GeForce GTX 680 cards available today (link). They were kind enough to make their supply even more limited for our benefit, temporarily at least. The card they gave us also comes from ASUS.

The specifications of the ASUS and Zotac cards won't be a surprise to those that read our GTX 680 review: 2 GB GDDR5 RAM, 1006 MHz base clock, 1058 MHz boost clock, 1502 MHz memory clock freqency, 2x DVI, 1x HDMI and 1x DisplayPort 1.2. Our Benelux readers should be aware that ASUS and Zotac are two of nVidia's preferred partners for the Benelux. This means that it is very probable that these will be two of the brands that will first appear in (online) stores.

So, we have four GeForce GTX 680s. We've added an able power supply and a suitable motherboard and CPU. Let's get started with SLI, Triple SLI, and Quad SLI!

Quad SLI, oh yeah!

With thanks to Alternate.nl for providing the fourth card.