They're on sale for $200 USD today.. Should I pull the trigger? I know it'll be a step up from my HD6850 but 570s can be had used for a mere $20 more.. Also any of you folks know how hot these run in a HAF932?
out of the 2 cards id go for the 570 as they will run MUCH quieter and cooler + require a little less power aka all round win and the cards are usually neck and neck in benches
Got 2x 480's and they are awesome, They're better than the 570 because they have a more complete memory architecture, and more memory so you get better performance with higher resolutions and more filters applied (which is when you need the performance). If you like you can even make up for the clock differences with a minor bump from software but they don't need it. If power is a concern for you the 570 is still a great card but the 480 is a little better As for temps older reports said like 90+ C and that isn't true any more, driver improvements have upped performance, and adjusted the fan profile slighty and even with 2 cards in my cramped NZXT M59 they don't go over 88C unless basically you furmark them.
That's the thing I've been wondering. On air I'm not too confident they won't try to burn my ears off. To be honest it's just a temporary upgrade as it's actually regressing on generational performance. But Hell, I'd kill for one anyhow.
They're really not as bad as everyone makes out, no louder than my GTX 280 was under load. It's still a top end card with an air cooler so it is audible but it's not a turbine under the desk + Silent at Idle + Can usually undervolt a chunk at stock clocks if you want to try making it even nicer on the ears (see the 480 appreciation thread)
I've got 3 480's in one rig a 560 in another tbh the 480's aint that loud and the performance is still very good, At the prices you can pick them up at now they are really good value.
Any idea how it does in Multi-monitor applications? I'd loathe to have the Memory @ 100% all the time.
Under-Volt is the way to go. I'm giving mine a complete test at the moment with 925mV and 700MHz core (stock!) and it's not going over 40 degrees with water cooling. Once I'm satisfied it's 100% stable at 925mV I'll be flashing the BIOS to permanently lower the cards starting and idle voltage to this minimum.
Better than a 570 for sure! That's exactly the kind of situation where memory bandwidth and size is going to matter. 480's can do 2 screens each so if you're talking surround you'll need SLI. for benchmarks of that see here
