Zotac Amp Edition ZT-40502-10L
The only card in today’s lineup to provide a lifetime warranty, Zotac wins before testing even begins. Need we even bother with a further description?
OK, so maybe the shorter warranties of other products haven’t disqualified them quite yet, but Zotac certainly starts strong with that statement. Equally-unusual is its inclusion of a full-sized DisplayPort connection—an AMD-backed standard—on an Nvidia-based graphics card.
The unusual design continues with a shorter circuit board that more easily fits tight cases, and extends to a two-row connector set that includes both full-sized HDMI and twin dual-link DVI outputs. Over-the-top features like this could put Zotac into many hard-to-match configurations, be they twin dual-link displays or compact cases.
Zotac does economize on its cooling solution, its all-aluminum sink lacking even so much as a single heat-pipe. Yet, so long as this one stays cool enough, we can appreciate the card’s remaining strong points.
Those strong points include the second-fastest GPU clock of 875 MHz, which, in combination with the lifetime warranty, prove Zotac’s faith in its low-cost cooling solution. The memory is equally impressive at GDDR5-4000.
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Or you could just get a GTX 460.... I'm 90% sure the price will drop sometime from this friday till next friday.
Why isn't the noise each card makes tested? Any company could throw a vacuum cleaner on a card and call it the fastest.
i have a palit gts 450 sonic (not platinum, clocked at 880MHz). very satisfied with it and can play everything (except crysis) on maximum settings @ 1680x1050. nvidia should lower the prices a bit and this card will be the bang for the buck!
I agree Randomacts; A pimped out 450 leaves me at half mast at best. Maybe there are a few people out there that a 450 is all they want but seriously just get a 460 or 5770/5830.
Or you could just get a GTX 460.... I'm 90% sure the price will drop sometime from this friday till next friday.
BUT I WANT ONE NOW!! >
Well then, I guess arctic cooling can really make VGA cooling, especially since ECS and Sparkle use its cooling.
I was hoping a GTX460 and an HD5770/5830 reference cards/price would also be included. It would have helped those considering to cards in a somewhat expanded range of choices to make a more meaningful decision.
Interesting... I'd go for an MSI card or Zotac card then if those were my only options.
I was hoping a GTX460 and an HD5770/5830 reference cards/price would also be included. It would have helped those considering to cards in a somewhat expanded range of choices to make a more meaningful decision.
I would also really have liked to see than noise level in this article especially as I would consider one of these cards for an HTPC where noise is critical.
Agreed Noise level test would have made this article near perfect.
Love to see a price drop....hoping to buy
Why isn't the noise each card makes tested? Any company could throw a vacuum cleaner on a card and call it the fastest.
Exactly. If there is no noise tests the we can just assume they are loud. Really loud.
I agree Randomacts; A pimped out 450 leaves me at half mast at best. Maybe there are a few people out there that a 450 is all they want but seriously just get a 460 or 5770/5830.
bah .. i can find 2 X gts450 for the price of a GTX460 ... personnaly ill build a SLI GTS450 rig before a GTX460 or 470 .. sure you can add another GTX later, but you will need to put more money again and again
well the article was well written but
we need some ATI cards 5770 5750 to compare with because at this price point
it had better beat them
@Thomas, you have a typo in the System Power Consumption and Relative System Power Consumption charts, in the second line in each chart should be GTS 450 as the reference not the GTX 460.
In an article about value I find it odd that the first passing mention of any prices that I could find was on page 17. For convenience all the prices should be in the tables on the first page.
Also, like others have noted, 5750/5770 should be included in testing. They are in the price range afterall.
Why are you guys using GPU-Z 4.4 when 4.6 has been out for more than a month?
The last "article" to spur GTS450 sales before this card gets lower margins by way of the 6000 series launch and inevitable 460GTX price drop.
Cause' this is Nvidia - it's all about bang for your buck.
Or you could just get a GTX 460.... I'm 90% sure the price will drop sometime from this friday till next friday.
I believe only the 768 model is getting a drop from what I heard.