EVGA GeForce GTX 570 1280 MB GDDR5
Product Description
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 1280 MB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 - PCI EXPRESS 2.0 X16 - 1280 MB - GDDR5 SDRAM
This review is from: EVGA GeForce GTX 570 1280 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI-I/Mini-HDMI SLI Ready Limited Lifetime Warranty Graphics Card, 012-P3-1570-AR (Personal Computers)
I previously owned an EVGA SuperClocked GTX 470 and I used their Step-Up Program to trade in for this EVGA GTX 570... was it worth it? Definately!!! It's a no brainer!
While the GTX 470 was great card - the GTX 570 blows it out of the water in terms of Frame rate and power!
Pros:
1. Runs Cooler than the GTX 470
2. Runs quiter than the GTX 470
3. I noticed a huge increase in FPS in games with Resolutions of 1920x1200
4. It can play Crysis & Crysis WarHead at all the highest settings - and still runs cool under load! Partnered with MSI Afterburner I never saw the GTX 570 exceed 70 to 75 degrees Celsius... I've seen the GTX 470 go over 100 Degrees Celsius and the GPU fan sounded like a blow dryer...
5. EVGA Lifetime Warranty and AWESOME EVGA Customer Service!
6. Funny people keep calling me a hacker in First Person Shooting games!
Cons:
1. I cannot use the GTX 570 to blow dry my hair
2. It is not hot enough to keep my room warm during cold nights
3. I no longer can use my PC to fry an egg.
4. This card is HUGE - it was longer than my GTX 470 and I barely had a few millimeters in my PC case for it!
Games I play all on MAX Settings at 1920 x 1200
Medal of Honor PC
Crysis and Crysis Warhead
Mafia II
StarCraft II
My PC Build:
AMD Phenom II x4 Deneb 3.4GHz
EVGA Nvidia GTX 570
8GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 CAS7
MSI 870A-54G
OCZ Fatal1ty 550Watt Modular PSU 80Plus Certified
Rosewill Challenger
28inch PC Monitor @ 1920 x 1200
I recommend if you are planning to buy a Nvidia Graphics Card - buy it from EVGA... they have a 90 day step-up program where you can trade for a new higher graphics card, and they give you credit for what you paid for the card (if purchased from an authorized EVGA re-seller) and you just pay the difference for the new card-just make sure you register your card and invoice. I bought my GTX 470 in november before the GTX 570 came out and used the Step-up Program in Jan...
NVIDIA Quadro 4000 by PNY 2GB GDDR5
Product Description
NVIDIA Quadro 4000 by PNY 2GB GDDR5 From the Manufacturer
Overview NVIDIA® Quadro® 4000 by PNY - Accelerate your entire workflow
Offering 2 GB of GDDR5 graphics memory, 256 NVIDIA CUDA™ parallel processing cores and built on the innovative Fermi architecture, the NVIDIA Quadro 4000 by PNY is a true technological breakthrough delivering excellent performance across a broad range of design, animation and video applications. Using the Quadro 4000 graphics solution, your work flows Ñ you can design, render and deliver higher quality projects in less time.
The NVIDIA Quadro 4000 by PNY graphics board significantly raises the bar for high performance visualization and computation providing Microsoft DirectX 11.0, OpenGL 4.1 and Shader Model 5.0 hardware acceleration, and the ability to drive a variety of display types including: CRTs, Digital Flat Panels, Projectors and HDTVs.
PNY provides unsurpassed service and commitment to its professional graphics customers offering: 3 year warranty, pre and post sales support, dedicated Quadro Field Application engineers and direct tech support hot lines. In addition, PNY delivers a complete solution including the appropriate adapters, cables, brackets, driver CD and documentation to ensure a quick and successful install.
