Hardware Nvidia GeForce GTX 470 1,280MB Review

The pricey GeForce GTX 480 has a smaller, less crazy sibling in the GeForce GTX 470. We take this more modest graphics card for a spin through our DX10 and DX11 games to see if this Fermi card is the one that's worth buying.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/03/28/nvidia-geforce-gtx-470-1-1280mb-review/1

 

Omg, can't you people count, again?! There's clearly 5 heatpipes, as is with the 480, which you also failed to notice.

 

So much lol at the Crysis scores

 

Can't see any reason why you'd want to buy one of these tbh, slower than the 5870 and same price, and still with the same crazy temperatures. Still some people must want them I guess.

 

It looks to me like Nvidia got too obsessed with proving to Intel that the GPU is a viable alternative to the CPU for computational purposes, and forgot to focus on the main use of the high-end GPU - as a game rendering tool, and then got caught in-between the 2 at the last minute. I was hoping for a price drop of the 5800 series, but i'm not sure that Nvidia can afford to force the pricing down much (if at all).

 

I'm surprisingly disappointed with both cards. Was hoping for something really good, maybe in 4 years or so... *sigh*

 

Wow, NVidia is basically forcing me to buy ATI no matter how hard I don't want to do it.

 

Only fanbois will buy this or the 480. If you were serious about using either you'd also need to invest in a serious watercooling setup unless you don't mind being deafened by loads of fans, and then the price becomes ridiculous and unjustifiable. It's really disappointing from the green team - but bets on nVidia marketing these cards with their "sideline" technologies (CUDA, PhysX...) as main selling points? I'm going to keep recommending AMD cards.

 

Bah... I've already spent all my best material on ridiculing the GTX480 in its review comments.

I can see these new nVidia cards being outlawed in the polar regions, though. Polar ice caps be gone...

 

If you had used the lastest Ati driver 10.3 instead of 10.2 your results would have been even more conclusive

 

+1.

There are VERY visibly 5 heapipes.
Same as on the GTX480, except these are copper instead if Nickel plated.

 

@technogiant - true true... makes it a bit worthless?

regardless on these numbers 470 looks quite good - but in need of a price drop... which ati would then match....

me I'll go for an old nvidia card 2nd hand I think and wait it out.

 

They're also 'direct contact' heatpipes on both coolers.

That makes aftermarket coolers virtually impossible to produce, unless its Watercooling blocks.

The heatsink is already one of the best you can get....

would like to see what a GTX480 cooler could do for a 5870/5850....

 

So annoying.....this was the card i had always intended to get if Fermi turned out to better than hoped.......but it isn't, its much worse than we feared.

Currently have an ATI 4850, and have used ATI for the last 6yrs, but just fancied a change back to Nvidia.

Shame....now definitely going to wait for the refresh from ATI later this year.....

 

We did use 10.3 - the test kit page had a typo. Thanks for flagging it.

 

Waiting 6 months for this... Fermi FAIL!

 

I was hoping to see some competition before I decide which GPU to buy... but now I think I may be better off just holding off GPU's all together until ATI/Nvidia see sence and lower prices

if I see a 5850 2GB going for between £190-£200 then I might be tempted to buy, but at current prices, the latest GPU's just look sh*t *sigh*

 

to me, gtx470 seems very good value compared to 5870. it is similar speed to 5870 (480 is always faster, 470 is trading blows constantly) and in both Dx11 games, gtx470 beats 5870 at 1920x1200.

also, don't forget it's got CUDA, PhysX and 3D (not that im interested in the last one)

all nvidia has to sort out will be the thermals, im sure they will get it right when the actual products become available.

 

So far it seems to be really disappointing, i was hoping that the cards would offer a much better performance / price ratio and thereby forcing atis to drop in price, so an eyefinity setup would become a bit cheaper, but as it is ill stick to my 4870x2, its fast enough for anything anyway...

multi monitor only with sli ? absolutely a no go there....

 

We did - a last minute switch thanks to ATI launching 10.3 on thursday! Will edit.