GIGABYTE Extends Super Overclock Series with GTX 480 SOC Graphics Card | News
2010/11/05
Taipei, Taiwan, 4 November, 2010 – GIGABYTE, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, introduces a powerful new addition to its Super Overclock Series: GTX 480 SOC (GV-N480SO-15I). To qualify for Super Overclock Series, a GPU must go through GIGABYTE’s innovative GPU Gauntlet™ Sorting process and it must be equipped with Ultra Durable VGA or VGA+ boards. Designed specifically for overclocking competition and gaming battle, GIGABYTE’s secret weapon GTX 480 Super Overclock Edition is built with NVDIA GeForce GTX 480 GPU. Based on 40nm processor and advanced GDDR5 memory technology, the powerful new GPU consists of ground-breaking features including Microsoft DirectX® 11 and NVIDIA PhysX™ which lead to incredibly immersive HD gaming experience and unrivaled performance. To satisfy hardcore gamers and extreme overclockers, GV-N480SO-15 is especially designed with GIGABYTE Extreme Dual BIOS technology. GV-N480SO-15I also features WINDFORCE™ 3X, 14 phase PWM design, OC Guru graphic card smart tuner and voltage read point.
GIGABYTE Extreme Dual BIOS technology
As opposed to the traditional concept of dual BIOS chips where one is a main BIOS and the other one is a backup BIOS, GIGABYTE Extreme Dual BIOS technology contains two different BIOS chips designed for separate purposes. GIGABYTE Extreme Dual BIOS technology supports one-touch dual BIOS switching button to shift between two BIOSes, SOC (Super Overclock Series) Default BIOS and LN2 BIOS. SOC Default BIOS allows gamers to build their dream machines to conquer digital battles on the web. LN2 BIOS is especially designed for overclockers to avoid potential cold bug* issues at extremely low temperatures. This feature equips selective GIGABYTE Super Overclock Series for extreme overclockability to break world records at any competitions.
*The “cold bug” is an issue occurred when a processor ceases functioning or overclocking at a low (usually sub zero) temperature, preventing the use of extreme cooling methods such as dry ice or liquid nitrogen.
WINDFORCE™ – GIGABYTE’s Latest Cooling Solution
GIGABYTE introduces WINDFORCE™, the latest cooling technology that differentiates the brand’s graphics cards from the rest. GIGABYTE understands that a fan is crucial to the graphics card, so only the fan with the most efficiency is selected for WINDFORCE™. To qualify for WINDFORCE™, the cooling solution must be equipped with anti-turbulence inclined-fin, ultra quiet PWM fan and pure copper heat pipe. Inclined-fins redirect airflow and help to reduce excessive heat and turbulence. Depending on its orientation, there are 3 types of inclined-fin designs: parallel-inclined, mirroring-inclined and 3D-inclined. Each type contributes to generating excellent exterior airflow for efficient heat dissipation from the interior GPU core.
WINDFORCE™3X: Anti-turbulence Cooling
GV-N480SO-15I is equipped with WINDFORCE™ 3X cooling solution.
WINDFORCE™ 3X features 3 ultra quiet PWM fans. The special 3D-inclined triple-fan design effectively minimizes the flow of turbulence between three fans. With a unique vapor chamber, WINDFORCE™ 3X is able to transfer heat from the hot spot to the cool spot as thermal energy becomes evaporated to the surrounding air. By capillary action, the condensed liquid droplets circulate back to the base of chamber. The cycles of evaporation and condensation enhance heat dissipation for greater cooling efficiency. Moreover, WINDFORCE™ 3X is equipped with three copper heat pipes to strengthen the speed of heat dissipation.
Pure Power Architecture
GV-N480SO-15I has incredibly pure power. It is compatible with ATX standard length PCB. 14 phase PWM design includes 12 for GPU, 2 for memory. Standard GTX 480 graphics card has 6+2 power phases whereas GIGABYTE’s GTX 480 SOC has 12. Not only does GV-N480SO-15I have more power phases than reference card, the 12 power phase status LED indicators indicate graphics card’s current power phase, helping users monitor power consumption.
This feature ensures a more stable system and better overclocking capability.
GPU Gauntlet™ Sorting
GIGABYTE’s very own GPU Gauntlet™ Sorting process is the key to the best GPUs for Super Overclock Series. A GPU must pass a sequence of tests to be selected. This unique process offers three major advantages. First, full-throttle performance tuning improves overclocking ability by at least 10% to 30%. Second, optimized thermal efficiency lowers extra temperatures by 5% to 10%. Fan speed is guaranteed at standard rpm in high-rated 3D and physics-accelerated games to reduce noise for an absolutely quiet environment. Lastly, expert power switching lowers power switching loss by 10% to 30%. With GPU Gauntlet™ Sorting, GIGABYTE SOC graphics card guarantees higher overclocking ability.
Ultra Durable VGA+
Thanks to Ultra Durable VGA+ that features 5+1 quality components, the Super Overclock Series supports top performance in graphics benchmarking.
GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA+’s 5 units of proadlizer on GV-N480SO-15I graphics cards is able to provide purer power supply compared to traditional power design (zero proadlizers).
Proadlizer®
One of the quality components of Ultra Durable VGA+ is GIGABYTE’s exclusive use of proadlizers. On GV-N480SO-15I graphics cards, GIGABYTE uses five NEC Proadlizer®, also known as film capacitor, to provide amazing current capacity and extremely low ESL/ESR for super overclocking ability. The added proadlizers transmit more stable power even during heavy loading.
OC Guru – Graphic Card Smart Tuner
GIGABYTE proudly improves its graphics card smart tuner OC Guru. This graphics card tweaking utility puts together the best combination of software/hardware overclocking. It now features 3 profiles: OC (for overclocking mode), Gaming (for gaming mode), and Green (for power saving mode).
The different modes cater to users’ different needs. GIGABYTE’s distinctive adjustable software offers gamers to adjust tuners for memory, voltage, and fan speed. OC Guru, the user-friendly software, gives hardcore gamers liberty when overclocking.
Voltage Read Point
GIGABYTE’s specific voltage read point supplies hardcore gamers an ultimate benching experience at overclocking competition. Heavy users can change the voltage simply through software instead of manually adjusting any components on PCB. It is easy for overclockers to master the platform and monitor GPU workload at any time just through voltage read point.
