NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 580: Fermi Refined
by Ryan Smith on November 9, 2010 9:00 AM ESTCrysis: Warhead
Kicking things off as always is Crysis: Warhead, still one of the toughest game in our benchmark suite. Even 2 years since the release of the original Crysis, “but can it run Crysis?” is still an important question, and the answer continues to be “no.” One of these years we’ll actually be able to run it with full Enthusiast settings…
Right off the bat we see the GTX 580 do well, which as the successor to what was already the fastest single-GPU card on the market is nothing less than we expect. At 2560 it’s around 16% faster than the GTX 480, and at 1920 that drops to 12%. Bear in mind that the theoretical performance improvement for clock + shader is 17%, so in reality it would be nearly impossible get that close without the architectural improvements also playing a role.
Meanwhile AMD’s double-GPU double-trouble lineup of the 5970 and 6870CF both outscore the GTX 580 by around 12% and 27% respectively. It shouldn’t come as a shock that they’re going to win most tests – ultimately they’re priced much more competitively than the GTX 580, making them price-practical alternatives to the GTX 580.
And speaking of competition the GTX 470 SLI is in much the same boat, handily surpassing the GTX 580. This will come full circle however when we look at power consumption.
Meanwhile looking at minimum framerates we have a different story. AMD’s memory management in CrossFire mode has long been an issue with Crysis at 2560, and it continues to show here with a minimum framerate that simply craters. At 2560 there’s a world of difference between NVIDIA and AMD here, and it’s all in NVIDIA’s favor. 1920 however roughly mirrors our earlier averages, with the 580 taking a decent lead over the GTX 480, but falling to multi-GPU cards.
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AnandThenMan - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - link
"Relevent models only please, that have the same performance as the GTX580."So we can only compare cards that have the same performance. Exciting graphs that will make.
RobMel85 - Tuesday, November 9, 2010 - link
I browsed through the 10 pages of comments and I don't think I saw anyone comment on the fact that the primary reason Nvidia corrected their heat problem was by blatantly copying ATi/Sapphire...not only did they plagiarize the goodies under the hood, but they look identical to AMD cards now! Our wonderful reviewer made the point, but no one else seemed to play on it.I say weak-sauce for Nvidia, considering the cheapest 580 on NewEgg is $557.86 shipped; the price exceeds what 480 was initially and the modded/OC'd editions aren't even out yet. It can't support more than 2 monitors by itself and is lacking in the audio department. Yes, it's faster than it's predecessor. Yes, they fixed the power/heat/noise issues, but when you can get similar, if not better, performance for $200 less from AMD with a 6850 CF setup...it seems like a no brainer.
Sure ATi re-branded the new cards as the HD6000 series, but at least they aren't charging top $ for them. Yes, they are slower than the HD5000 series, but you can buy 2 6850s for less than the price of the 480, 580, 5970(even 5870 for some manufacturers) and see similar or better performance AND end up with the extra goodies the new cards support.
I am looking forward to the release of the 69XX cards to see how well they will hold up against the 580. Are they going to be a worthy successor to the 5900, or will they continue the trend of being a significant threat in CrossFire at a reasonable price? Only time will tell...
The real question is, what will happen when the 28nm HD7000 cards hit the market?
tomoyo - Tuesday, November 9, 2010 - link
Actually the newegg prices are because they have a 10% coupon right now. I bet they'll go back to closer to normal after the coupon expires...assuming there's any stock.Sihastru - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - link
Vapour chamber cooling technology was NOT invented by ATI/Sapphire. They are NOT the first to use it. Convergence Tech, the owner of the patent, even sued ATI/Sapphire/HP because of the infringement (basically means stolen technology).LOL.
RobMel85 - Sunday, November 14, 2010 - link
Where within my post did I say it was invented by ATi/Sapphire...nowhere. The point that I was trying to make was that Nvidia copied the design that ATi/Sapphire had been using to trounce the Nvidia cards. The only reason they corrected their problems was by making their cards nearly identical to AMD/ATi...And to tomoyo, when I made that post there was no 10% coupon on newegg. They obviously added it because everyone else was selling them cheaper.
Belard - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - link
This is still a "400" series part as it's really technically more advanced than the 480.Does it have additional features? No.
Is it faster, yes.
But check out the advancement feature list.
The 6800s, badly named and should have been 6700s, are slightly slower than the 5800s, but costs a lot less and actually does some things differently from the 5000 series. And sooner or later, there will be a whole family of 6000s.
But here we are, about 6months later and theres a whole new "product line"?
dvijaydev46 - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - link
Is there any problem with Mediaespresso? My 5770 is faster with mediashow than mediaespresso. Can you check with mediashow to see if your findings are right?Oxford Guy - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - link
The 480 beats the 580, except at 2560x1600. The difference is most dramatic at 1680x1050.http://techgage.com/reviews/nvidia/geforce_gtx_580...
http://techgage.com/reviews/nvidia/geforce_gtx_580...
http://techgage.com/reviews/nvidia/geforce_gtx_580...
Why is that?
Sihastru - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - link
Proof that GF110 is not just a GF100 with all the shaders enabled.Oxford Guy - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - link
This seems to me to be related to the slight shrinkage of the die. What was cut out? Is it responsible for the lower minimum frame rates in Unigine?