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Point of View / TGT GTX 580 3GB Ultra Charged review

by on03 August 2011

Index



For our testing, we used standard game settings and one display with maximum resolution 2560x1600.

Aliens vs. Predator

The GTX 580 3GB UC kartica outran the refefence version by 6%. Although you can't tell from the results, GTX 580 3GB UC provided a much smoother gaming experience at the highest tested resolution, most likely because minimum fps was better than on the reference card.

We've noticed that the video buffer on our GTX 580 was almost always topped out, whereas the GTX 580 3GB UC had memory to spare. You can see that on the GPUz screens below.

avp1

 

avp2

We noticed that the game requires more than 2GB on many occasions (up to 2268MB), which is more than reference GTX 580 cards can offer.

gtx580_1.5gb___avp___16af_4aa_max_in_game
GTX 580 1.5GB

gtx580_3gb___avp___16af_4aa_max_in_game
GTX 580 3GB UC



Dirt 2

The GTX 580 3GB UC card outperformed the reference GTX 580 by up to 8%. Dirt 2 is playable on slower cards with 1GB of memory, so we didn't notice any gaming difference between  the reference GTX 580 and GTX 580 3GB UC.

dirt1
dirt2

As you can see, 3GB of memory is not a prerequisite for playing Dirt 2 at 2560x1600.

gtx580_1.5gb___dirt___16af_4xaa_max_in_game
GTX 580 1.5GB

dirt2__gtx580_3gb
GTX 580 3GB UC



Metro 2033

The GTX 580 3GB UC only showed minimum advantage over the reference GTX 580, up to 3% in total. 2560x1600 with 16AF and 4xAA requires more than 1GB but although we had 3GB, GPU limitations were at fault for low results. 

metro1

metro2

As you can see, Metro 2033 used up only 1.8GB of memory on our GTX 580 3GB UC.

gtx580_1.5gb___metro__16af_4aa_very_high_in_game
GTX 580 1.5GB

gtx580_3gb___metro__16af_4aa_very_high_in_game
GTX 580 3GB UC



Crysis 2

We took the new Crysis 2 DX11 with high texture packages out for a spin, but the game used only 1.7GB of memory. Playing Crysis 2 at 2560x1600 with all effects on was much better with GTX 580 3GB UC than with the reference card.

crysis_1

crysis_2

crysis2__gtx580_1.5gb
GTX 580 1.5GB

gtx580_3gb___crysis2___16af_ultra_in_game
GTX 580 3GB UC



3DMark 2011 and Unigine Heaven

3DMark 2011 and Unigine Heaven reported that the GTX 580 3GB Ultra Charged is up to 8% faster than the reference GTX 580.

mark2011

heaven2.1

Overclocking, noise and thermals

The GTX 580 3GB Ultra Charged comes factory overclocked to 841MHz. TGT handpicked the crème of the crop GPUs or these cards but the cooling is not adequate for additional overclocking.

580_uc_3gb__gpuz

The GTX 580 3GB Ultra Charged uses reference cooling that has a tough time tackling such high clocks. GPU temperatures can hit 98°C, which is about 10°C higher than on reference cards. Such temperatures coupled with fan noise discouraged us from attempting further overclocking.

gtx580_3gb___crysis2___16af_ultra_in_game



Last modified on 03 August 2011
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