The GIGABYTE Super Overclock Series includes HD 5770, GTX470, GTX460 and GTX480. For more details about the Super Overclock Series, please visit the GIGABYTE VGA website at: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/main.aspx?s=43
GIGABYTE SOC: http://www.gigabyte.com/MicroSite/72/index.
html
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GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 480 Video Card
Video Cards & GPUs
NVIDIA GeForce GPU
Our first GTX 480 arrives and it’s a sexy looking retail one. Let’s see how the GIGABYTE GTX 480 looks and goes.
Published Apr 14, 2010 10:58 AM CDT | Updated Tue, Nov 3 2020 7:02 PM CST
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
16 minute read time
Introduction
I’ve been waiting weeks for a GTX 480 to arrive here at TweakTown and it’s nice to see it’s finally come in the form of a retail version thanks to GIGABYTE. The chances are that most people have probably made up their mind on what they think of the GTX 400 series, but let’s have a look at a retail version and see how it compares against some of the top cards from ATI along with the GTX 470.
While we didn’t have a GTX 480 at launch, we have already covered the main specifications of the model and along with the main features it and the GTX 400 series in general offers.
Since we won’t go into massive detail on those two areas today, I recommend that you check out both my GTX 400 Series — What you need to know article and our stand alone GTX 470 review.
With that said, we’ll be covering the technical specifications as always on page three of the review where we look at the card and we’ll also be talking about some of the technologies in the final thoughts.
For now, let’s have a look at the package to see what GIGABYTE has given us before we have a closer look at the card itself and get stuck into the benchmarks to see if the card will float or sink.
The Package
I love the look of the box and the sparkle that GIGABYTE have put on it looks awesome. As for the contents of the package, there’s no denying that it’s on the light side of things. The main stand out point would be the mini-HDMI to HDMI cable. It’s interesting why they’ve chosen to include a cable instead of an adapter, but we’re not about to complain.
Also included is another CD which includes some free apps. Included on the disc are some of the NVIDIA apps that let you show off the power of your video card.
The Card and Specifications
The Card
The GTX 480 is the meanest looking card to date as far as I’m concerned when it comes to seeing the massive heatsink. GIGABYTE has of course stickered the card up and the overall look is fantastic. Power is required with the help of a single 8-Pin PCI-E connector and single 6-Pin PCI-E connector. I/O connectivity is the same as the GTX 470 which means we’ve got two Dual-Link DVI connectors and a single mini-HDMI port.
Specifications
As far as the specifications go, some of the main pieces include 480 Shaders, 1536MB of GDDR5 and 384-bit memory bus. As far as clocks go, the core comes in at 701MHz, the Shader at 1401MHz and the memory at 3696MHz QDR.
If you missed it in our introduction, to get more of an idea on the specifications and how it compares to the GTX 470 I recommend you check out my GTX 400 Series — What you need to know article.
Test System Setup and 3DMark Vantage
We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASRock, Kingston, Western Digital, Noctua and Thermaltake.
We’ll be comparing the GIGABYTE GTX 480 to a number of other cards today including the reference GTX 470, HD 5850, HD 5870 and the big boy from ATI, the HD 5970.
While the card isn’t designed to compete against the HD 5970, we’ve included it anyway. You have to note it’s more expensive, though. The GTX 480 is mainly designed to compete against the HD 5870, although NVIDIA say while it’s more expensive, it’s also faster.
Let’s get started!
3DMark Vantage
Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.1
Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com
Product Homepage: http://www.
futuremark.com/products/3dmarkvantage/
Buy It Here
3DMark Vantage is the new industry standard PC gaming performance benchmark from Futuremark, newly designed for Windows Vista and DirectX10. It includes two new graphics tests, two new CPU tests, several new feature tests, and support for the latest hardware.
3DMark Vantage is based on a completely new rendering engine, developed specifically to take full advantage of DirectX10, the new graphics API from Microsoft.
Under Vantage we can see that the GTX 480 manages to outperform the HD 5870 here. Compared to the GTX 470 we see some good gains with the higher end NVIDIA model.
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
Version and / or Patch Used: 1 and 2
Developer Homepage: http://www.unigine.com
Product Homepage: http://unigine.com/press-releases/091022-heaven_benchmark//
New benchmark grants the power to unleash the DirectX 11 potential in the gift wrapping of impressively towering graphics capabilities.
It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is ensured within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.
Note: If a card doesn’t support DirectX 11 the benchmark will be left out, if it does it will be included along with the DirectX10 results.
Heaven performance on the NVIDIA cards is strong. Compared to the HD 5970 the GTX 480 sits only just behind the dual GPU HD 5970 in the latest version of Heaven benchmark which is very heavy on Tessellation; something NVIDIA have concentrated on.
Benchmarks — CINEBENCH
CINEBENCH
Version and / or Patch Used: Release 10 and Release 11.
5
Developer Homepage: http://www.maxon.net/
Product Homepage: http://www.maxon.net
CINEBENCH is a real-world test suite that assesses your computer’s performace capabilities. MAXON CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software, CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia and many more.
MAXON CINEBENCH runs several tests on your computer to measure the performance of the main processor and the graphics card under real world circumstances. The benchmark application makes use of up to 16 CPUs or CPU cores and is available for Windows (32-bit and 64-Bit) and Macintosh (PPC and Intel-based).
R10 CINEBENCH performance is as we would expect; it’s much lower than the ATI ones which doesn’t come as a surprise. As for the R11.5 performance, the GTX 480 performs the strongest out of the group.
Benchmarks — Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 5
Version and / or Patch Used: Demo Benchmark
Developer Homepage: www.residentevil.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.residentevil.com/
Resident Evil 5 is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the seventh installment in the Resident Evil survival horror series, and was released on September 18. Resident Evil 5 revolves around Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar as they investigate a terrorist threat in Kijuju, a fictional town in Africa.
Across the board we can see the GTX 480 performs very well. Compared to the HD 5870 it’s able to outperform the model at all resolutions. Fortunately we’re well above the 60 FPS average we want to see, so the game will no doubt run silky smooth.
Benchmarks — BattleForge
BattleForge
Version and / or Patch Used: Auto Patched at Load
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.
battleforge.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.battleforge.com/
The Gods have disappeared and the old sun has died, letting a vile twilight engulf the world of Nyn. In exchange for all treasures the mortals possessed, the evil giants agreed to forge a new sun and hurl it into the sky.
