[H]ard Does New Heat / Noise Test (real world) for 480

[blanketyblank]

Is it possible these cards or at least the review samples vary a good deal?
It's known for example that some chips ( in general not Fermi specifically) can run cooler than others so perhaps Kyle was given a hot chip and you were given a good chip that doesn't need that much voltage. If so his fan would have to be a a few rpms higher than yours to compensate for the heat, and perhaps OCing or at higher GPU loads it may be even worse.
Alternatively could there be different cooling fans being used for these cards?
Perhaps you could check to see if there is any identification on the fan, and we can compare between reviews.
Perhaps the discrepancies between reviews is because of the cards and not because of the test systems.

 

[apoppin]

Wait, so you're impressed that it's possibly faster than almost two-year-old hardware? :hmm: Which is a funny point to bring up because it really doesn't "shame" a 4870X2; for instance: http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/nvidia_gtx480/4.htm (read the whole review, not just the page I linked to). People were impressed with the 4870X2 at the time because it was the performance king by a long shot. People were impressed by the 5870 because AMD took that same performance, cut the TDP in half, and made an incredibly overclockable, feature-rich, DX11 product. The GTX480 did none of this.


Others disagree. There are numerous reviews on the net that have pointed out all of these facts (well, I dunno about "blowing papers off your desk," but the other two, yes).

Yes i am. GTX 480 is *also faster* than HD 5870 and twice as fast as last gen; a single GPU beats the best 2X last gen. According to my testing, GTX 480 *does embarrass* my HD 4870-X2. i wrote a whole review on it and tested GTX 480 extensively against my HD 5870 and GTX 480.

What is not "feature rich", not overclockable and not DX11 about GTX 480?
- other than it was not made by AMD ?

i know what others have posted. Perhaps they did not really use real world testing. - i know i did. With my ambient temp at 78 degrees (F), my case temps at worst case - running maxed out FOR HOURS - my case temps *peaked* at 95 F
.. GTX 480 is simply not the loud furnace that some make it out to be. Perhaps their case airflow is insufficient or there is something else at work.

i personally think some reviewers may lose some of their credibility when the cards are available for general release if they insist that their samples are 100% representative of GTX 480.

Perhaps the discrepancies between reviews is because of the cards and not because of the test systems.

Possibly a combination of many factors. That's why there is not just one tech site giving one definitive review.

 

[jimsage85]

Watercooling...anyone?

 

[Axon]

i know what others have posted. Perhaps they did not really use real world testing. - i know i did. With my ambient temp at 78 degrees (F), my case temps at worst case - running maxed out FOR HOURS - my case temps *peaked* at 95 F
.. GTX 480 is simply not the loud furnace that some make it out to be. Perhaps their case airflow is insufficient or there is something else at work.

i personally think some reviewers may lose some of their credibility when the cards are available for general release if they insist that their samples are 100% representative of GTX 480.

Possibly a combination of many factors. That's why there is not just one tech site giving one definitive review.

I assume we're just discussing heat and noise. These are things that, if you're willing to go the extra mile, can be resolved. I'm sure the card is loud and I'm sure its hot. There is too much smoke for there not to be fire on that issue. I'm also sure you're not going to BBQ on the 480. I think it's good that you put the kibosh on those concerns.

However, my concern is this: why should I pay an extra $100 for a card that is absolutely not a distinct step up from the 5870? A lot of the features feel like epeen. I play WoW, TF2, BFBC2. Running a game at 8x aa is somewhat irrelevant. What is there to make me, a consumer who's getting a touch tired of his 4890, go back to nvidia? Other than the sweet swag bag they gave me at PAX East, of course

I've seen that it rules SLI. That's appealing to me on some level, but I can't go in for $1,000. Dammit.

 

[apoppin]

I assume we're just discussing heat and noise. These are things that, if you're willing to go the extra mile, can be resolved. I'm sure the card is loud and I'm sure its hot. There is too much smoke for there not to be fire on that issue. I'm also sure you're not going to BBQ on the 480. I think it's good that you put the kibosh on those concerns.

