discussion Gigabyte GeForce GTX 470 OC Edition Review

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Metro 2033 (DX11)

Metro 2033 (DX11)

There has been a lot of buzz about Metro 2033 which has mostly centered on its amazing graphics coupled with absolutely brutal framerates on even the best GPUs on the market. For this test we use a walkthrough and combat scene from The Bridge level which starts at the beginning of the level and lasts for about 5 minutes of walking, running and combat. Famerates are measured with FRAPS and Advanced PhysX is turned off.


1680 x 1050

1920 x 1200

2560 x 1600

 

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Unigine: Heaven v2.0 (DX11)

Unigine: Heaven v2.0 (DX11)

Unigine’s Heaven benchmark is currently the de-facto standard when it comes to simple, straightforward DX11 performance estimates. While it is considered a synthetic benchmark by many, it is important to remember that no less than four games based on this engine will be released within the next year or so. In this test we will be using a standard benchmark run with and without tessellation enabled at three resolutions,


1680 x 1050

1920 x 1200

2560 x 1600

 

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8x MSAA Testing (BF: BC2 / DiRT 2)

8x MSAA Testing (BF: BC2 / DiRT 2)

In this section we take a number of games we have tested previously in this review and bring things to the next level by pushing the in-game MSAA up to 8x. All other methodologies remain the same.

BattleField: Bad Company 2 (DX11)
Note that 8x MSAA is enabled via the game’s config file for the NVIDIA cards since it is not a selectable option within the game menu

DIRT 2 (DX11)

 

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8x MSAA Testing (Far Cry 2 / Just Cause 2)

8x MSAA Testing (Far Cry 2 / Just Cause 2)

In this section we take a number of games we have tested previously in this review and bring things to the next level by pushing the in-game MSAA up to 8x. All other methodologies remain the same.

Far Cry 2 (DX10)

Just Cause 2 (DX10)

 

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Core Temperature & Acoustics

Core Temperature & Acoustics

For all basic temperature testing, the cards were placed on an open test bench with a single 120mm 1200RPM fan placed ~8” away from the heatsink. The ambient temperature was kept at a constant 22°C (+/- 0.5°C). If the ambient temperatures rose above 23°C at any time throughout the test, all benchmarking was stopped. For this test we use the 3DMark Batch Size test at it highest triangle count with 4xAA and 16xAF enabled and looped it for one hour to determine the peak load temperature as measured by GPU-Z.

For Idle tests, we let the system idle at the Vista desktop for 15 minutes and recorded the peak temperature.

We have now also added an in-case test within a Gigabyte Aurora EATX PC case. The side panel remains closed while the HDD bay has been modified to incorporate a single 120mm Noctua NF-S12B FLEX 1200RPM fan.

Considering Gigabyte has made only a few cursory changes to the GTX 470 PCB with their Ultra Durable VGA, we didn’t expect much change in the temperature of this card against that of a stock version. Our guess was proven right but it does seem like there is a minor difference with overall temperatures which may be due to anything from the extra copper in the PCB or a slightly revised fan speed profile.

System Power Consumption

For this test we hooked up our power supply to a UPM power meter that will log the power consumption of the whole system twice every second. In order to stress the GPU as much as possible we once again use the Batch Render test in 3DMark06 and let it run for 30 minutes to determine the peak power consumption while letting the card sit at a stable Windows desktop for 30 minutes to determine the peak idle power consumption. We have also included several other tests as well.

Please note that after extensive testing, we have found that simply plugging in a power meter to a wall outlet or UPS will NOT give you accurate power consumption numbers due to slight changes in the input voltage. Thus we use a Tripp-Lite 1800W line conditioner between the 120V outlet and the power meter.

Amazingly, power consumption didn’t increase all that much over a reference card even though Gigabyte did up the core clocks of their OC Edition. We have seen in the past that even slightly overclocking any GTX 400-series card results in a substantial increase in power consumption. It looks like Gigabyte is actually bucking this trend once again with the use of higher-end components brought in with their Ultra Durable initiative.

 

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Overclocking Results

Overclocking Results

In order to determine the highest possible stable values for overclocking we took this card, installed in the Gigabyte Aurora case, kept the stock voltage as is and increased fan speed to 50%. Stability was determined by a loop of FurMark for 20 minutes.

Final Clock Speeds

Graphics Clock: 741Mhz
Processor Clock: 1482Mhz
Memory Clock: 4080Mhz (QDR)

Our experience when it comes to overclocking GTX 470 cards has been extremely positive in the past and the Gigabyte GTX 470 OC proved this once again. We don’t usually put much stock in overclocking potential but so far all four GTX 470 cards we have reviewed have been able to hit at least 710Mhz on the core and around 4Ghz for the memory. This actually bodes quite well for other GTX 470s as well. It also makes us wonder why every board partner has stuck with mediocre clock speed increases for their overclocked versions.

Below we have a visual representation of what this further increase in clock speeds can accomplish in-game.

 

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Conclusion

Conclusion

Ever since its release, we have been impressed with the GTX 470’s poise and performance in all of our tests. It has proven again and again that NVIDIA did hit the nail on the head when it came to designing the GF100 architecture even though power consumption does tend to be quite a bit higher than competing solutions. However, we have to remember that ATI has yet to release a tailor-made DX11 architecture so heaven only knows how efficiency will compare when the tessellation field is leveled.

When it comes to Gigabyte’s past offerings, stability is always the name of the game and their current NVIDIA lineup is certainly looking good with the upcoming addition of the Super Overclock series. Until that time, we’re happy to see Gigabyte joining the ranks of board partners that offer a wide variety of pre-overclocked products for customers looking for additional performance. When it comes to the OC Edition however we’re happily sitting on the fence since the clock speed increases it sports are less than impressive. A mere 27Mhz bump on the core without nary a memory speed increase results in an altogether meaningless performance difference in every single game. Calling a card “overclocked” seems to be great for the marketing and sales teams but it means next to nothing for the end user if they can’t see gameplay benefits.

That being said, we have to commend Gigabyte for continuing with an aggressive pricing structure on all of their 400-series products. Even though the OC Edition comes at a slight price premium over the reference card, this actually brings it into line with the vast majority of other stock-clocked GTX 470 cards on the market. The additional $10 to $15 for this card is actually quite fitting when you compare it to the extreme prices some other companies charge for their own overclocked cards. This in itself is praiseworthy and actually sets a precedent which other manufacturers would do well to follow.

Impressive performance, good overclocking potential and a good price are all hallmarks of most GTX 470 cards and Gigabyte’s OC version embodies all of these. Unfortunately, we find its minor clock speed increases don’t do anything other than push a marketable quality which will never benefit consumers in terms of actual performance. If the memory had received some attention or the capabilities of the core had been further pushed, we would have been singing a far different tune. As it stands, the GTX 470 OC is priced right but we would still recommend going with the excellently priced reference version from Gigabyte instead.


Pros:

- Very good performance
- Excellent overclocking potential
- Slight decrease in power consumption
- Quiet
- Well priced


Cons

- Extremely small clock speed increase
- 3-year warranty starts from manufacturing date, not purchase date
- Price premium is unjustified for the small performance difference