GTX480 Review Thread

**GasMask** · May 07, 2010, 08:23 AM

I say different it plays any game alike frames vary with clock speeds apart from the obvious clocks the 5850 can handle just about anything.

Why buy a 5870 ? when you can have the exact same quality which can play any game ? AKA 5850.

**Smokey** · May 07, 2010, 09:28 AM

Originally Posted by mrcrusty

All solved with a custom cooler.

I remember a few years back I had an ASUS CoH Ed 8800 GT. It ran hot. Very hot. 81c at load on stock clocks, I was still able to overclock the core and memory by about 100 Mhz without running into any issues. In any case, it's a moot point because OC'ing is by definition, a bonus on the product. At the end of the day, if you are able to OC to the levels you want without the graphics card melting or exploding on you, the temperatures are irrelevant. Sure it'll be nice to bring those temps back down to ~60c, but unless you benchmark or game 24/7, you're not going to stress the graphics card enough to cause long lasting damage.

And, if all else fails, there's always custom coolers from Arctic Cooling, Zalman and the like.

Depends on your definition, in terms of pure gaming, I agree, but features like CUDA can be very useful outside of just playing games. Video transcoding, 3d rendering, hell, even game development would probably benefit.

In my mind, the Nvidia cards are better performers. The ATI cards however, just scream out "efficiency". They are better bang for buck.

The heat issue is non issue because custom coolers will attend to that, stock cooling as a rule is not very good, regardless of what card it is. The mindset with stock cooling is "how cheap can we make it without breaking the card?"

My main gripe with Nvidia is price. At least, here in Australia, a GTX 470 goes for the price of a custom cooled HD 5870 and the GTX 480 goes for almost as much as an HD 5970. Nutty.

If the prices matched, or were similar, the Nvidia cards would probably make a killing on the HD 5xxx cards.

Then again, maybe it's the drivers I'm really raging about. CCC sucks hardcore.

I'm still waiting for the day ATI allows profiles to be set for each individual game automatically, like the Nvidia ones.

All good points mate.

read this review, if anything these guys love the card, viewing end score. ill concentrate on the temperature page:

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1831&pageID=8795

This is one hot chip end of story.

On a stress test using auto fan the card reaches 95+

Now that's a little rough for temperature and we have concerns about that. Nvidia tells us that top thermal limit on the Fermi line is 105°C and we've seen 95°C - 96°C in Stalker COP benchmark running at 1920x1200 Ultra Setting with Tessellation enabled. We've seen 95°C - 96°C in Unigine Heaven 1 and 2 when the game is driving the GTX-480 at 96 - 97% core usage. We've verified those temperatures with another reviewer in Sweden (Thanks Bjorn) and it's a hard and confirmed fact that Fermi is one hot GPU.

Some temps only 8c from the cards maximum thermal limit, now personally I don’t want to have a 10 hour gaming session in the summer only to melt the silicon on my high end card…

All solved with a custom cooler.

No, you can go and spend 500$ on the card and only to use the thing normally you can go buy an expensive new cooler, and you can say goodbye to your warranty as well…
Not very smart considering the dangerous heat levels on the card mixed with DIY..

Now as you stated with fans 100% it peaks a 75c, but as well reviewed this is not a bearable noise level and not something I want in my system.

but unless you benchmark or game 24/7, you're not going to stress the graphics card enough to cause long lasting damage.

I can easily spend 50+ hours gaming a week.

My 2 cents! LoL

**GasMask** · May 07, 2010, 09:35 AM

They should come with a good cooler anyway im not cashing out on third party coolers.

My ATI card has a very nice cooler on it im yet to go over 70 With this thing i said well before this Nvidia where really failing on the cooling process of their products.

**mrcrusty** · May 07, 2010, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by Smokey

All good points mate.

read this review, if anything these guys love the card, viewing end score. ill concentrate on the temperature page:

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1831&pageID=8795

This is one hot chip end of story.

Never said it wasn't. I said before that it makes a good portable heater for a night in. Apparently, it also doubles as a replacement stove.

Originally Posted by Smokey

No, you can go and spend 500$ on the card and only to use the thing normally you can go buy an expensive new cooler, and you can say goodbye to your warranty as well…
Not very smart considering the dangerous heat levels on the card mixed with DIY..

When I said custom cooler, what I meant was company custom coolers, as in wait a few months and see what EVGA and the rest pull out.

Originally Posted by Smokey

I can easily spend 50+ hours gaming a week.

My 2 cents! LoL

Lol, I can't. I could probably pull 20-30 if I'm dedicated. I get headaches by the time I hit the 3-4 hour mark in a day and I usually can't force myself to continue unless it's some kind of epic RPG and I'm oh so close to reaching a pivotal plot point.

In any case, I don't have the money to get myself a new graphics card. I'm not really planning on buying a GTX 4xx or HD 5xxx card, my monitor only goes up to 1680x1050, so my 4850 CFX will handle anything that comes my way for quite a while.