But the deal was betrayed, the treasure stolen and now the mortals flee the wrath of the giants. Under the light of a new sun the mortals stumble into a world changed and twisted by an age of twilight. The long journey home has become a conquest of survival.
Note: Supporting DirectX 11 we have seperated the graphs for NVIDIA and ATI cards. While the numbers between the two brands can be compared you have to make note that ATI based HD 5000 series cards are running DirectX 11.
BattleForge is one of the most intensive games in our lineup and you can see some strong performance which at the lower resolution puts the card ahead of the HD 5870. At 2560 x 1600 we can see that the two cards perform identical.
Benchmarks — Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X.
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X.
Version and / or Patch Used: Benchmark Demo
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.ubi.com/UK/default.aspx
Product Homepage: http://www.hawxgame.com/
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X is an arcade-style flight simulator video game developed by Ubisoft Romania and published by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and iPhone OS.
The fundamental gameplay mechanics are similar to those of other console-based flight series. Players take on enemies with over 50 aircraft available. Each mission is at real world locations in environments created with commercial satellite data. A cockpit, first person, and third person view are selectable. The third person view gives the player an external view of both their plane and the target.
Set above the skies of a near-future world, increasingly dependent on private military companies with elite mercenaries who have a relaxed view on the law.
As these non-governmental organizations gain power, global conflict erupts with one powerful PMC attacking the United States.
At all resolutions we see the GTX 480 is able to outperform the HD 5870. At the highest resolution the gain isn’t nearly as big when compared to the 1680 x 1050 results, but the main thing is the card still wins.
Benchmarks — Darkest of Days
Darkest of Days
Version and / or Patch Used: 1.4
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.darkestofdays.com/index.php
Product Homepage: http://www.darkestofdays.com/index.php
Darkest of Days takes the player through time into historic battles in an effort to save key individuals from certain death. The battles range from Custer’s Last Stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 to fighting in Pompeii as ash and fire rain down from an erupting Mt.
Vesuvius in 79 AD. Other locations include the battles of Antietam and Tannenberg, and a German World War II P.O.W. camp. There are different missions in every time period and the game takes about 4 hours to complete.
The game features over twenty weapons, both from the original time period as well as those brought back from the future. In addition, there are artillery weapons from different time periods to assist in battle.
Note: With the PhysX set to Medium or High Darkest of Days take advantage of the NVIDIA PhysX abilities. For that reason we will test ATI cards at the Low preset, NVIDIA based cards though will be tested at Low and High.
Thanks to PhysX support we see the GTX 480 performs very strong. Compared to the GTX 470 we see a good performance increase. Compared to the ATI offerings the NVIDIA cards absolutely kill them.
Benchmarks — Far Cry 2
Far Cry 2
Version and / or Patch Used: 1.
01
Timedemo or Level Used: Ranch Long
Developer Homepage: http://www.ubi.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.farcry2.com/
Buy It Here
The Dunia Engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2 by the award-winning Ubisoft Montreal development team. It delivers the most realistic destructible environments, amazing special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storm effects, real-time night-and-day cycle, dynamic music system, non-scripted enemy A.I. and so much more.
We see some strong performance across the board again from the GTX 480. In saying that, we see strong performance from all models. Compared to the HD 5870 performance between both models is similar in the minimum department. Looking at the average, we see the GTX 480 pulls out the win.
Benchmarks — Batman Arkham Asylum
Batman Arkham Asylum
Version and / or Patch Used: 1.
1
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.batmanarkhamasylum.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.batmanarkhamasylum.com/
Batman: Arkham Asylum exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them to the depths of Arkham Asylum — Gotham’s psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Gamers will move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City’s most notorious villains who have taken over the asylum.
Using a wide range of Batman’s gadgets and abilities, players will become the invisible predator and attempt to foil The Joker’s demented scheme.
Batman: Arkham Asylum features an original story penned exclusively for the game by famous Batman author and five-time Emmy award winner Paul Dini, whose credits include Lost season one and Batman: The Animated Series.
Note: With support for PhysX NVIDIA based cards will be tested with the technology on and off, ATI cards will be tested with the technology off due to it not being supported on their cards.
Batman AA performance is strong and beats out the all the single GPU video cards here. Of course, we’ve also got the option for PhysX. Unfortunately at 2560 x 1600 the card does fall a little behind that 30 FPS minimum, but at the other resolutions we’re above that 30 FPS at 1920 x 1200 and 1680 x 1050.
Benchmarks — Dark Void
Dark Void
Version and / or Patch Used: Benchmark Demo
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.airtightgames.com
Product Homepage: http://www.darkvoidgame.com/
The game’s story takes place during World War II and centers around a cargo pilot named William Augustus Grey (voiced by Nolan North) who is teleported to another world while flying through the Bermuda Triangle. In this world, known as the ‘Void’, Will encounters an alien race as well as other humans, which are known as the Watchers and the Survivors respectively.
Will reluctantly joins the Survivors who are engaged in a feud with the alien race to satisfy his desire to return to Earth. While aiding the Survivors, Will discovers that the Void is a middle ground that connects both the Watchers homeworld and Earth. It also becomes apparent that the Watchers are supplying the Axis powers with various supplies for reasons unknown. With the help of Nikola Tesla, Will utilizes retrofited Watcher technology to combat the Watchers and eventually find a way to escape the Void.
Dark Void performance sees the GTX 480 again outperform the other single GPU cards here. With PhysX on we see a huge amount more load on the card. Fortunately there’s enough grunt available that we’re still a good 9 FPS above that 30 FPS minimum we need to see.
Benchmarks — High Quality AA and AF
High Quality AA and AF
Our high quality tests let us separate the men from the boys and the ladies from the girls.
If the cards weren’t struggling before they will start to now.
Far Cry 2
AA performance for the GTX 400 series is a stand out and you can see the minimum from the GTX 480 is impressive; it manages to really smash every other card here. It’s interesting to see that compared to the HD 5970 the average does sit slightly down; while not as important, it’s interesting none the less.
Resident Evil 5
We again see strong AA performance here and the card manages to beat out all the other single GPU offerings. In this case it does fall behind the dual GPU HD 5970, however.
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X.
While the card doesn’t beat out the HD 5970 here, it does match it and with only a single GPU it’s impressive.