Product Details Frame Buffer Memory 2 GB GDDR5 Memory Interface 256-bit Memory Bandwidth 89.6 GB/s CUDA™ parallel processing cores 256 High Performance Double Precision Yes Max Power Consumption 142 W Energy Star Compliant Yes Board Physical Dimensions 4.376" H x 9.50" L Single Slot Display Connectors DVI-I (1), DP (2), Stereo (1) Number of Displays Supported 2 DisplayPort Yes DVI Yes VGA Yes Graphics Bus PCI Express 2.0 x16 Thermal Solution Active 3D Vision Pro Support via 3 pin mini DIN HD-SDI Capture/Output Version Available Warranty 3 Year Warranty PNY Part # VCQ4000-PB
Features and Benefits
Next-Generation NVIDIA CUDA™ Architecture Breakthrough NVIDIA Fermi architecture incorporates CUDA parallel computing capabilities and advanced visualization to deliver performance that greatly accelerates professional workflows.
NVIDIA Scalable Geometry Engine™ Dramatically improves geometry performance across a broad range of CAD, DCC and medical applications, enabling you to work interactively with models and scenes that are an order of magnitude more complex than ever before.
Fast 64-Bit Floating Point Precision Industry's fastest double precision floating point performance enabling accurate results on mission-critical applications, including computer-aided-design, finite element analysis to computational fluid dynamics.
NVIDIA GigaThread™ Engine Provides up to 10x faster context switching compared to previous generation architectures, concurrent kernel execution, and improved thread block scheduling.
Dual Copy Engines Enables the highest rates of parallel data processing and concurrent throughput between the GPU and host, accelerating techniques such as ray tracing, color grading and physical simulation.
Full-Scene Antialiasing (FSAA) Up to 64X FSAA dramatically reduces visual aliasing artifacts or “jaggies”, resulting in unparalleled image quality and highly realistic scenes.
GPU Tessellation with Shader Model 5.0 Quadro Tessellation Engines automatically generate finely detailed geometry, for cinematic quality environments and scenes, without sacrificing performance.
16K Texture and Render Processing The ability to texture from and render to 16K x 16K surfaces. Beneficial for applications that demand the highest resolution and quality image processing.
High-Quality Display Connectors Attaches to ultra-high-resolution digital panels producing phenomenal photorealistic image quality from a range of display connectors. The Quadro 4000 GPU simultaneously supports two active display channels including DVI-DL and DisplayPort at resolutions up to 2560 x 1600 at 60Hz. The included DVI to VGA adapter supports resolutions up to 2048 x 1536 at 85Hz. HDMI 1.3a compliant displays can be driven with a 3rd party adapter (must be purchased separately) at resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 at 60Hz.
NVIDIA High Precision High Dynamic Range (HDR) Technology Sets new standards for image clarity and quality through floating point capabilities in shading, filtering, texturing, and blending. Enables unprecedented rendered image quality for visual effects processing.
3D Stereo Synchronization Enables robust control of stereo effects through a dedicated 3-pin mini-DIN connector between the graphics card and 3D stereo hardware (via supplied 3-pin mini-DIN stereo connector bracket).
Package Contains
- NVIDIA Quadro 4000 by PNY professional graphics board
- DVI to VGA adapter
- DisplayPort to DVI adapter
- Stereo connector bracket
- Auxiliary power connection cable
- Driver CD (Windows 7, Vista, XP) with PDF documentation
- Printed Quick Install Guide
Minimum System Requirements
- Windows¨ 7, Vista, XP SP3, Linux¨, or Solaris¨
- PCIe x16 expansion slot
- 1GB or more of system memory, 2GB recommended
- 200MB of available disk space for full driver installation
- Blu-ray, DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive
- DisplayPort, DVI or VGA compatible display(s)
This review is from: NVIDIA Quadro 4000 by PNY 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express Gen 2 x16 DVI-I DL, Dual DisplayPort and Stereo OpenGL, DirectX, CUDA, and OpenCL Profesional Graphics Board, VCQ4000-PB (Personal Computers)
I bought this card because I wanted professional grade performance and reliability. I got the first, but so far not the latter.
The card worked brilliantly for the first couple of months. I use a variety of graphic-intense utilities like Maya, Blender, and GIMP on a regular basis. This card chewed through very dense 3D geometry models with ease. For sure, this card runs at a higher average temperature than most, but that's what the low-profile, high-performance design will get you, so no complaints there.
