NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 480 finally unleashed. Reviewed and rated.

[Zhaoman]

I am pretty disappointed tbh. I was expecting this fermi to challenge the 5970 but it ends up just about beating a 5870... This is an underwhelming card and as CAT pointed out, it looks like there's not gonna be price drops anytime soon

[borandi]

A little bit, but the P4s vs Athlons was only 130W vs 95W, this is more like 250W vs 150W. It's worse. That, and the Pentium Ds were ROFL cheap.

I was more thinking the super hot Prescotts running at 80-90+, compared to the Athlon X2s that ran cooler and faster at a lower TDP. Pentium Ds weren't til later.

[sammorris]

comparing a Single core to a dual core though, isn't strictly fair

More relevantly though, this re-affirms the domination of the HD5 series. Those who bought one at release are going to be overwhelmed with glee, and those who waited now know the HD5 was the right choice. I may well bring my DX11 upgrade forward to buy some HD5s, now I know their price isn't going down any time soon!

[shaffaaf27]

dual 5850s is basically a 5970, and for the same price nivida = fail.

we need a 2560 max aa/af and 3x1 multi monitor review with dual 5870s vs dual gtx 480

[sadbuttrue]

As these cards run at >70c above ambient, during summer one will see core temps in excess of 110c... in the UK. I dread to think how hot they will run in warmer climates.

[mercyground]

As these cards run at >70c above ambient, during summer one will see core temps in excess of 110c... in the UK. I dread to think how hot they will run in warmer climates.

afaik the trip temp is set to 105c as hardocp said. And as was posted earlier... WOW at the noise. And thats open test bed? In a case? /me shudders.

Kyle Bennett HardOCP Editor-in-Chief - 75F give or take 2 degrees. Stick those ****ers in a 100F case and it will sound like a missile silo all day long...

^

[sammorris]

I hope these cards have 5000rpm fans fitted like ATI cards, not 3500 like the standard for Geforces, else these are going to be in trouble in actual PC cases during the summer months, especially in SLI. If I crank my X2 fans right up to 100% I can keep load temperatures down to the high 80s, but it's not midsummer yet, and I have a full tower case with 6 120mm fans at 1900rpm. The GTX480 puts out just as much heat, if not more, and what about people with midtower cases or quieter case fans? Add to that Geforces don't tend to stay stable when they overheat, I'm worried!

[mercyground]

just watch out for NV and killer fan drivers.

Cos it really WILL be card killing then.

[sammorris]

To hell with the drivers, a fan being stopped should not kill a graphics card. What if you accidentally got a cable trapped in it! It doesn't kill off ATI cards, I don't see what nvidia's excuse is.

[handscombmp]

Well after reading lots of reviews i'm off to buy a Ati 5850 today.

[slickric21]

Nice review,

However I think Hexus have missed a trick, because being the only website around with a review of the HD 5870 2Gb, it would have been a great exclusive to compare it with the GTX 480.

p.s everyone seen the prices on these things !!!!

Scan are taking preorders with prices ranging...

GTX 480 = £428 - £504
GTx 470 = £300 - £333

£428 for the cheapest 480, thats a £100 + premium over a HD 5870 !!! Is it worth it ???????

[dfour]

IMHO no its not worth it.

Its an interesting card awith some powerful features but if I want to cook something I will use an oven and it would probably cost less money to use as well

Hopefully the 5870 prices will start to fall now but im not about to hold my breath.

Nvidia is faster but at what cost???

[GoNz0]

if the price dropped to match ATI's latest top card i would buy a pair and water cool them, otherwise for now they can go screw. i will wait.

[danroyle]

i am quite pleased that i got my 5850 now i was dreading these reviews usually i buy a card and a new one comes out twice as fast and half the cost.

[kalniel]

Nice review,

However I think Hexus have missed a trick, because being the only website around with a review of the HD 5870 2Gb, it would have been a great exclusive to compare it with the GTX 480.

They already explained that - there isn't a 5870 2gb with stock speeds AFAIK.

nVidia have tried to save face.. but at this stage in time, they haven't made it. Slower than a 5970, while using more power both at idle and load, with a noisy fan and dangerously exposed heatsink (I would not like to cram up another expansion slot card next to it).

The double precision crippling is also majorly disappointing for people hoping for a GCGPU card on the cheap. Fully fledged fermi looks like it might be great for that, when it finally comes out, but at what price?


PS: Excellent review Tarinder, one of Hexus' best, despite the odd decision about dirt2 dx modes. Especially love the bang4watt.

PPS: Another non-launch - no cards available to buy yet?

[bigsnake123]

Great review. Would it be possible to put the average price of £466 into the "Bang for Buck" as this is the average pre-order price. I am not convinced on this card. It would seem that the sweet spot for the casual, yet savvy gamer is the 5850.

I will watch with interest the take up of the cards, the release of firmware updates and the (hopeful) decline in the pricing over the next few months.

98 degrees is hot, I cant help but think that thats the perfect temp to make a coffee. Is there a trick missed here, I mean what gamer doesn't like a nice hot coffee to keep him/her going through the night.....