Benchmarks — Elcomsoft Wireless Security Auditor
Elcomsoft Wireless Security Auditor
Version and / or Patch Used: 1.51
Timedemo or Level Used: Sample File
Developer Homepage: http://www.
elcomsoft.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.elcomsoft.com/ewsa.html
ElcomSoft has pioneered many software innovations that have made it easier to recover passwords protecting various types of resources. For the first time in the industry, the company’s patent-pending GPU acceleration makes its way into Wi-Fi password recovery, reducing the time required to recover Wi-Fi passwords up to a hundred times.
Supporting up to four NVIDIA boards such as GeForce 8, 9, and 200, as well as ATI video cards such as RADEON HD 4000 Series and up, Elcomsoft Wireless Security Auditor allows building servers with supercomputer performance at a fraction of the price.
Much stronger performance than the GTX 470 here. We can see it sits just ever so slightly behind the HD 5870, though.
Benchmarks — Badaboom
Badaboom
Version and / or Patch Used: Release 1.2.1.7
Developer Homepage: http://www.
nvidia.com//
Product Homepage: http://www.badaboomit.com/
Badaboom eliminates the frustration of video conversion by providing users with speed, efficiency, quality, and a sleek interface. In a practice that used to take several hours, Badaboom converts feature-length movies in a matter of minutes while keeping the videos looking crisp and clear.
By harnessing the power of NVIDIA CUDA-enabled GPUs, Badaboom offloads the CPU to allow users to continue browsing the Internet or checking email without decreased system performance, making transcoding high-quality video fast, easy, and painless.
Note: With the requirement for a CUDA enabled graphics card to run Badaboom, this means that we can only use NVIDIA based cards for this test.
Between the GTX 470 and GTX 480 we found there was no time difference when it came to converting our file.
Temperature and Sound Tests
Temperature Tests
With the TES 1326 Infrared Thermometer literally in hand we found ourselves getting real-world temperatures from the products we test at load (3D clock speeds).
There are two places we pull temperature from — the back of the card directly behind the core and if the card is dual slot and has an exhaust point we also pull a temperate from there, as seen in the picture.
While the card does indeed run warm when compared to the competition, it doesn’t run as warm as the GTX 470. Clearly the massive heatsink is doing something for the core when it comes to keeping temperatures down.
Sound Tests
Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.
After five minutes of that we get a bit more serious and place the device two CM away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode) and in load (3D mode).
The good news is that noise levels are also slightly lower when compared to the GTX 470. In saying that, at almost 70 dB the card is very audible.
Power Consumption Tests
Using our new PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01 or «Power Thingy» as it has become quickly known as to our readers, we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated graphics cards installed.
Keep in mind; it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).
There are a few important notes to remember though; while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in particular tests the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time; therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.
The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum — only a 7,200RPM SATA-II single hard drive is used without CD ROM or many cooling fans.
So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.
With what the GTX 470 needed to run, it comes as no surprise that the GTX 480 sucks down even more power. While the load we can handle, with it being almost 50 Watt more than the HD 5970 the idle is worrying at closer to 80 Watt more than not only ATIs fastest card, but the fastest video card on the market, period.
Total Performance Rating (TPR)
Total Performance Rating
The TPR graph is a combination of all our benchmarks in which NVIDIA and ATI are on an even playing field. This includes benchmarks where PhysX can be forced off like Dark Void and Batman: Arkham Asylum, but not Darkest of Days.
The TPR number is a combination of:
3DMark Vantage, Heaven Benchmark V2, CINEBENCH R11.5, Resident Evil 5, BattleForge, Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X., Far Cry 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum (PhysX Off), Dark Void (PhysX Off) and our three High Quality tests which include Far Cry 2, Resident Evil 5 and Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X.
All of the benchmark results achieved are then combined into a single number. As this graph will grow over time and cards won’t be re-tested, next to each model you’ll find the driver version that was used when the card was benchmarked.
Performance isn’t really an issue with the GTX 480; you can clearly see that it’s able to outperform the HD 5870 when it comes to our TPR score.
This gives us a good idea of just how the card sits on the market.
Total Value Rating (TVR)
Total Value Rating
The TVR graph is the TPR score divided by the price of the video card. The price of the video card is based on the list price of the model on Newegg.com. In the event the card isn’t listed, it will be based on the U.S. $ MSRP given to us by the manufacturer.
In the event we can’t source a price from either, the product will not receive a TVR rating. As with our TPR graph, the amount of video cards on the list will grow over time and the price of the model won’t change from what it was when first reviewed. For this reason the U.S. $ price that the card is based off will be included next to the name of the model.
In the event you want to find the TVR rating yourself based on the current price, all you have to do is simply divide the TPR number by the list price.
TVR numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number; 100.
3 will be 100; 100.8 will be 101 and 100.5 will be rounded down to 100.
As we climb up the performance table the overall value of products tend to drop. That’s the cost of being on the bleeding edge of technology. As you can see, while the model is faster than the HD 5870, its value isn’t as good.
Final Thoughts
The GTX 480 has a more clear position in the market when you compare it to the GTX 470 and its competitors. There’s no denying that it’s the fastest single GPU video card on the market; not the fastest video card, but the fastest single GPU one. It also seems that the meatier heatsink means the card isn’t plagued with the heat and noise issues as badly as the GTX 470. It’s still notably hotter and louder, though, when compared to its competitor.
Considering the cost of the card, it’s disappointing to see that GIGABYTE didn’t choose to really include any extras in the bundle. The free NVIDIA apps can be downloaded anyway and you’ll probably find the mini-HDMI to HDMI cable (or at least a connector) will be included in most boxes.
The fact that the GTX 480 has a clear market position is what makes it great. The GTX 470 is a bit here and there. The GTX 480 is the fastest single GPU card; it’s going to cost more than the HD 5870, but it’s also going to perform faster. Where the GTX 470 fails a bit is while it costs more than the HD 5850, it doesn’t always perform faster.
The decision to buy the GTX 480 at $499.99 over the HD 5870 which is closer to the $420 mark is going to be a tough one. $80 is a good chunk of change and the performance gains aren’t huge over the HD 5870, especially at the higher resolution. In saying that, in AA the card performs fantastic, but high AA and 2560 x 1600 is going to be a hit and miss on some games with it not always being an option when it comes to getting a playable framerate.
Of course, you have to throw into the equation support like PhysX and CUDA which are for some, a fantastic feature to have; to others it’s not important. The fact that the model clearly stands out from the pack is what makes it a lot easier to judge when compared to the GTX 470.
