The GeForce GTX 480 Update: 3-Way SLI, 3D Vision, And Noise
Table of contents
We reviewed Nvidia's GeForce GTX 480 one month ago. We're back today with three GTX 480s and two Radeon HD 5870s for SLI/CrossFire scaling analysis, case and motherboard recommendations to help you minimize noise, and an update on availability/pricing.
As I write this, it’s a beautiful Southern California Sunday afternoon. We’re deep into April and it’s already 80 degrees outside. I’m holding off on firing up the air conditioning for as long as possible, because that’s when power bills shoot up from $100 to $400.
The absolute last thing I need right now is a pair of GeForce GTX 480s (or any other high-end graphics cards, for that matter) pumping heat into the lab. Nevertheless, here I am, setting up a tower system with a Core i7-930 processor overclocked to 3.33 GHz, 6GB of Crucial memory, a 160GB Intel SSD, and…yeah, two GeForce GTX 480s (actually, I’m dropping three 480s into the machine, but for reasons I’ll explain in more depth, you probably don't want to try this at home quite yet).
Why are revisiting these cards a month after they first debuted?
When I first got my hands on the GeForce GTX 480 and 470, the boards were about six days from being officially unveiled by Nvidia. Getting the requisite results for my launch coverage meant setting up a sweat shop of benchmarking madness, owned and operated by yours truly. I used open-air racks and kept the numbers pouring in. I measured power and heat, determining that, damn, these things suck down quite a bit of juice and will readily fry your finger if you brush up against exposed metal. Moreover, I used Gigabyte’s X58A-UD5 motherboard, which doesn’t space its x16 PCIe links properly, forcing anyone using SLI to choose back-to-back x16 slots or a x16/x8 combo with room to breathe.
That’s not the way Nvidia recommends testing, though. The company suggests using one of a few different cases for the best acoustic experience, and a number of motherboards for the best balance between circulation and performance in SLI. So, with the help of Cooler Master and MSI, I built a machine that looks a lot like what I’d personally recommend to someone sinking serious cash into a gaming system.
At the same time, I thought it'd be prudent to revisit availability and 3D Vision Surround, the former of which is still dismally spotty, and the latter of which is still conspicuously missing in action.
Finally, I figured it’d be a great time to expound on my performance results. At launch, I was limited to just a couple charts worth of SLI testing on a motherboard that was only giving me one x16 link and one x8 connection. Without question, I wanted x16/x16 numbers, a larger sample of games, and even some 3-way numbers, if possible. MSI was kind enough to step up with a third GeForce GTX 480, yielding one-, two-, and three-card configurations, to which we’re able to compare scores from one and two Radeon HD 5870s. At the end of this menagerie, you’ll know whether SLIed GeForce GTX 480s or CrossFired Radeon HD 5870s get your more performance for your dollar.
I don’t mean to be too titillating of a tease here, but this one doesn’t end the way you think it does.
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I don't want 3d, but I would like 3 screens, easy choice to make.
Why most of the games here r those where nvidia is usually better performer? I doubt the selection of these games, here tom is leaning towards nvidia.
Hm, the 5870 is either equal to or somewhat faster than a GTX 480 but costs $100 less and is a lot cooler. A no-brainer, is it?
PS - I refer to games that require such a powerful GPU, not MW2.
lol the first impression was........ three gtx 480 or 470 lol standing so close one to each other lol tom's hardware made a joke,where is the cooling factor there lol this is a joke lol they will burn in fire and three of them will make such a noise lol,and i have to remind that you can have 3d games with any other ATI 5xxx card or even 4xxx,who in the name of .... will buy 3 gtx 480 or 470 to fry them out,for what lol make Nvidia big pockets lol no brainer come on Tom you can do better than these. gtx 480 and 470 is no brainer lol even a baby can realise that
CPU under 4GHz will bottleneck the 3-Way SLI.
Definitely. And, since AMD and Intel seem to be obsessed with six-cores, eight-cores and whatnot-cores, the raw processor speed (so much needed in especially video games) is sacrificed in favor of multi-threading, which so often unsupported by software makers.
Is the 3rd gtx 480 being used properly? as the system only had a 800W PSU
whats the load power with 3x gtx 480 as it is not shown
if 2 is 682W (adding 337W over 1x gtx480), then wont 3 need a 1050W PSU
so i must rob a bank to buy these 3beasts
and about Metro 2033 wt the hell it need ..."supercomputer" to run it probably or wt?
come on +.o
the new comment needs to be "but will it run Metro2033"
The numbers are impressive, but as someone who does not XFire or SLI, the Fermi series is still no interest to me. But it may mean I think twice about immediately recommending people to buy ATI - if they SLI and don't mind the noise and hat I guess the 48 is not a disaster
Admittedly these figures do not take into account our poor wallets, I know the price of a single 480 or 5870 is well out of my reach, it is interesting to see that performance is close between the two and then Nvidia taking the crown quite often when it comes to dual card setups. Don't get me wrong, that's an expensive set-up, but if only Nvidia could get the yield of their 4xx series cards up to allow a drop in price, it seems the clear choice would not instantly be ATI, even for single card setups.
Yes Fermi got here a bit late, but now it's here, it is still worth consideration, if only as a means of justification.
nvidia sxeems the better software co so why the hate?
f*cked if i know an looking forward to gx2 9800 lovelyness in a couple of days....
btw these ati fboys... do they code?
Could you weight in the cost of actually running the games? Nvidia uses more power then the Ati's so there must be a break even point in total cost somewhere in fps?
High end is one thing. Multi-card high end is pie in the sky. Only a tiny minority of enthusiasts (with more money than brains) will run a setup like this.
Those Metro results for the 5870 seem wrong as my friend is using one and he runs the game at max details with AA on The game seems just about playable though...i would guess about 20~30fps.
Oh look, there's 21 GTX400 series 470's and 480's in stock at NEW EGG
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 0%20series
I guess the WHINING can end now.
Too bad we saw excuses from near everyone when ATI's 5000 series top end was missing for many months on end, after "launch".
HEY the GTX400 is in massive stock, now the whiners can shut the pieholes !
Yay.
Oh yeah, and there's a whole GOB of 470's at MSRP - that's $349 ...
Same for the 480's - that's $499...
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Now I don't have to hear WHINING about over msrp and price scalping for another 6 months, do I ?
Fat chance, for sure.
CA : " Despite driver updates from both Nvidia and AMD, it still hammers frame rates by virtue of DirectX 11 (specifically DirectCompute-based) optimizations.
At 1680x1050, we’re already seeing frame rates so low as to be almost unplayable on a single Radeon HD 5870 or GeForce GTX 480. "
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So on that chart the nvidia is 36 min framerate, VERY PLAYABLE, but the ATI is only 21 min framerate -UNPLAYABLE.
But, considering we have an immense ati bias from reviewers and fanboys alike, it's "both of them".
LOL
It's so SICK. I don't know how ATI can pay them when they're losing billions every year. I guess the rabid red fan base is what causes the MASSIVE BIAS AGAINST NVIDIA.
I'm really sick of seeing the underdog given a break in every area every single time.
5850 is $309 or $319, not $299 like all the liars have claimed for a long time.
470 is $349 and not a dime more, since there is a WIDE selection at that price.
So the difference in price between 5850 and 470 is $30-$40 , P E R I O D.
If you're spending over $300 bucks, not enough to even consider, not enough for all the whining and that's why all the lying occurs as well.
I am really sick of it.