GTX 480 Official Reviews Thread!! Post links here

[NOVAA]

I'm considering the 480 come this summer, as I'm planning to dump 400+ on a new graphics card before I go to college, and definetly plan on looking at all the top end options. As long as there aren't any DOA horror stories, or issues with cards dying from heat in the coming months, it looks like a very attractive option, because while its performance in most games probably doesn't make it worth the $100 premium over the 5870, the few games with some serious DX11 eyecandy show that these cards really do have a few significant advantages.

The 480 to me looks like a more future proof option, and to be honest I couldn't care about heat or power consumption, in college you don't pay for electricity so what do I care, and as long as the thing doesn't catch fire heat doesn't matter to me either.

 

[mjw21a]

Meh, too much heat. My current card can cause my system to become unstable on hot days as it is. The only real reason for me to replace my current card is to go to something which exhausts heat straight out the back of the case....

 

[wingman99]

Meh, too much heat. My current card can cause my system to become unstable on hot days as it is. The only real reason for me to replace my current card is to go to something which exhausts heat straight out the back of the case....

Can you RMA your card sounds like you have a bad one. I don't let that fly with my video cards, when I perches them. I test them through full heat, max temp.

 

[mjw21a]

Can you RMA your card sounds like you have a bad one. I don't let that fly with my video cards, when I perches them,I test them through full heat, max temp.

The problem comes down to a combination of ambient room temp (Australia's not a great place to run a computer without air conditioning), my case choice and the fact my GPU cooling solution exhausts he inside the case rather than outside of it.

The video card stays at low temps, however it affects my CPU temps rather badly causing system instabillity. Moving to my Corsair H-50 improved things a bit however it just means it takes longer to heat up to the point it becomes unstable.

I need to get a new dual slot cooler card, that will fix my issues. Just not willing to spend the money at the moment until the performance difference between cards is great. Mabye the next generation from nVidia and ATI.

 

[wingman99]

The problem comes down to a combination of ambient room temp (Australia's not a great place to run a computer without air conditioning), my case choice and the fact my GPU cooling solution exhausts he inside the case rather than outside of it.

The video card stays at low temps, however it affects my CPU temps rather badly causing system instabillity. Moving to my Corsair H-50 improved things a bit however it just means it takes longer to heat up to the point it becomes unstable.

I need to get a new dual slot cooler card, that will fix my issues. Just not willing to spend the money at the moment until the performance difference between cards is great. Mabye the next generation from nVidia and ATI.

It should handle 90-95c unless your overclocked. I live down south with no air.

 

[mjw21a]

It should handle 90-95c unless your overclocked. I live down south with no air.

You talking CPU or GPU dude? It's the CPU that falls over due to heat of the video card. AMD chips handle less heat than Intels

 

[NOVAA]

Meh, too much heat. My current card can cause my system to become unstable on hot days as it is. The only real reason for me to replace my current card is to go to something which exhausts heat straight out the back of the case....

Pretty much every reference dual slot card exhausts heat out the back of the case, including the 470/480. In your case however, I would probably suggest going with ATI, as from the sounds of your situation you might overheat a 480 on a hot day.

 

[wingman99]

You talking CPU or GPU dude? It's the CPU that falls over due to heat of the video card. AMD chips handle less heat than Intels

My ATI video card reached 90c all the time no problems.

 

[mjw21a]

My ATI video card reached 90c all the time no problems.

Lol, and as I keep repeating it's not the video card that becomes unstable, but rather the heat from the video card going through the cooler for my CPU causing the CPU to become unstable.

Yes, the video card can run stable at 90C, but an AMD CPU can not run stable at much over 70C. That's where the problem lies.

The system in question is in my sig.

 

[wingman99]

Lol, and as I keep repeating it's not the video card that becomes unstable, but rather the heat from the video card going through the cooler for my CPU causing the CPU to become unstable.

Yes, the video card can run stable at 90C, but an AMD CPU can not run stable at much over 70C. That's where the problem lies.

The system in question is in my sig.

sorry missed that part LOL

 

[mxthunder]

http://translate.google.com/transla...p://www.expreview.com/9990.html&sl=auto&tl=en

interesting, nice little compact non-ref pcb

 

[mjw21a]

Hmmmm, I wonder how that differs from the reference cards performance/power useage wise..... It'll be interesting to see.

 

[wingman99]

Doesn't seem like a hole lot of change since it's just a board.

 

[mjw21a]

It all comes down to how good the reference design is to start with. A modified board design can allow for higher clocks or maybe better power efficiency. Sometimes it's little more than a less expensive design, time will tell.

 

[wingman99]

All that from a Printed circuit board I don't buy that. IC, GPU changes, capacitors, regulators are what draw significant power change. not the distance on a insignificant printed circuit board change.

No matter how you put it the IC's, GPU, memory, need a certain amount of wattage to function correctly. What your talking about is measurable however insignificant in real life testing.

 

[mjw21a]

As per usual, I'll wait for actual reviews. Says more than any speculation

 

[l3arrett82]

not a review just a funny vid i found on youtube. starring hitler and the gtx480 lol. i found it to be quit funny and thought you folks on this forum might enjoy it too. if your a fan boy or close minded it might not be a good idea to watch it.

Link removed - Video does not comply with forum rules, can't be linked here. - IMOG

 

[Bobnova]

Hilarious video, but likely to suffer the same fate the newegg hitler video i posted did. It has "bad" words in the captions.

That said, thanks for posting it

 

[JDawggS316]

These reviews are awesome but what really throws me off is how some cards, at the same resolutions, win some and lose some when it comes to benchmarks. I am currently looking for a new GPU for my new build and have not really made any progress towards making a clear de rcision.

I'll be running 1680 X 1050 (at the highest settings when it comes to gaming) and am still uncertain about which card to purchase.

I see that cards like the GTX 480, GTX 295, GTX 470, HD 5970 and HD 5870 all showing promise for some games while coming in third of forth in other titles.

Even at 1680 X 1050 some of these higher-end cards kicked butt.

I also don't like the idea of watering cooling my cards/GPU's because I've noticed the water blocks tend to cause them to bend. So I would be looking for a card that is air-cooled yet doesn't consume as much power as the 480 and 5970 (although I am going to be purchasing a Corsair 1000w PSU).

Would GTX 295 SLI beat a GTX 470?

Would an HD 5870 Crossfire beat all of the above?

Confused...again...

 

[don'tknow]

Would GTX 295 SLI beat a GTX 470?

Would an HD 5870 Crossfire beat all of the above?

Confused...again...

One GTX 295 beats a GTX 470.

HD 5870 Xfire beats GTX 295 in most games, except the ones with these two factors; heavily NV-optimized and terrible crossfire scaling. Even then, you won't really 'need' more power for those games unless you're trying to max out Metro 2033 on 2560x1600 res. And for Crysis - use optimized configs! The stock preset 'Enthusiast' is terrible for both benching fps and playing, I'm baffled why the hell so many review sites even use it when it's so blatantly obvious that there is no visual difference between it and a well-optimized config which gives you much higher fps.