GeForce GTX 480 liquid cooling Danger Den review

Page 3 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
12,968
221
106
Impressive. But considering what you'd have to pay for that block and the card itself, I don't know if it's a better price/performance option than the 5970.

I'm not sure how a 900 Mhz 480 CUDA core compares to a stock HD5970 as far as FPS goes, but input lag would be reduced compared to the Dual GPU card.
 

SolMiester

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2004
5,330
17
76
I don't think you can fairly call a GTX 480 versus 5970 an apples to apples comparision.

IMO, when comparing apples to apples, i would pit the GTX 295 versus 5970 and the GTX 480 against the 5870.

In terms of fastest single card, the 5970 is the fastest hands down.

in terms of fastest gpu, the GTX 480 is the fastest hands down.

that being said, when are we going to see a dual gpu single card solution based off the GTX 480?

Meh, I have been trying (terribly it seems) to make this point...and apparently I just have a hard-on for nV?!
 

SolMiester

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2004
5,330
17
76
I've seen you post this type of thing in a number of threads, it just doens't make sense.

If the dual core and single core cost the same amount, why on Earth would I not compare them if I'm looking to buy? If this Fermi costs as much as a 5970, I don't see why I wouldn't compare the two.

Who makes up these rules on what is a 'fair' comparrison? Is it fair to compare a GTX480 to a 5870 when the 5870 uses only ~60% as much silicon and nearly a billion less xtors? Is it fair to compare a 5870 to a GTX480 when the GTX480 has 50% more memory? Is it fair to compare a 5970 to a GTX480 when it has two smaller GPU's vs. one bigger GPU? All of these conditions are silly at best.

Here is what matters to most of us when looking to buy a graphics card.
-How does it perform?
-How much does it cost?
-Extra features, noise, heat, power, single vs. multiGPU, etc. may factor in for some people as well depending on what they are looking at.

So most of us look at how it performs vs. what our budget is, we don't care if there is 1 or 27 GPU's under the heat sink. Performance is performance regardless if it's achieved from two smaller GPU's on the PCB or one large GPU on the PCB. The common denominator for almost all of us is price. If the 5970 is significantly faster than a GTX480 and the cost is the same or very near it, then that is the better part for most of us regardless of what is under the heatsink.

Yeah, I fail to explain myself there...however the fact remains IMO, 2 x GPU v 1 GPU is NOT a comparison of the best GPU, just a fastest card!
 

MagickMan

Diamond Member
Aug 11, 2008
7,460
3
76
Yeah, I fail to explain myself there...however the fact remains IMO, 2 x GPU v 1 GPU is NOT a comparison of the best GPU, just a fastest card!

which is the whole point, since you like actually use the whole card and not just a GPU. :hmm:
 

3DVagabond

Lifer
Aug 10, 2009
11,951
204
106
I've seen you post this type of thing in a number of threads, it just doens't make sense.

If the dual core and single core cost the same amount, why on Earth would I not compare them if I'm looking to buy? If this Fermi costs as much as a 5970, I don't see why I wouldn't compare the two.

Who makes up these rules on what is a 'fair' comparrison? Is it fair to compare a GTX480 to a 5870 when the 5870 uses only ~60% as much silicon and nearly a billion less xtors? Is it fair to compare a 5870 to a GTX480 when the GTX480 has 50% more memory? Is it fair to compare a 5970 to a GTX480 when it has two smaller GPU's vs. one bigger GPU? All of these conditions are silly at best.

Here is what matters to most of us when looking to buy a graphics card.
-How does it perform?
-How much does it cost?
-Extra features, noise, heat, power, single vs. multiGPU, etc. may factor in for some people as well depending on what they are looking at.

So most of us look at how it performs vs. what our budget is, we don't care if there is 1 or 27 GPU's under the heat sink. Performance is performance regardless if it's achieved from two smaller GPU's on the PCB or one large GPU on the PCB. The common denominator for almost all of us is price. If the 5970 is significantly faster than a GTX480 and the cost is the same or very near it, then that is the better part for most of us regardless of what is under the heatsink.

This is exactly true... Unless you are a fanboi of one or the other. Then You only see the faults of the competition and the benefits of your "team", while overlooking everything else.

As far as poor HD5970 OCing and scaling, or whatever else, here's a review of the PC HD5970LCS.