After a couple of months the card would shutdown (screen goes black & system locks up) after just a few minutes of use. I discovered that the fan just wasn't running at all - so the card idled itself up to >100 deg C and shutdown. PNY quickly accepted my RMA request and sent me a new card. (Kudos to their fast response). However, the replacement card had the same issue! (Anti-kudos for a faulty replacement). The fan on this card will sporadically work, but most often exhibits the same fan issue as the first, leaving me unable to do my work. I am now on my 2nd RMA with this card.
To PNY's credit, their support has been relatively easy to deal with - quickly granting RMAs and providing other helpful diagnostics along the way. However, I am overall displeased with the reliability of their product. Like I said, I bought this card expecting professional performance and reliability. Still waiting for the second half.
EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1 GB GDDR5
Product Description
EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1 GB GDDR5 Next generation DirectX 11 gaming has officially arrive with the introduction of the EVGA GeForce GTX 460. With up to 4x the DirectX tessellation performance of the competition, the EVGA GeForce GTX 460 packs incredible detail and blazing fast frames into your games - without blowing your budget. The EVGA GeForce GTX 460 features 336 CUDA Cores, a high speed GDDR memory interface with 1024MB onboard and full DirectX 11 support providing for unrivalled performance and breathtaking image quality. And with NVIDIA 3D Vision, PhysX and CUDA technologies, the EVGA GeForce GTX 460 powers all the incredibly realistic effects your games can throw its way. Specifications include the GTX 460 (720MHz core clock) chipset, 1024MB (1GB) of 2.5ns GDDR5 memory with a 3600 MHz memory clock and 115.2 GB/second memory bandwidth, 256 bit memory interface, 1440 MHz Shader Clock, 336 CUDA cores, and PCI Express 2.0 compatibility. Additional features include Microsoft DirectX 11 Support, NVIDIA PhysX and NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technologies, NVIDIA 2-way SLI readiness, NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround readiness, NVIDIA CUDA technology with CUDA C/C++, DirectCompute 5.0, and OpenCL support, PCI-Express 2.0 support, OpenGL 4.0 support, Dual Link HDCP capability, and Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 support. Connections are 1 Mini-HDMI 1.4 connector and 2 Dual-Link DVI connectors. Package includes the EVGA Driver/software disc with EVGA Precision Tuning utility, 1 Mini-HDMI to HDMI cable, 1 DVI to VGA adaptor, 2 6-pin PCI-E power cables, and a lifetime warranty if registered within 30 days at www.evga .
This review is from: EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1 GB GDDR5 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card (01G-P3-1370-TR) (Personal Computers)
I just replaced my old 8800 GT card for this bad boy, and quite frankly I've found nothing wrong with it. It runs all my games very well, and there is a very noticeable difference between a 512 MB card and a 1 GB card (a good difference). Overall I'm very pleased with it. Installation of it was a breeze, everything went smoothly, and I'm one happy PC gamer. I don't have much else to say about it, so yeah. Nice card, and nice price for what you get. I would highly recommend buying it.
EVGA GeForce GTX 580 3072 MB GDDR5 PCB
Product Description
EVGA GeForce GTX 580 3072 MB GDDR5 PCB Introducing the fastest DirectX 11 GPU, the EVGA GeForce GTX 580. This card rips through the latest DirectX 11 games with up to 8x the tessellation performance over competing GPUs, and runs quieter than the previous generation. Experience a whole new level of interactive gaming with SLI and combine up to three displays for the ultimate 3D gaming experience. With these features and more, the EVGA GeForce GTX 580 does not just dominate the competition, it obliterates it. Specifications include the GTX 580 (772MHz core clock) chipset, 3072MB of GDDR5 memory with a 4008 MHz Effective memory clock and 192.4 GB/second memory bandwidth, 384 bit memory interface, 1544 MHz Shader Clock, 512 CUDA cores, 49.4 GT/s Texture Fill Rate and PCI Express 2.0 compatibility. Additional features include Microsoft DirectX 11 Support, NVIDIA PhysX and NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technologies, NVIDIA 2-way, 3-way and 4-way SLI readiness, NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround readiness, NVIDIA CUDA technology with CUDA C/C++, DirectCompute 5.0, and OpenCL support, PCI-Express 2.0 support and OpenGL 4.1 support. Connections are 1 Mini-HDMI 1.4a connector and 2 Dual-Link DVI-I HDCP capable connectors. Package includes the EVGA Driver/software disc with EVGA Precision Tuning utility, 1 Mini-HDMI to HDMI adapter, 1 DVI to VGA adapter, 1 6-pin PCI-E power cable, 1 8-pin PCI-E Power Cable and a limited lifetime warranty if registered within 30 days at evga .
