# Zotac Designs GeForce GTX 460 X2 Graphics Card



## btarunr (Oct 26, 2010)

Zotac is another NVIDIA partner who isn't pleased that the GeForce GTX 480 isn't holding performance leadership, but has the engineering potential to outdo it. Earlier in June, Galaxy showed off a dual Fermi graphics card that makes use of two GF100 graphics processors in the GeForce GTX 465 configuration. Zotac waited for a more mature implementation of the Fermi architecture, found out that the GF104-based GeForce GTX 460 isn't lacking much in performance compared to the GTX 465, with vastly better thermal specifications, and went on to design its latest high-end card, which it now refers to as the Zotac GeForce GTX 460 X2. The card makes use of two GeForce GTX 460 1 GB GPUs in an internal SLI, much like every other dual-GPU NVIDIA card.

The card uses an NVIDIA nForce 200 bridge chip to semaphore and broadcast data between the two GPUs, a dual 3+1+1 phase VRM that draws power from two 8-pin PCI-E power connectors, and display connectivity is relayed to the rear-panel from both the GPUs, that's four dual-link DVI, and one mini-HDMI. What this also means is that with just this one card, you can use the 3D Vision Surround feature, while retaining SLI multi-GPU scaling. If that's not all, there's a SLI connector, which lets you pair this with another card of its kind, for GTX 460 Quad-SLI. Zotac is yet to finalize a cooling solution to suit it best. GF104 could be NVIDIA's easiest route to a dual-GPU graphics card that establishes performance leadership. The GF104 physically has 384 CUDA cores (336 on Zotac's card, since it's in the GTX 460 configuration), and has shown to be capable of high GPU/Shader clock speeds. More details about Zotac's card are awaited.



 

 

 



*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


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## DanishDevil (Oct 26, 2010)

If they pair this with some good cooling, good marketing, and a decent price tag, these will sell pretty well. I certainly wouldn't mind playing with two of them.


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## Cuzza (Oct 26, 2010)

lol @ "semaphore" . That's a ...let's say... colourful translation.

Interesting that they choose to make the card taller to fit the VRM circuitry instead of longer ... could be handy in smaller cases.

quote W1zzard July 12 2010:  "The future looks bright for a possible single card dual GPU solution from NVIDIA. If they manage to cram two of these GPUs onto a PCB, couple it with clever power saving mechanisms and release it at a reasonable price, there is no reason to keep the GeForce GTX 480 around."

Spot on W1zz. Sooner the better. Look forward to more details.


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## Flanker (Oct 26, 2010)

looks really nice, but 2x 8-pin connectors is a little scary... more than what the 5970 uses


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## HalfAHertz (Oct 26, 2010)

Test it! Test it NAU!


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## btarunr (Oct 26, 2010)

Cuzza said:


> lol @ "semaphore" . That's a ...let's say... colourful translation.



By "semaphore", I meant something like railway-semaphores (that guide trains in a rail yard).


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## a_ump (Oct 26, 2010)

HalfAHertz said:


> Test it! Test it NAU!



^ hear hear


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## CDdude55 (Oct 26, 2010)

> which lets you pair this with another card of its kind, for GTX 460 Quad-SLI.



That sounds epic..

Props to Zotac.


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## motasim (Oct 26, 2010)

... sounds promising, let's wait and see ... and as usual, let's speculate and argue up till that time  ...


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## Xaser04 (Oct 26, 2010)

Flanker said:


> looks really nice, but 2x 8-pin connectors is a little scary... more than what the 5970 uses



Each 460 normally requires 2 x 6 pin PCI-e conectors so it makes sense for this dual gpu card to have dual 8 pin connectors. This doesn't mean it will pull a full 300w though.


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## entropy13 (Oct 26, 2010)

Cooling it like this maybe.


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Oct 26, 2010)

Guessing by now asus gave up on that dual 480 card.


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## bear jesus (Oct 26, 2010)

That's just beautiful 

I can't wait to see some reviews and even more so some overclocking numbers, if this thing clocks like most other 460's it will be one hell of a card.