However, my concern is this: why should I pay an extra $100 for a card that is absolutely not a distinct step up from the 5870? A lot of the features feel like epeen. I play WoW, TF2, BFBC2. Running a game at 8x aa is somewhat irrelevant. What is there to make me, a consumer who's getting a touch tired of his 4890, go back to nvidia? Other than the sweet swag bag they gave me at PAX East, of course

I've seen that it rules SLI. That's appealing to me on some level, but I can't go in for $1,000. Dammit.

Agreed - it is louder and hotter than HD 5870 which is very cool and quiet. It would be loud for some and there are probably non-reference 480s coming that will address the noise issues.

i cannot answer why you should pay an "extra" $100. i am not selling them. i can point out that GTX 480 IS faster than HD 5870. HD 5870 is faster than HD 5850, is it worth the relatively small performance difference (for $100)? HD 5970 costs $200 more than HD 5870 yet it is not "$200 faster"
- the question you have to answer is, is it fast enough for you? Is the *premium* you pay for the top GPU worth it over the 2nd fastest?

Performance does not scale very well with Dollars Spent. i should make one of those charts

Nvidia has a feature set that appeals to *current owners* of GT200 series; it should really appeal to those with GTX 260 through 285 class; those who like PhysX, 3D, 2 & 3D Surround and what Nvidia is doing with CUDA.

For you, a HD 5870, 5970 or GTX 480 would be a great performance upgrade from your HD 4890; your 4890 is also kinda loud according to AT testing

 

[MrK6]

Yes i am. GTX 480 is *also faster* than HD 5870 and twice as fast as last gen; a single GPU beats the best 2X last gen. According to my testing, GTX 480 *does embarrass* my HD 4870-X2. i wrote a whole review on it and tested GTX 480 extensively against my HD 5870 and GTX 480.

That's great, you have one opinion, which, put as politely as possible, means little, especially against the consensus of established hardware review sites.

What is not "feature rich", not overclockable and not DX11 about GTX 480?
- other than it was not made by AMD ?

I didn't say it wasn't. What I said was AMD doubled it's previous generation's performance, added new features, and cut power consumption in half. NVIDIA couldn't even do this six months later, just another point on why the GTX480 isn't impressive.

i know what others have posted. Perhaps they did not really use real world testing. - i know i did. With my ambient temp at 78 degrees (F), my case temps at worst case - running maxed out FOR HOURS - my case temps *peaked* at 95 F
.. GTX 480 is simply not the loud furnace that some make it out to be. Perhaps their case airflow is insufficient or there is something else at work.

And that's in your specific case with your specific noise level and fan setup. The card is still going to put out 320W of heat. As long as it's all documented, it's a setup to consider, however it is in no way at all definitive. Keep that in mind when you write up your review.

 

[apoppin]

That's great, you have one opinion, which, put as politely as possible, means little, especially against the consensus of established hardware review sites.

I didn't say it wasn't. What I said was AMD doubled it's previous generation's performance, added new features, and cut power consumption in half. NVIDIA couldn't even do this six months later, just another point on why the GTX480 isn't impressive.

And that's in your specific case with your specific noise level and fan setup. The card is still going to put out 320W of heat. As long as it's all documented, it's a setup to consider, however it is in no way at all definitive. Keep that in mind when you write up your review.

The consensus is that GTX 480 is significantly louder than HD 5870. i concur.
- the thing i am pointing out is that HD 5870 is a very quiet and cool-running card.

The consensus is that GTX 480 draws significantly more power than HD 5870. i have confirmed this. i am pointing out that it performs better.

Nvidia doubled its previous generation's performance, added new features and didn't cut its power consumption. That is 2/3 and many enthusiasts like the features and performance. Perhaps that is not impressive to you but then you are not in Nvidia's target audience for GTX 480.

My case has superb airflow. Yes, that is quite correct. Therefore i am not concerned about roasting the inside of it. i have a big beefy PSU that will handle 2 x GTX 480.
No, my results are not definitive and they are not intended to cover all situations. But they should not be completely ignored.

i would like to point out that i am not selling GTX 480 nor HD 5870. i have both and i love them both. i am pointing out the differences and that some people will prefer the GTX 480's performance and will be willing to put up with the issues of a power-hungry GPU.