The GIGABYTE version while lacking some extras, has nothing wrong with it. The most important part of the bundle is included which of course is the card itself. If you’re looking for a GTX 480 the GIGABYTE version is one worth looking at. The chances are, though, at the moment your decision is going to be dictated by who has stock.
Shopping Information
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Shawn Baker
Shawn takes care of all of our video card reviews. From 2009, Shawn is also taking care of our memory reviews, and from May 2011, Shawn also takes care of our CPU, chipset and motherboard reviews. As of December 2011, Shawn is based out of Taipei, Taiwan.
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As you can see, all of the latest generation graphics cards are based on the 40nm process and support DirectX 11. Due to problems encountered by TSMC in the production of the GF100, the number of universal processors used for the GTX 480 had to be reduced from 512 by the chip architecture itself, up to 480. Perhaps, if in the future it is possible to increase the yield of suitable chips, an even more productive modification of this video card will be released. NVIDIA claims that it will be impossible to somehow activate the remaining blocks. However, enthusiasts have already circumvented such «prohibitions» more than once. It may still work now if the blocks are not physically damaged.
It is interesting to compare the characteristics of the GTX 480 and GTX 470. The flagship model of the video card, which is logical, has a large number of blocks that operate at a higher frequency. The number of universal and texture processors is 7% higher, and the number of rasterization units increased by 20% at once. GPU frequencies increased by 15%. The memory frequency has increased by 10%, and the bus width by 20%, which gives an increase in memory bandwidth by 32%. It is here that the advantage of the novelty is most noticeable. The memory bandwidth of the GTX 480 is the highest among single-chip solutions. It could have been even higher if NVIDIA had additionally raised the memory frequency. As we saw with the GTX 470, the chips installed there allow this to be done.
Of course, energy consumption has also increased. The GTX 470 in the last review already stood out with record heat dissipation for single-core video cards, but the flagship video card consumes another 15% more power.
This correlates with increased frequencies and activated blocks. The performance per watt of the 480 may be higher in some scenarios than the smaller model, but tests will show how things really are.
GTX 480
The photo above contains all the video cards that will participate in our testing. GTX 480 is second from the bottom in the left row. It is easily recognizable due to the specific shape of the radiator and the heat pipes sticking out. Its dimensions are quite modest by modern standards — 267 * 111 * 32 mm. Thus, the card is installed in most modern cases.
The PCB layout is significantly different from the GTX 470. Some nodes are repeated, but due to the increase in the length of the board, all power phases are arranged in rows and directed towards the graphics chip. In the flagship model, the number of power phases for the graphics chip is increased to 6, and for the memory — up to 2. However, this does not mean a much increased power stability, since a different element base is used.
There are two cutouts on the front of the graphics card, which, like the GTX 470, are used for additional air intake.
The main element on the board is the graphic chip GF100-375-A3. As you know, the third revision of the chip (A3) went into the series. And 375 means that we have GTX 480 in front of us.
The video memory modules used are the same as in the younger model — Samsung K4G10325FE-HC04. This time, however, there are 12 installed, giving a total of 1.5 GB. It is interesting that the memory frequency with the same chips used was increased by 350 MHz. However, this is far from the limit for these modules.
The rear panel is identical to the GTX 470 — 2 DVI and 1 mini-HDMI. But the power requirements are somewhat more stringent — you need one eight-pin connector and one six-pin. Such cables are usually equipped with sufficiently powerful power supplies, but it is still better to check compatibility using the current table before buying. You can also use special adapters to connect power to the eight-pin connector.
According to the increased heat dissipation, the video card cooling system was also modified. The basis remains the same — a metal frame that is in contact with all the main elements on the board (except for the graphics chip) through thermal pads. The heatsink used to dissipate heat from the GF100 has not been enlarged much. All the same 5 heat pipes with direct contact are used (one of them is not initially visible behind the casing), but they are located in the radiator more rationally, and the radiator itself is completely nickel-plated. From above, it is covered with a ribbed metal plate, which gives the video card such a recognizable look.
The same turbine is used — BFB0712HF. However, the capabilities of this Delta Electronics product are quite enough. The thermal regime of the card, thanks to the capabilities of this turbine, remained the same — the graphics chip does not heat up above 95 ° C. However, the new heatsink is not much better than the one in the GTX 470.
Combined with the increased heat dissipation, this results in a slightly increased turbine speed.
GeForce 3D Vision
We did a detailed excursion into the architecture and technological features of the GF100 in the last article, but here we will focus only on 3D Vision. The corresponding kit has been around for over a year, and readers of our news feed are most likely aware of its main features. In this case, you can safely move on to the next section. However, our site did not publish material devoted to this technology, and the announcement of new NVIDIA video cards is an excellent opportunity to talk about it in more detail. At the same time, in the corresponding section, we will see how the performance in stereoscopic mode has changed when using Fermi.
Human eyes see objects from different angles. It is the combination of two different pictures that forms in the brain that creates a sense of volume. Of course, if you look with one eye, then this “volume” most often does not disappear, because usually not only stereoscopic vision gives us data on the remoteness of an object.
However, in an unusual environment, it may be the only source of information about the depth.
With the help of some tricks, you can make a person see the volume where there is none. To do this, you need to show each eye the image intended for it. The same object, but from different angles, as in life. The most obvious way to do this is to put a small display in front of both eyes. This is exactly what is done in various «virtual reality helmets». Despite the obvious advantages, they also have disadvantages. These helmets are expensive and not very comfortable to wear. It is much more common for a person to look at a screen or monitor from afar. However, here, too, it is necessary to somehow force the eyes to see different images.
There is a method that does not require any additional devices, except for a specially prepared image (stereo pair). If, considering them, you try to focus on a closer / farther object, then the image on the monitor will split in two. If you have a certain skill, you can «combine» two different images at one point, and then the picture will suddenly get volume.
Of course, it is difficult to cross your eyes for a long time. Since the middle of the century before last, there have been special devices, stereoscopes, which allow you to see a three-dimensional image in a stereo pair without such tricks.
The simplest to implement is the anaglyph method. Pictures intended for different eyes are located on a plane with a slight offset relative to each other. At the same time, they are performed in contrasting colors (red and green, for example). If these images are viewed through glasses with lenses of the corresponding colors, then each eye will not see a contrasting color. However, this method is also very tiring for the eyes and does not allow for any adequate reproduction of the original colors of the image.
Recently, autostereoscopic methods have been actively introduced, which do not require any glasses to view a three-dimensional image. They provide image separation due to physical/optical obscuration of certain areas for each eye.