XFX AMD Radeon HD 6870 900M 1 GB DDR5 DUAL MINIDP HDMI DUAL DVI
Product Description
XFX AMD Radeon HD 6870 900M 1 GB DDR5 DUAL MINIDP HDMI DUAL DVI From the Manufacturer
The AMD Radeon HD 6870 is 3D-ready and one of the first HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2 solutions for Stereoscopic 3D on the market. The AMD Radeon HD 6870 ushers in a new era of gaming that takes players to an entirely new level. The AMD 3D experience is truly immersive and seamless. AMD has also teamed up with other Open 3D ecosystem partners to provide consumers with more choice, more innovation and lower cost. Along with the new series XFX debuts the 3E Trilogy, incorporating AMD Eye-Definition (utilizing AMD's HD3D technology and DirectX 11 for explosive performance and stunning effects), AMD Eyefinity (which supports multi-display gaming), and AMD Eyespeed (improves video image quality and application performance for amazing visuals) technologies.
Utilizing DirectX 11 for explosive performance and stunning effects 
Enjoy real stereoscopic HD3D gaming, 3D movies, and Blu-ray 3D movies 
Supporting multiple independent display outputs simultaneously with AMD Eyefinity technology CrossfireX Support
AMD CrossFireX technology is the ultimate multi-GPU performance gaming platform. Unlocking game-dominating power, AMD CrossFireX harnesses the power of two or more discrete graphics cards working in parallel to dramatically improve gaming performance. With CrossFireX-certified AMD Radeon HD graphics cards ready for practically every budget and the flexibility to combine two and sometimes more GPUs, CrossFireX is the perfect multi-GPU solution for those who demand the best.
DirectX 11
Experience the best of today's next-generation gaming in amazingly realistic 3D visual graphics. DirectX 11 is the very latest in high-speed, high-fidelity gaming and computing. Featuring technologies like Compute Shaders, Direct2D, Multithreaded Rendering and Tessellation, DirectX 11 can enable not just more visually stunning games, but significant performance improvements in some of your favorite websites and everyday applications.
Eyefinity
Supporting multiple independent display outputs simultaneously, AMD Eyefinity technology delivers innovative graphics display capabilities enabling massive desktop workspaces and ultra-immersive visual environments for the ultimate panoramic computing experience. Enjoy your gaming and work across multiple displays and in eye-popping real Stereo 3D.
Expand your view of gaming, productivity, and entertainment and discover a new realm of panoramic computing with AMD Eyefinity multiple-display technology. AMD Eyefinity Technology enables a single GPU to support up to six independent display outputs simultaneously. Boost everyday multitasking with a vastly expanded visual workspace. Intensify gaming with ultra-immersive environments. Expand your entertainment landscape with a breathtaking field-of-view. With easy configuration and flexible upgradeability, the innovative capabilities of AMD Eyefinity technology add a new "surround-sight" sensation to your PC experience.
Connect up to four high-resolution displays simultaneously and independently, flexibly configured in various combinations of landscape and portrait orientations. Group multiple monitors into a large integrated display surface, enabling windowed and full-screen 3D applications, images, and video to span across multiple displays as one desktop workspace.
Offering the best warranty on the planet for gamers who push their cards to the limit AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing Technology
Drastically improve your work flow by creating documents and spreadsheets in half the time. Access Adobe Flash websites quicker. And with better multi-tasking performance, you can open, save, and edit files faster, process larger images quicker, and enjoy faster web browsing and streaming.
HD3D for Stereoscopic Games and 3D Movies
Enjoy real stereoscopic HD3D gaming, 3D movies, and Blu-ray 3D movies. AMD HD3D Technology is supported by an advanced and open ecosystem that, in conjunction with specific AMD hardware and software technologies, enables 3D display capabilities for many PC applications and experiences.
