NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 465: Cheaper Isn’t Always Better
by Ryan Smith on May 31, 2010 3:26 AM ESTMeet Zotac’s GeForce GTX 465
Unlike the GTX 480/470 launch, NVIDIA is not seeding the press with reference cards. Instead that task has been left up to the vendors, who are selling identical cards that we believe all come from NVIDIA. For our review Zotac was kind enough to send over their GTX 465, our first Zotac video card here at AnandTech.
As we said previously, the GTX 465 is built upon the same PCB/cooler as the GTX 470, so the cards are indistinguishable except for the Zotac branding and identification stickers on the card. Internally things are also the same, with Zotac’s GTX 465 using the same 5-pipe heatsink that we’ve seen on the GTX 470. NVIDIA’s own cooling recommendations also remain unchanged, with NVIDIA suggesting to space GTX 465 cards as far apart as possible when using them in SLI.
With the reuse of the GTX 470’s PCB, the layout of the card remains unchanged. For drawing power in is a pair of 6-pin PCIe power sockets, while driving the outputs are 2x DVI-I ports and a mini-HDMI port. Length also remains unchanged at 9.5”.
For pack-ins, Zotac is shipping the card with a pair of dual-Molex to PCIe 6-pin power adaptors, a DVI to VGA dongle, and a mini-HDMI to HDMI dongle. The included documentation is composed of the usual English-language generic user’s manual and an equally generic multilingual quick installation guide.
The software pack-in is composed of a CD containing NVIDIA’s 197.75 drivers, and trial versions of Badaboom, vReveal, Super LoiLoScope, and bitDefender. Our copy did not include Just Cause 2 since it arrived before NVIDIA’s last-minute inclusion of the game, however we have confirmed that the actual retail cards will include it. This will be a coupon to download it from a digital distribution service, rather than a pressed disc.
Finally, Zotac is offering a lifetime warranty on their GTX 465 (registration required). As you may recall in our GTX 480/470 review we were left uneasy by the cards’ high temperatures and recommended a lifetime warranty – the GTX 465’s operating temperatures are similar enough that we would make the same recommendation, so this is right up that alley.
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iantis - Monday, May 31, 2010 - link
Honestly, I feel like the more important measure is greenhouse gas emissions, anyway. Power is so cheap in America. I suppose if you play computer 20 hours per day it will hit your wallet, but the carbon emissions are what really matter imho.Zoomer - Wednesday, June 2, 2010 - link
Think it's getting off topic now. Others may not agree.oldscotch - Monday, May 31, 2010 - link
I thought it'd be a good year or two before we'd start seeing gpu reviews with the phrase "only 1gb of ram".aegisofrime - Monday, May 31, 2010 - link
"NVIDIA pegs the GTX 470 at 200W TDP, 15W below the GTX 470’s official TDP"I believe the first 470 in the sentence should be 465 instead?
Exodite - Monday, May 31, 2010 - link
The GeForce GTX465 comes off as an even worse deal than the Radeon 5830, no mean feat to be sure.It'll be interesting to see how the GTX460 holds up under scrutiny once it arrives, being based on another chip should help a lot with the worse metrics of thee 400-series I hope. Meaning power, heat and noise that is.
gtr92 - Monday, May 31, 2010 - link
I think there's a typo on the L4D page."The GTX 465 ends up losing to the GTX 285 here, and even the GTX 475. Compared to the GTX 285 the GTX 465 is..."
The 2nd and 3rd sentence in the last paragraph, I think it's supposed to be GTX 275, not 475.
xxtypersxx - Monday, May 31, 2010 - link
I have had my GTX 280 for 2 years now and it is pretty surprising to see how close its die shrunk brother the GTX 285 is to the GTX 465 and Radeon 5850 in benchmarks. I will likely not upgrade for another year while I wait for meaningful advancements and that gives this card a usable lifespan rivaling the fabled 8800gtx!On another note, after reading this and my recent experience with a GT240 I have definitiely learned to look beyond SP count. For a while the number of shader processors (within a brand anyway) was a pretty dependable way to gauge relative performance. Now with Nvidia and ATI hacking away other critical components in their salvaged dies we see this really fall apart (GTX 285 vs GTX 465 and Radeon 5830 vs Radeon 4890).
JAG87 - Monday, May 31, 2010 - link
after I read the BC2 charts, I just moved on to a different review. if you don't have time to re-run the benchmarks then don't include skewed numbers in your charts, just for the sake of completion. we understand that you don't have a week to dedicate for every product review, but don't make these silly mistakes.fausto412 - Monday, May 31, 2010 - link
i'm sorry but nvidia must think we are idiots. trying to sell us these super power hungry, super hot, not 100% cards and not competing head on with AMD? what game of chicken shit is this?i'm waiting for them to get real and for prices to come down. at this pace ATI will have something faster than 5870 for me to buy that will run cooler and be positioned to make the gtx480 look like a freaking toy.
osideplayer - Monday, May 31, 2010 - link
I really don't know what's up with Nvidia right now, but I hope they don't go downhill. It seems with like they are really falling apart with intel and now they are loosing at their own game :( I have a Nvidia 260, an I7 920 and 6GB DDR3 ram they have worked together flawlessly. I'm glad you guys are still putting up benchmarks for them. I love this site.