 

[MrK6]

The consensus is that GTX 480 is significantly louder than HD 5870. i concur.
- the thing i am pointing out is that HD 5870 is a very quiet and cool-running card.

The consensus is that GTX 480 draws significantly more power than HD 5870. i have confirmed this. i am pointing out that it performs better.

You stated that the GTX480 "shamed" the 4870X2, and I said consensus disagrees. If the 5870 offers comparative performance to the 4870X2 (+/-5%) and the GTX480 is 10-15% faster than the 5870, that isn't "shaming" (using any nuance of the word).

Nvidia doubled its previous generation's performance, added new features and didn't cut its power consumption. That is 2/3 and many enthusiasts like the features and performance. Perhaps that is not impressive to you but then you are not in Nvidia's target audience for GTX 480.

If the target audience is fanboys then yes, I am not part of the target audience. If they want to throw an engineering mishap out to the public as an "enthusiast" card, they're going to have to try better.

My case has superb airflow. Yes, that is quite correct. Therefore i am not concerned about roasting the inside of it. i have a big beefy PSU that will handle 2 x GTX 480.
No, my results are not definitive and they are not intended to cover all situations. But they should not be completely ignored.

i would like to point out that i am not selling GTX 480 nor HD 5870. i have both and i love them both. i am pointing out the differences and that some people will prefer the GTX 480's performance and will be willing to put up with the issues of a power-hungry GPU.

And any information, especially given as a service, is appreciated. What I'm saying is you need to be more logical and thorough in your presentation of information.

 

[apoppin]

You stated that the GTX480 "shamed" the 4870X2, and I said consensus disagrees. If the 5870 offers comparative performance to the 4870X2 (+/-5&#37 and the GTX480 is 10-15% faster than the 5870, that isn't "shaming" (using any nuance of the word).

If the target audience is fanboys then yes, I am not part of the target audience. If they want to throw an engineering mishap out to the public as an "enthusiast" card, they're going to have to try better.


And any information, especially given as a service, is appreciated. What I'm saying is you need to be more logical and thorough in your presentation of information.

The HD 5870 doesn't offer comparative performance to HD 4870-X2 any longer. While Cat 10-3a gave solid performance improvements to 5000 series, it did not do anything for 4000 series CrossFire. AMD is concentrating on improving performance for 5000 series.
-- Since the GTX 480 is faster than HD 5870, it is also faster still than HD 4870-X2 - not to mention the HD 4870-X2 falls flat in a few titles where CF doesn't scale; not to mention that 4000 series is limited to DX10.1 Shame really, but then its time at the top is passed. i don't ever plan to play with mine again .. i would *never* it put 4870-X2 in my PC when there is a choice of HD 5870 or GTX 480 - do you understand?

i wish i could sell it as i will never use 4870-X2 in my PC again except for benching and as an old DX10.1 standard to compare until it fades to near-legacy. Yes, it is shamed. Retired. Not able to keep up with the new flagship GPUs in features and with its own fading performance.

Perhaps you are a fan of the other company. The way you *only pick* on GTX 480 flaws would lead a reasonable person to conclude you have much disdain for the company that made it. i do not believe there is a "logical and thorough" for anything that disagrees with your already fixed view. Your mind is clearly shut about GTX 480 because you ridicule what you have no experience with.

i post what i find out and i share it. i like and admire both Nvidia and AMD and their products. Their vision is very different yet they each produce competing and compelling products for a similar price. And they do it year after year. And despite my admiration for them both, i can still easily point out the strengths and weaknesses of each vendor's product without hesitation. - that seems to be something you cannot comprehend.

 

[v8envy]

My mind is clearly shut re: the 480 because I too am not the target audience.

Which is rather strange -- I have the disposable income, I like high end PC hardware when it's reasonably priced (as the 480 is intended to be), and ATI cards don't meet my needs because of Linux. In other words, I'm a captive audience for NV's high end hardware and they STILL manage to put out a product I wouldn't use daily if it was free.

