GTX 480 Questions

[Firelance]

I wanted to ask you guys some questions about this card as it really looks nice.

I have a SeaSonic 6 M12II 620W 80+ Bronze, this enough for one 480? If I overclocked it a little, would I still have watts left over?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095

On just a guesstimate, how loud in dBA is this thing?

For $200, it is a really nice deal. I have a Midi case that has up to 7 fans, I hope to put one on the side to help cool it off a little.

Thanks.

 

[fantastik250]

Yes, your SeaSonic PSU has a enough volts and watts on the 12V rails. And it will power the rest of your components without any issue.

On Idle: ~30 dbA
On Load: ~50 dbA
Source: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_480_Fermi/31.html

Hope that helps

 

[Firelance]

Thanks for that info.

I just wanted to clarify this..

Is it really as hot and loud as people claim it is? Or are people just exaggerating? If I ever had the $$$ to buy a cooler for it, I would, but I just can't now.

 

[bigcyco1]

Thanks for that info.

I just wanted to clarify this..

Is it really as hot and loud as people claim it is? Or are people just exaggerating? If I ever had the $$$ to buy a cooler for it, I would, but I just can't now.

It's exaggerating somewhat but it does run hot and it is loud when you have the extra money buy this cooler GELID Solutions GC-VGA02-01 1 Ball, 1 Sleeve VGA Cooler ICY VISION $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835426026&Tpk=gelid%20icy%20vision#top that what i did for my son and his temps are decent now even with the 480 overclocked to match a 580 performance it runs cooler

 

[fantastik250]

Yes, it gets hot.

 

[17seconds]

When I owned my GTX 480, I remember that sound was noticeable, but not as bad as the reviews made it seem to be. My case does not have very good airflow, so yours should be better. With that said, I didn't hesitate to get the GTX 580 when it came out just so I could have a quieter card. The GTX 480 is the loudest Nvidia card out there; it's noticeable.
http://www.guru3d.com/news/geforce-gtx-480-noise-levels-debunked/
http://techreport.com/discussions.x/18774
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/03/31/geforce_gtx_480_real_world_temperatures_sound/

I would strongly suggest considering if you can pony up another $30-$50 for a GTX 570, which in essence would be the same as getting a GTX 480 with an aftermarket cooler; quieter and cooler, but with essentially the same performance (actually slightly better ~1%).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127682
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162087

If not that, then you could consider a high-end, custom, factory overclocked GTX 560 Ti or a GTX 560 Ti 448 cores. The performance will be a bit less, but you can overclock to get back most, if not all, of the performance and still have a quiet card that will eat up all your games.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500196
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127578
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130738

In the end, if you decide that $200 is your limit and you don't want to downgrade to a GTX 560 Ti, then the GTX 480 is a great performer and a good value. Just keep it cool with a case fan, change the thermal paste, and upgrade to an aftermarket cooler when you get the chance.

 

[bigcyco1]

When I owned my GTX 480, I remember that sound was noticeable, but not as bad as the reviews made it seem to be. My case does not have very good airflow, so yours should be better. With that said, I didn't hesitate to get the GTX 580 when it came out just so I could have a quieter card. The GTX 480 is the loudest Nvidia card out there; it's noticeable.
http://www.guru3d.com/news/geforce-gtx-480-noise-levels-debunked/
http://techreport.com/discussions.x/18774
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/03/31/geforce_gtx_480_real_world_temperatures_sound/

I would strongly suggest considering if you can pony up another $30-$50 for a GTX 570, which in essence would be the same as getting a GTX 480 with an aftermarket cooler; quieter and cooler, but with essentially the same performance (actually slightly better ~1%).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127682
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162087

If not that, then you could consider a high-end, custom, factory overclocked GTX 560 Ti or a GTX 560 Ti 448 cores. The performance will be a bit less, but you can overclock to get back most, if not all, of the performance and still have a quiet card that will eat up all your games.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500196
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127578
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130738

In the end, if you decide that $200 is your limit and you don't want to downgrade to a GTX 560 Ti, then the GTX 480 is a great performer and a good value. Just keep it cool with a case fan, change the thermal paste, and upgrade to an aftermarket cooler when you get the chance.

