So here it is, the long awaited GTX 680. For weeks now we have been seeing information flying about on the web as to what the card is about and then more on the finer points of its specifications, technologies, what has changed over the GTX 580 and more critically its performance. What we can say right now is that most of this was only rumours and in fact after we met up with Nvidia last week, they confirmed that the vast majority of whats been going about is either factually incorrect or false in its entirety.
So why an article on the ‘Nitty Gritty’? Well there are two reasons for this, firstly we need to make the facts about the new card clear as I can imagine that some people are going to get very confused and wondering who is right when all the information conflicts. Secondly and most importantly, the GTX 680 is not just another line of cards, oh no, we were told in person that what we know about Nvidia GeForce graphics is about to change radically and that things were really about to get ramped up a notch, and Tom from Nvidia was not lying. Nvidia have not just upgraded individual aspects of the card to bring them into line with the competition, they’ve gone right back to the drawing board and built this card ground up changing everything along the way.
This is where this article comes into play. With all the new technologies and the way the card operates and performs, to quite a number of users it may seem too complex and I’ll be honest some parts of it are a little complex, it took me a bit of time to grips with it all at the meeting with Nvidia and understand it the way I needed to. Along each step of the way I aim to explain it as easily as I can, so its time to quickly put the kettle on and get a cuppa, as this could be a long one…
Being able to play on a big screen LCD HDTV makes multi screen seem way overhyped than it should be anymore. Now you just need a good hdmi cable.
Good HDMI cable? an HDMI cable is an HDMI cable at the end of the day – its either works or it doesn't
I'll finish my statement this time, for 99% of the cables out there, the performance difference is as near makes no difference incomparable as a HDMI cable carries a digital signal (ie 0's & 1's). Thus if there was a drop in the signal the picture would go completely – the signal is either there or its not.
We've pitted a £2 cable against a £50 cable before and there was no difference between the two, the audio and picture was identical. If it was a VGA or DVI cable that I was looking at then yes i would look to get the slightly 'pricier' option but for a digital cable – I'm good.
There are some really pricey ones that use gold wiring instead of copper, but the performance difference is negligible like you said.