I don't live in an igloo. Dumping 400 watts of heat into my room year round is a non-starter. I say 400 because the TDP appears to be patent BS, under load the card sucks up nearly 300 watts. Add to that an 80% efficient PSU (which means the other 20% got converted to heat) means I'm not touching this thing with a 10,000 foot pole.

I'll have to hear just how loud it is, but so far the consensus is: "it's so loud that it's fit for performance at any cost crowd only."

 

[pmv]

Well the GTX 480 is currently listed at £480. The 5870 is £300-£330. Personally I don't think 10-15% more performance is worth 50% more expense. And then its much. much noisier and more power hungry on top of that.

OK I'm not the target audience as I can't justify the cost of either of them. But the ATI card is at least something I can plausibly day-dream about!

The 470 is even sillier. £330! The same price as the 5870 for lower performance. What is the point of this card? Why would anyone here buy it?

 

[MrK6]

The HD 5870 doesn't offer comparative performance to HD 4870-X2 any longer. While Cat 10-3a gave solid performance improvements to 5000 series, it did not do anything for 4000 series CrossFire. AMD is concentrating on improving performance for 5000 series.
-- Since the GTX 480 is faster than HD 5870, it is also faster still than HD 4870-X2 - not to mention the HD 4870-X2 falls flat in a few titles where CF doesn't scale; not to mention that 4000 series is limited to DX10.1 Shame really, but then its time at the top is passed. i don't ever plan to play with mine again .. i would *never* it put 4870-X2 in my PC when there is a choice of HD 5870 or GTX 480 - do you understand?

i wish i could sell it as i will never use 4870-X2 in my PC again except for benching and as an old DX10.1 standard to compare until it fades to near-legacy. Yes, it is shamed. Retired. Not able to keep up with the new flagship GPUs in features and with its own fading performance.

And my point is your bombastic language is misleading considering a ~20-25% performance increase on average (almost two years later); nothing more, nothing less.

Perhaps you are a fan of the other company. The way you *only pick* on GTX 480 flaws would lead a reasonable person to conclude you have much disdain for the company that made it. i do not believe there is a "logical and thorough" for anything that disagrees with your already fixed view. Your mind is clearly shut about GTX 480 because you ridicule what you have no experience with.

i post what i find out and i share it. i like and admire both Nvidia and AMD and their products. Their vision is very different yet they each produce competing and compelling products for a similar price. And they do it year after year. And despite my admiration for them both, i can still easily point out the strengths and weaknesses of each vendor's product without hesitation. - that seems to be something you cannot comprehend.

Right, because my recent video card ownership history being a 8800GTS 640MB, 8800GTS 512MB, 4870 512MB, GTX295, HD 5870, and Dual HD 5850's shows I'm such a fanboy . I'm a fan of superior products, plain and simple; the GTX480 isn't one (GTX470 might be depending on how retail samples overclock).

If you want to put yourself in the spotlight and post nonstop all day about your ongoing real world testing, well, you're going to draw my attention and others, that's the way it works. If you don't like opinions and others commenting on your work, stop posting about it. When you post things like:

i would call it a failure if GTX 480 did not completely shame 4870-X2

When, again, it's roughly 20-25% faster, if that, or

it does not draw more than 300w even overclocked
- that is all the PCIe 8+6-pin will deliver

which is just flat out wrong, yeah, I'm going to post and correct you.

 

[heymrdj]

I want 7 of these on an evga x58 classified, stat

 

[Ackmed]

Someone who Kyle B banned at his own forum, suggested the pine wood in his house was echoing the sound and exaggerating the louder sounds


i am going to run my own tests:

1. GTX 480
2. HD 5870
3. GTX 280
4. HD 4870-X2
5. 2900XT

Please note #5 .. i want you to all hear *REALLY loud*
---i am going to do a better test than any of these sites have done, so far

Some people have wood floors. I am such a person. Every floor other than the bathrooms, kitchen, and den are wood floored. Our living room and den have wood walls. Not everyones house is set up the same, or their PC. Its time to realize this.

 

[apoppin]

And my point is your bombastic language is misleading considering a ~20-25% performance increase on average (almost two years later); nothing more, nothing less.

