Asus GeForce GTX 570 Graphics Card
ATI has turned heads with the sheer value of its mid-range Radeon HD 6850 (previous page) but, for prestige in the graphics arena, the high end is where real scores are settled. ATI has let its rival nVidia snatch the best terrain with the sizzling GTX 580 (page 144). This is a slightly pared-down version.
The 570′s memory complement may have been cut from 1,536MB to 1,280MB of GDDR5 RAM, but that’s still more than almost any other card. The same goes for the memory interface, where a 320bit bus is only a notch down from the 580′s 384bit bus. Against the GTX 580′s core clock of 782MHz, this 570 offers 742MHz – Asus has eked a tiny 10MHz over the 732MHz default.
The 950MHz memory clock (3.8GHz DDR-effective) is only slightly down on the 580′s 1,002MHz (4,008MHz DDR-effective). So the GTX 570 has an impressive memory bandwidth of 152GBps – considerably higher than the 134.4GBps of the ATI Radeon HD 6870.
The GTX 570′s fill rates aren’t quite as stunning – 44.5GTps is below the 6870′s 50.4GTps. And, in typical nVidia style, stream processors are fewer in number than those of ATI cards – the top 6870 has 960 stream processors to the seemingly meagre 480 offered by the GTX 570. Nonetheless, previous nVidia cards have proven capable of overcoming such shortfalls.
In games performance, the GTX 570 is very close to the outgoing GTX 480, while the 580 finishes some way ahead of both. In Hawx, the 570 scored 184 and 147fps at 1680×1050 and 1920×1200 respectively, putting it 2fps and 1fps ahead of the GTX 480. In Crysis, figures of 37.8 and 30.7fps are good enough for leads of 2.7 and 1.6fps over the 480. And in Stalker: Call of Pripyat, the 570 still wins by 1.2 and 2.7fps in the higher resolutions. The GTX 580, meanwhile, is generally 12 to 15fps ahead of both cards.
This lengthy card is no heavyweight, but you’ll need to make sure you’ve got room in your case. Neither the GTX 570 or 580 are as noisy or power-hungry as the GTX 480, though, and the two new chips have TDPs of 219W and 244W. This compares favourably with the GTX 480′s hungrier 250W.
Verdict
The GTX 570 isn’t cheap, but as a replacement for the 480 it works extremely well, providing a little more performance at a lower price. The GTX 580 remains the card for speed freaks.
Specification
nVidia GeForce GTX 570; 1,280MB GDDR5 RAM; 742MHz core clock; 950MHz memory clock (3.8GHz DDR-effective); 400MHz Ramdac; 320bit memory interface; 480 stream processors; 60 texture units; 40 ROP units; PCI Express; 2 x 6-pin power connectors; DirectX 11.0; 2 x DVI; Mini-HDMI; 3-year warranty.
Price £300
ATI has turned heads with the sheer value of its mid-range Radeon HD 6850 (previous page) but, for prestige in the graphics arena, the high end is where real scores are settled. ATI has let its rival nVidia snatch the best terrain with the sizzling GTX 580 (page 144). This is a slightly pared-down version.
The 570′s memory complement may have been cut from 1,536MB to 1,280MB of GDDR5 RAM, but that’s still more than almost any other card. The same goes for the memory interface, where a 320bit bus is only a notch down from the 580′s 384bit bus. Against the GTX 580′s core clock of 782MHz, this 570 offers 742MHz – Asus has eked a tiny 10MHz over the 732MHz default.
The 950MHz memory clock (3.8GHz DDR-effective) is only slightly down on the 580′s 1,002MHz (4,008MHz DDR-effective). So the GTX 570 has an impressive memory bandwidth of 152GBps – considerably higher than the 134.4GBps of the ATI Radeon HD 6870.
The GTX 570′s fill rates aren’t quite as stunning – 44.5GTps is below the 6870′s 50.4GTps. And, in typical nVidia style, stream processors are fewer in number than those of ATI cards – the top 6870 has 960 stream processors to the seemingly meagre 480 offered by the GTX 570. Nonetheless, previous nVidia cards have proven capable of overcoming such shortfalls.
In games performance, the GTX 570 is very close to the outgoing GTX 480, while the 580 finishes some way ahead of both. In Hawx, the 570 scored 184 and 147fps at 1680×1050 and 1920×1200 respectively, putting it 2fps and 1fps ahead of the GTX 480. In Crysis, figures of 37.8 and 30.7fps are good enough for leads of 2.7 and 1.6fps over the 480. And in Stalker: Call of Pripyat, the 570 still wins by 1.2 and 2.7fps in the higher resolutions. The GTX 580, meanwhile, is generally 12 to 15fps ahead of both cards.
This lengthy card is no heavyweight, but you’ll need to make sure you’ve got room in your case. Neither the GTX 570 or 580 are as noisy or power-hungry as the GTX 480, though, and the two new chips have TDPs of 219W and 244W. This compares favourably with the GTX 480′s hungrier 250W.
Verdict
The GTX 570 isn’t cheap, but as a replacement for the 480 it works extremely well, providing a little more performance at a lower price. The GTX 580 remains the card for speed freaks.
Specification
nVidia GeForce GTX 570; 1,280MB GDDR5 RAM; 742MHz core clock; 950MHz memory clock (3.8GHz DDR-effective); 400MHz Ramdac; 320bit memory interface; 480 stream processors; 60 texture units; 40 ROP units; PCI Express; 2 x 6-pin power connectors; DirectX 11.0; 2 x DVI; Mini-HDMI; 3-year warranty.
Price £300
