Test: Inno3D GTX 580

Konklusion

Således nåede vi til enden af testen af nVidias nyeste skud på stammen GTX 580. Vi skal naturligvis være de første til at beklage at det tog 2 måneder fra release til at kortet kom i testbænken, men der er heldigvis udsigt til mere rettidige tests af nVidias nyeste kort fremover.

Generelt var kortet en stor fornøjelse at arbejde med. Det var rimeligt støjsvagt, især ift. forgængeren, og det havde en meget høj ydelse. Især ved DX 11 fik HD 6970 klø. Prisen på GTX 580 starter ved 3400, hvilket også er en pæn slat for et grafikkort. GTX 570, der ikke yder væsentligt ringere under de testede forhold koster ca. 2700, hvor et HD 6970 koster 2400. Det er altså lidt en vurdering om man vil have det hurtigste og det der er klart bedst til DX 11, eller om man vælger en billigere løsning.

Som en afrunding skal det nævnes at AMD har dual core versioner af HD 6970 på vej, og nVidia har ligeledes valgt at udsende en dual version af GTX 580, der udkommer i løbet af foråret kaldet GTX 595. Der sker altså virkeligt noget i high-end segmentet i løbet af foråret, og undertegnede skal vidst tigge en ny strømforsyning for at kunne følge med.

Innovation/Teknologi - 5
NVidia har taget kritikpunkterne til sig fra Fermi-serien og har sænket temperaturene, og dermed støjen, idle strømforbrug er forbedret og ydelsen med især ved DX 11, hvilket har gjort GTX 500 serien til en meget seriøs konkurrent til AMD i high-end segmentet. Derfor 5 point.

Bundle/Tilbehør - 4
I stil med GTX 570, der havde samme bundle får denne pakke også 4 point. Der er kræset en smule for køberen ved at inkluderer en demo af Star Craft 2, 3Dmark 11 og en mousepad af ret godt kvalitet.

Design/Layout - 5
Der er ikke en finger at sætte på designet af dette kort. Det er verdens kraftigste singlecore kort, og alligevel siger det ikke en lyd idle, og det er til at holde ud til at være sammen med selv ved overclocket load.

Software/BIOS - 3
Softwaren (std. driver) der blev leveret til dette kort virkede upåklageligt og derfor skal det have 3 point.

Ydelse - 5
Det er svært at give GTX 580 andet end 5 point. Det er 44% hurtigere end HD 6970 i Dirt 2. Det er selvfølgeligt det ekstreme tilfælde, men ydelsen er overordnet super god også set ift. GTX 480. DX 11 ydelsen er simpelthen imponerende, hatten af for nVidia.

Pris - 3
Prisen er afgjort i den pebrede ende, som altid for nVidias top kort. Der er altid nogen der er villige til at betale lidt ekstra for at have det absolut hurtigste der findes, og det vælger nVidia at udnytte fordi jeg mener ikke at ydelses forskellen imellem GTX 570 og GTX 580 er stor nok til at retfærdiggøre en prisforskel på 700,- kr. AMD har ligeledes nogle gode alternativer, hvis man kan leve med lidt mindre ekstrem ydelse ved HD 6950 og 70. Derfor kun middel karakter.

Test: Inno3D GTX 580

Innovation / Teknologi	5
Bundle - Tilbehør	4
Design - Layout	5
Software - BIOS	3
Ydelse	5
Pris	3
Samlet	83%

UK summary

We have reached the end of the test of nVidias newest top card GTX 580. We are ofcourse the first to apologise for the 2 months it took from the release until we had a card in our test bench. But fortunately we are looking towards more up to date tests in the future.

In general the card has been a pleasure to work with. It was quite solent, especially compared to its predecessor, and that had a very high performance. Especially with DX 11, HD 6970 was beaten. The price of a GTX 580 starts at 3400,- DKK, which is quite a big of money for a graphics card. GTX 570, which does not perform a lot worse in most tests, only costs 2700,- DKK, and a HD 6970 costs 2400,- DKK. So it is up to ones preferences if one wants the expensive better DX 11 card, or a cheaper solution.

Finally it is worth mentioning that AND have a dual core version of HD 6970 on the way, and nVidia have chosen to send a dual version of their GTX 580 on the market aswell, which will ariive some time duting the spring called GTX 595. So the high-end segment is really moving forward in the spring, and yours truly will have to invest in a new power supply to keep up.

Innovation/Technology - 5
NVidia have accepted the criticism form the first Fermi-series and have lowered the temperatures, and with that the noise. Idle powerusage has improved and the performance with especially DX 11, which has made the GTX 500-series a very serious competitor to AMD in the high-end segment. Therefore 5 points.

Bundle/Accessories - 4
Simular to GTX 570, which had the same bundle, we give this 4 points. The buyer gets treated to a demo of Starcraft 2, 3Dmark 11 and a mousepad of decent quality.

Design/Layout - 5
Not a finger to put on the design of this card. It is the worlds most powerful single core card, and yet it does not make alot of noise in idle, and you can live with being in the same room as it, even in an overclocked state.

Software/BIOS - 3
The software (std. driver) which was delivered with this card works like a charm and therefore 3 points.

Performance - 4
It is hard to give GTX 580 anything but 5 points. IT is 44% faster than HD 6970 in Dirt 2. That is ofcouse the extreme case, but the performance overall is superior also compared to GTX 480. The DX 11 performance is simply impressive, so hats off to nVidia.

Price - 3
The price is definately in the hardcore end of the scale, as all nVidia top cards. There are always some people willing to pay a little extra to have the absolutely fastest on the market, and nVidia chooses to exploit this, because I don't see the difference between GTX 570 and GTX 580 being big enough to justify a price jump of 700,- DKK. AMD also have some good alternatives, if you can live with a little less extreme performance with HD 6950 and HD 6970. Therefore only a middle grade.