Legit Video Card Reviews
PNY GeForce GTX 465 XLR8 Video Card Review
| Manufacturer: | PNY |
| Product: | VCGGTX465XPB |
| Date: | Tue, Jul 06, 2010 - 12:00 AM |
| Written By: | Nathan Kirsch - |
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The PNY GeForce GTX 465
Last month we took a look at the EVGA and Galaxy GeForce GTX 465 graphics cards when NVIDIA launched them. We even ran them in SLI together and brought you a look at SLI performance numbers when running a pair of them. What has changed in the past month? Well, for starters a GeForce GTX 465 can be picked up for $249 now, which is a price drop of $30 or 11%. NVIDIA has also been perfecting their Forceware drivers and while 257.15 beta drivers were cutting edge last month Forceware 258.80 beta drivers are all the rage this month. When PNY offered to send out their GeForce GTX 465 XLR8 Performance Edition graphics card we jumped at the chance as it not only would give us a chance to look at their graphics card and bundle, but also give us a chance to run the latest drivers and give you the latest performance numbers to see how things stack up between ATI and NVIDIA this summer. Since we've already covered the GeForce GTX 465 video card basics in our launch coverage, we'll give you a quick refresher and go straight to the PNY GTX 465 video card!
The GeForce GTX 480 is the flagship desktop gaming graphics card
right now from NVIDIA, but at $449 they are too expensive for your
average gamer. The GeForce GTX 480 features 480 CUDA cores, 60 texture
units and 48 ROP units. Next down the line you have the NVIDIA GeForce
GTX 470 retails for $309 and has
448 CUDA cores, 56 texture units, and 40 ROP units. Last month NVIDIA
released the GeForce GTX 465 that retails for just $249 and has 352 CUDA
cores, 44 texture units and 32 ROP units. It should be noted that the GTX470 and GTX465 share the same PCB and even the same core, but obviously some things have been disabled on the GTX465. NVIDIA kept the core clock speed at 607MHz and the shaders at 1215MHz, but slowed the GDDR5 memory down to 802MHz.
The PNY GeForce GTX 465 graphics card that we have on the test bench today is a dual-slot single GPU video card that measures in at 9.5" in length and uses the part number VCGGTX465XPB. The GeForce GTX 465 is the same length as the GeForce GTX 470, but is one inch shorter than the GeForce GTX 480. If you have a small system this card should be able to fit in more cases and be easier to route wires around since it is shorter in length. The PNY GeForce GTX 465 XLR8 video card features reference clock speeds of 607MHz core clock (1215MHz on the stream processors) and 802MHz on the 1024MB of GDDR5 memory. The front of the PNY GTX465 is fairly plain, but PNY tried to spruce it up a bit with their stickers.
Flipping the PNY GeForce GTX 465 video card over we don't find too
many interesting things, but we can make out two small holes. These allow for a small
amount of extra airflow into the video card's cooling fan, which helps improve
cooling performance. We have seen this for a couple of years now on several
NVIDIA graphics cards and it appears to work well.
The GeForce GTX 465 graphics card does support SLI and has a pair of SLI bridges located along the top edge of the graphics card. The NVIDIA GTX 465 series supports two and three card SLI configurations on the right motherboard that has three PCIe x16 slots and the triple-SLI interconnect.
The PNY GeForce GTX 465 XLR8 1024MB GDDR5 graphics card has a pair of
dual-link DVI-I outputs along with a mini-HDMI output header. The
GeForce GTX 400 series of graphics cards are the first that we have seen
with this connector. PNY does include a mini HDMI-to-HDMI adapter with their
bundle. Both the Dual-link
DVI and HDMI outputs can be
used to send high-definition video to an HDTV via single cable
(including audio if running HDMI). A regular sized HDMI header was not
used since it
couldn't fit next to the pair of DVI outputs, and since the board uses a single PCB the mini HDMI header was the only option.
The PNY GeForce GTX 465 XLR8 video card requires a 550 Watt or greater
power supply to power the GeForce GTX 465 as it has a max board power
(TDP) of 200 Watts. NVIDIA also suggests that your power supply have a
minimum of 38Amps on the +12V rail. It also requires that the power
supply has two 6-pin PCI Express power connectors for proper connection.
It should be noted that
the NVIDIA minimum system power requirement based is based on a PC
configured with an Intel Core i7 3.2GHz CPU. For comparison sake the
GeForce GTX 480 video card needs a
minimum 600W or greater system power supply (with a minimum 12V current
rating of 42A) in case you are wondering what the big brother for
this card requires. The TDP difference between the GTX465 and GTX is just 15W as both boards share the same PCB and layout.
Since the GeForce GTX 400 series runs rather hot it was noted to us
that
SLI requires optimal cooling and airflow. Poor ventilation will result
in high fan speeds.
For SLI use, NVIDIA strongly recommends that you test in a well
ventilated case (rather
than an open bench). If three PCI-E slots are available, the cards
should be installed in
the inner most and outer most slots. This ensures optimal cooling for
the GPUs. As you can see
from the photo above, the heat sink used on the GTX465 is quite large
and features five copper heat pipes. It is also the same heat sink that is used on the GTX470!
Looking at the PNY GeForce GTX 465 graphics card from the top you can better make out the five copper heat pipes that help keep the 352 CUDA cores cool during use. Let's take a look at the bundle and then dive into the performance numbers!
Next Page - PNY Retail Box and Bundle
| Review Index |
|
Page 1 - The PNY GeForce GTX 465
Page 2 - PNY Retail Box and Bundle Page 3 - GeForce GTX 465 Test Settings Page 4 - Batman: Arkham Asylum Page 5 - Resident Evil 5 Page 6 - Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. Page 7 - 3DMark Vantage Page 8 - Unigine 'Heaven' DX11 Page 9 - S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat Page 10 - Aliens Vs. Predator Page 11 - FurMark 1.8.2 Page 12 - Power Consumption Page 13 - Temperature Testing Page 14 - Final Thoughts and Conclusions |
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