NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 Review | 118 Data compared

The TechPowerUp GeForce GTX 480 PCI-Express Scaling Review demonstrates that NVIDIA's flagship card is highly resilient, showing only a 2% performance loss when moving from PCI-E 2.0 x16 to x8, and an 8% dip at x4. This highlights that high-bandwidth interfaces are not strictly necessary for maximum performance, a significant advantage for users with older motherboards. Conversely, the review notes the GTX 480 scales poorer than the AMD HD 5870, with steeper performance drops under heavily restricted bandwidth conditions. Furthermore, the card failed to boot entirely on a PCI-Express x1 connection, highlighting a critical limitation in its operational requirements.

The Guru3D review of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 highlights a 26.5 cm card featuring a robust heatpipe-based cooling assembly, 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory, and a 384-bit memory bus providing 177 GB/s bandwidth. Pros include the card's aggressive, dark, and premium design, alongside high-end specifications designed for maximum performance, while cons focus on its large form factor and the extreme heat output implied by the cooling design.

The Hardware Canucks review of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 concludes that while the card redefines single-GPU performance, it is not a definitive knockout blow to ATI's competing HD 5000-series. A major pro highlighted in the review is its exceptional performance when image quality settings like anti-aliasing (AA) are enabled. Enabling AA expands the card's modest 8–11% baseline lead over the HD 5870 into a more convincing 15–19% advantage. Additionally, the GTX 480 offers strong minimum framerates, resulting in a significantly lower and less drastic average-to-minimum performance delta than its competition. The reviewer also noted that memory overclocks exceptionally well, allowing enthusiasts to squeeze extra performance out of the card. On the downside, the card suffers from severe thermal and power consumption issues, pushing core operating temperatures into a "scary-hot" 95-degree Celsius range even with an SM disabled. This compromises its performance-per-watt efficiency. Another notable con is its worrying resolution scaling; the card's massive performance lead at lower resolutions noticeably vanishes at 2560 x 1600 across multiple benchmarks like Left 4 Dead 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Finally, the...

The TechSpot review of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 highlights the Fermi-based card as the fastest single-GPU solution upon its 2010 release, offering superior DirectX 11 performance, with up to 35% higher frame rates in titles like Far Cry 2 compared to the ATI Radeon HD 5870. However, the card is heavily criticized for being a "power addict," drawing 506 watts under load, reaching thermal limits of 97 degrees Celsius, and producing significant noise. Due to these issues, along with a high $499 price tag, the review advises against the card compared to more efficient, cheaper alternatives.

Summary of Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 Driver Evaluation This review evaluates the long-term performance impacts of Nvidia's software optimizations by tracking the GeForce GTX 480 across its first year of driver updates, comparing the launch software to three subsequent packages up to version 266.58. The testing reveals that Nvidia's aggressive post-launch driver development yields significant, free performance enhancements for consumers, validating the value of keeping graphics drivers updated. Because the complex "Fermi" architecture was not fully optimized at its initial release, subsequent updates allowed the card to achieve substantial real-world performance gains over time in major DirectX 11 titles like Metro 2033, Lost Planet 2, and Aliens vs. Predator. Pros and Cons Pros: Significant performance optimizations delivered post-launch at zero additional cost to the consumer. Rapid software optimization that helped the card maintain performance parity with newer generations, such as the GeForce GTX 570. Improved stability and essential day-one compatibility fixes tailored for demanding DX11 gaming titles. Cons: Poor architectural optimization at the initial launch window, forcing early adopters to wait months for the hardware to reach its full potential....

The Zotac GeForce GTX 480 is highlighted as the fastest single-chip graphics card upon release, offering superior DirectX 11 performance and PhysX support that outpaces rivals like the ATI Radeon HD 5870. However, this raw power comes with significant drawbacks, specifically intense heat generation, excessive noise levels, and high power consumption under load. Due to these severe thermal and acoustic issues, combined with a high price, the card is deemed difficult to recommend despite its performance.