XFX Double Lifetime Warranty
Nothing tops XFX's Graphics Card warranty. It's not just a limited lifetime warranty, it's a transferable lifetime warranty. So, should you sell your XFX Graphics Card, whomever you give it to or sell it to is protected as well. XFX will service and repair any XFX Graphics Card for the lifetime of that card. All you have to do is register your card with XFX online within 30 days of purchase. And, if you sell or give the card to someone else, XFX will honor the warranty for the second owner, as long as he/she registers the card as well. It's the best warranty on the planet for gamers who push their cards to the limit.
This review is from: XFX AMD Radeon HD 6870 900M 1 GB DDR5 DUAL MINIDP HDMI DUAL DVI PCI-E Video Card (HD687AZHFC) (Personal Computers)
Word of warning to potential XFX card buyers. They make up any excuse to deny the warranty.
They claim a "double lifetime warranty" that requires you to register the card within 30 days of purchase or else no warranty. Being a good shopper, I did that....
Fast forward 1 year, caps go bad on another graphics board. Savvy shopper submits warranty claim only to have the CSR claim the warranty on the card was 30 days from date of shipment from XFX to the reseller.
If you buy an XFX product relying on the warranty, then don't buy XFX. If their fake warranty is no matter to you, then buy it at a very low price because it's an okay card for as long as it lasts. They shave pennies by going cheap on components.
EVGA GeForce 8400 GS 512 MB DDR3
Product Description
EVGA GeForce 8400 GS 512 MB DDR3 Awesome features at an incredible value - the EVGA GeForce 8400 GS graphics card delivers. Essential for watching HD DVD and Blu-ray movies on a PC, accelerating the Microsoft Windows Vista/7 experience, and powering Microsoft DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 games.Specifications include the 8400 GS (520MHz core clock) chipset, 512MB of DDR3 memory with a 600 MHz memory clock and 2.4 GB/second memory bandwidth, 32 bit memory interface, 1230 MHz Shader Clock, 8 CUDA cores, and PCI Express 2.0 compatibility. Additional features include Microsoft DirectX 10 Shader Model 4.0 Support, NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology, NVIDIA CUDA, OpenGL support, PCI-Express 2.0 support, Dual Link HDCP capability, and Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 support. Connections are 1 DVI, 1 HDMI and 1 VGA connector. Package includes the EVGA Driver/software disc and a 2 year warranty if registered within 30 days at www.evga .
This review is from: EVGA GeForce 8400 GS 512 MB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 DVI/HDMI/VGA Graphics Card, 512-P3-1300-LR (Personal Computers)
eVGA's nVidia-based 8400GS is a very good value. The 8400GS is based on a G98 core so it supports hardware decoding of high definition video streams. Personally, I tested decoding with both VLC and MPlayer with VDPAU support and both players performed well. Watching HD video with the hardware decoding of the 8400GS is a joy.
The current draw of the 512MB 8400GS is minimal even under full load (3D), i.e. ~ 2.5A @ 12V. nVidia's recommendation of 18A total on the 12V line contains a large safety margin. One could likely run this PCIe card with as little as 12A total on the 12V line without much problem. A 200W-250W power supply should be more than enough power to run this card without any adverse effect. Only when using SLI or Crossfire cards does one need to be aware of the current draw in most desktop systems. The eVGA 8400GS replaced a VisionTek ATI/AMD-based Radeon HD2600Pro which ran for years in my system with a 250W power supply (14A on the 12V line) without any adverse effect. Furthermore, the VisionTek drew ~ 1 ampere MORE power than eVGA's 512MB 8400GS. YMMV depending on the quality of your power supply, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over installing this card in a computer with a 250W power supply. Check the maximum current draw on the 12V line.
I tested this card's OpenGL performance with some generic games like Speed Dreams *, Google Earth, and Flight Gear, and all of them ran adequately at 1024x768. In my definition of the term, "adequately", I mean at least an ~ 19 fps average with a low of about 9 fps. Any variance over 10 frames per second from AVERAGE likely indicates a CPU paging memory to disc which is a killer of performance. eVGA's 8400GS will struggle with some 3D applications when used on microprocessors at 2 GHz and below and with limited system RAM. If this card is used on slower microprocessors, simply decrease the AA or disable it altogether. On 2+ GHz microprocessors, the 8x (MSx4,CSx4) setting for anti-aliasing is a good compromise between quality and performance. Since I'm NOT a gamer, look elsewhere for more comprehensive advice on 3D performance.
