First up is the GTX 580 from Taiwan based hardware manufacturer, Gigabyte Technology. Well known for their motherboards, Gigabyte has expanded their product line up to include cases, coolers, power supplies, notebooks, and peripherals, as well as graphics cards. During the past couple of years, we have seen a steady stream of reference and overclocked versions of video cards featuring both AMD / ATI and NVIDIA GPUs sporting the Gigabyte logo. And here we get our hands on the latest release from their Ultra Durable line.
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| Model GV-N580UD-15I Core Clock 795 MHz Memory Clock / Size 1002 MHz / 1.5 GB Accessories Mini HDMI to HDMI Cable DVI to VGA Adapter PCIe Power Adapters Warranty 3 years Price $504 |
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Gigabyte offers two different models based on the GTX 580 currently. The base model is a re-badged reference design card from NVIDIA, sporting a dual slot, single fan cooling solution, and offers a core clock of 772 MHz. It comes with a 3 year warranty and sells for $499, the standard price for a stock GTX 580. The card we're looking at here is the Ultra Durabe VGA (UDV) model and sports a factory overclock to 795 MHz and Windforce 3x cooling solution. Moreover, the PCB has been redesigned to incorporate Gigabyte's 2 oz copper layers and top of the line components. The pleasant surprise here is that the N580UD retails for only $5 more than the stock GTX 580.
The N580UD features a dual slot cooler with three PWM fans sitting on a vapor chamber heat sink that stretches across the entire length of the card. In addition, three copper heat pipes are used to help to dissipate heat. Triple fan cooling solutions are becoming more common in the market place, especially with hot running, high end models. Gigabyte claims the advantages of this particular design are increased heat dissipation and quieter operating environment. Like the reference design, this card requires one 6-pin and one 8-pin PCI Express connection from the power supply.
As with every enthusiast class product, the manufacturer includes a small accessory bundle to assist with initial installation. Gigabyte includes two Molex to PCIe power adapters, a DVI to VGA adapter, and a mini HDMI to HDMI cable. We also find a user manual and utilities disk included.
Micro Star International (MSI) manufactures a variety of computer components. Established in 1986, they originally focused on the motherboard and graphics card markets, but now produce a variety of notebooks, barebone systems,and wireless networking devices as well. Here we look at a re-badged reference design GTX 580 with a very aggressive factory overclock.
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| Model N580GTX-M2D15D5/OC Core Clock 823 MHz Memory Clock / Size 1069 MHz / 1.5 GB Accessories Mini HDMI to HDMI Cable DVI to VGA Adapter Two PCIe Power Adapters Warranty 3 Yr Parts / 2 Yr Labor Price $509 |
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MSI offers several versions of the GTX 580. They consist of the base model with stock clocks, the Twin Frozr II/OC, the HydroGen/OC, and the M2D15D5/OC, which is the model we're reviewing today. Both the Twin Frozr II and HydroGen cards boost frequencies to 800 MHz core / 1024 MHz memory, but the Twin Frozr II comes with MSI's aftermarket air cooling system, while the HydroGen sports a liquid cooling solution. The M2D15D5/OC features NVIDIA's reference design but comes with a factory overclock of 823 MHz core / 1069 MHz memory. It's the fastest air cooled GTX 580 on the market. Only the water cooled Hydro Copper 2 from EVGA offers faster a GPU frequency (850 MHz core).
Besides the attractive decals, this card is physically identical to every other stock GTX 580 on the market. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as NVIDIA's design features a vapor chamber cooler with a smooth copper base fused to a dense array of thin aluminum cooling fins. And of course, the M2D15D5/OC requires both a 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connection from the PSU.
This bundle includes a user's manual, utility disk featuring MSI's Afterburner software, a DVI to VGA adapter, mini HDMI to HDMI cable, and a couple of PCIe power adapters. 
Established in 2006, ZOTAC is relatively new to the industry. The company manufactures graphics cards, motherboards, and mini-PCs. It derives its name from two words, zone and tact. On the graphics side, they are an exclusive NVIDIA AIB partner and regularly offer pre-overclocked Amp! Edition models.
