Final Thoughts
So what can we take out of this review? Obviously from the tests the GeForce GTX 580 performs 5-15% better than the GTX 480, but what else has changed? The Fermi GF110 GPU is really what the GF100 should have been. The improvements make the card run cooler, quieter and it consumes less power. This is really what the GTX 480 should have been. In any case the 512 CUDA cores, additional texture units and higher clock speeds make the GTX 580 the fastest reference DirectX 11 card available.
Zotac also includes their Firestorm utility with this card. It allows you to monitor and easily overclock the card. It is not that in-depth but allows the normal user to do these things with ease. This is only a reference card expect many companies to come out with custom cards that are overclocked and have aftermarket cooling solutions. Zotac already has an AMP! edition of this card.
Just like with the GTX 480 you get the same set of NVIDIA-specific features like PhysX support in games, CUDA applications and 3D Vision Support.
Right now this GeForce GTX 580 from Zotac will push you back about $529, which is the price for it at my favorite online retailer. Most reference models sell for about the same or very close the the $499 price point NVIDIA set for the card. Reference GeForce GTX 480’s sell for around $400-$430.
Now do not count out AMD just yet. In a week or so they will be releasing their high-end 6900-series card. So before you go out and purchase this card wait a week or so and see how AMD’s new card will perform.
If you are looking for the best performing card available right now then the GeForce GTX 580 is it. It is a much more refined card than the GTX 480 and for the time being puts NVIDIA ahead of AMD. Overall ThinkComputers gives the Zotac GeForce GTX 580 1536MB Video Card a 9 out of 10 score and our Recommended Award!
Pros:
– Uses less power than the GTX 480
– Great performance
– Quiet
– Zotac’s Firestorm utility included
Cons:
– Still runs pretty hot
