EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Price Review

Introducing the fastest DirectX eleven GPU, the EVGA GeForce GTX 580. This card rips through the new DirectX eleven games with up to 8x the tessellation performance over competing GPUs, and runs quieter than the last generation. Experience a whole new level of interactive gaming with SLI and add up to three displays for the final 3D gaming experience. With the features and more, the EVGA GeForce GTX 580 doesn’t just dominate the competition, it obliterates it. Plans include the GTX 580 (797MHz core clock) chipset, 1536MB of 0.4ns GDDR5 memory with a 4050 MHz efficient memory clock and 194.4 GB/second memory bandwidth, 384 bit memory interface, 1594 MHz Shader Clock, 512 CUDA cores, 51 GT/s texture fill rate and PCI Express 2.0 compatibility. Extra features are Microsoft DirectX eleven Support, NVIDIA PhysX and NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technologies, NVIDIA 2 way, 3 way and 4 way SLI readiness, NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround readiness, NVIDIA CUDA technology with CUDA C/C++, DirectCompute 5.0, and OpenCL support, PCI Express 2.0 support and OpenGL 4.1 support. Connections are one Mini HDMI 1.4a connector and two Dual Link DVI I HDCP able connectors. Package will include the EVGA Driver/software disc with EVGA Precision Tuning utility, one Mini HDMI to HDMI cable, one DVI to VGA adaptor, one 6 pin PCI E power cable, one 8 pin PCI E Power Cable and a restricted lifetime warranty if registered inside 30 days at <EVGA.Com>

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars The way it was supposed to be played.7 months ago!, November 12, 2010
By Ninjawithagun (Colorado Springs, CO) See all my reviews This review is from: EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Superclocked 1536 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini HDMI SLI prepared restricted Lifetime Warranty Graphics Card, 015 P3 1582 AR (Personal Computers) Okay, from the title of my review one could think this is going to be a negative review. NOT! I want to state right up front that this is a great video card. I will not go into an illustrious hardware review as there are lots of computer hardware review websites out there that conducted much better and more in depth analysis on the GTX580. I’ll just give you my opinions.

I just bought and installed three EVGA GTX580 Superclock (SC) cards as an upgrade from my “old” three EVGA GTX480 Superclock (SC) cards. The GTX480s served me well and the only complaint I have is the fan sound they produce when under full load (when gaming or benchmarking). Here are the pros and cons that I noted far when comparing the GTX580 SC to the GTX480 SC:

Pros:

Cost of the new GTX580 is reasonable; NVidia had to remain competitive and released the new GTX580 with a reasonable sticker price while dropping the price of the “old” flagship GTX480 at the same time!

Lower fan sound (5 7db difference under full load) when running a single or 2 way SLI configuration

GTX580 runs cooler at idle and under full load (10C cooler at idle and about 5 7C cooler under full load)

GTX580 performs better by 15 30 in every game and benchmark that I have ran (Crysis, Crysis Warhead, Metro 2033, Just Cause 2, Battlefield2, Alien VS Predator, 3DMark Vantage, Heaven 2.1)

Overclocks better than one could expect; I overclocked my three GTX580 SCs to 850Mhz (GPU), 1700Mhz (Shaders), 2250Mhz (memory) and it was rock stable with no artifacts, lockups, or crashes; one thing be aware of is that the GPU and shader clocks are locked together and can not be overclocked individually just like the GTX480

2 way SLI scaling is awesome just like the GTX480

1st generation driver for this card appears to be pretty stable with most games although there have been complaints about Medal of Honor: Black Ops having lag issues; it hasn’t been determined if or not a game problem or a graphics driver problem. Hopefully the issue will be fixed soon via game patch or driver update.

Cons:

A obvious reduction in fan sound can only be gained by running either a single card or running 2 way SLI and leaving a space between the two cards; once in a 3 way SLI configuration, most of the cooling efficiency of the new vapor cooler is lost; while this one is a “kind of a con”, it must be stated so expectations about the lower fan sound is put into correct perspective

I can not justify the cost of upgrading if you already own two or more GTX480s; I lost money selling my GTX480s just to upgrade; the loss of money and the performance get wasn’t worth it IMHO

GTX580 consumes more power and the GTX480; this may cause many of you to have to upgrade your power supply if you want to run two or more GTX580s the GTX580 buyers about 20 Watts more per card and the GTX480)

Need at least a 1200 Watt power supply if you want to run three cards just like the GTX480

Minimal get in performance with three or four way SLI; two GTX580s in more than enough; only some games that take benefit of three and 4 way SLI and only when the game settings and resolutions are maxed

NVidia should released this variant of the Fermi GPU back in April; but at least they learned from their “mistakes” and listened to buyer feedback. The GTX580 is a better and more refined product. Is it late to the party? You decide!

So, if you need an early Christmas gift and do not already own two or more GTX480s then by all means go for it! If you already own one GTX480, get a GTX580 and run the GTX480 as a Physx card

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Eleven of eleven people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars The best single GPU solution available today. But not the best value, June 17, 2011
By Jeff See all my reviews () This review is from: EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Superclocked 1536 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini HDMI SLI prepared restricted Lifetime Warranty Graphics Card, 015 P3 1582 AR (Personal Computers) I have to give it five stars because it delivers the promised performance, at remarkably stable and low temperatures (the stock cooler is excellent and a great reason to decide a reference design, it’s very efficient and calm for its performance under maximum load, temperatures are lower than any top of the line nVidia card for generations). There aren’t multi GPU generating issues, as can influence multi card configurations or multi GPU on one card configurations. I do not aim that exactly at ATI, as nVidia has their just part of driver difficulties also, but overall a single GPU card is a safer bet for cutting edge games as any scaled multi GPU setup will require a compatibility profile update to work properly.