^ This is solid advice i strongly agree

 

[bigcyco1]

I have two of these in SLI they kick ass! GPU: MSI Twin Frozr II GeForce GTX 570
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127682#top allot of people think the 7850 is compared to570 but they don't know what they are talking about The 7870 is more or less identical to the GTX 570 in terms of performance but not the 7850. Not stock vs stock or max OC vs max OC.at least not according to these benchmarks http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7850_HD_7870/26.html so don't be fooled into buying a 7850 over 570 but 7850 is a solid card as well if you can afford to buy the 570 i linked i strongly suggest you do.

 

[17seconds]

I have always said that I if need assistance or questions about GPU's nVidia specifically that 'matto' is da man..

Acknowledged, thanks. It helps when there are others in the conversation giving good, sage advice.

 

[bigcyco1]

I think we have been on several threads together and have agreed 1000's of times and yet we both get yelled at by Radeon flame-throwers... :lol:

I have these in SLi for my Surround unit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127578

and just sold this that was in my primary unit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127582&Tpk=gtx%20570%20pe

and my primary now has this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130590
(I couldn't find any TF III N580GTX's in stock anywhere at the time...

So true bunch of fan boys :lol: the 580 you have is nice wouldn't mind having one of those i am waiting for 660 for my secondary rig i have 460 in it now lol

 

[Firelance]

Woah, lot of replies within a couple of hours.

I did not yet buy the 480. I am holding it off until I am completely sure I want it.

As for the 570 vs 480, I see that the 480 still wins in most of the benchmarks against the 570. One of the benchmarks I saw said the 570 is about 31W less than the 480. Would that be a big difference?

If I was to get the 480 for $200, buy the $50 cooler, would it be better than just buying the 570 for $249 and not buying any cooler?

I mean I do not want a jet in my room but trying to bump up that extra $50 would be tough..

 

[amuffin]

I'm waiting for F@H to "actually" support kepler

 

[Firelance]

it doesn't and the GTX 570 has more overclocking headroom..
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/309?vs=306

Ah, my bad. I just read it off the HWCompare benchmarks and based it off that. I'll wait a day or two and see who favors which card more.

 

[amuffin]

Don't even overclock those cards.

 

[Firelance]

Don't even overclock those cards.

Why?

 

[Mousemonkey]

Why?

He knows nothing and will start to harp on about heat output and power consumption destroying the universe no doubt.

 

[bigcyco1]

^ LOL!

 

[bigcyco1]

Yeah,honestly man the 480 is a beast of a card it just gets hated on allot because it runs hot and is a power hog and is two years old but when mildly OC my sons 480 will eat a R7870 for breakfast!

 

[bigcyco1]

true but being able to grab a GTX 570 (what the GTX 480 should have been..) for just a few dollars more is just too sexy to pass..

Agreed

 

[Firelance]

Thanks for the help. I looked at the 7850 many times before, but I just couldn't believe the benchmarks they posted about it. It seemed to good to be true with it using a little more than 100W. I was always impressed by the 570, just that I never have the $$$.

Looks like 570 is what I'll take. I just need to know a couple more things.

When you posted the 480 noise levels, how does the 570 do? Also is the 570 better at overclocking? Which 570 should I get?

 

[Firelance]

I tried looking on eBay and CL and found some good deals. All of them were auctions, so all the deals will probably be gone when there are a couple of minutes left.

As for the 570 you recommended, since there are no reviews on Newegg, did they actually do a review on that card? I only see reviews for the Twin Frozr III.

 

[bigcyco1]

I own the 570 uban legend linked it's a great card i bought my two from a friend for 350.00 for both so i didn't write a review on newegg because i didn't buy from there lol

 

[Firelance]

I own the 570 uban legend linked it's a great card i bought my two from a friend for 350.00 for both so i didn't write a review on newegg because i didn't buy from there lol

Looks like you're the man to speak to.

In your opinion, is it even loud? I never heard people complaining about Twin Frozr cooling though, so I'm not too worried about that. But did you OC them at all?

 

[bigcyco1]

Looks like you're the man to speak to.

In your opinion, is it even loud? I never heard people complaining about Twin Frozr cooling though, so I'm not too worried about that. But did you OC them at all?

it's not loud and they oc decently

 

[Firelance]

I've spent enough time looking at the 570 so I'll just stop asking the questions. I will definitely go with that 570 when the extra $$$ comes in. Thank you all for your help!