I've got my eye on a pretty little digit called the Corsair HX 850, which is probably going to last me the next 5-10 years.

**Smokey** · May 07, 2010, 10:05 AM

When I said custom cooler, what I meant was company custom coolers, as in wait a few months and see what EVGA and the rest pull out.

My bad

Lol, I can't. I could probably pull 20-30 if I'm dedicated. I get headaches by the time I hit the 3-4 hour mark in a day and I usually can't force myself to continue unless it's some kind of epic RPG and I'm oh so close to reaching a pivotal plot point.

It’s my hobby

In any case, I don't have the money to get myself a new graphics card. I'm not really planning on buying a GTX 4xx or HD 5xxx card, my monitor only goes up to 1680x1050, so my 4850 CFX will handle anything that comes my way for quite a while.

I've got my eye on a pretty little digit called the Corsair HX 850, which is probably going to last me the next 5-10 years.

Nice, I sold my CF 4870’s and bought x1 5850 and thought I’d give it a good bash and see what I can get out of it before I buy another one, I’ve not been disappointed yet! I’m not planning on buying another one yet

**HansDuet** · May 07, 2010, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by GAS MASK

I say different it plays any game alike frames vary with clock speeds apart from the obvious clocks the 5850 can handle just about anything.

Newsflash: You can raise 5870 clocks too. Its a faster card. They may play most games alike since they're both high end GPU's and chew anything you can throw at them.

Why buy a 5870 ? when you can have the exact same quality which can play any game ? AKA 5850.

Well you could invest for future and buy a beefier card. It has longer lifespan than 5850.

But I agree with you here, if you want bang for the buck 5850 is the way to go.

(If you want quality though, go GTX470

)

**Freddie** · May 07, 2010, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by Smokey

This is one hot chip end of story.

On a stress test using auto fan the card reaches 95+

One point that has been over looked is that these cards have come out during the spring or late winter in some places where it's cool and a bit chilly, you have got to expect these cards to start throttling down during the summer time or worse when being used in a non controlled environment such as someone's spare room, bedroom or office.

**mrmouth** · May 07, 2010, 02:34 PM

That might be kind of a reach. It was 80F in our place the other day, and my temps only went up 3c. Anyone who just shelled out the money for one of these cards, is likely going to have a properly cooled case to toss it in, I would think.

And of course the stress test, independent of how heavy the load might be, is going to sit on that thing considerably more than any game is.

**Freddie** · May 07, 2010, 04:57 PM

Nvidia prior to the release of the new Fermi cards did actually publish a list of 'approved cases', I've never seen the list but it would be interesting to see it, I've noticed in the summer time here in the UK my temps for all my components have gone as high as 20c and I only normally buy mid range parts. If I had the money for high end kit like the GTX480 or HD5970 I would be looking at water cooling as by having a large expensive case isn't a guarantee that it will provide decent air cooling, cases like the new Corsair 800D air pressure just dissipates by the time it reaches the components just because the case is so large

**karamazovmm** · May 07, 2010, 05:29 PM

80f? just that? I had a 36c here today, I can't imagine a non water cooled or a non proprietary cooler going into mine pc

**adamsleath** · May 12, 2010, 12:29 AM

who cares how hot it is, so long as it doesnt fry itself to death - i mean what are the acceptable temps and hpw long are these cards supposed to fun for?

im curious whether nvidia (or other) have a way of downclocking these cards for 2D ???????????????

**mrcrusty** · May 12, 2010, 12:35 AM

Originally Posted by adamsleath

who cares how hot it is, so long as it doesnt fry itself to death - i mean what are the acceptable temps and hpw long are these cards supposed to fun for?

I believe 105c is the recommended operating limit. When it hits over 90c at load, it may be some cause for concern. If you plan on an overclock, leaving the fan on "auto" is not an option.

Originally Posted by adamsleath

im curious whether nvidia (or other) have a way of downclocking these cards for 2D ???????????????

The current series of ATI and Nvidia cards clock down for idle or 2d operation automatically.

**adamsleath** · May 12, 2010, 03:37 AM

anyone seen testing of gtx 480 with napoleon tw?

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review...=950&pageid=14

the only review i have found so far...any others?

**HansDuet** · May 12, 2010, 06:11 AM

Thats pretty much how it performs compared to 5870. Slight edge in performance.

**mrcrusty** · May 14, 2010, 04:00 AM

Hans, this might grab your interest:

http://www.galaxytechus.com/usa/productview.aspx?id=124

It's not bad.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/...c_sli_review/8

Though it is more expensive that the stocks lol.

**HansDuet** · May 14, 2010, 05:20 AM

Oh yes.

Looks quite good actually.

**mrcrusty** · May 14, 2010, 10:12 AM

Oh man, I promised myself not to buy a current gen video card, damn PC Case Gear...

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=14272

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=14061

**craziii** · May 14, 2010, 03:47 PM

woah fred, nice case that 800d, the cable management is sooo much better than my antec p183. did a search and found some cool videos on youtube. damn, I want to trade in my case.