NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 DirectX 11 GPU Review

As we mentioned earlier, the GeForce GTX 570 looks very similar to the GeForce GTX 580. In fact, without removing the cooler and counting the number of the memory chips on the PCB, it’s almost impossible to tell them apart. The EVGA GeForce GTX 570 SuperClocked Edition is pictured here.

 

 
The EVGA GeForce GTX 570 SuperClocked Edition

The EVGA GeForce GTX 570 is a factory overclocked GTX 570. Whereas reference cards are clocked at 732MHz (GPU) / 1464 MHz (shaders) / 950MHz (memory), EVGA’s SuperClocked Edition is clocked at 797MHz / 1584MHz / 3900MHz. The increased clocks obviously give the card and edge over reference clocked models in fillrate, compute performance, and memory bandwidth.

The entire front side of the GTX 580 is encased in a shroud, much like previous designs, which gives it a nice, clean look. The PCB measures 10.5”, and as you can see in the pictures above, the back-side of the PCB is exposed. Like the GTX 580, the tail end of the GTX 570’s fan shroud has a sharp, angled drop-off that allows for better inward air flow for the top card when used in multi-card configurations, where the PEG slots are next to one another. And the top-front of the shroud, along with half of the case bracket, is vented to allow heated air to be mostly expelled from a system. We should note that while the GTX 570’s cooler looks just like the 580’s the actual vapor chamber used on the 570 is somewhat smaller than the 580’s. Cooling performance isn't comprimised, however, as the 570 was just as quiet as the 580 and it was never in danger of overheating during our tests.

The outputs on the GeForce GTX 570 are identical to those found on the GTX 480/580—two dual-link DVI connectors are adjacent to a mini-HDMI connector at the top of the case bracket. Please note, despite having three outputs, only two can be used at any given time to drive displays. For three monitor NVIDIA Surround gaming configurations, like its predecessors, two cards must be used.

Two PCI Express power connectors are present on the GTX 570, both of the 6-pin variety. The card also has dual SLI edge connectors to support, one, two, three or four-way SLI configurations.

In addition to its higher clocks (and decals), EVGA aims to differentiate their GeForce GTX 570 SuperClocked edition with some interesting accessories. A free version of 3DMark 11 Advanced Edition included (which can be redeemed when registering the card at EVGA’s website), along with a Special Edition of the EVGA Precision v2.0.1 app which has a special look for the GTX 570. If you’re unfamiliar with the EVGA Precision utility, it allows for overclocking, monitoring and fanspeed adjustments, on the fly from within Windows. A copy of EVGA’s OC Scanner is also included to benchmark, monitor and stress test the card. And EVGA ELEET is also offered, which allows for voltage tuning of the GTX 570 (among other EVGA cards). Finally, EVGA will also allow finer grained fan speed adjustments then reference GTX 570s. Per the reference spec, fan speeds on stick cards can currently be adjusted between 40-85%. The EVGA GTX 570 will allow user fan speed adjustments from 30-100%.

Along with all of the software, EVGA also bundles a couple of power adapters, a mini-HDMI to HDMI adapter, a case badge, drive CD, and user’s manuals with the card, in addition to a massive “EVGA Gaming” poster.