Right, because my recent video card ownership history being a 8800GTS 640MB, 8800GTS 512MB, 4870 512MB, GTX295, HD 5870, and Dual HD 5850's shows I'm such a fanboy . I'm a fan of superior products, plain and simple; the GTX480 isn't one (GTX470 might be depending on how retail samples overclock).

If you want to put yourself in the spotlight and post nonstop all day about your ongoing real world testing, well, you're going to draw my attention and others, that's the way it works. If you don't like opinions and others commenting on your work, stop posting about it. When you post things like:

When, again, it's roughly 20-25% faster, if that, or
which is just flat out wrong, yeah, I'm going to post and correct you.

Well then, you appear to have no have no problem with the facts i post, you take issue with what you consider my interpretation of them; that is fine by me. 20-25% is *significant*; if you don't like my choice of "shamed", too bad

If i make any factual errors, i am very glad to correct them. Nvidia's 250W TDP refers to the card's power usage "in gaming" and not the card's total possible draw.

That you are personally not impressed with GTX 480, means nothing to me at all.

And what is your 8800 GTS 640 > 8800 GTS 500 ?
- i hope it wasn't an "upgrade" .. no wonder you are disappointed and bitter

Some people have wood floors. I am such a person. Every floor other than the bathrooms, kitchen, and den are wood floored. Our living room and den have wood walls. Not everyones house is set up the same, or their PC. Its time to realize this.

*exactly* .. mine has a concrete floor. So it is not unreasonable to give more examples than is currently out there. So i am working on editing my own audio comparison video atm.

 

[cbn]

Hopefully we will see an end to the emphasis placed on single GPU performance. The value is so very poor in that category.

Maybe ATI or Nvidia will introduce synchronized dual/tri/quad GPUs that subjectively feel like a single GPU. I know ATI was at one time planning something along those lines with "sideport".

P.S. Seriously are there any recent games out there that don't make use of SLI/X-fire? (I see "lack of scaling" used as an argument against dual GPU cards all the time, but I can't think of any game where this is a problem)

 

[Will Robinson]

apoppin!...welcome to the NV Focus Group. Your cheerleading for the GTX480 is most welcome.....forget what those pesky Internet Tech sites are saying about it....there will be further hardware coming your way...as soon as we can manufacture some. best wishes. Rollo, Wreckage,Prime1, Silicon Doc, Keys etc,etc....

please don't troll in the video forum. Thanks -Admin DrPizza

 

[Maximilian]

Nvidia fanboyism in this thread is strong lol, GTX4xx are failures, complete failures, theyre hot loud power hogs that dont offer squat compared to the HD5xxx series, their features are worthless and the slight performance increase is not worth the extra noise heat or money except for total morons or nvidia fanboys. Accept it and think of the bigger picture.

FX58xx was a failure too, dosent mean its the end of your beloved company.

 

[apoppin]

apoppin!...welcome to the NV Focus Group. Your cheerleading for the GTX480 is most welcome.....forget what those pesky Internet Tech sites are saying about it....there will be further hardware coming your way...as soon as we can manufacture some. best wishes. Rollo, Wreckage,Prime1, Silicon Doc, Keys etc,etc....

Well, i just got a thank-you from AMD. My site is a media partner with them as well as with Nvidia. i get HW from both vendors to review.

Who am i going to believe?
- you?

... danger .. danger .. there is Danger, Will Robinson .. you are Lost in Space ...

 

[apoppin]

Nvidia fanboyism in this thread is strong lol, GTX4xx are failures, complete failures, theyre hot loud power hogs that dont offer squat compared to the HD5xxx series, their features are worthless and the slight performance increase is not worth the extra noise heat or money except for total morons or nvidia fanboys. Accept it and think of the bigger picture.

RotFL ... look in a mirror .. there are more than Nvidia fanboys posting here.

 

[ashishmishra]

I am just not sure why everybody in this forum has become so eco-minded recently. Last time I checked this was an enthusiast forum, if somebody has a supporting case and PSU and doesn't mind the extra power draw or the possible added noise then why is GTX 480 a failure again? It has similar features to Radeon 5xxx; possibly better tessellation performance; extra fluff like Physx, if that floats your boat; robust minimum frame-rates in comparison.

