More Trot, Less Slot: ASUS GeForce GTX 680 DirectCU II 4GB Two-Slot Revision!

The people ask and ASUS heeds the call! You wanted a real beast-grade GTX 680 in two slots, and here it is. While previously a three-slot affair and thus potentially an issue in certain CASES (sorry), the new revision shrinks the GTX 680 DirectCU II cooler/shroud to two slots, so this colossus can now fit comfortably in pretty much any modern desktop without causing blocked adjacent slot syndrome and related problems. In other words, it’s even more power for less space. And I love that 4GB figure. Finally we see more cards with 4GB GDDR5. That’s QHD in 60fps no problem, right there! Bring on the textures!

As for the card, you can see the nice pics, but let’s talk specs:

This is the first true 2-slot GTX 680 DirectCU card, yet it retains the quiet and cool thermal design of its three-slot peers. There’s the two 100mm fans, and direct contact copper heatpipes. ASUS always aims for the same figures when developing DirectCU cards, hence we’re looking at about 20% lower temps under load and up to three times quieter performance compared to AMD reference requirements.

DIGI+ VRM and Super Alloy Power components return in this marvel of a champion-grade card (hint hint), with 6+2 phase delivery. Super Alloy Power components, as you well know, are made to last. They shrug off heat and stress, and together with DIGI+ VRM digital voltage regulation, you may expect a nice overclock margin, which the by-now familiar GPU Tweak utility will be more than happy to help you out with. DIGI+ VRM reduces power noise by about 30%, and Super Alloy Power parts have proven roughly 2.5 longer-lasting than industry-average components.

Inside beats the NVIDIA GTX 680 GPU, running 1058MHz boost clock and 1006MHz base clock. This beast loads up on the CUDA cores, and just like previous GTX 680’s has a massive 1536 of them. The memory interface is 256-bit, which is good enough. It links your PC to a whopping 4GB GDDR5 rated at 6008MHz. It is really quite a marvel that ASUS engineers have been able to fit all this into two slots.

As a finishing touch, the revised GTX 680 DirectCU II has been retro-added to the Ubisoft game promotion we’ve talked about before. Buy it and rejoice as you pick one out of five Ubisoft titles via UBIshop, most notably the upcoming Assassin’s Creed III (scheduled for release Nov 22 on PC).

So, if you’re one of the many folks who’ve been clamoring for a two-slot GTX 680 DirectCU card, it’s here. Go get it, though we’re told supplies may not be overly ample. Check with your preferred retailer before getting your hopes up! At any rate, this graphics powerhouse is certainly a step in the right direction, as it likely means we can expect more two-slot monsters from ASUS/ROG in future.