Personally, I find the 8400GS a nice compromise between performance and cost. However, a user MUST have sufficient system RAM installed for the CPU to access or the operating system will use virtual memory with a concomitant HIT to performance. With modern operating systems newer than Microsoft's Windows XP or recent versions of GNU/Linux, a user MUST have a MINIMUM of 2 GB of installed RAM. With only 2 GB of RAM, a user MUST carefully ensure secondary USER processes other than the game itself don't consume much memory if maximum performance is expected from the 8400GS. Believe me, you'll see a large difference in performance from 3D games IF you have enough installed system RAM. I'm pleased to have purchased this card for use with the GNU/Linux operating system, a nice match.
Update: On a freshly rebooted computer, I tried rerunning Speed Dreams with the exact same parameters as shown in my picture in the gallery for this card. This time, the average and the low were 3+ FPS HIGHER so my computer with just 1.5 GB of system RAM wasn't enough. Based on my experience with the 8400GS, I increased the system RAM from 1.5 GB to 2.0 GB and upgraded my CPU from an Athlon X2 3600+ to an Athlon X2 4800+ (2.5 GHz). The changes are worth it! eVGA's 8400GS now runs as fast as possible. Bottom line: If you want eVGA's 8400GS to run as fast as possible on a computer, ensure you have 2+ GB system RAM and a 2+ GHz CPU or you'll suffer the consequences of poor performance with 3D applications. The 8400GS doesn't have any excess performance to simply throw away. If the 8400GS just isn't powerful enough for your usage, I'd suggest looking at one of nVidia's GT 220 based cards as well. The power draw of the GT 220 is only about 15 watts (~ 1 ampere) greater than the 8400GS and performs significantly faster. Personally, I have BOTH cards.
* Speed Dreams & TORCS run better full-screen while most games run better windowed. You'll just have to experiment.
Radeon XFX HD 6970 2 GB Graphics Card
Product Description
Radeon XFX HD 6970 2 GB Graphics Card This series of Radeon HD graphics cards is AMD's 3-D gaming and multi-media solution for desktop computers, plus the next level of HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2 solutions for Stereoscopic 3-D and 2GB of GDDR5 memory.
This review is from: Radeon XFX HD 6970 2 GB Graphics Card (Personal Computers)
The two XFX 6970s i received were not reference designs and lacked the bios switch and AMD logo, which was a little disappointing, but as far as i can tell the cooler is still reference. I reduced the overall score by just 1 star only because they changed the design without changing the SKU, which is a little un-cool in my humble opinion, but sofar these units are working very nicely, and very durably despite my fiddling around with trying to replace the thermal paste. I DO NOT AT ALL suggest replacing the thermal on these cards. The stock thermal interface material is very good enough, and may even be phase change stuff. I repeat DO NOT attempt to replace the thermal paste for "better" temperatures because you run a VERY HIGH RISK of damaging the thermal pads on the video ram and other parts because they are EXTREMELY thin and quite expensive to even remotely properly replace. I learned the hard way. These cards are solid sofar and I have been running them hard for a few weeks now despite continuous bitcoin and namecoin mining abuse.
SAPPHIRE HD 6870 1GB GDDR5
Product Description
SAPPHIRE HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 Get Radeon in Your System. Immerse yourself with AMD Eyefinity technology and expand your games across multiple displays. Experience ultra-realistic visuals and explosive HD gaming performance in true Eye Definition with AMD's second generation graphics featuring full Microsoft DirectX 11 support. Enable incredible video quality and enhanced application performance with AMD EyeSpeed visual acceleration technology. Get unrivalled graphics. Get Radeon in your system.
This review is from: SAPPHIRE HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 PCIE Graphics Card (Personal Computers)
Initially placed an order for a Radeon 6850 but changed my order when i found this card for $3 more. Amazing performance for the price.
Pros-------------------
Great performance.
Price. Can't really justify a 6850 when a 6870 costs just a little more.
Noise. This card is particularly quiet when not stressed. Under load it becomes audible, but probably on par with any case or heatsink fan. Nothing crazy.
