GeForce GTX 285 Graphics Card Round-up
Introduction, Features and Specs
NVIDIA launched the GeForce GTX 285 about three months ago, and in our launch article, we found it to be a very strong product. As you are no doubt aware, the GTX 285 is a replacement for the GTX 280. The GT200B GPU at the heart of the GTX 285 is nearly identical to the GTX 280's GT200 GPU. The most significant difference between the two GPUs is that the GT200B is manufactured using a 55nm fabrication process while the GT200 is built on a 65nm process. Our testing showed that the GTX 285 performs only slightly better than the GTX 280 in some scenarios. At first, it seemed a little disappointing, but hey, the GTX 280 is good company to be in. Furthermore, the GTX 285 was the fastest single-GPU video card available then, and it still is today. Then consider that this new revision of the GPU also of course offers lower power consumption and a smaller die size that will afford a lower cost structure down the road and things start to look even better.
We take our GTX 285 coverage further in this article as we round up three factory-overclocked cards and pit them against each other. As enthusiasts, we think overclocks are great, but factory provided overclocks covered under warranty are even better. Components that offer more bang for the buck are always welcome in our systems. Recall that the reference NVIDIA GTX 285 clocks speeds are 648 MHz for the core GPU, 1,242 MHz for the GDDR3 memory and 1,476 MHz for the shader clock. The first card in this round-up is the ASUS ENGTX285 TOP, which sports clocks of 670 MHz, 1,300 MHz and 1,550, respectively. Next up, we have the BFG Tech GeForce GTX 285 OCX, the overall fastest card of this bunch, rocking at 702 MHz, 1,332 MHz and 1,584 MHz, respectively. Finally, we have the Zotac GeForce GTX 285 AMP! Edition, which boasts clock speeds of 702 MHz, 1,296 MHz and 1,512 MHz, respectively.
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As you can see, this should be an interesting battle to see unfold. We are going to put these cards through their paces in our benchmark suite, and along the way, we'll compare them to a reference GeForce GTX 285, a reference GeForce GTX 295 and a reference Radeon HD 4870 X2. To make it even more intriguing, we're throwing in GTX 285 SLI benchmarks in dual and triple configurations. Keep reading to find out which of the three overclocked GTX 285s comes out ahead in the end and to see how they all compare to the other high-end cards.
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| ASUS ENGTX285 TOP/HTDI/1GD3 • more info • |
BFG Tech GTX 285 OCX • more info • |
Zotac GTX 285 AMP! Edition • more info • |
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| NVIDIA GT200B Graphics Processing Unit (GeForce GTX 285) | ||
| 670 MHz GPU Clock Speed | 702 MHz GPU Clock Speed | 702 MHz GPU Clock Speed |
| 240 Stream Processors | ||
| 1,550 MHz Shader Clock Speed | 1,584 MHz Shader Clock Speed | 1,512 MHz Shader Clock Speed |
| 1 GB GDDR3 Memory | ||
| 512-bit Memory Interface | ||
| 1,300 MHz Memory Clock Speed | 1,332 MHz Memory Clock Speed | 1,296 MHz Memory Clock Speed |
| 166.4 GB/s Memory Bandwidth | 170.5 GB/s Memory Bandwidth | 165.9 GB/s Memory Bandwidth |
| Shader Model 4.0 (DirectX 10) Support | ||
| PCI Express 2.0 Interface | ||
| 2 x 6-pin PCI Express Power Connector | ||
| Supports 2-Way and 3-way SLI Configurations | ||
| Dual-Slot Cooling System (Reference) | ||
| HDCP Ready | ||
| 2 x Dual-Link DVI, 1 x HDTV/S-Video Outputs | ||
| Warranty: 3 year limited warranty | Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty (USA) for original buyer if registered within 30 days of purchase | Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty (USA) for original buyer if registered within 14 days of purchase |
| Current Price: $399.99 | Current Price: $379.85 - $392.99 | Current Price: $362.91-$369.99 |
If you look closely over the table above, you can see that the GeForce GTX 285 features some impressive specs, including 1GB of memory and a 512-bit memory interface. Additionally, the card sports 240 stream processors and Shader Model 4.0 / DirectX 10 support. 2-way and 3-way SLI is also supported.
We won't go into the details of the technology behind the GTX 285 in this article, since we've already covered those previously. If you would like to learn more about the GeForce GTX 285 and the GT200/GT200B architecture, we recommend perusing one or more of the following articles:
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 Unveiled
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 Unleashed
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 and GTX 260 Unleashed
In these articles, you will find detailed explanations of the features and technologies behind NVIDIA GT200 family of GPUs. Now, let's get to the fun stuff and start taking a closer look at the three GTX 285 cards on the test bench today.