The card overclocks beautifully. I feel like I have not touched its maximum performance, still at 1080p, there aren’t games that surpass my visual desires that could justify higher settings. A 10 overclock over reference GTX 580 settings comes with a commensurate performance increase; it is my feeling, though I do not have any hard evidence, that these EVGA models are binned for superior performance, so the price premium is not just for the stock average overclock, but for what I perceive as a higher likelihood of taking it more.

As mentioned, the temperatures are controlled. Totally no complaints there. The card is much quieter than the nVidia GTX 280 that it replaced, also.

The problem comes in with the question of value. I do not want to go into a long tear about it, but you are just straight up better off purchasing a EVGA GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card with Lifetime Warranty 012 P3 1570 AR if you want nearly the same level of performance for a considerable savings. In SLI, you could run three GTX 570s in SLI for the price of two GTX 580s. In many games, at modern resolutions, you will pay over $50 per extra FPS going from the GTX 570 to the GTX 580. Do you really, really think $50 per frame for an extra three FPS in The Witcher two is worth the money? I do not. And ATI has price to performance on lockdown with their 6950 2GB reference models that may be carefully flashed to 6970 specification.

So, is this an awesome card? Totally. It is the best single GPU card on the planet now. That’ll change, it generally does. Next generation’s less pricey choice will perform identically to this. Look at the GTX 570 vs the GTX 480 virtually same performance. And the GTX 560Ti is no slouch, lagging only some real world frames per second behind its more costly brethren to hold the nVidia price:performance sweet spot. Take these facts into consideration before buying. You are paying I paid! an surprising premium to have “the best.” The theoretical maximum improvement over the last generation’s unrealized Fermi the GTX 480 is 17. In the real world, you get between 6 and 12.

There’s just no way around admitting that this is far past the point of diminishing returns. It excels, but at an surprising price. If I had the choice to make over again, I could probably have gone with the GTX 570, as it offers close performance at a considerable discount. Smart money may be on the ATI 6950 that magically turns into a 6970 with no added expenditure, but I do not like Xfire (any more than I like SLI). Single GPU for me. This is the king. But much lighter is the wallet that buys the crown.

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Ten of ten people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars A review of the thermal and sound levels, June 2, 2011
By R.B from KC See all my reviews () This review is from: EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Superclocked 1536 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini HDMI SLI prepared restricted Lifetime Warranty Graphics Card, 015 P3 1582 AR (Personal Computers) In a room with an ambient temperature of about 75F, and in an Antec 1200 case (3 front 120mm intake, two rear 120mm exhaust, one top mounted 250mm exhaust) the GTX 580 idles (in P8, or low performance mode, which it idles in if you are not playing a game) at 46C and an auto fan speed around 40 (which is the minimum in the driver). At load (tested in Crysis, and some other games) the card reaches about 68C, with a fan speed not much over 50. It may be kept cooler, but anywhere above 50 and the GPU fan becomes audible over the case fans (in my setup, anyway). With the lifetime warranty of an EVGA card comes some drawbacks. The 1st is the reference design of the card, that keeps temps around 5 10C warmer than the custom cooled designs of businesses like MSI and Asus. That means less headroom for overclocking, though I have seen pretty competent overclocks on this specific card (I have not tried myself, however) The second is the reference fan, which is louder than alike models from EVGA’s competitors at the same speed. The up side to reference cooling is that air is pushed directly out the back of the card, instead of inside the case. This is a good feature for anybody without excellent ventilation in their case, because it takes the hot air away from the other parts in the case.

Coming from an ATI HD4850 to the GTX 580 was like night and day. All of my games run much faster (obviously), and unlike the HD 4850 (that got over 100 degrees Celcius at load, and idled at 70 Celcius) it does not sound like a vacuum cleaner as I am trying to play games.

At $500, I assume that you know exactly what you need in a card, or at least I could hope so. This card delivers excellent gameplay at 1080p, with everything maxed out on my system in Crysis, and some other taxing games that I tried it out on. Beyond 1080p, you may have to look at the 3gb model GTX 580 (I see 1+GB handling in Crysis at 1080p, and I can only imagine that stepping up to 2560×1200 or whatever other 27 30″ resolutions are out there, could stretch the card to the breaking point. It may be done, but you’d have to sacrifice AA passes, Vsync, and possibly some other bells and whistles to make it work).

I could recommend this card to someone that wants to simply drop the best single GPU card in their machine, and be done with it. More performance may be had for the money through SLI’ing 560ti’s, or 480′s, or any number of other lesser cards, but the drawbacks of SLI make those solutions unattractive to me. While others are desperate for SLI or Crossfire drivers that work with Battlefield 3, those with this card will be playing the game and not worrying about it.

Oh, and before I forget: I seeed about 300w of power draw (max) in game from this card. I have heard that it can go to 350+ if you overclock, if you’re thinking about to get this card (and particularly if you’re going to SLI) be sure you have got at least 600w (for a single) and maybe 850 1000w for SLI. It is better to use up the extra 30 40 bucks for adequate power, than to either run the card with inadequate power, or run it at the maximum of your PSU (which will fry the PSU, sooner or later).

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