ATI HD 5970 Vs. Nvidia GTX 480 Fermi Edition

[Ford 1st MRB]

Ok so since all you ATI supporters throw the "buy ATI it's cheaper for the same performance" out there all the time, I thought I would do a little comparison of the two companies best products on the market.

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Product	Removeremove 14-130-551 OUT OF STOCK EVGA GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) SuperClocked 015-P3-1482-AR Video Card - Retail	Removeremove 14-150-460 OUT OF STOCK XFX Radeon HD 5970 HD-597A-CNB9 Video Card - Retail
	$529.99 $7.87 Shipping 14-130-551 14-130-551	$719.99 $11.67 Shipping 14-150-460 14-150-460
Rating		[23]
In Stock	No	No
Item#	N82E16814130551	N82E16814150460
Model#	015-P3-1482-AR	HD-597A-CNB9
Brand	EVGA	XFX
Interface	PCI Express 2.0 x16	PCI Express 2.1 x16
Chipset Manufacturer	NVIDIA	ATI
GPU	GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi)	Radeon HD 5970
Core Clock	725MHz	725 MHz (up to +30% with OverVolt Tool)
Shader Clock	1450MHz
Stream Processors	480 Processor Cores	3200 (1600 x 2) Stream Processing Units
Effective Memory Clock	3800MHz	4GHz (up to +20% with OverVolt Tool)
Memory Size	1536MB	2GB
Memory Interface	384-bit	512 (256 x 2)-bit
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5
DirectX	DirectX 11	DirectX 11
HDMI	1 x mini HDMI 1.4	1 x HDMI (via Adapter)
DVI	2 x DVI	2 x DVI
RAMDAC	400 MHz	400 MHz
Max Resolution	2560 x 1600	2560 x 1600
SLI Support	3-Way SLI
Cooler	With Fan	With Fan
System Requirements	Minimum of a 600 Watt power supply. (Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 42 Amps.)	Minimum 650 Watt Power Supply Requirement
Power Connector	6 pin / 8 pin	6 pin / 8 pin
Dual-Link DVI Supported	Yes	Yes
HDCP Ready	Yes	Yes
Dimensions	4.376" H x 10.5" L	12" x 4.376" x 1.5"
Features	NVIDIA CUDA Technology with CUDA C/C++, DirectCompute 5.0 and OpenCL SupportNVIDIA PhysX technologyNVIDIA 3D Vision Surround ReadyNVIDIA PureVideo HD technologyHDMI 1.4 connector
Package Contents	015-P3-1482-AREVGA Driver/Software Disc with EVGA Precision Tuning Utility(1) Mini-HDMI to HDMI Cable(1) DVI to VGA Adapter(1) 6 pin PCI-E Power Cable(1) 8 pin PCI-E Power CableUser Guide	HD-597A-CNB9Installation CD with Multi-Language User GuideQuick Installation GuideDriver CD Installation GuideXFX Serial Number Door HangerMini DisplayPort to DisplayPort AdapterDVI to HDMI AdapterBlack Edition Badage
Parts	Lifetime limited	Lifetime limited
Labor	Lifetime limited	Lifetime limited
DisplayPort		1 x Mini DisplayPort
CrossFireX Support		Yes
Notes & Disclaimers	VGA Replacement Only Return Policy	Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
	$529.99 $7.87 Shipping 14-130-551 14-130-551	$719.99 $11.67 Shipping 14-150-460 14-150-460

[St-Denis]

Im with Nvidia, Cheaper and petter way petter performance.

But that's my persenal choise.

By the way that's not even the strongest one and it's still cheaper.

EGA Nvidia GTX 480 Hydro Copper FTW

Performance

NVIDIA GTX 480

750 MHz GPU

480 CUDA Cores

400 MHz RAMDAC

Memory

1536 MB, 384 bit GDDR5

3800 MHz (effective)

182.4 GB/s Memory Bandwidth

Interface

PCI-E 2.0 16x

DVI-I, DVI-I, Mini-HDMI

SLI Capable

Resolution & Refresh

240Hz Max Refresh Rate

2048x1536 Max Analog

2560x1600 Max Digital

[Zachow 1st MRB]

Yeah but that one is a rarer advanced version. But Nvidia is way better I love the EVGA precision display.

[Jasko]

you realize most of the 5970's specs were faster? and it only costs more because it has 2 cores.

Plus it doesn't idle at 80C

but if the 480 ran cooler, id pick it over the ati

[W. Myers]

Yeah, I'd like to say that I don't like having equipment in my box that idles hot enough to cook things on, and also, that is an overpriced example you found there. I've seen 5970's for 100 dollars cheaper than that elsewhere. Yeah, I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that nVidia's card has better performance specs there, I mean, it's over-clocked and still isn't besting it in any of the categories up there.

[Ford 1st MRB]

I put the two side by side so you could see the numbers next to each other. I never said the Nvidia was a better card, go read my post again.

You claim these cards idle at 80c and higher.... prove it. I am just showing you that side by side, The ATI isn't that far ahead of the nvidia, and is $190 dollars cheaper.

As a matter of fact:

Effective Memory Clock: 3800MHz - 4GHz (up to +20% with OverVolt Tool)

Memory Size: 1536MB - 2GB

Memory Interface: 384-bit - 512 (256 x 2)-bit

That is the difference in the two cards. That's all. You can't compare the stream processors because they are two completely different technologies. So even if you can find that card for $100 dollars cheaper (which you can't), you are paying $90 for 200MHz Memory Clock, 464MB Memory Size, and 128 bit memory interface.....

Yes I am aware the nvidia cards run hotter, it's because of the way the cores are assembled. I'm also aware the cards can be cooled just like any other cards that run hot. I'd rather pay less money for better chip technology that runs a little hotter, than pay more for a cooler card and have to justify why I bought it.

[Ford 1st MRB]

Actually I'll do the research for you...

Read this

He recorded an idle temp of 90C on a dual monitor setup, however his idle temp with the same card in the same case with one monitor was 57C.

He was also using a less than adequate case when it comes to cooling a GPU:

No side vents... My Tower not only has a side vent but also has a 120mm fan in said vent that blows directly on the card. So i'd say with 57C idle in that case it would be closer to 47C in my case. Add to that I only use one monitor, and your hotter than hot card theory just blew out the window.