GTX 480 and GTX 470 Reviews

[Vinas]

What was disturbing about anand's review is the lack of any mention of real competition. For instance, no mention of the 5970 being stiill faster, although obvious, but at the summary they mention the 480 being the fastest card (needs clarification - fastest single GPU). Also they left out the fact that with a small OC, the 5870 equals a stock 480, so that there is no clear winner here.

I felt like anand finally gave in to nVIDIA threatening to keep them out of the review circle if anand didn't produce a worthy review. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, I guess.

After reading the majority of these reviews I have decided to order a FC block for the 5870 and give it a proper OC. I game at 3840x1024 and from what I've seen, even at stock, the 5870 is very close in performance at this level to the 480. It even edges it out in some game tests. I think the FC water block will give me the edge in performance at a better price/performance ratio.

When I purchased my 5870 on release night it sold for $380. Add that to the cost of my new FC EK GPU block with backplate and we're up to 499. So really in terms of price, it's kind of a toss up at this point, but there is still value in having a very fast card (5870) for six months instead of waiting. Kudos to the sites that OC'd the 5870 and revealed that not only does it contend with the 480, in many ways it is still a better product. The 480 idles at 90C so for air that pretty much limits and real overclock. By the time one factors in water blocks, it seems safe to say that there will be a very high price premium ($650??) for the nVIDIA product. Feels like the 8800GTX launch all over again, minus the clear performance but keeping the high price, and adding much more heat.