This technology is very sensitive to the angle from which the image is viewed. Therefore, the main area of use of autostereoscopic displays at the moment are advertising panels. In the near future, perhaps it will be distributed on mobile devices.
Polarization systems are the most widespread now. They are used in RealD, SuperD and IMAX 3D cinemas. Images intended for each eye are formed using differently polarized light (both linear and circular polarization are used). Well, the filters installed in the glasses pass only the light polarized in a certain way. The equipment for polarizing systems is quite expensive, but the glasses cost a penny, which determines the high popularity of these systems in cinemas. Polarizing systems are also used at home, but home options have significant drawbacks. Normally, interlaced polarized monitors are used for imaging, so the monitor’s native resolution is halved. In addition, unpleasant visual artifacts appear in 2D mode.
There is also a shutter technology.
This simple and logical method was invented back in the century before last, when there were no adequate ways to implement it. The idea is to display on the screen images intended for different eyes alternately, synchronously blocking the visibility of the other eye. When providing the proper frame rate, this gives the desired stereo effect.
However, until the advent of liquid crystal displays, the use of shutter technology was very difficult. Then it became possible to install these displays in glasses and dim at the desired frequency. But there was a slight delay with the introduction of shutter glasses. The fact is that after the appearance of the first commercially available samples, CRT monitors very quickly began to be replaced by liquid crystal monitors, which at that time could not update the image at a frequency of 120 Hz. Over time, this problem has been resolved. 120Hz displays are just as good for 2D viewing, and even generally offer better response times than traditional models.
Perhaps in the future they will replace conventional monitors on the market, and then it will be enough to buy shutter glasses to view stereoscopic images.
This is exactly what NVIDIA hoped for with their GeForce 3D Vision kit. It consists of an IR transmitter that connects to a computer and synchronizes the glasses’ curtains with screen updates.
The shutter technology has two noticeable disadvantages. The first is a strong darkening of the picture. You need to either set the brightness higher, or watch the image in the dark. The second minus is the price of the glasses themselves. The kit as a whole costs relatively little, since 120 Hz monitors are only slightly more expensive than regular monitors. The GeForce 3D Vision bundle is $199. Glasses sold separately for $149. Accordingly, if you broke your glasses, or you want to watch a stereoscopic image together, you will have to fork out. That is why shutter technology has not gained much popularity in cinemas.
An outside observer, as in the case of polarization technology, sees a strange picture: objects “in focus” look normal, but the farther or closer the object must be located for the viewer, the more it “doubles”.
This is the main drawback of all the technologies described above (including «virtual reality helmets»). Full immersion in the picture is hindered by the fact that for such three-dimensional images there is only one “correct” focal length. That is, with all our desire, we will not be able to refocus on blurry background objects. In theory, you can follow the eyes of the beholder and dynamically change the depth of the image, but so far this idea is still far from being realized.
The main purpose of 3D Vision is to use it in games. Of course, the interestingness of the game is determined by the gameplay, and not at all by its graphical shell. However, a high-quality visual component allows you to immerse yourself in the virtual world even deeper. In general, the appearance of three-dimensional images in games is difficult to overestimate.
But here, too, everything is not so simple. To create a stereoscopic picture, the video card needs to prepare two images at the same time.
This is a less resource-intensive task than rendering two independent scenes, but at the same time more resource-intensive than rendering an image with twice the resolution.
No special optimizations have been made for Fermi video cards that specifically speed up 3D Vision, but due to the overall performance increase, previously inaccessible modes can now be used.
By the way, with the release of the GTX 400, NVIDIA launched a new technology — 3D Vision Surround. This software update allows you to connect 3 monitors to one computer at the same time. The miracle did not happen, and one GeForce video card can simultaneously «serve» only 2 monitors. Therefore, for 3D Vision Surround to work, the system must have 2 video cards in SLI mode. However, for gaming use this can hardly be called a serious disadvantage — the processing power of one video card is not enough for a comfortable game on three monitors at high graphics settings.
A clear advantage over the competing ATI Eyefinity solution is the ability to display stereoscopic images.
3D Vision Surround is also supported by the previous generation of NVIDIA graphics cards, but in this mode it can be difficult for them to cope with modern games.
Testing
We used the same testbed as we used to test the GTX 470:
| CPU: | Core i7 | RAM: | 3*2 GB Elixir PC3-12800U | Maternal board: | dfi UT X58-T3EH8
9000 | Hard disc: |
| Power supply: | Thermaltake Thoughpower XT 650W |
| Operating system: | Windows 7 |
Additionally, we tested the performance of the HD 5870 video card and the dual-chip 295 GTX. ATI’s dual-chip flagship, the HD 5970, was not included in the test.
GTX 400 cards were tested with ForceWare 197.17 drivers, GTX 200 cards were tested with ForceWare version 197.17, and ATI cards were tested with Catalyst 10.
3. All test applications have been updated to the latest version. For gaming tests, both average and minimum performance were indicated.
GTX 480 is the most expensive single-chip graphics card on the market. Its recommended price is $499. The same is worth and 295 GTX. At the same time, the recommended price of the HD 5870 is $100 lower, and the HD 5970 is more expensive by the same amount. It turns out that the GTX 480 sort of fills a niche between these two video cards and competes directly only with the 295 GTX, which is gradually leaving the market. So the new product only needs to provide performance that is appropriate for its price.
Let’s start with 3D Mark Vantage. This benchmark is outdated, but until Futuremark releases a new version of it, Vantage will most likely remain the most popular test.
Here, the two-chip 295 GTX turns out to be slightly faster than the GTX 480. Interestingly, the «younger» Fermi came close to the HD 5870.
In Unigine, a more interesting picture is observed.
285 GTX is a clear outsider, and the rest of the video cards are located in two groups. The HD 5850 shows almost the same performance as the GTX 470. The results of the HD 5870, 295 GTX and 480 GTX are also close, however, in the most “heavy” scenes, the new product outperforms the HD 5870 by 20%.
Previous series of NVIDIA video cards do not support DirectX 11, so we only consider the results for the remaining four models when moving to using this API.
The gap between GTX 470 and HD 5850 is 10%, and between GTX 480 and HD 5870 is 15%. This applies to both minimum and average performance. The HD 5870 is slightly less than 10% faster than the GTX 470 in this test.
