The GTX 480, is it still relevant for today?

X

Xz CJ zX

n00b
Joined
Sep 17, 2012
Messages
63
Hello everybody, I have recently purchased two eVGA 480s brand new and they perform outstanding from my previous card (an HIS 6750) but I am curious, are they still relevant or was it a waste, I've done my research and I know they are powerhouses. I also know they are power guzzlers but I am going to water cool them eventually so heat wont be a problem :D The thing that makes me ask is because I was running Minecraft with the unbelievable shaders mod and I only get like 45 FPS XD who woulda thought a 480 couldn't run Minecraft on high?
 
If you bought them brand new then you most likely overpaid for them, considering the GTX 660 is faster, much cooler and more efficient and around the same price.
 
When vram's not an issue, dual 480s are quite beastly. My dual 570's are comparable to your build and handle any game with ease at 2560x1600 even. Bf3 the only exception where I can't enable AA because of the limited vram.
 
Xz CJ zX said:
Hello everybody, I have recently purchased two eVGA 480s brand new and they perform outstanding from my previous card (an HIS 6750) but I am curious, are they still relevant or was it a waste, I've done my research and I know they are powerhouses. I also know they are power guzzlers but I am going to water cool them eventually so heat wont be a problem :D The thing that makes me ask is because I was running Minecraft with the unbelievable shaders mod and I only get like 45 FPS XD who woulda thought a 480 couldn't run Minecraft on high?
Click to expand...

Why go with 2 GTX480 in the first place?
 
OP you should have made this thread before buying not after.

Obviously there is faster hardware out now than there was in 2010 but the 480 is still very fast. It's roughly in between the performance of the 7850 and the 7870, so not bad. Download a program like MSI Afterburner and check your GPU utilization. I don't play Minecraft (or any games nowadays) but if SLI scaling is not good then your framerate will be lower. Just some food for thought.
 
They are certainly still relevent if you don't mind the power consumption and heat. Tri-SLi 480s is neck and neck with SLi 680s in performance.

They support nearly all of the current DX and Open GL specs, and unless you're pushing surround on high resolution still have enough Vram for 95% of situations.

So yeah, if power consuption doesn't bother you, then let those hairdryers fly.
 
I have a single EVGA 480 and i'm very happy with it, runs Metro 2033 pretty good, you can read my other threads on this for more details but basically its a good card. Now if you bought it two months ago like I did then it would have been relevant because 2 months ago it was the best card at its price point. Now with new Nvidia cards coming out and the 7850 dropping in price its no longer a good choice. But, as long as you can provide power to it and cool it you'll be fine.

Mine is OC'd to 840 Core, 1680 Shader, 1935 Memory all at 1088 MV no problems so far and doesn't go over 80 C or 70% fan speed.
 
If you're happy with it, just go with it. You don't need the approval of people here to enjoy your games.
 
The 480 is still relevant lol. Plenty around here gaming on similar powered cards, myself included.
 
its relevant this generation however when the newer generation of cards come dont expect it to hold its own when the newer titles made for next gen cards arrive. rule of thumb when buying a video card is the maximum lifespan (relevance in term of performance) should be at the maximum 2 generations minimum 1 gen so about 1-2 years and you should still be able to play games anywhere from medium-high settings anymore than this id be itching for a upgrade
 
still rocking my single 480. Bought it new in 2010. Works great in everything @ 1080p.
 
I don't think it's relevant. Sure, in terms of power it can still give a decent gaming experience, but the card is a real pain in the ass, especially in SLI. You can put fans blowing over the heatpipes so that the actual card temp actually isn't too bad, but that's just because the heat dissipation is really good. The actual AMOUNT of heat generated is absolutely ABSURD, and will heat up the entire room.

When the GTX480 was the fastest card around, that was worth dealing with for some. I thought the gaming experience was stellar. Now that other stuff is out, why wouldn't you get something that offers the same or better performance without all the headaches?
 
Thanks everybody, Im happy with them I was just curious and I can see how the VRAM would be a problem but they run at 80C max on load and they perform amazing even still. The VRAM is probably the culprit of the shaders framerate
 
Xz CJ zX said:
@slh28 The 660 is $100 more expensive actually :)
Click to expand...

You're talking about the 660 not 660Ti right? Looking on newegg the 660 is $229 while the GTX 480 is $199. If you got the 480's for $130 then that's an excellent deal.
 
Xz CJ zX said:
Hello everybody, I have recently purchased two eVGA 480s brand new and they perform outstanding from my previous card (an HIS 6750) but I am curious, are they still relevant or was it a waste, I've done my research and I know they are powerhouses. I also know they are power guzzlers but I am going to water cool them eventually so heat wont be a problem :D The thing that makes me ask is because I was running Minecraft with the unbelievable shaders mod and I only get like 45 FPS XD who woulda thought a 480 couldn't run Minecraft on high?
Click to expand...

it's not exactly the GTX480's fault.. it's the mods that are terribly coded, that drops your fps so heavily.

but imo.. it kinda of is a waste to buy TWO gtx480's today.. if you purchased one? hmm... maybe... if the price was right... but certainly not two.
 
I put a $50 aftermarket heatsink on my EVGA GTX 480 and it never goes above 70c at 900MHz core even in Furmark.

It's still very fast.
 
Tech hasn't changed much in 3 years. Any DX11 high-end part is still very much relevant today.
 
I've been running a pair of 480GTX's for over 2+ years now, and yes, they are power pigs and generate lots of heat, but they also flat out PERFORM. I have both of mine waterblocked, so heat isn't an issue for me. (Running them overclocked @ 910Mhz core + over-volted from day one.)