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 is the fastest single-GPU graphics card on the market, delivering a massive performance leap over previous generations. Built on a new architecture featuring groups of 32 processing units and 48 raster operation (ROP) units, it packs twice the number of unified shader processors (480) and over three billion transistors compared to the older GTX 285. It exhibits stellar benchmark performance, particularly in DirectX 11 environments like the Unigine Heaven test, where its "Polymorph Engine" logic widens the performance gap against AMD rivals when advanced effects like tessellation are enabled. Despite widespread concerns regarding its power consumption, testing showed it runs stably on a standard 600W power supply, though it does demand both a 6-pin and an 8-pin molex power connector. Pros & Cons Pros: Holds a commanding 20% performance lead over its closest competitor, makes an ideal single-card solution for obscene multi-monitor resolutions, and provides superior DirectX 11 tessellation scaling. Cons: Carries a steep £100 premium over comparable AMD rivals, offers questionable value for standard single-screen users, and requires heavy power cabling via dual connectors.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 launched at a competitive $499 USD to challenge ATI’s seven-month monopoly in the DirectX 11 market, serving as NVIDIA's flagship single-GPU offering built on the new 40nm GF100 "Fermi" architecture. Architecturally, the card features a modular design utilizing 480 CUDA cores, 60 texture units, 48 ROPs, and a wide 384-bit memory interface paired with a generous 1536MB of GDDR5 memory. It introduces advanced features designed to maximize parallel processing and image quality, including an on-die L2 cache that dramatically reduces memory latency, hardware-supported Gather4 for up to 200% faster shadow rendering, and a new 32x Coverage Sample Anti-Aliasing (CSAA) mode that offers 33 levels of transparency with minimal performance loss. Additionally, the card supports innovative ecosystem technologies like 3D Vision Surround for stereoscopic multi-display gaming via SLI setups. The review highlights several critical pros and cons of the physical hardware and architecture

Performance Supremacy vs. Efficiency Realities Tarinder Sandhu’s review for HEXUS highlights that NVIDIA's long-delayed GeForce GTX 480 safely claims the crown as the fastest single-GPU graphics card on the market. Built on the ambitious 40nm "Fermi" (GF100) architecture, it offers clear performance advantages over its main single-GPU competitor, the AMD Radeon HD 5870, delivering roughly 10% to 20% faster frame rates at demanding 2,560x1,600 resolutions. Gamers see significant frame-rate scaling in heavy titles like Far Cry 2, and the card displays superior architectural resilience during extreme DirectX 11 tessellation workloads, losing far less relative performance than competing Radeon GPUs when geometry demands spike. Furthermore, its robust 1,536MB GDDR5 frame buffer and high minimum frame-rate consistency ensure a highly fluid high-resolution gaming experience. Despite capturing raw performance leadership, the card faces critical downsides regarding its severe lack of efficiency and high pricing. To bring the compromise-heavy Fermi design to market, NVIDIA had to step down from the originally planned 512 cores to 480 cores, keeping clock speeds modest to control immense physical constraints. Even with these safety measures, its thermal and...

Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 Review Summary The Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 marks Nvidia's long-awaited entry into the DirectX 11 video card market, utilising the new "Fermi" architecture to compete directly with AMD's 5000-series ATI Radeon HD cards. Boasting bragging rights as the fastest single-GPU video card on the market by a slim margin, it delivers fast performance and introduces features like multi-monitor support and stereoscopic 3D Vision Surround. However, despite being a top-tier performance leader in its category, the card's release was highly delayed, leaving critics to question whether the final product truly justifies its premium $499 list price. While the GTX 480 excels in raw speed and next-generation feature support, it suffers from several notable physical and economic drawbacks. The primary pros of the card are its fast performance, full compatibility with DirectX 11, and its ability to power immersive multi-monitor 3D setups. On the downside, the cons include a very expensive retail price, high power consumption, and the fact that it does not markedly outperform its existing market competitors. Ultimately, these inefficiencies prevent its minor performance gains from...

