| ASUS ENGTX580 GeForce GTX 580 Video Card |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Video Cards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Olin Coles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monday, 22 November 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Page 16 of 19
ASUS SmartDoctor UtilityAMD and NVIDIA already stretch their GPUs pretty thin in terms of overclocking head room, but there's a difference between thin and non-existent. In this section, Benchmark Reviews overclocks the ASUS GeForce GTX 580 video card using the ASUS SmartDoctor overclocking utility. This application offers several adjustable variables to reach the desired overclock, and allows for voltage changes (increase/decrease). The aim of this project is to push the Fermi GF110 GPU inside the ENGTX580 as far as it could go by taking advantage of the ASUS Voltage Tweak functionality. In the past, software-based overclocking on ASUS video cards has been accomplished through the GamerOSD program. Now these tasks are handled by ASUS SmartDoctor (illustrated below), which is described as "intelligent hardware protection and a powerful overclocking tool". The ASUS SmartDoctor tool allows users to overclock their ASUS video card's GPU and RAM, and at the same time monitor thermal output. ASUS simplifies the on-screen feedback with notes such as "Your VGA Card is OK.", but more advanced users will appreciate the in-depth data that is displayed at the upper-right corner of the module. The ASUS SmartDoctor utility measures memory speed in quad data rate, which means that the stock speed of 1000MHz GDDR5 appears as 4000MHz in the utility. The ASUS SmartDoctor utility worked well to overclock GPU clock speed, while Vcore voltage allowed plenty of available range thanks to the added Voltage Tweak functionality. As a best practice, it's good to find the maximum stable GPU clock speed, and then drop back 10 MHz or more. After several trial-and-error gaming sessions to confirm stability, the ASUS ENGTX580 video card proved to offer an overclock that resulted in some very impressive gains.
ASUS SmartDoctor Overclocking Utility (GeForce GTX 580)ASUS ENGTX580 OverclockingThe factory overclocked ASUS ENGTX580 uses 962 mV at 782 MHz, but with the help of added Voltage Tweak stability and their SmartDoctor software we safely applied 1145 mV to reach 925 MHz. This amounts to a 153 MHz increase over the standard speed, and 143 MHz increase over the factory overclock. Beginning with the maximum stable GPU clock speed, I slowly increased the settings until I began to see screen tearing or the Forceware driver crashed. Once I reached the most stable speeds for both GPU and GDDR5, I put the video card back into action with high-demand video games for additional benchmark tests. Here are the results: GeForce GTX 580 Overclocking Results
Overclocking Summary: After re-testing the overclocked GeForce GTX 580 on eleven different benchmarks, the increased performance amounted to 8-20% improvement in video frame rates. This is an impressive overclock considering that the GeForce GTX 580 already rests at the very top of NVIDIA's food chain. The recent ASUS ENGTX480 Overclocking project used a refined GF100 GPU that yielded 12-17% improvements, while the AMD Radeon HD 6870 was limited to 6.5-9.3%. Even though ASUS uses NVIDIA's best processor, there's still headroom for overclocking to squeeze every extra frame into an advantage over your enemy.
Back in the day, software overclocking tools were few and far between. Benchmark Reviews was literally put on the map with my first article: Overclocking the NVIDIA GeForce Video Card. Although slightly dated, that article is still relevant for enthusiasts wanting to permanently flash their overclock onto the video cards BIOS. Unfortunately, most users are not so willing to commit their investment to such risky changes, and feel safer with temporary changes that can be easily undone with a reboot. That's the impetus behind the sudden popularity for software-based GPU overclocking tools. ASUS GamerOSDWant to boost graphics card performance without exiting the game? Activate ASUS GamerOSD anytime during gameplay and adjust the GPU clock for instant overclocking. Real-time FPS (frames per second) status is also available to keep track of performance improvements. The ASUS GamerOSD (On-Screen Display) is a tool for combining ASUS SmartDoctor and video capture tools together without leaving the action. What I found especially helpful was the high-resolution DVD-quality video capture feature, which comes FREE with the ASUS ENGTX580 kit. Programmable hot keys assign actions, and recorded video (saved in XviD MPEG-4 format) or screen shots can be taken on command. These are features you would have to pay for using other software, such as FRAPS.
ASUS GamerOSD On-Screen Display UtilityIn the next section, we explore NVIDIA APEX PhysX enhancements with the ASUS GeForce GTX 480...
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.