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## Hayder_Master (Oct 26, 2010)

DanishDevil said:


> If they pair this with some good cooling, good marketing, and a decent price tag, these will sell pretty well. I certainly wouldn't mind playing with two of them.



what's wrong with AMP addition, sure it will be cool and cheap


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Oct 26, 2010)

Now if only Zotac had a better warranty and support, then they would have something.


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## TIGR (Oct 26, 2010)

Any guesses on prices and when they might make it to market if they do at all?

I like the Folding@home potential.


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## Cuzza (Oct 26, 2010)

btarunr said:


> By "semaphore", I meant something like railway-semaphores (that guide trains in a rail yard).



Thanks tarun, I know what you meant, just an uncommon choice of words. At least to us westerners.


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## KainXS (Oct 26, 2010)

ewwwwwwww

hate the way it looks for some reason


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## 20mmrain (Oct 26, 2010)

I don't think it will happen.... main reason is price. The TX 460 is already costing so little to make a card like this worth for people to buy over a GTX 460 SLI setup it would have to be priced at around $350.
That is about the current price of a GTX 460 SLI set up right now anyway.Plus they wouldn't do that anyway because it would hinder GTX 480 sales. But if they did release it and it wasn't set to hinder GTX 480 sales that means this card would have to be priced around $500 to $600 bucks. If not more..... Then know one would buy it for sure!

The only upside you could get from this if they charged more would be 4 way SLI.....but buying that for close to $1000 bucks for two would be ridiculous in my eyes. 

None the less looks like a cool card.


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## yogurt_21 (Oct 26, 2010)

interesting, looks like aib partners are getting tired of waiting for nvidia to launch their own dual card and are trying it on their own. 

mixed results typically come with this sort of thing. The sapphire x1950pro dual was  a flop but then again the 4850x2 did seem to sell decently and even grabbed the attention of amd/ati to be added into the drivers. 

then again sapphire manufactuers most of all amd/ati cards made. So an nvidia partner who doesn't wield that kind of power might not have as easy a time getting one off the ground, at least in mass quantities.


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## stupido (Oct 26, 2010)

20mmrain said:


> I don't think it will happen.... main reason is price. The TX 460 is already costing so little to make a card like this worth for people to buy over a GTX 460 SLI setup it would have to be priced at around $350.
> That is about the current price of a GTX 460 SLI set up right now anyway.Plus they wouldn't do that anyway because it would hinder GTX 480 sales. But if they did release it and it wasn't set to hinder GTX 480 sales that means this card would have to be priced around $500 to $600 bucks. If not more..... Then know one would buy it for sure!
> 
> The only upside you could get from this if they charged more would be 4 way SLI.....but buying that for close to $1000 bucks for two would be ridiculous in my eyes.
> ...



very interesting reasoning...


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## Disparia (Oct 26, 2010)

Oh man, what if they're $10,000 each?! SLI would cost you $20,000!!! That's more than some cars. Why do you do this to us Zotac??


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## [Ion] (Oct 26, 2010)

This is very awesome indeed 

If it's sub-$400, I'd imagine that it would be an incredible seller.  Better-than-HD5970 performance for sub-$400?  Hell yeah


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## RejZoR (Oct 26, 2010)

Hm, i thought "X2" tag is trademarked by AMD...


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## entropy13 (Oct 26, 2010)

[Ion] said:


> This is very awesome indeed
> 
> If it's sub-$400, I'd imagine that it would be an incredible seller.  Better-than-HD5970 performance for sub-$400?  Hell yeah



It HAS to be less than $400. You can have 2 GTX 460s right now for less than $320.


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## Silver_ (Oct 26, 2010)

*Hey*



entropy13 said:


> It HAS to be less than $400. You can have 2 GTX 460s right now for less than $320.



Nah man, the price is not only because of what type of GPU it uses but the fact that ANY motherboard (nowdays usually have 2-3 lanes) can now get x16 and x16 quad sli that could easily smash 5870 2way crossfire and 6870 2way crossfire in performance and yet still be cheaper.

If you put a arctic accelero extreme variation cooler on this, GG ATI.


