Zotac GTX580 Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Up Close

Externally the box follows the fairly standard Zotac arrangement although it’s slightly larger than some we’ve seen. The yellow always looks attractive and makes a lovely change from the blues, greens and reds that we are pretty sick of by now.

As well as a window, which for a graphics card is fairly pointless, the top of the box is clear in its entirety.

      

Inside we have the copy of Prince of Persia Sands of Time, the driver disk and manual, and a fairly standard set of cables.

There must be some serious trickery going on in the wafers because the original cooler for the GTX480 was an absolute beast of a thing and yet the allegedly cooler and quieter GTX580 heatsink reminds us of nothing so much as the GTX285. If you were the proud owner of one of those you’ll know they were amazing at being both of those things we love so much.

      

In keeping with the evolution of the GTX580 it needs a 8 and 6pin PCIe power despite having more go than its predecessor.

At the business end everything is fairly standard as befits a reference design, although it is odd to see the PCI bracket slightly lower than it should be. Not an issue at all, just a curiosity.

      

There is a much larger area around the fan to draw cool air in which is a boon if you’re an SLI fan. So often card designs don’t take into account that you might be running a pair so it’s nice to see yet another small touch that can make the difference.