Cons*------------------------
Size. This card is massive. The card and attached cooler will occupy two pci slots.
Heat. Doesn't produce excessive amounts of heat, but will make a mess of the airflow in your case. Especially an in an htpc gaming rig. Luckily the fan on the card vents the air out of the back of the case.
Power hog. This card requires two 6 pin pci-e power connectors. There are two molex to pci power adapters included in the box however. Just make sure your power supply can handle it. Sapphire states a 500w power supply is "required" but i highly doubt a smaller, quality psu wouldn't work.
Other thoughts -------------------
My card included Dirt3 but wasn't stated in the description. Also, I can't vouch for the included driver CD as i downloaded the latest catalyst drivers directly from amd instead. I didn't need the dvi to vga adapter either. Note to those looking to crossfire these cards: a crossfire bridge is not included so you will need to get one elsewhere. All in all, this is an amazing card for the price. The "cons" i stated earlier aren't really cons, just things to be aware of before you buy. Just be sure you know what to expect and can meet the space/power requirements.
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 Superclocked 1280 MB GDDR5
Product Description
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 Superclocked 1280 MB GDDR5 Introducing the EVGA GeForce GTX 570 Superclocked. Enjoy blistering fast DirectX 11 performance, including tessellation performance that destroys the competition. Experience a whole new level of interactive gaming with SLI and combine up to three displays for the ultimate in 3D entertainment. With these features and more, the EVGA GeForce GTX 570 Superclocked gives you more than one way to elevate your experience. Specifications include the GTX 570 (797MHz core clock) chipset, 1280MB of 0.5ns GDDR5 memory with a 3900 MHz effective memory clock and 156 GB/second memory bandwidth, 320 bit memory interface, 1594 MHz Shader Clock, 480 CUDA cores, 47.8 GT/s texture fill rate and PCI Express 2.0 compatibility. Additional features include Microsoft DirectX 11 Support, NVIDIA PhysX and NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technologies, NVIDIA 2-way and 3-way SLI readiness, NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround readiness, NVIDIA CUDA technology with CUDA C/C++, DirectCompute 5.0, and OpenCL support, PCI-Express 2.0 support and OpenGL 4.1 support. Connections are 1 Mini-HDMI 1.4a connector and 2 Dual-Link DVI-I HDCP capable connectors. Package includes the EVGA Driver/software disc with EVGA Precision Tuning utility, 1 Mini-HDMI to HDMI cable, 1 DVI to VGA adaptor, 2 6-pin PCI-E power cables and a limited lifetime warranty if registered within 30 days at www.evga .
This review is from: EVGA GeForce GTX 570 Superclocked 1280 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini-HDMI SLI Ready Limited Lifetime Warranty Graphics Card, 012-P3-1572-AR (Personal Computers)
The card performs beautifully and can render Crysis 2 at 1920 x 1080 on extreme settings with NVIDIA 3D Vision turned on at an extremely decent clip. It's sheer ecstasy for the eyes! Due to the way that Crytek programmed the game there is almost no change between the frame rate between 3D and 2D.
Dragon Age II looks amazing at full resolution with the High Def textures installed and can be played 2D or 3D at a very nice frame rate. The HD add on pack makes this game look absolutely beautiful!
Mafia II looks amazing and runs very well in 3D and 2D.
Call of Duty: Black Ops also runs excellent with all settings turned up in both 2D and 3D.
I plan to test GTA:IV, Arkham Asylum and a few other games soon and will post how the card performs with them.
All in all, it's an amazing piece of hardware. If you want to upgrade to NVIDIA 3D vision in the future you cant go wrong with this card, if not, you also cant go wrong with it.
The card runs about 63-68 C at high loads on my system.
