70-680 and 70-685 Content Overlap?

I recently passed my 70-680 exam and am looking to do the same with 70-685 in order to get my MCITP cert. I quickly realized that there are far more robust free study materials out there for the 70-680 than there are for the 70-685, but after looking over the Skills Measured for the exam as well as the sticky thread here on this forum it seems to me that the 70-685 is very similar in terms of content to the 70-680. Actually, it looks like it might be a little easier than the 70-680, but that could just be wishful thinking on my part.

To those of you who have taken both exams, how do they compare? Should I basically just go back and reference the Professor Messer 70-680 videos that helped me pass that test? I can't find any good, free videos for the 70-680 really, and I don't study as well with just TechNet articles.

Any advice on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

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Asif Dasl

Yeah I've taken both those exams, like you say there is a lot of overlap and 70-685 is the easier of the two. I'd get a day or 2's worth of CBT Nuggets and do 70-685 over a weekend, go over anything that you are not totally up on and double up on any command line stuff from the 70-685 book.

It's been a while since I took it so I'm not sure if there was much command line stuff, but 70-685 was much easier than 70-680. I took 70-682 which was an upgrade exam with both exams combined - same exams just less questions from both exams.

Good luck with the exam!

MSP-IT

To whomever had taken the exam, do you think it's worth getting both MCITP certifications, or just one?

Asif Dasl

If it we me, if I had taken 70-680 then it's easier to get 70-685 afterwards. It's another cert and it might help with a job hunt but if I hadn't taken 70-680 at the moment then I would go for 70-687 Windows 8 the book is out on April 2nd.

Psoasman

I've found both to be very useful and they do give you a nice cert, with the MCITP.

ScOULaris

Psoasman wrote: »

I've found both to be very useful and they do give you a nice cert, with the MCITP.

Did you find that they both covered mostly the same content? Since the resources for the 70-685 are far more limited compared to what's available for 70-680 online, I was wondering if I should just go back over my study materials from when I passed the 70-680 to prepare for the 70-685.

Was the 70-685 easier than the 70-680 in your experience?

Psoasman

I had a harder time with the 685, mainly because I know that there are other ways than the M$ way. The MS press book for the 685 book is good and I also used Darril's 685/686 book.

lsud00d

The 70-680 is definitely harder than the 70-685, but there is overlap. The 70-680 was much more nitty gritty and I remember the 70-685 being more high level.

ScOULaris

lsud00d wrote: »

The 70-680 is definitely harder than the 70-685, but there is overlap. The 70-680 was much more nitty gritty and I remember the 70-685 being more high level.

Yeah, that's the general impression that I am getting from the exam description. I think I'll just go back through my 70-680 notes and videos again, since the subjects covered in the 70-685 are pretty much all included in the 70-685 study materials as well.

Thanks for the impressions. I really appreciate it. When I'm dropping $150 for an exam attempt, I like to know what I'm getting into.

redonion

hi ScOULaris

Let me know how did it go with your 70-685
I have just writing my exam 70-680 and failed , so got a free second shot in 3 weeks time
I downloaded your notes from the 70 – 680 , is that all you used to study for the 70-680 ?

jeremylz

MSP-IT wrote: »

To whomever had taken the exam, do you think it's worth getting both MCITP certifications, or just one?

If you plan to go for the server 2012 MCSA exam, it is worth getting the second MCITP as there is a direct upgrade path to MCSA 2012 with the 417 if you get the 680/686 MCITP. If you don't plan to go for MCSA server 2012, and the exams don't help you directly in the job you work in (or want to work in), I would focus on exams that will help you rather than titles.

ScOULaris

redonion wrote: »

hi ScOULaris

Let me know how did it go with your 70-685
I have just writing my exam 70-680 and failed , so got a free second shot in 3 weeks time
I downloaded your notes from the 70 – 680 , is that all you used to study for the 70-680 ?

Well, I ended up just barely failing the 70-685 on my first attempt. I think I scored a 640 on it. I am retaking it next weekend.

Suffice to say, the 70-685 is wasn't as "easy" as I thought it would be. It was more rigorous than the 680, IMO, because it used much more detailed scenarios in asking its questions. The 680 was more general by comparison.

And yes, my notes were all that I used for the 680. I compiled them using Professor Messor's videos, mostly.