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| Model ZT-50102-10P Core Clock 815 MHz Memory Clock / Size 1025 MHz / 1 GB Accessories DVI to VGA Adapter Mini DP to DP Adapter PCIe Power Adapters Warranty Limited Lifetime Price $549 |
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ZOTAC makes a couple of GTX 580 variations.There's the basic reference design card, clocked at 772MHz, and their Amp! Edition which is set to 815MHz. Like the MSI M2D15D5/OC, the Amp! Edition is physically identical to every other stock GTX 580 available. The biggest advantage it has over the other two cards in this round up is the lifetime warranty it provides its owners once they register the product. Both Gigabyte and MSI offer only 3 years of coverage.
The bundle includes user guides, utilities disk, two PCIe power adapters, a DVI to VGA adapter, and the Prince of Persia game. The disk provides several programs such as the Firestorm OC utility, vReveal 2.0, Nero Vision Xtra, Cooliris, XBMC, and Kylo. 
HOW WE CONFIGURED THE TEST SYSTEM: In order to provide comparable results, the graphics cards tested here were installed on the same, high end X58 based test system. The components we used consisted of an Asus Rampage III Extreme motherboard, Core i7 980X Extreme Edition processor, and 6GB of OCZ Blade memory. Within the BIOS, we configured the processor to an overclocked speed of 4.27GHz and memory to 1857MHz.
We feel these settings will minimize the occurrences of CPU performance bottlenecks during benchmark runs and allow the graphics cards to show their true potential. Furthermore, our Crucial M225 solid state drive entered the testing process with a clean copy of Windows 7 Professional 64-bit installed. Once installation was complete, we fully updated the OS and installed the latest drivers and applications relevant to the review article.
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Hardware Used: Gigabyte N580UD GTX 580 |
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To get a sense of how fast these overclocked GTX 580's really are, we gathered several of the most powerful cards currently on the market. From AMD, we tested the XFX HD 5970 Black Edition, Asus DirectCU II HD 6970, and HD 6950. We also ran numbers from a Zotac GTX 570 Amp! Edition, the next step down from a GTX 580. For reference, we tested MSI's card at stock speeds and posted those results as well. The group of GPU's we're comparing in this article represent the best of the best from both NVIDIA and AMD.
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Futuremark's synthetic 3D gaming benchmark, 3DMark Vantage, is specifically bound to Windows Vista-based systems because it uses some advanced visual technologies that are only available with DirectX 10. With this latest version of the benchmark, Futuremark has incorporated new graphics tests, CPU tests, several feature tests, and support for the latest PC hardware. We tested the graphics cards here with 3DMark Vantage's Extreme and Performance preset options. |
With a new DX11 test out, we probably won't post DX10 Vantage numbers much longer. Nevertheless, we find all three factory overclocked 580's occupying top spots. It seems that even modest increases in GPU and memory clocks can bump Vantage performance noticeably. Note the 580's edge out the HD 5970 using the performance preset, but not in extreme mode.
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The latest version of Futuremark's synthetic 3D gaming benchmark, 3DMark11, is specifically bound to Windows 7-based systems because it uses the advanced visual technologies that are only available with DirectX 11, which isn't available on previous versions of Windows. 3DMark11 isn't simply a port of 3DMark Vantage to DirectX 11, though. With this latest version of the benchmark, Futuremark has incorporated four new graphics tests, a physics tests, and a new combined test. We tested the graphics cards here with 3DMark11's Extreme and Performance preset options. |
In 3DMark11, the performance differences between the 580's are minimal. Unlike Vantage, the HD 5970 leads the way in both Extreme and Performance presets, by a wide margin. The following pages consist of our real world gaming tests, so let's find out how these overclocked GTX 580's perform in that environment.