Running Windows 7 64-bit 8GB DDR 3 RAM and Intel Q9550
EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Superclocked 1536 MB GDDR5
Product Description
EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Superclocked 1536 MB GDDR5 Introducing the fastest DirectX 11 GPU, the EVGA GeForce GTX 580. This card rips through the latest DirectX 11 games with up to 8x the tessellation performance over competing GPUs, and runs quieter than the previous generation. Experience a whole new level of interactive gaming with SLI and combine up to three displays for the ultimate 3D gaming experience. With these features and more, the EVGA GeForce GTX 580 does not just dominate the competition, it obliterates it. Specifications include the GTX 580 (797MHz core clock) chipset, 1536MB of 0.4ns GDDR5 memory with a 4050 MHz effective memory clock and 194.4 GB/second memory bandwidth, 384 bit memory interface, 1594 MHz Shader Clock, 512 CUDA cores, 51 GT/s texture fill rate and PCI Express 2.0 compatibility. Additional features include Microsoft DirectX 11 Support, NVIDIA PhysX and NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technologies, NVIDIA 2-way, 3-way and 4-way SLI readiness, NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround readiness, NVIDIA CUDA technology with CUDA C/C++, DirectCompute 5.0, and OpenCL support, PCI-Express 2.0 support and OpenGL 4.1 support. Connections are 1 Mini-HDMI 1.4a connector and 2 Dual-Link DVI-I HDCP capable connectors. Package includes the EVGA Driver/software disc with EVGA Precision Tuning utility, 1 Mini-HDMI to HDMI cable, 1 DVI to VGA adaptor, 1 6-pin PCI-E power cable, 1 8-pin PCI-E Power Cable and a limited lifetime warranty if registered within 30 days at <EVGA >
This review is from: EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Superclocked 1536 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini-HDMI SLI Ready Limited Lifetime Warranty Graphics Card, 015-P3-1582-AR (Personal Computers)
In a room with an ambient temperature of about 75F, and in an Antec 1200 case (3 front 120mm intake, 2 rear 120mm exhaust, 1 top mounted 250mm exhaust) the GTX 580 idles (in P8, or low performance mode, which it idles in if you aren't playing a game) at 46C and an automatic fan speed around 40% (which is the minimum in the driver). At load (tested in Crysis, and a few other games) the card reaches about 68C, with a fan speed not much over 50%. It could be kept cooler, but anywhere above 50% and the GPU fan becomes audible over the case fans (in my setup, anyway). With the lifetime warranty of an EVGA card comes a few drawbacks. The first is the reference design of the card, that keeps temps around 5-10C warmer than the custom cooled designs of companies like MSI and Asus. This means less headroom for overclocking, although I have seen pretty competent overclocks on this particular card (I haven't tried myself, however) The second is the reference fan, which is louder than similar models from EVGA's competitors at the same speed. The up side to reference cooling is that air is pushed directly out the back of the card, instead of inside the case. This is a good feature for anyone without excellent ventilation in their case, because it takes the hot air away from the other components in the case.
Coming from an ATI HD4850 to the GTX 580 has been like night and day. All of my games run much faster (obviously), and unlike the HD 4850 (that got over 100 degrees Celcius at load, and idled at 70 Celcius) it doesn't sound like a vacuum cleaner as I'm trying to play games.
At $500, I assume that you know exactly what you are looking for in a card, or at least I would hope so. This card delivers excellent gameplay at 1080p, with everything maxed out on my system in Crysis, and a few other taxing games that I have tried it out on. Beyond 1080p, you might need to look at the 3gb model GTX 580 (I see 1+GB usage in Crysis at 1080p, and I can only imagine that stepping up to 2560x1200 or whatever other 27-30" resolutions are out there, would stretch the card to the breaking point. It could be done, but you'd need to sacrifice AA passes, Vsync, and possibly a few other bells and whistles to make it work).
I would recommend this card to someone that wants to simply drop the best single-GPU card in their machine, and be done with it. More performance can be had for the money through SLI'ing 560ti's, or 480's, or any number of other lesser cards, but the drawbacks of SLI make those solutions unattractive to me. While others are desperate for SLI or Crossfire drivers that work with Battlefield 3, those with this card will be playing the game and not worrying about it.
Oh, and before I forget: I was seeing about 300w of power draw (max) in game from this card. I've heard that it can go to 350+ if you overclock, so if you are thinking about getting this card (and especially if you are going to SLI) make sure you've got at least 600w (for a single) and maybe 850-1000w for SLI. It's better to spend the extra 30-40 bucks for adequate power, than to either run the card with inadequate power, or run it at the maximum of your PSU (which will fry the PSU, sooner or later).