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## wolf (Oct 26, 2010)

I really like the look of this card, pair it with a good cooler, and perhaps some non reference clock speeds out of the box and you're murdering a GTX480 already.


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## Bjorn_Of_Iceland (Oct 26, 2010)

entropy13 said:


> It HAS to be less than $400. You can have 2 GTX 460s right now for less than $320.


At the cost of an sli board and space.


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## DaMulta (Oct 26, 2010)

I've been waiting and waiting for the right card to install in my system(besides money), and this looks like the one.


I've been waiting for a dual 8-pin card for a day and a half now.....I mean come on we have dual 6-pin cards why not dual 8-pin cards?

To all you green people.....I haz an apple to stick somewhere before you open your mouth, or when you do so....


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## the54thvoid (Oct 26, 2010)

Silver_ said:


> Nah man, the price is not only because of what type of GPU it uses but the fact that ANY motherboard (nowdays usually have 2-3 lanes) can now get x16 and x16 quad sli that could easily smash 5870 2way crossfire and 6870 2way crossfire in performance and yet still be cheaper.
> 
> If you put a arctic accelero extreme variation cooler on this, GG ATI.



Get back under your bridge.

This is like the 5850 crossfire versus a 5970.  It makes sense for a non sli mobo but if you'd pay that much for a card you'd probably have a good mobo anyway.

If it works out quiet and costs on par with 2 gtx 460's it's a nice move.  I'd buy one if it weren't for the 69xx's coming.


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## 20mmrain (Oct 26, 2010)

Silver_ said:


> Nah man, the price is not only because of what type of GPU it uses but the fact that ANY motherboard (nowdays usually have 2-3 lanes) can now get x16 and x16 quad sli that could easily smash 5870 2way crossfire and 6870 2way crossfire in performance and yet still be cheaper.
> 
> If you put a arctic accelero extreme variation cooler on this, GG ATI.



I've owned these cards(The GTX 460's in SLI and both the 5870 and 6870).... on what planet do you live on that they beat the 6870 and 5870 in single mod or SLI? It doesn't happen.... sure when overclocked (Some very few) can do that but remember the cards we just mentioned "5870" and "6870" can overclock too.
And those two cards still have tones of head room. where by then the GTX 460's are being pushed beyond their limits.

I will give you that the GTX 460's are great cards. I loved mine while I had them. But the reason they are cheaper then the other cards. Is because they are in no way means shape or form more powerful then a 5870 or a 6870


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## CDdude55 (Oct 26, 2010)

20mmrain said:


> I've owned these cards(The GTX 460's in SLI and both the 5870 and 6870).... on what planet do you live on that they beat the 6870 and 5870 in single mod or SLI?



Actually in SLI they should definitely be faster then a 5870 and a 6870, 460's scale likes gods in SLI and push results up to and in some circumstances better then a GTX 480.

A single 460 is a different story and has already been shown that it does in fact perform below a 5870 as well as the 6870.


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## erocker (Oct 26, 2010)

CDdude55 said:


> Actually in SLI they should definitely be faster then a 5870 and a 6870



Obvious statement is obvious. They are not however better than 5850's, 5870's, 6850's (at higher resolutions) or 6870's in CrossFire.

I think this is a neat card. It's going to be somewhat power hungry and hot, but these are the things Nvidia's partners need to do to keep afloat.


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## CDdude55 (Oct 26, 2010)

erocker said:


> Obvious statement is obvious.



Well he did say:



			
				20mmrain said:
			
		

> on what planet do you live on that they beat the 6870 and 5870 in single mod or SLI?



Obvious statement isn't obvious to some...




			
				erocker said:
			
		

> They are not however better than 5850's, 5870's, 6850's (at higher resolutions) or 6870's in CrossFire.



Yes that is true, they are also not better then GTX 470's and GTX 480's in SLI (talk about obvious stuff being obvious lol)


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## erocker (Oct 26, 2010)

CDdude55 said:


> Well he did say:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Due to power requirements, I disagree. That's just me though. They do perform better, you're right there. Better? No. Nvidia needs to get their act together so their AIB's can stay afloat. Or they should just take everything in house and dump AIB's all together.