Now if the power draw was lower and it ran cooler, it would have been nice, but heck this is a hobby and an expensive one if you buy cards like GTX480. I mean do you all ask people with Ferrari's and Lamborghini's about their MPG or 0-60??

Also the arguments like, "oh we must list all the flaws in every frickin fermi thread so people can make a better judgment" just serves to derail every thread. If anybody buys a $500 graphic card without doing any research and relies on opinions of random internet posters deserves with whatever they end up with.







.........................I think I am done now.............................

 

[Keysplayr]

Some people have wood floors. I am such a person. Every floor other than the bathrooms, kitchen, and den are wood floored. Our living room and den have wood walls. Not everyones house is set up the same, or their PC. Its time to realize this.

Has the video card wars been reduced to interior decorating and home design affecting ones GPU purchase?
Time to pick up my jaw from off the floor, and go play some games. AVP has my name on it.
Have fun guys.

 

[blanketyblank]

Sigh all these attacks on something that in reality isn't even out yet. If anything is true NV really screwed up the launching of this product if there really is going to be a launch.
With all the delays I'm starting to believe the availability rumors are true.

The more reviews the better, and I for one appreciate you taking the time to test this stuff. However a few points to clarify is that 250 TDP apparently means something very different to NV than it does to ATI. 480 is rated at 250, but from all the review I've seen so far it draws more power than a 5970 which is rated at 294. Therefore 480 should be something like 300 TDP using ATI's standard which seems closer to real power draw.

Second 8800GTS 512 is supposed to be an upgrade from a 8800 GTS 640 as it used the new g92 chip. It isn't much of an upgrade I'll give you that, but according to a lot of benchmarks available at the time it performed better overall.

 

[apoppin]

Sigh all these attacks on something that in reality isn't even out yet. If anything is true NV really screwed up the launching of this product if there really is going to be a launch.
With all the delays I'm starting to believe the availability rumors are true.

The more reviews the better, and I for one appreciate you taking the time to test this stuff. However a few points to clarify is that 250 TDP apparently means something very different to NV than it does to ATI. 480 is rated at 250, but from all the review I've seen so far it draws more power than a 5970 which is rated at 294. Therefore 480 should be something like 300 TDP using ATI's standard which seems closer to real power draw.

Second 8800GTS 512 is supposed to be an upgrade from a 8800 GTS 640 as it used the new g92 chip. It isn't much of an upgrade I'll give you that, but according to a lot of benchmarks available at the time it performed better overall.

According to one of the guys at my forum, Gigabyte GTX 470 made an appearance at NewEgg and sold out in a minute or two. The rest are showing up in a week or so.

Yes. TDP according to Nvidia, GTX 480 is "250 W ***in games*** .. i saw my own card apparently draw near 300W.

No, the 8800 GTS 512 was in some cases slower than the older 640 MB version; i had that one for testing against HD 2900XT and it was a very decent card
- at that time the 2900XT was the loudest video card - ever.

 

[blanketyblank]

According to one of the guys at my forum, Gigabyte GTX 470 made an appearance at NewEgg and sold out in a minute or two. The rest are showing up in a week or so.

Yes. TDP according to Nvidia, GTX 480 is "250 W ***in games*** .. i saw my own card apparently draw near 300W.

No, the 8800 GTS 512 was in some cases slower than the older 640 MB version; i had that one for testing against HD 2900XT and it was a very decent card
- at that time the 2900XT was the loudest video card - ever.

I don't doubt that there are cases where it was slower than the 640 just like there are games where the 480 is slower than the 5870 (i.e. stalker). However I've read a lot of reviews for the gts 512 before buying one, and it seemed to win by a substantial amount (20% or more sometimes about 35%) in almost all of the games tested at the time (Crysis, FEAR, Stalker).
I find it kind of strange that you would dismiss the 8800GTS 512 as an upgrade over a 640 yet praise the 480's performance over the 5870 when the former actually seems to have a larger percentage lead.

http://www.techspot.com/review/79-geforce-8800-gts-512/page4.html