Past results refer to mode with tessellation disabled. But in Unigine Heaven, displacement maps are used everywhere, so when tessellation is turned on, the number of polygons in the frame immediately increases greatly. And the geometric performance, as you know, is Fermi’s strong point.
The results are impressive.
The GTX 470 outperforms the HD 5870 by 38%, and the older GTX 480 by as much as 75%. Interestingly, the performance drop in relative terms is almost the same for video cards based on the same chip. The results of the HD 5000 decreased by 2.5 times, while for the GTX 400 — only 1.7 times. The minimum FPS value of the GTX 470 is on the same level as ATI video cards, but the performance of the GTX 480 at the same moments is enough to show a much better result.
Now let’s look at the performance of video cards in DirectX 10 games.
The moment when you can play Crysis at maximum graphics settings is getting closer. Without anti-aliasing, 4 out of 6 cards crossed the 30 FPS barrier. The GTX 480 is the fastest, but the 295 GTX is only slightly behind. At the same time, the HD 5870 is almost a third slower. The younger Fermi is also ahead of her.
HD 5870 can no longer provide 30 FPS after anti-aliasing is enabled. Overall, however, the 295 GTX and 480 GTX suffered the most performance drops.
The latter is only 20% ahead of the 5870. The GTX 470, in turn, has caught up with the dual-chip flagship of the past.
Far Cry 2 is no longer a problem for modern graphics cards. The 295 GTX turns out to be the fastest of all — after all, this is a very powerful model. The GTX 480 is next, and then, showing almost the same results, the GTX 470 and HD5870.
Unreal Engine has been well optimized for GT200, so graphics cards based on this chip show very good results there. After enabling anti-aliasing, the 295 GTX is 20% faster than the older Fermi. The GTX 470 sits somewhere between ATI’s graphics cards in terms of performance. Although any of the tested video cards is enough for a comfortable game here.
GTX 480 regains its leadership, and the 470 model is faster than ATI video cards.
Infinity Ward 4.0 is also very good for the GT200. Although the results of the older Fermi are close to 295 GTX. Interestingly, in this game, the gap between 480 and 470 is much larger than usual.
The latter slightly outperforms the HD 5850, but not the HD 5870.
In World in Conflict, the 295 GTX doesn’t want to give up again. Lagging behind initially, after turning on anti-aliasing, it nevertheless takes the lead. Both Fermi also show very decent results. GTX 470 overtakes ATI’s single-chip flagship.
This section also includes 2 DirectX 11 games, which we also tested in DX10 mode.
Initially, the performance of any of the video cards is enough for us, but with the inclusion of anti-aliasing, the FPS value drops sharply and, in addition to 285 GTX, the GTX 470 suddenly remains overboard. The Stalker is well optimized for ATI products and the HD 5870 even manages to overtake the flagship Fermi by 1 FPS.
Here, enabling AA 4X produced strange results for the 295 GTX and HD 5870, so we used AAA mode exclusively. The GTX 480 turned out to be the leader. Its average FPS is slightly higher than that of the 5870, but the minimum differs by 30%, which is very, very significant.
Thus, Fermi performs well in games that use the previous version of DirectX. The GTX 480 successfully competes with the 295 GTX, outperforming ATI’s single-chip flagship in most cases. In some benchmarks, the GTX 470 also beats it, but usually the performance of this card is between 5850 and 5870.
Next, let’s look at a couple of tests of games with PhysX enabled. ATI cards will be present on the diagrams, but only formally — even if proper performance is provided without direct PhysX support, the corresponding effects will not be displayed correctly.
The situation that we observed in the GTX 470 review repeats again. The previous generation of NVIDIA video cards shows even better performance than the new ones.
Cryostasis, which makes full use of the hydrodynamics of smoothed particles, somewhat corrects the situation. However, Fermi’s margin is still minimal. Apparently, we need to wait for new games and new driver versions.
Now let’s look at the results of testing games in DX11 mode.
Let’s start with the DiRT 2 race.
The results for the HD 5850 and HD 5870 are surprisingly close. And both of them are lower than those of the GTX 470. Well, the GTX 480 is one third faster than its competitors from ATI.
Last time we were surprised that the results of the GTX 470 improved when switching to DX11 mode. However, for the GTX 480 the situation repeats itself — the number of FPS increased by 2. At the same time, the performance of ATI video cards fell. As a result, the GTX 480 outperforms the HD 5870 by 15%. Of greater interest is the separation of 480 from the younger Fermi — almost one and a half times.
The GTX 470 sits between two ATI video cards, and the GTX 480 is a quarter faster than the older one. As a result, only this video card provides an average speed of 30 frames per second in this mode.
We also prepared tests with 3D Vision enabled. Activating this technology, as we have already said, seriously loads the video card. FPS even in not the newest games can drop to an unplayable level.
On the other hand, we are currently testing top-end video cards. In this mode, we followed the graphics settings specified in ForceWare.
3D Vision support in Crysis: Warhead is not well implemented. There are especially many problems when displaying smoke and fire. To comply with the recommendations, we lowered the graphics settings to Low, while still using the DirectX 10 API.
As you can see, the performance of all video cards in this mode does not differ too much. When you turn on anti-aliasing, new items still pull ahead.
In Far Cry 2, the stereoscopic image after setting the appropriate settings (we just set the DX9 mode) looks very convincing. Both the fire and the haze above it — everything is displayed normally.
The 295 GTX leads here after anti-aliasing is turned on. However, the minimum performance of Fermi video cards is much higher.
Unreal Tournament 3 does not require any special adjustments to work properly with 3D Vision. Although in such a dynamic game, additional volume can only interfere.
Here the dual-chip card is the fastest. And the 285 GTX almost catches up with the Fermi video cards, which show similar results.
Batman: Arkham Asylum requires almost no optimizations. You just need to turn off motion blur. This game also uses Unreal Engine 3, but together with PhysX gives perhaps the most impressive stereoscopic picture. In the built-in benchmark, the volume is felt even in the relief of the muscles of the thugs walking around there.
This is a newer game and the GF100 chip handles it better. However, its advantage can hardly be called critical.
The new Call of Duty shows a good picture in 3D Vision, but sometimes the textures «fly out» there. Let’s hope future updates fix this issue.
The situation with the 2D mode is repeated here. 295 GTX leads. When anti-aliasing is enabled, the gap with the GTX 480 is reduced, as the GF100 has redesigned ROPs.
World in Conflict works great with 3D Vision, although it doesn’t help much when playing with a high camera.