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## CDdude55 (Oct 26, 2010)

erocker said:


> Due to power requirements, I disagree. That's just me though.



Well i guess that's one aspect you can point out, GF100 definitely isn't the most power efficient architecture. Ran two 470's in SLI myself and to be honest they really didn't take anything our of the norm of what a normal enthusiast would buy, you buy 2x 470's you're not going to be cheaping out and running it on a 500w CompUSA PSU..

EDIT: 





			
				erocker said:
			
		

> Nvidia needs to get their act together so their AIB's can stay afloat. Or they should just take everything in house and dump AIB's all together.



I agree. Though i really hope they don't ditch their partners.


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## erocker (Oct 26, 2010)

CDdude55 said:


> Well i guess that's one aspect you can point out, GF100 definitely isn't the most power efficient architecture. Ran two 470's in SLI myself and to be honest they really didn't take anything our of the norm of what a normal enthusiast would buy, you buy 2x 470's you're not going to be cheaping out and running it on a 500w CompUSA PSU..



Except one "blew up". If I'm not mistaken of course... 470's are allright, I used one for a while except it just didn't offer me anything more than my 5850 which uses less power and produces less heat. I actually find that I get more stable framerates with my 5850. But whatever, you don't have to defend your purchase in every thread about Nvidia or ATi. GF100's life is short and this dual GF104 card is what AIB's have to do to keep competitive. Now, if the price is right on this card it could be a big winner, especially if other companies make a similar product.


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## CDdude55 (Oct 26, 2010)

erocker said:


> Except one "blew up". If I'm not mistaken of course... 470's are allright, I used one for a while except it just didn't offer me anything more than my 5850 which uses less power and produces less heat. I actually find that I get more stable framerates with my 5850. But whatever, you don't have to defend your purchase in every thread about Nvidia or ATi. GF100's life is short and this dual GF104 card is what AIB's have to do to keep competitive. Now, if the price is right on this card it could be a big winner, especially if other companies make a similar product.



Ya unfortunately one of my 470's decided to kill itself for no apparent reason.

That's a good point about about the 5850 and definitely the strong advantage AMD/ATI has been having with their recent lineup of cards. I was actually considering ditching my 470 for a 5850 a while back based on those reasons, less power, less heat, similar performance. But i figured hey, i have a good enough PSU and a good amount of airflow, so there wasn't much of a point.

I also try not to defend what i buy in threads, because as i have stated before in those threads, they are all just companies that want my money so i find it counterproductive and and just flat out stupid to defend anyone of them.


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## _JP_ (Oct 26, 2010)

Liking the looks of it, but that's really all that I can say, for now. Hope Zotac brings it closer to existence for consumers than Galaxy did.
Also, inb4 nvidiaintelftw.


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## btarunr (Oct 26, 2010)

Cuzza said:


> Thanks tarun, I know what you meant, just an uncommon choice of words. At least to us westerners.



Not at all, a semaphore component is commonly used in tech jargon, very much in the west. I'll cite an example of Intel using it:


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## p3gaz_001 (Oct 26, 2010)

this is really SICK!!....  maybe i'll use this 480 AMP by Zotac for physx and get this 460x2 for video .. whoooaaaaa!!


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## CDdude55 (Oct 26, 2010)

p3gaz_001 said:


> this is really SICK!!....  maybe i'll use this 480 AMP by Zotac for physx and get this 460x2 for video .. whoooaaaaa!!



Screw Physx, why not just get a second 480?


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## p3gaz_001 (Oct 26, 2010)

CDdude55 said:


> Screw Physx, why not just get a second 480?



cause to do that.. called SLI i must have at least that crosshair IV extreme... hydra lucid chip. ... u know ... crossfire and sli on amd platform ... so since i'm not so really interested on that... i can't do much more than this.... :|


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## CDdude55 (Oct 26, 2010)

p3gaz_001 said:


> cause to do that.. called SLI i must have at least that crosshair IV extreme... hydra lucid chip. ... u know ... crossfire and sli on amd platform ... so since i'm not so really interested on that... i can't do much more than this.... :|



Ahh, didn't see the board you were using.