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 marks the long-awaited debut of Nvidia’s brand-new "Fermi" (GF100) DirectX 11 silicon architecture, which faced numerous launch delays before finally releasing. Positioned at a recommended launch price of just over £400, it sits squarely between AMD’s top-tier offerings: the Radeon HD 5870 and the dual-GPU HD 5970. At the time of its release, the GTX 480 successfully secures the title of the fastest commercial single-GPU graphics card on the planet. Architecturally, the card shines by offering excellent tessellation performance alongside standard Nvidia features like CUDA and PhysX support, requiring an 8-pin and a 6-pin power connector. However, these performance wins come with heavy trade-offs. The GTX 480 is critisised for being incredibly hot, loud, and power-hungry, while remaining very expensive. Furthermore, despite its single-GPU dominance, it is still unable to outpace the raw performance of AMD's dual-GPU flagship, the HD 5970.

This 2010 review from Tom's Hardware evaluates Nvidia's highly anticipated GeForce GTX 480 and 470 graphics cards, which introduced the Fermi (GF100) architecture to compete in the DirectX 11 market six months after AMD’s Radeon HD 5000 series. Designed with a heavy emphasis on parallel computing and geometry execution, the flagship GTX 480 ($500) and the mid-tier GTX 470 ($350) target high-end enthusiasts looking for strong minimum frame rates and advanced tessellation capabilities. However, the launch is framed as a delayed, limited-availability rollout due to manufacturing hurdles on TSMC's 40nm process, which affected the entire industry at the time. The core takeaway balances marginal performance gains against severe thermal and efficiency drawbacks. On the positive side, the cards excel in pure architectural forward-looking compute workloads, offer solid gaming performance, and maintain stable minimum frame rates in demanding titles. On the negative side, the review highlights extreme downsides: the cards are exceptionally power-hungry, highly expensive compared to AMD's six-month-old alternatives, and run dangerously hot—with consumer feedback noting alarming operating temperatures reaching up to 97°C. Ultimately, community sentiment reflects disappointment, viewing the...

The TechPowerUp review of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 highlights the card's GF100 Fermi architecture and 1.5 GB of GDDR5 memory as delivering top-tier DirectX 11 performance and the fastest single-GPU speed upon release. However, significant drawbacks include excessive power draw (approx. 320 W under load), high operating temperatures, and a very loud cooling solution. Additionally, the card launched with 480 of 512 shader cores active due to yield issues and commanded a high $499 price tag.

The Guru3D review of the ASUS GeForce GTX 480 (ENGGTX480) highlights an elite, reference-designed card featuring 480 CUDA cores, 1,536 MB of GDDR5 memory, and a 384-bit bus, offering top-tier DirectX 11 performance and high-resolution gaming capabilities. Key pros include chart-topping, future-proof performance alongside an "Overvolt Edition" bundle allowing substantial, secure overclocking to 850 MHz core speeds via specialized utility software. Conversely, the primary cons include extreme heat output—often reaching 90°C—and significant acoustic noise (46 dBA) resulting from the hot-running GF100 architecture. Additionally, the card requires high power consumption (550W–600W PSU recommended) and lacks extensive bundled accessories, despite a premium $499 USD launch price.

The Guru3D review of the GeForce GTX 480 4-way SLI highlights an extreme benchmarking setup, pairing an overclocked Intel Core i7 980X with four GPUs on an EVGA X58 Classified board to achieve record-breaking 3DMark Vantage scores. This configuration demonstrates massive, near-perfect synthetic scaling, acting as an "uber-PC" designed specifically for breaking performance benchmarks rather than practical gaming. However, the setup faces severe cons, including the need for two 1200-Watt power supplies to handle over 1500 Watts of consumption, extreme heat generation, and intense acoustic noise. Furthermore, the 4-way configuration lacks driver optimization for general gaming, limiting its utility solely to the tested application.