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Alien vs Predator is a DX11 title from British developer Rebellion, the same team behind the 1999 original PC game. It brings the war between two of science fiction's most popular characters to the first person shooter gaming world. AvP delivers three single player campaigns and provides unique 3-way multiplayer gaming as well. For our testing, we used the AvP stand alone benchmark using multiple resolutions and high image quality settings. |
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Sid Meier's Civ 5 is a turn based strategy game developed by Firaxis released in September 2010, and is the latest game in the Civilization series. You start off in prehistoric times and venture into the future on a procedurally generated map. A number of different victory conditions are achieved through research, expansion, economic development, government and military conquest. For our testing, we utilized the built in benchmark using multiple resolutions and maximum image quality settings. |
The GTX 580's put up some impressive scores in Civilization V. As we saw with Alien vs Predator, the performance difference between the three overclocked 580's was very small. We saw only a 2 to 3 FPS advantage going from Gigabyte's card at 795 MHz to MSI's model at 823 MHz.
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Dirt 2 was released in September 2009 and provides a sequel to the original Colin McRae: Dirt racing game. Codemasters delayed the PC version of the game in order to enhance their Ego engine with DirectX 11 effects. Dirt 2 is also a solid benchmark for multi-core processors since DX11 is designed to take advantage of multi-threaded system architectures. |
We encountered more of the same with our Dirt 2 performance results. The MSI GTX 580 led the pack, followed closely by Zotac's Amp! Edition and Gigabyte's N580UD. The HD 5970 was able to match the 580's performance during the 2560x1600 resolution test, but noticeably trailed in the other two tests.
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Like the original, FarCry 2 is one of the more visually impressive games to be released on the PC to date. Courtesy of the Dunia game engine developed by Ubisoft, FarCry 2's game-play is enhanced by advanced environment physics, destructible terrain, high resolution textures, complex shaders, realistic dynamic lighting, and motion-captured animations. We benchmarked the graphics cards in this article with a fully patched version of FarCry 2, using a built-in demo run recorded in the Ranch Map. The test results shown here were run at multiple resolutions and maximum image settings. |
In Far Cry 2, the MSI M2D15D5/OC takes the top spot in all three resolution tests. Of course, Zotac's Amp! Edition and Gigabyte's N580UD aren't far behind and trail the top spot by only 1 to 3 FPS.
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Lost Planet 2 is a third person shooter developed by Capcom. It is the sequal to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, and takes place ten years after the events of the first game. The plot begins with Mercenaries fighting against Jungle Pirates, while featuring major boss battles, extreme terrain, and the ability to pilot mechanized armor suits. We tested the game engine using the stand alone benchmark provided by Capcom, at multiple resolutions, 8x AA, and high image settings. |
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Metro 2033 is your basic post-apocalyptic first person shooter game with a few rather unconventional twists. The game is loosely based on a novel by Russian Author Dmitry Glukhovsky. It boasts some of the best 3D visuals on the PC platform currently including a DX11 rendering mode that makes use of advanced depth of field effects and character model tessellation for increased realism. We tested multiple game resolutions and in-game image quality options set to High Quality mode, with DOF effects disabled. |
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Call of Pripyat is the third game in the STALKER series and throws in DX11 to the mix. This benchmark is based on one of the locations found within the latest game. Testing includes four stages and utilizes various weather conditions, as well as different time of day settings. It offers a number of presets and options, including multiple versions of DirectX, resolutions, antialiasing, etc. SunShafts represents the most graphically challenging stage available. We conducted our testing with DX11 enabled, multiple resolutions, and Ultra settings. |
Given the results from the six previous games, STALKER continues the trend as the GTX 580's dominate the rest of the comparison cards. MSI, Zotac, and Gigabyte take the top three spots, in that order. The only surprise here is the poor showing by AMD's HD 5970, which was slower than the GTX 570 in this benchmark.
Overclocking is not an exact science. When it comes to overclocking headroom, every GPU is different. And just because your friend's GTX 580 hit 1000MHz doesn't mean that yours will, even using the same settings and hardware. Many factors can influence what a graphics card is capable of, starting with the unique capability of each GPU. These factors may also include complementary components within the system, but we find the primary influence is the type of cooling employed on the graphics card.