They are driving a single 30" display (2560x1600 resolution) and can still handle everything I throw at them quite handily.

For a multi-monitor setup (high-res) they wouldn't be ideal due to limitations as to vram size, but for a single monitor setup, SLI'ed 480GTXs are still very relevant today. Easily comparable to the performance of a 680GTX, which they actually exceed in raw performance... even more so in an overclocked configuration.

Pretty amazing staying power when it comes to the world of PC graphics tech. (I have typically upgraded every couple years or so... but with the 480's I see no need.) I'm still awaiting the arrival of the GTX 780 "Big Kepler" before I would consider upgrading. Perhaps next year sometime...
 
Last edited:
Opps - you're right. Dug up my 'egg order history to refresh my memory - bought them back in April 2010, so make that 2+ years. I must be getting old or something. :)
 
I finally went from one 480 to a 670 to power my westinghouse 37" 1080p. It was doing fine and is/was a great card. I paid $550! It wasn't until the release of the 6 series I had any kind of envy whatsoever.
 
Lol, i replaced my GTX480 for a GTX660 because it sounds like a vacuumcleaner when playing demanding games. It was seriously unbearable.
 
They produce a lot of heat and consume an extreme amount of power...I would say if you consider that a fair trade off, go for it.
 
they are still relevent if you like the cards keep them another generation most likely the water blocks can't be repurposed and the 480s do better at compute than the 600 series. If the cards are still kicking ass just keep them another Generation, after all HD 8000 is start of the year GTX 700 will probably be march or their about and I dont see any games that need more than 2 480s as is anyway.
 
but but.... they only have 1.5 gig vrammmssss. According to most people who talk down on the GTX6XX series, this card would have been obsolete the day it was released. So you mean games 2-3 years out are still playable with 1.5 gig vramssss? hahaha j/k ;)

I still have my two GTX480's. Moved them to my 60" tv and underclocked them. Don't need a massive overclock for 1080P and it keeps the heat and noise way down. All games peg out at 60 fps including battlefield 3 at ultra settings most of the time. I can't complain.
 
If you are into the Crysis series of games then Crysis 3 will "melt your computer" says the developer. http://gamecrunch.net/crysis-3-will-challenge-the-power-of-your-pc-gamescom-2012/

I have 2 2gb 5870's in Xfire and so far they are able to crunch through everything I throw at it. I recently went to 2560*1440 and had no problem. Crysis 2 was beautiful!!! Also because of the tight dot pitch there is really no need for any AA in my opinion and the game detail and crispness is fantastic; therefore you can get a few more frames by not enabling AA. I do not think you are missing out on anything with the 480's I would wait until the GTX8xx OR HD9xxx series to upgrade. As most games are ports, except Crysis 3 coming in Feb 2013, you should be fine. At this point of time I would NOT put a waterblock on them unless they were very cheap. That being said I have not done an anaylsis on how much power cost in your area and how long it would take to possibly break even with waterblock usage.

Enjoy what you have because the latest and greatest might not be so.

BTW how much did you pay for the 480's
 
I have a friend who still uses the GTX 480 from his old build in his new build, and it still seems to be up to snuff.
 
SirMaster said:
I put a $50 aftermarket heatsink on my EVGA GTX 480 and it never goes above 70c at 900MHz core even in Furmark.

It's still very fast.
Click to expand...

Try folding on it, I guarantee it will go above 70c.
 
I paid $200 each for them XD and also Im getting the waterblocks for $160 so I think they are cheap!
 
Anyone here know of a good dual slot aftermarket cooler for the GTX480's that will run cooler then the stock cooling and is able to maintain a cooler temp with 3x480's in Tri Sli?

I ask this because as one of you's have stated, they are damn loud when under load and temperatures go over 80'C most of the times unless its Winter here.

Oh and I've tried the Accelero's before they are good for a spaced out SLi setup or single card, but for Tri-Sli its a no go.:(
 
In terms of performance for price the GTX480s are probably the best. In terms of benchmarks it is still top 10 in benchmarks even though it is 2 generations old.
 
Matthew Kane said:
Anyone here know of a good dual slot aftermarket cooler for the GTX480's that will run cooler then the stock cooling and is able to maintain a cooler temp with 3x480's in Tri Sli?

I ask this because as one of you's have stated, they are damn loud when under load and temperatures go over 80'C most of the times unless its Winter here.

Oh and I've tried the Accelero's before they are good for a spaced out SLi setup or single card, but for Tri-Sli its a no go.:(
Click to expand...

Matthew,

I actually read your sig in a post you made in Hot Deals, and was thinking to myself, thank god I only have one 480 and its got a full cover block to boot! I honestly think if you want to cool them and reduce the insane noise levels three of them make, then watercooling is the way to go..

If you are happy with their performance (who wouldn't be?!?) and the power draw is acceptable to you, them I would scour the forums/eBay etc for some used blocks, clean them up, and slap them on..You will think you are using an entirely different system!

PS, do you have enough storage in that one rig or what?:eek:
 
Red Falcon said:
Try folding on it, I guarantee it will go above 70c.
Click to expand...

I have, and it doesn't. Furmark gets it the hottest I've seen at 70c. Folding has only ever gotten it to 68c or so. With normal gaming it runs around 62c and idles at 36c on the desktop.

My cooler is a triple slot heatsink though so not everyone can use it. It was worth it to me because while maintaining these much cooler temperatures it also runs quieter than the stock fan at the same time.
 
The card wasn't even relevant when it first came out. If you have absolutely zero regard for temperature, noise, or power consumption it performs adequately at 1080p.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top