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/powercolor_hd5970_lcs/

For the record it OC'd to 1010MHz/1254MHz and scaled just fine. This review is a few months old too. Current drivers would return even better results. Although, the ones in the review are just fine, IMO.
 

MagickMan

Diamond Member
Aug 11, 2008
7,460
3
76
This is exactly true... Unless you are a fanboi of one or the other. Then You only see the faults of the competition and the benefits of your "team", while overlooking everything else.

As far as poor HD5970 OCing and scaling, or whatever else, here's a review of the PC HD5970LCS.

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/powercolor_hd5970_lcs/

For the record it OC'd to 1010MHz/1254MHz and scaled just fine. This review is a few months old too. Current drivers would return even better results. Although, the ones in the review are just fine, IMO.

Oh, that is some nice scaling, shows how well 5870 CF scales too. I made sure and bookmarked that page, just in case the usual suspects start their stupidity again.
 

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,002
126
Yeah, I fail to explain myself there...however the fact remains IMO, 2 x GPU v 1 GPU is NOT a comparison of the best GPU, just a fastest card!

Right, but that's what matters. You buy a card, not just a GPU.

I don't think anyone argues that the Fermi GPU found on the GTX480 isn't faster than a Cypress GPU found on the 5870. But you buy a card, so if AMD can put two of those GPU's on the card, then that card will perform better than with one Cypress GPU.

There is a reason why the current prices are what they are. The 5870 is slower and cheaper than the GTX480. The GTX480 is slower and cheaper than the 5970. The 5970 is faster and more expensive than any other single card out there right now.
 

Skurge

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2009
5,195
1
71
Am I the only one that thinks that 59C in furmark is high for a watercooled card? Seriously?

Thats the same I get on my 4870 so, yeah it is pretty high. Hmmm, that could be a way to make tea and play games at the same time :D
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
Considering all the terrible news regarding processes smaller than 40nm, you could be waiting a long time.

I'd expect to see ATI's Southern Islands long before we see any sort of refresh from nVidia.

Actually, I won't be waiting at all, I'll have a crossfire setup by then.
 

at80eighty

Senior member
Jun 28, 2004
458
5
81
right. im sorry I hurt your feelings there armchair moderator. bear in mind your own posts from the first page onwards hardly scream unbiased - so relevancy is a lost effort on you
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
right. im sorry I hurt your feelings there armchair moderator. bear in mind your own posts from the first page onwards hardly scream unbiased - so relevancy is a lost effort on you

Wow, I've been called a stealth Nvidia fanboy,a wreckage look a like, and now a armchair moderator.
Someones pushing some buttons. :D
 

Skurge

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2009
5,195
1
71
You linked me to a test with a 5970 with 4gb of ram and I asked you to link me to a 5970 with 4gb of ram for 700$. You still failed to do so.

a 4gb wouldn't cost $700 so I don't get what you're trying to say.

I linked you to a 4gb 5970 and a 2gb 5870. which would cost $1400

I also linked to a page where 5970 crossfire beats 480SLI and often beats 480 tri-SLI, but I don't see you addressing that. Ignoring FACTS you can't argue with?
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
a 4gb wouldn't cost $700 so I don't get what you're trying to say.

I linked you to a 4gb 5970 and a 2gb 5870. which would cost $1400

I also linked to a page where 5970 crossfire beats 480SLI and often beats 480 tri-SLI, but I don't see you addressing that. Ignoring FACTS you can't argue with?

I agree a 4gb 5970 (not 2gb) overclocked will beat a watercooled gtx 480 overclocked @ 900 core. I missunderstood what you were saying.

I also agree that a 5970 crossfired and overclocked trades blows with watercooled gtx 480's @ 900 core in sli. Both setups in my opionion are overkill and not worth 1400$.

Better? :hmm:

@ magic man. You are way off ,I'm a construction worker and gaming computer hobbiest.
 
Last edited:

Skurge

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2009
5,195
1
71
I agree a 4gb 5970 (not 2gb) overclocked will beat a watercooled gtx 480 overclocked @ 900 core. I missunderstood what you were saying.

I also agree that a 5970 crossfired and overclocked trades blows with watercooled gtx 480's @ 900 core in sli. Both setups in my opionion are overkill and not worth 1400$.

Better? :hmm:

@ magic man. You are way off ,I'm a construction worker and gaming computer hobbiest.

Yes much better than claiming it WILL beat it without any benches to go off of.