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## p3gaz_001 (Oct 26, 2010)

CDdude55 said:


> Ahh, didn't see the board you were using.



no prob dude


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## 1c3d0g (Oct 26, 2010)

Quad SLI...that's like sweet music to my folding@home ears!


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## Cuzza (Oct 26, 2010)

btarunr said:


> Not at all, a semaphore component is commonly used in tech jargon, very much in the west. I'll cite an example of Intel using it:



Hmmmm. Well, you learn something everyday.


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## Wile E (Oct 27, 2010)

btarunr said:


> Not at all, a semaphore component is commonly used in tech jargon, very much in the west. I'll cite an example of Intel using it:
> 
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/101026/bta9510.jpg



A big tech conglomerate using a word does not make it common. It is not a common word in the west at all. A vast majority have never even heard the word, let alone know what it actually means.

His point stands. Most people simply don't know what they are.


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## btarunr (Oct 27, 2010)

Wile E said:


> A big tech conglomerate using a word does not make it common. It is not a common word in the west at all. A vast majority have never even heard the word, let alone know what it actually means.
> 
> His point stands. Most people simply don't know what they are.



Semaphore is an English word. It's western by origin. A vast majority of people never heard a vast majority of terms used here on TPU. I'm obviously referring to the target audience.


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## Wile E (Oct 27, 2010)

btarunr said:


> Semaphore is an English word, invented by the British. It's western by origin. A vast majority of people never heard a vast majority of terms used here on TPU. I'm obviously referring to the target audience.



If not for my love of trains, I never would've been exposed to the word until now. 

It has never, EVER, come up in a single tech conversation i have had, IN MY ENTIRE LIFE, prior to this thread. We just don't use the word that often at all. It is completely uncommon for us, even in the tech field.


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## btarunr (Oct 27, 2010)

Wile E said:


> If not for my love of trains, I never would've been exposed to the word until now.
> 
> It has never, EVER, come up in a single tech conversation i have had, IN MY ENTIRE LIFE, prior to this thread. We just don't use the word that often at all. It is completely uncommon for us, even in the tech field.



Which is why, I used semaphore as a verb, not a noun. Just like flag-semaphores in aviation and rail semaphores. You can always look it up. When you're semaphoring something, you're directing something to go some particular way.

Anyway, some people learned a new word today. People learn uncommon words by reading books/newspapers/magazines/blogs.


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## entropy13 (Oct 27, 2010)

Wile E said:


> A big tech conglomerate using a word does not make it common. It is not a common word in the west at all. A vast majority have never even heard the word, let alone know what it actually means.
> 
> His point stands. Most people simply don't know what they are.



"A humongous tech agglomeration employing a locution does not make it banal. It is not a colloquial morpheme in the west at all. A prodigious preponderance have never even heard the vocable, let alone fathom what it genuinely adumbrate."

His sentiment does not stand. He addresses it as a "colorful translation", not as an "it's not a well-known English word" issue.


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## Wile E (Oct 27, 2010)

entropy13 said:


> "A humongous tech agglomeration employing a locution does not make it banal. It is not a colloquial morpheme in the west at all. A prodigious preponderance have never even heard the vocable, let alone fathom what it genuinely adumbrate."
> 
> His sentiment does not stand.* He addresses it as a "colorful translation", not as an "it's not a well-known English word" issue.*



Yes he does:


Cuzza said:


> Thanks tarun, I know what you meant, just an uncommon choice of words. At least to us westerners.



But, I commented on the issue completely before realizing there was an entire second page that I missed. So I need to go read that now to see if any of this has been covered at all. lol.

EDIT: Nvm, I read it. I'm losing my damn mind today. lol.


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## motasim (Oct 27, 2010)

... guys, things happen, btarunr is doing exemplary work here at TPU so I think that this earns him the right to hiccup now and then ... don't push it ...


