NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 Fermi

[xrealm20]

not quite helios -- an overclocked cpu will consume more power at a higher clockspeed even at stock voltage.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

meh old drivers = not fully accurate altho im glad for the review Wizz with your review and the multitude of others we can get a nice idea of where the cards truly are.

but all i can think is 2 5850s at launch was $500 for me and i get better then 5970 performance and with wizz review i hit 300 watts max from both gpus under heavy load so 2 5850s at max non volt mod clock and i easily destroy the 480 for the same price. you need to redo the 5k cards with 10.3 drivers wizz so we can get a better idea ive seen a HUGE jump in half my games between 9.12 and 10.3 my average increase is 5% in crysis to 25-30% in Dirt2 and about 15-20% in Heaven bench

 

[rpsgc]

9.12 drivers? FAIL.



And 320W at load? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA



HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA



HAHAHAHAHAHAHA


HAHAHA


HA!

 

[aCid888*]

I'm just happy my Crossfire 4870's are still holding up well.


Needless to say, I wont be one of the many throwing my cash at this card.

 

[Black Panther]

Some rumours appeared to be right after all...

This was disappointing, this card was supposed to compete with the 5870 (I was actually thinking it might be better than the 5970...)

It ended up to be:

-much hotter
-only slightly better
-more expensive
-consumes much more power

than the 5870.

I'm sure Nvidia could have done better?

 

[zyklon]

Some rumours appeared to be right after all...

This was disappointing, this card was supposed to compete with the 5870 (I was actually thinking it might be better than the 5970...)

It ended up to be:

-much hotter
-only slightly better
-more expensive
-consumes much more power

than the 5870.

I'm sure Nvidia could have done better?

+1
...very disappointed

 

[DaedalusHelios]

not quite helios -- an overclocked cpu will consume more power at a higher clockspeed even at stock voltage.

Yeah I have never measured the difference as I always use a PSU with a much larger wattage than needed.

 

[LittleLizard]

320W AND good performance in metro 2033.

In my opinion nvidia is using a card with a so high power consumption that works on a post apocalyptic russia to promote Nuclear energy.

Anyway, i like its appeareance and performance but with such a high power consumption if i had the money i just would go for a 5870.

@w1zz: great review

 

[Mistral]

Many thanks for the great review, W1zzard.

It's faster than the 5870, that's what I was hoping for. The power consumption and thermals are wacko crazy nuts though.

So, then can we expect a 470 review with the 10.03 used for ATI?

 

[cool_recep]

Finally nvidia revealed its recommended power supply for the GTX 480:

A device at Sandia Labs releasing its capacitors' charge. It is about the size of a basketball court. It has achieved temperatures of 3.7*10^9 K (highest man-made temperature ever). During the 100 ns discharge, the power output is 2.9*10^14 W, equal to 80 times the power output of all the power plants on earth.

Oh yeah and the Fail Truck...

 

[HillBeast]

Wow. I really need to go on eBay and sell my HD5870 so I can the more power hungry, hotter, uglier, and in some cases slower GTX480 because that's clearly the best card in the world...

I think you were being a bit kind to it giving it an 8.2. It may be the most powerful single GPU solution but when it manages to be hotter and more power inefficient than ATIs most powerful dual core, you need to factor these in a bit better with the conclusion.

Personally I wouldn't give it more than a 6.

 

[Steevo]

Nvidia and Global Warming.

Teaming up for your future!

 

[HillBeast]

you need to redo the 5k cards with 10.3 drivers wizz so we can get a better idea ive seen a HUGE jump in half my games between 9.12 and 10.3 my average increase is 5% in crysis to 25-30% in Dirt2 and about 15-20% in Heaven bench

I agree. The newer drivers have made everything so much faster on my system, and aparently it also reduced power consumption but I've never seen this myself.

 

[aCid888*]

Personally I wouldn't give it more than a 6.

When was the last time anything in a TPU review got less than 7.5???

 

[Semi-Lobster]

...I still don't get why 10.3 wasn't used?

 

[HillBeast]

When was the last time anything in a TPU review got less than 7.5???

lol. True. I think we have set our standards a little low lately. I remember back when a computer with a 300W power supply was over the top but now we have graphics cards which alone need more than that.

 

[douglatins]

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...Fermi-performance-benchmarks/Reviews/?page=17

Funny quote from them

The charts below show a list of games that we have been testing with the GTX 480/470 and the multi GPU cards GTX 295 and Radeon HD 5970. Please bear in mind that besides the increased rate of incomparability problems, the increased power consumption and the irregular frame distribution (including an input lag) the gaming experience delivered by a multi GPU card can be inferior to the experience on a single GPU card. The results below don't represent the felt performance.

They failed to say that the 480 consumes a lot more than a 5970

 

[PopcornMachine]

Looks like a very powerful card. A giant pig of a very powerful card.

And I wonder how long they will last running at +90C? That's the most surprising thing to me. Can't be good.

 

[a_ump]

hmmm the GTX 480 is pretty much where it was guessed to fall, 10-15% faster than the HD 5870. So will ATI counter with a HD 5890 or just lower prices

 

[douglatins]

hmmm the GTX 480 is pretty much where it was guessed to fall, 10-15% faster than the HD 5870. So will ATI counter with a HD 5890 or just lower prices

They dont need to lower prices, and they still have the all around perf king, so why bother

 

[HillBeast]

Looks like a very powerful card. A giant pig of a very powerful card.

And I wonder how long they will last running at +90C? That's the most surprising thing to me. Can't be good.

Xbox 360s last about 3 months at lower than those temperatures, so lets say... a day?

My Radeon HD5870 before I custom cooled it never got above 75C and after putting a Scythe Setsugen on it it never exceeds 55-60C unless I Furmark it.

Worst... Graphics Card... Ever.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Soo i wonder how many companies will produce overpriced full cover water blocks for the 470/480 now

 

[freaksavior]

Considering the gts is $499 and the 5870 is 350-400 the 5870 is better here. maybe drivers will mature and give better performance though.

either way, im lightly disapointed.

 

[pantherx12]

So when is the review going to be redone?

 

[HalfAHertz]

+1 These are still beta drivers, so maybe after Nvidia releases some more sable drivers, we could have a re-review?