| EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Classified Video Card |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Video Cards | |
| Written by Austin Downing | |
| Monday, 03 October 2011 | |
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Page 13 of 13
EVGA GTX 580 Classified Final ThoughtsThe EVGA GTX 580 Classified is an amazing accomplishment and the final hoora of the Fermi architecture as the Kepler chips are slated to come out sometime Q1 2012. EVGA has definitely designed an overclocking beast and with LN2 have alread passed the 1.6GHz mark. For us mere mortals who just want to use a traditional air cooling EVGA pretty much nailed it, they have the extra cooling the overclockers demand without the negatives of a huge tri-slot card that dumps all of its heat into a user's case
EVGA GTX 580 Classified ConclusionWith a core clock of 855MHz the Classified provides users with a 4-6% boost in performance out of the box compared to a stock GTX 580. The Classified will easily run almost any game on the market at the highest of settings. Once users start creating SLI configurations they should expect to be able to play most major titles coming out in the ensuing years on the most extreme of settings without much trouble. Although a personal taste I find the unannounced exterior of the Classified to be gorgeous. When you put the Classified in a case all you see is the military-esk matte black exterior with the beautiful Classified logo to let you know what you are looking at. The EVGA GTX 580 Classified is very well built with a great amount of thought put into every component used. Even during our stressful Furmark testing in which we drew record amounts of power we did not see any type of graphical glitches. Adding to this is the fact EVGA stands behind their product providing a lifetime warranty should something go wrong during a Classifieds lifetime. The functionality of the cooler being used with the Classified is amazing providing a 12.4% boost in cooling performance while at the same time creating less noise than a stock GTX 580. Personally I also appreciate that the Classified vents its exhaust out the rear of a user's case rather than recirculating all of that heat inside of the case. Value for a video card like the EVGA GTX 580 Classified is a three part equation. First we need to look at the outright cost of the product which at $599.99 (NewEgg) puts it in the top tier of video cards. Next we need to look at availability, and currently the EVGA GTX 580 Classified is sold out, and even when in stock will only be around for a couple of days at most. Lastly the hidden cost of these high end cards is power, and at 375W of consumption can quickly add up especially in a SLI configuration. As the final hoora of the Fermi architecture the EVGA GTX 580 Classified is a fitting card. With beautiful looks, high performance, and unmatched overclocking potential the Classified is exactly what a special edition graphics card should be. Pros:
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Comments
Also why does it need a HDMI port when you can convert straight from DVI to HDMI?
I want to see how it stands up to the 2GB 6970 OR the regular EVGA 3GB. You do realize that not all the Classifieds come with 3GB of Vram, right? Why not compare apples to apples? Why compare this to last years options?
It was compared to a Stock ASUS GTX 580 1.5GB which provides a pretty nice apples to apples comparison.
Really nice review! Maybe if you could put more pictures in the future which would be really nice :) keep it up!
I wasn't trying to be crass or mean. The review is wonderful.
I am considering purchasing a 3GB Classified HC and was anxious to see how it compared to say the normal EVGA 3GB or the Asus with more Vram, as well as the AMD 2GB 6970. Maybe you can do another review when those are available:)
That means the difference between the regular 3GB and Classy 3GB is the same as between the ASUS 1.5GB GTX 580 and the classy. around 4-6% at stock settings on both.
Except for price I really do recommend this card. It is beautiful, runs cool, and has a lifetime warranty.
Thank you for the compliment. This was a eye opening experience to say the least. I hope in the future to be able to provide for our readers even better.
#en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_nitrogen
##msi.com/product/vga/N580GTX-Lightning-Xtreme-Edition.html#/?div=Driver&os=Win7%2032
Hmm. On one hand, this cooler doesn't exhaust as much air into the case. On the other hand, the MSI Twin Frozr III heatsink is very impressive. I guess overclocking headroom will decide it.
Now THAT would be an article. 580 Classy 3gb vs MSI GTX 580 Lightning 3gb.
Perhaps a overclocking competition between both?
The only other card worth looking at is the Asus ROG Matrix 580 Platinum. Other manufacturers of course have custom non-reference flagships, but the consensus seems to be that the MSI and Asus ones are the top (ex: Gigabyte).
The 580 Lightning Xtreme is at a similar price point and is also oriented for enthusiasts and ROG ... well, the name should say what the target audience is.
That said,......this is really a well thought out design and awesome performer too. I love it.
Also, Austin I think the OC competition between those two cards would be a GREAT article!