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## Wile E (Oct 27, 2010)

motasim said:


> ... guys, things happen, btarunr is doing exemplary work here at TPU so I think that this earns him the right to hiccup now and then ... don't push it ...



It wasn't meant as negative criticism. Bta does damn fine. People were just letting him know it's not a well known word in the west.


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## Cuzza (Oct 27, 2010)

Hmmmm have I started something here?




Wile E said:


> His point stands. Most people simply don't know what they are.



That's exactly what I meant. I know what a semaphore is in a non-computer-tech sense, and this is the first time I have seen it used as such. The meaning was clear to me from the context.



btarunr said:


> Semaphore is an English word. It's western by origin. A vast majority of people never heard a vast majority of terms used here on TPU. I'm obviously referring to the target audience.





btarunr said:


> Anyway, some people learned a new word today. People learn uncommon words by reading books/newspapers/magazines/blogs.



It certainly is. I applaud your use of such words. Keeps the rest of us on our toes.



entropy13 said:


> His sentiment does not stand. He addresses it as a "colorful translation", not as an "it's not a well-known English word" issue.



I visited the source website which is non-English language. By "colorful translation" (sic) I assumed Btarunr had taken some liberties when converting it to English, because he used a word which I had not seen before in such a context.

I considered that perhaps the term was common in India. I'm sure Indian English has many nuances, just like American English and British English are quite different.

It so happens that I do not have a tech-related career or a wealth of experience with componentry, so I wasn't too surprised to be told that the use of that term is common within its specialty field. I can easily imagine it's simply an area of language I have not encountered before.

Whether this is true or not may be up for debate. What is clear is that the use of the term "semaphore" as a verb related to circuitry - whether or not you know the meaning of the word in other contexts as a noun - is extremely uncommon to most people, even most of those who have a keen interest in computers. This was my original point and I believe it still stands.



motasim said:


> ... guys, things happen, btarunr is doing exemplary work here at TPU so I think that this earns him the right to hiccup now and then ... don't push it ...





Wile E said:


> It wasn't meant as negative criticism. Bta does damn fine. People were just letting him know it's not a well known word in the west.



Quite right. I meant absolutely no offense or criticism.


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## btarunr (Oct 27, 2010)

Cuzza said:


> I visited the source website which is non-English language. By "colorful translation" (sic) I assumed Btarunr had taken some liberties when converting it to English, because he used a word which I had not seen before in such a context.



When I type in English, I don't mentally translate something I have in mind in Hindi, to English. The language flows naturally. 



Cuzza said:


> I considered that perhaps the term was common in India.



We have one of the largest railway networks and railway enthusiast clubs, so I guess it is. 



Cuzza said:


> I'm sure Indian English has many nuances, just like American English and British English are quite different.



Indian English is British English. We're taught the language since kindergarten, and so it comes naturally. It's only the accent that's different.


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## HammerON (Oct 27, 2010)

2 of these would be sweet!!!


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## Cuzza (Oct 27, 2010)

btarunr said:


> When I type in English, I don't mentally translate something I have in mind in Hindi, to English. The language flows naturally.



I actually meant Chinese -> English. I didn't think you were fluent in Chinese. 

That was before I realised Expreview has an English version. Which of course you must have used. My bad.

Certainly being raised bilingually you would not have to make a "concsious" translation.



btarunr said:


> Indian English is British English. We're taught the language since kindergarten, and so it comes naturally. It's only the accent that's different.



Yes, of course it is. But there must be a few words which are more common or less common in India. This clearly isn't one of them.


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## ebolamonkey3 (Oct 27, 2010)

1c3d0g said:


> Quad SLI...that's like sweet music to my folding@home ears!



Ahh... imagine the PPD w/ 4 of these and a pair of hexcores on a SR-2!!!


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## [Ion] (Oct 27, 2010)

HammerON said:


> 2 of these would be sweet!!!



2?  2??

How about 4? 

Or a SR-2 w/ 7


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## wahdangun (Oct 27, 2010)

1c3d0g said:


> Quad SLI...that's like sweet music to my folding@home ears!



if you just use it for folding i think you didn't need SLI, just use 4 "normal" GTX460


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