Final thoughts and rating
The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 480 AMP! is a well-overclocked Fermi-based card - 756MHz core/3,800MHz memory vs. 700MHz/3,696MHz for reference - that's very quiet in operation. How's that for an apparent oxymoron, folks?ZOTAC has achieved what seemed practically impossible a couple of months ago by selecting the very best GTX 480 GPUs from NVIDIA and then cooling them with an aftermarket heatsink from Zalman.
Knowing the propensity of the GeForce 400-series line to run very hot, Zalman's cooler does an outstanding job in keeping both temperatures and noise in check - so much so that the real-world Battlefield: Bad Company 2 assessment shows it to be 20°C cooler than the reference model and, tellingly, the quietest card on test.
Backed by a five-year warranty and showing just how good GeForce GTX 480 can be, ZOTAC sets a high bar for other NVIDIA AIBs to follow. We hope that the package comes in at around £450, thereby providing competition for pre-overclocked HD 5870s, but fear it could inch closer to £500 when released to the channel, bringing the faster, albeit louder and inelegant, Radeon HD 5970 very much into focus.
One can spend £450-£500 on a graphics subsystem in more-efficient ways - two Radeon HD 5850s spring to mind - but there's clear merit in the strategy employed by ZOTAC for its fastest air-cooled GeForce card.
The good
Decent overclock out of the box
Overclocks much farther when pushed
Cooler does an excellent job in keeping GPU cool and fans quiet
The not so good
Etail price may be pushed up close to £500 by the time it's available
Twin Radeon HD 5850s will offer more performance for the same money
HEXUS Rating
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 480 AMP!
HEXUS Awards
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 480 AMP!
HEXUS Where2Buy
TBC.HEXUS Right2Reply
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