Fermi video cards are a little faster this time. This strategy can load a video card very well, with anti-aliasing enabled, only 2 models overcome the 30 FPS mark.
Metro 2033 is equipped with excellent 3D Vision support. Everything is in place, no problems, even visual distortions of space have volume here. However, all this loads the video card very heavily.
Despite the same average FPS between the 295 GTX and the GTX 480, we would recommend using the latter as it shows a higher minimum FPS. Well, in DX11 mode at maximum graphics settings, only a tandem of two Fermi video cards is suitable.
As you can see, in existing games, the advantage of new video cards over the «oldies» GTX 200 when 3D Vision is enabled is not so great. The point is largely that for the normal operation of this technology, you have to turn off various graphic «bells and whistles», which are much easier on the GF100 than on the GT200. Thus, for greater disclosure of Fermi’s capabilities in future games, it is necessary to optimize the work of 3D Vision.
Conclusions
GeForce GTX 480 is indeed the fastest single-chip video card at the moment. You can argue about how justified its price is, you can be indignant at excessive noise, but it is faster than the HD 5870. Moreover, as a $500 solution, it has no special alternatives. 295 GTX, despite its high performance, is a solution of the previous generation that does not support DirectX 11.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480
With the almost unstoppable modernization of all kinds of computer applications, and most importantly games, it is quite difficult for ordinary users to keep up. Fans of resource-intensive products are forced to constantly update their devices in order to be able to play their favorite new products.
The only way to avoid this is to purchase computer components with great performance potential. Such an output will allow the user not to think about updating the computer for at least five years, or even more.
A video adapter of just this class is a representative of the fourth series of graphics adapters from the NVIDEA campaign.
Model specifications.
The «GeForce GTX 480» graphics card runs on a Fermi chip manufactured in 40 nm pop technology and labeled GF100. This allowed manufacturers to increase the number of working transistors on the board to three point two billion and reduce power consumption. Since this video card is a representative of the High-End, its heat dissipation rate of two hundred and fifty watts is excellent. The device is equipped with fifteen streaming multiprocessors and four clusters. Also, the video card has four hundred and eighty CUDA cores, and the operating frequency of the chip is seven hundred megahertz. The graphics card memory is one and a half gigabytes and is based on GDDR5. It works on a 384-bit bus with a frequency of three thousand six hundred ninety-six megahertz.
Chip technology.
The overall positive impression of this video card melts away when it becomes known that it supports only the eleventh version of Direct.
But do not immediately discount it only on the basis of this fact. Also, the model has the ability to work with shaders of the fifth generation and all kinds of technologies responsible for three-dimensional visualization. This number has a feature such as 3D Surround. It allows the simultaneous use of three monitors at once to create the effect of presence. In this case, it is necessary to use special glasses in order to fully enjoy the created effect. But since this technology was one of the first to be used on a video card, it has a lot of bad reviews from consumers. They claim that there are too many flaws. And you don’t really want to pay money for a feature that doesn’t meet its requirements.
Everything you need for a great job.
In order to fully reveal the full potential of this chip, you must have a fairly powerful «machine» as a whole. Its requirements for other components are too high, for example, a computer processor with such a video card must operate at a frequency of at least three gigahertz and be at least quad-core.
In commercials for this product, manufacturers use the Intel Core i7 Extreme chip, which means that for good performance, you need to have something similar in your arsenal. Restrictions on the minimum parameters are not limited, perhaps, to the RAM, but given the fact that many resource-intensive games require at least eight gigabytes of such memory, then you should purchase just that amount. Another type of memory can also be used only on an SSD solid state drive, and choosing a power supply is still more difficult. It must have a power of at least seven hundred and fifty watts and a twelve volt line. Otherwise, you can simply lose the video card altogether.
Mobile equivalent.
Like many other models «GeForce GTX 480» has its counterpart among video cards for mobile devices. Naturally, due to the smaller dimensions of such a solution, manufacturers had to sacrifice some functionality. For example, unlike a discrete model, a laptop video card has only three hundred and fifty-two CUDA cores, which means that the final performance drops by at least twenty percent.
The memory bus has also undergone changes and in the mobile version it works, like many others, with only two hundred and fifty-six bits. Library support remained the same as the full version of the model, as did the ability to work with 3D visualization. But such a function in a laptop is not needed at all, so it is strange to see it in such a variation of the adapter.
Comparison with the fifth generation.
As soon as a new generation of video cards from this manufacturer entered the market, many people immediately rushed to compare their capabilities with previous models. The GTX 480 and GTX 570 became the most popular pair in this direction. And after these comparisons, at first glance it seems that they are identical in performance, since the indicators are practically indistinguishable. At the same time, the price of the fourth generation model is higher than that of the new one. The opinion is being imposed that users are being deceived by talking about the superiority of an expensive product.
Moreover, when conducting synthetic tests, a cheap model even outperforms its opponent. Why is the GTX 480 better? Because in practice the performance situation changes dramatically. Running a resource-intensive game on a computer with a fourth-generation chip, such as GTA 5 or Metro 2033, the user can get unlimited pleasure from the graphics and all the effects seen with maximum settings and frame rate. But working with the «GTX 570» is not so successful. The quality, of course, will be good, but the framing will not be able to convey the feeling of using the GTX 480.
Sixth generation comparison.
Comparing the considered model with the representative of the sixth generation, there is no dispute about its superiority. The fact is that the GTX 650 model was initially positioned as a middle class, and therefore its performance is noticeably inferior to the 480 model. This can be determined both by technical characteristics and by the results of synthetic tests.
The indicators of the representative of the sixth generation are thirty percent lower. Using video cards in practice, you can increase the potential of the GTX 650 by overclocking the graphics core and memory. Thus, the difference will become less noticeable, but no one prevents users from overclocking the 480th model. In addition, she has quite a lot of potential for this. In general, the «NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480» is able to bypass the novelties, even a generation ahead, and at the same time retain its relevance for several more years.
Is there anything better?
Judging by how cleverly the fourth series bypasses its followers, some dare to compare its work with the seventh generation of video cards. This is where all the superiority of the four hundred and eightieth model crumbles. And such a result is quite justified, because the new generation is manufactured according to the 28 nm process technology, and not forty. In addition, the novelty has 1152 CUDA processors in its arsenal, and its operating frequency exceeds a thousand megahertz and is equipped with a memory of two gigabytes.