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We expect the type of consumers interested in these cards want to get the most out of their investment. While it may seem excessive for some, raising the frequencies on pre-overclocked cards should drive even more pixel pushing ability than already available. It merely requires a bit of effort and patience to massage frequencies and voltages while achieving stable operating conditions. We've taken that step for you in order to show the possible gains of manually overclocking the GeForce GTX 580 and these cards. For this testing, we employed MSI's Afterburner overclocking utility since it's free, widely available for download, and compatible with any brand of graphics card.
Although the Gigabyte N580UD comes with most conservative overclock of the three cards, it proves to have the most overclocking headroom by an ample margin. With voltage at 1.15V on the core, we managed a blazing 1005 MHz GPU speed and 1265 MHz memory frequency. That equates to a 26% overclock over the card's rated speeds of 795 MHz core and 1002 MHz memory.
The MSI GTX 580 was no slouch either. It went from its rated speeds of 823 MHz core / 1069 MHz memory to frequencies of 940 MHz / 1145 MHz. These settings give you a 14% GPU overclock and 7% on the memory.
Zotac's Amp! Edition offered overclocking headroom up to 925 MHz core / 1250 MHz memory. If not for the blistering speeds hit by the other two 580's, we'd be a little more excited. But the lesson learned here is that NVIDIA's latest batch of high end Fermi GPUs will award its owners with more performance if they take the time to tweak the settings.
Before bringing this article to a close, we'd like to cover a few final data points--namely power consumption and temps. Throughout all of our benchmarking and testing, we monitored how much power our test system was consuming using a power meter. Our goal was to give you all an idea as to how much power each configuration used while idling and while under a heavy workload. Please keep in mind that we were testing total system power consumption at the outlet here, not just the power being drawn by the graphics cards alone.
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The variance between the power consumption of the three 580's was modest but perceptible. Requiring 238W idle / 437W load, Gigabyte's card narrowly edged Zotac's Amp! Edition. Furthermore, MSI's GTX 580 consumed more power than the competition, but not enough to be a deal breaker.
To compare cooling performance, we manually adjusted each card to identical settings. With GPU core clocks at 800 MHz, memory frequency at 1050 MHz, and voltage set to 1.00V on all three cards, we fired up Furmark to measure the idle and load temps with approximately 15 minutes of burn in.
Performance Summary: Before running a single test, you could get a line relatively easily on how the performance numbers would play out. The MSI N580GTX M2D15D5/OC had the most aggressive GPU and memory settings out of the box and proceeded to rip every benchmark we threw at it with a vengeance. It consistently turned in the highest frame rate in the majority of the tests conducted. Only in a few tests could the dual GPU HD 5970 top its performance. But clearly, the MSI N580GTX was the strongest card in this round up.
Gigabyte's Ultra Durable VGA GTX 580 did well in all the tests, but trailed the other two cards by a small margin. The card really stood out once we fired up the overclocking utility to see how far it could go though. With the limited time we had, we were able to push the N580UD to extreme settings of 1005 MHz core / 1265 MHz memory. That's a significant increase over the overclocks achieved on the other two 580's, and equals the manual overclock we achieved with EVGA's liquid cooled Hydro Copper 2 GTX 580. It's also worth noting the fantastic cooling performance provided by its triple fan design and custom PCB. We're left wondering why Gigabyte decided to incorporate such a modest overclock since it's clear this model has boatloads of OC headroom.
Last but not least, Zotac's Amp! Edition GTX 580 did not disappoint. It routinely produced the second fastest results during testing, usually just one or two frame rates behind MSI's card. It had no problems beating out Gigabyte's N580UD due to its higher factory overclock straight out of the box. In addition, the Amp! Edition performed on par with the M2D15D5/OC in power consumption and temps, but had the lowest GPU overclock of all three GTX 580s. Of course, hitting 925 MHz on the core is definitely nothing to whine about.
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