| ASUS ENGTX580 GeForce GTX 580 Video Card |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Video Cards | |
| Written by Olin Coles | |
| Monday, 22 November 2010 | |
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ASUS GeForce GTX 580 Video Card ReviewVoltage Tweak drives the NVIDIA Fermi GF110 GPU to 925 MHz and produces the most powerful DirectX-11 video card available.ASUS is a well-known innovator of technology, but there are times when they recognize a good idea and strive to simply make it better. Queue the GeForce GTX 580 video card. Armed with the maximum number of CUDA cores and PolyMorph engines NVIDIA can deliver with the Fermi architecture, the GeForce GTX 580 represents their trophy effort to seize the performance market. While being similar to the GeForce GTX 480, the GeForce GTX 580 design updates the Fermi formula, improves upon the power appetite, reduces heat output, and increases graphical frame rate performance. ASUS raises the GF110 fixed function clock speed from 772 MHz to 782, while the graphics cores now operate at 1564 MHz. 1536MB of GDDR5 video frame buffer use a familiar 384-bit memory bus, clocked to 1002MHz for a 4008MHz data rate. This is before ASUS Voltage Tweak gives us access to unlocked potential... Using ASUS Voltage Tweak technology and their SmartDoctor software utility, Benchmark Reviews drives GPU voltage from a pedestrian 962 mV at stock speed and overclocks the GF110 GPU by nearly 20% over reference speeds with 1145 mV. The ASUS GeForce GTX 580 competes on two levels: price point and GPU segment. Priced at the $520 price point, the ASUS ENGTX580 competes directly against ATI's dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970 and a pair of AMD Radeon HD 6870 video cards combined into CrossFireX. In regard to single-GPU competition, the closest video cards would be ATI's Radeon HD 5870 or NVIDIA's own GeForce GTX 480. Using the most demanding PC video game titles and benchmark software available at the time of launch, Benchmark Reviews tests graphical frame rate performance of the GeForce GTX 580. Older DirectX-10 favorites such as Crysis Warhead and PCMark Vantage are included, as well as newer DirectX-11 titles such as: Aliens vs Predator, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, BattleForge, Lost Planet 2, Mafia II, Metro 2033, Tom Clancy's HAWX2, and the Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark. Built to deliver the best possible graphical experience to a performance-orientated gaming market, NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 580 video card delivers top-end frame rates with unmatched efficiency.
Everyone who waited for NVIDIA to launch their Fermi graphics architecture felt like they had held back once it was finally released. The GF100 graphics processor that was packaged into the GTX 480 used less than its full potential, and it didn't create the wide performance margin everyone expected between competitors. Seven months later, NVIDIA has returned with their updated Fermi GF110 GPU, delivering all 512 CUDA cores in the GeForce GTX 580. Featuring a tweaked graphics processor that runs much cooler and uses less power than the GTX 480, the ASUS GeForce GTX 580 is tested by Benchmark Reviews against the Radeon 5970 and CrossFire 6870 video cards, along with two overclocked GeForce GTX 460's in SLI, using the latest DirectX-11 video games. Something happened to the Fermi architecture between the time it premiered as GF100 and when it began to really turn heads as GF104: the ratio of shaders and texture units was perfected. The original GF100 GPU placed too much emphasis on tessellation, and not enough on overall graphical performance. As a result of finding the right balance, the GF104 graphics processor on the GeForce GTX 460 became an overnight sensation for gamers. Now evolved into the GF110 GPU, all 512 cores understand their purpose and propel the GeForce GTX 580 to a level only rivaled by the competition's best and most-expensive dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970 graphics card. Trimmed down to a modest 244 watts of power consumption under load, the GTX 580 outperforms its predecessor in both power efficiency graphical performance.
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by ASUS.
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Comments
Using your own example, if someone is to purchase a new motherboard simply for the benefit of a new PCI-E 3.0 specification, which entails a new processor and possibly memory, why wouldn't they also buy the best graphics card now? You can't have it both ways, Harry.
Just take a look inside any ATI/nvidia release notes and you'll see that the vast majority of bugs are in multi-card configurations.
I'm willing to sacrifices 10% performance and pay 10% more for the more simple/compatible option.
( not only in resolution but in pure/massive imaginary scope )
This attitude is very de-moralizing.
Why even read a graphic card benchmark review if you live for the "status quo"? Just git yerself a console and button mash to that.
The graphic card arms race assures me a future with tesselation, vsm soft shadows, and
global illumination:
##youtube.com/watch?v=Dd8yMPZzWfE&feature=related
none of which is or will be ready for prime time if we don't fan the flames.
The product is coming.
Its clear its not worth yet buying it unless you dont thrust SLI and you have power consuption/heat issues.
BUT, since SLI is only relevant in few games its a factor to be considered.
Many already rushed to the market to buy the vanilla 580, i suppose many more will go to the premium that are coming.
Additionally, you claim that software doesn't exist to warrant the need for products like the GTX 580, and I believe this to be untrue. Have you ever tried playing Crysis with all the graphical glory it was designed with? How about Metro 2033, Lost Planet 2, or Mafia II? Sure, you can play them with PhysX disabled and AA/AF turned down low, but that's like watching movies in standard definition. The logic of this argument also means that DVD and Blu-ray are unnecessary technologies, and VHS was 'good enough'. Not everybody wants to stand still... some of us enjoy the slow march forward.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for this review. I hope you get a raise.
Curious to see how far partners can push this card though. The improvements made to the 480 from release to now have been pretty impressive, so wondering if similar gains can be made with the 580, or if this is already pushing the limit (without causing a massive increase in power consumption and removing throttling).
GTX 580 in India is for 770$ !!!
GTX 570 will be at 520$ for me....
i saw ferrari ships for 20$-84$ if u order some merchandise...
So is there any chances i can get that GTX 580 in 550$ here???
As you rightly mention, Ferrari do not make cars that are the most fuel efficient at 60Mph, they know that there are buyers out there who want the best at any price.
Also it would be interesting to see the scores mapped to a dollar/performance index to see where the best gain is to be had.
Further its interesting that the cf/sli scores are slightly different with other reviews where the 580 consistently (well almost) had scored lower than the 5970.
I know many think hey its a dual gpu card but hey it costs less and you can still cf/sli it so I dont really see the point they are trying to make.
Imo Nvidia is on the right track and the 460 and 580 is really good cards but atm they are basically catching up and I am waiting to see what the response from AMD is before I commit to an upgrade.
If the Radeon HD 5970 can clear it by 35-40% in Crysis and Heaven, then look at where the GTX 580 sits against the Radeon 5970 on those tests in this article.
Sadly they make only high end chips these days too, then crippling them down to a price category.
So these new cards are fast but far less than they should be - and they should be 50-100% faster in everything, especially in 'future' games that really use their new feats.
Hey, so to clarify I was only trying to make what Harry was saying a little more clear as I assumed there was some misunderstanding. I agree with you in every way as to what you replied, and I should say that your comparison to Ferrari and Lamroghini was spot on. I am definately in the casual group but not by choice, lol. I would, if i could afford, like to stay up with all the newest hardware as I am a firm believer that your rig is only as strong as its weakest component. My gtx 260's: Do they play even Crysis on appealing settings at a decent enough frame rate? Yes I can push them to relatively high settings and play at about 30 or more FPS. BUUUUUT I want a GTX 580 so I can crank that up just as much as the next guy HAHA. Either way I liked your review and found it very informative.