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ASUS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 graphics card reviewed and rated

by Tarinder Sandhu on 24 March 2011, 13:00 3.0

Tags: ASUSTeK (TPE:2357), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qa5a4

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How we test

 

GPU comparisons

Graphics card Approx.
pricing
GPU clock
(MHz)
Stream
processors
Shader clock
(MHz)
Memory clock
(MHz)
Memory bus
(bits)
Graphics driver
ASUS GeForce GTX 590 3,072MB £579 612 1,024 1,224 3,424 384 x 2 ForceWare 267.71
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 3,072MB £569 607 1,024 1,214 3,414 384 x 2 ForceWare 267.71
ASUS GeForce GTX 580 SLI £770 772 512 1,544 4,008 384 x 2 ForceWare 266.58
ASUS GeForce GTX 570 SLI £540 732 960 1,464 3,600 320 x 2 ForceWare 266.58
ASUS GeForce GTX 580 1,536MB £385 772 1,024 1,544 4,008 384 ForceWare 266.58
ASUS GeForce GTX 570 1,280MB £270 732 480 1,464 3,800 320 ForceWare 266.58
Sapphire Radeon HD 6990 4,096MB OC £540 880 3,072 880 5,000 256 x 2 Catalyst 11.4
Sapphire Radeon HD 6990 4,096MB £540 830 3,072 830 5,000 256 x 2 Catalyst 11.4
HIS Radeon HD 6970 XF £570 880 3,072 880 5,500 256 x 2 Catalyst 11.4
Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 XF £410 800 2,816 800 5,000 256 x 2 Catalyst 11.4
HIS Radeon HD 6970 2,048 £285 880 1,536 880 5,500 256 Catalyst 11.4
Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2,048 £205 800 1,408 800 5,000 256 Catalyst 11.4
Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 2,048 £500 725 3,200 725 4,000 256 x 2 Catalyst 11.4

Test bench

CPU Intel Core i7 980X (3.33GHz, 12MB L3 cache, six-core, LGA1366)
Motherboard ASUS P6X58D-E (0502 BIOS)
Memory 6GB Corsair Dominator (9-9-9-24-2T @ 1,600MHz)
Power Supply Corsair HX1000W
Monitor Dell 30in 3007WFP
Disk drive(s) Crucial RealSSD C300 (256GB)
Chassis Corsair Obsidian Series 700D
Operating system Windows 7 SP1, 64-bit

Benchmarks

3DMark 11 Extreme preset, overall score and combined test results recorded.
Aliens vs. Predator DX11, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, very high quality.
Call of Duty: Black Ops DX9, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, ultra quality, FRAPS-recorded benchmark.
F1 2010 DX11, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 8xAA, ultra quality, Monaco circuit.
Just Cause 2 DX10, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, very high quality, Dark Tower benchmark.
Metro 2033 DX11, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, very high quality.
StarCraft II DX9, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, ultra quality.
Power consumption To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record mains power draw both when idle and whilst playing Just Cause 2.
Temperature To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record GPU core temperature both when idle and whilst playing Just Cause 2.
Noise A PCE-318 noise level meter is placed at front of a Corsair 700D chassis with side panel on.

Notes

We (ahem, I) tested a total of 13 graphics from scratch! All AMD cards are tested on the publicly-available Catalyst 11.4 preview driver, while the GeForce cards are on the ForceWare 266.58 set. We wanted to test all GeForce on the v267.71 used for the GTX 590 but the driver only supports the range-topping card. After speaking to NVIDIA we were assured that there are no major performance optimisations in the GTX 590-only driver.

This is strictly a high-end shootout. To this end, we've tested GeForce GTX 570 SLI and GTX 580 SLI, together with Radeon HD 6950 and 6970 CrossFire. Lastly, not forgetting AMD's very best card, the Radeon HD 6990 has been put through its paces in both stock and OC modes.

Putting the GeForce GTX 590 in amongst such powerhouses will tell us exactly where it stacks up. Ready for us numbers? Of course you are.