MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB Graphics Card Unboxing & First Look Linus Tech Tips
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2011-05-08
·
1,323 words · ~6 min read
0:01
From MSI, we have the brand new GeForce
0:04
GTX 580. This is an NVIDIA GPU. Features
0:08
all of the latest technologies including GeForce CUDA, NVIDIA SLI, Physics, 3D
0:14
Vision, including 3D Vision Surround with up to three monitors. We've also
0:18
got some other cool points here. Check this out. So, this is a special sticker
0:22
that goes on USA, Canada, and Mexican models. So, they've got a three-year
0:26
warranty in all of those countries. And this particular MSI card features all
0:30
solid capacitors for improved lifespan. So we can actually find some more
0:34
details about that on the back. So 10 years ultraong lifetime with no
0:39
explosion. I think what they actually mean to say is no leaking because
0:43
typically capacitors although they can explode typically they're just going to
0:47
leak. So you've also got lower temperatures, higher efficiency, but
0:50
bear in mind your car will not explode. Very good. So we've got a little list of
0:55
the features here. So that is DirectX11, SLI that is up to three-way and even
1:00
four-way SLI, surround physics, CUDA,
1:03
direct compute, NVIDIA pure video, HD technology. It is a PCI Express 2.0
1:08
card. You can read this, I'm sure. Oh, hey, cool. We got uh HDMI 1.4A. So that
1:12
means that you are able to play with appropriate software. 3D Blu-ray, oh,
1:17
appropriate software and appropriate TV. That's going to cost you. Minimum system
1:21
requirements are as follows here. So,
1:24
NVIDIA recommends a minimum 600 watt greater power supply with a minimum of
1:28
42 amps on the 12volt rail. And up here, this is one of the coolest things about
1:33
MSI video cards is that they all come compatible with MSI Afterburner, which
1:38
is, if you follow my blog, an outstanding little overclocking utility
1:43
that I personally use very frequently and I really, really like. And MSI's
1:49
just done a great job in their partnership with Rivet Tuner of uh
1:52
basically well they've reskinned the program and they've uh added a couple
1:57
features. They've made it really simple to use and uh they've also added their
2:01
little combuster utility which is uh in
2:05
partnership with the Firmark guys. So they've given you the all the means to
2:09
overclock and test your graphics card out of the box which is pretty cool. So,
2:13
accessory-wise, we've got a six pin to 8 pin power connector. We've also got a
2:18
dual four pin Molex to single six pin power connector. And then we have Oh,
2:23
that's a nice long cable, too. Look at that. So, we've got what looks to be
2:26
about a 6 ft uh mini HDMI to HDMI cable.
2:30
Let me just see what else we've got included here, and then I'll stop
2:34
teasing you guys, and we'll look at the card itself. Next, we've got a DVI to
2:38
VGA adapter. Finally, we have a uh utilities and
2:43
driver DVD or CD. I don't know what it is, but either way, throw it away.
2:47
Download the latest from the MSI website. We've got a quick users guide,
2:51
which is big. There we are. So, they show some other
2:55
MSI products, how to plug it into your computer, all that good stuff. Just kind
3:00
of throw that back together. And then finally, we've got the 580 GTX series.
3:05
So, this shows you how to use their live update for uh the drivers and also
3:09
access well once again a quick start guide. So, there you have it. Two quick
3:13
start guides. Two for the price of one.
3:17
You know, someone should run that promo on GTX 580s. I bet they'd sell a lot of
3:21
GTX 580s if they did two for the price of one. So, one of MSI's kind of unique
3:26
little things is they include these little blue uh covers on all of your
3:29
connectors, which means that people like me can safely handle the card without
3:34
touching the contacts. Actually, everyone gives me a hard time about this, but I'm finally going to explain
3:39
why I don't care about touching the contacts like this. Okay, here. Let me
3:43
show you guys. So, you see where my finger touches the side of the PCB? I
3:49
actually am not making contact with the little golden contacts along the edge of
3:55
the PCI Express 16X connector. Look at that. See, no matter how hard I press on
3:59
there, I'm not going to touch them. So, I'm only touching a completely inert
4:04
part of the PCB when I handle a video card like this. So, there you go. Now,
4:08
you know, let's have a look at the back of this video card. So, you can see here
4:11
where the GPU is situated. So, that's going to be where most of the bulky
4:16
cooling power is done. Now bear in mind the GTX 580 in the reference design does
4:21
use a vapor chamber design. So it's not using standard heat pipes. Next we have
4:26
some VRM cooling or VRM VRMs here. So
4:30
that is uh delivering the power from these six pin and 8 pin power connectors
4:35
over to all the power hungry parts that need them. Speaking of power hungry, the
4:39
GTX 580 improves over the 480 in a lot of ways. One of which is performance,
4:45
another of which is heat. That is to say, it gives off less heat than the
4:48
580. And last but not least is power consumption. So the 580 performs better,
4:54
runs cooler, and doesn't consume as much
4:57
power as the GTX 480. So I think we've
5:01
looked at the back of the card fairly indepth here. So oh, you can actually
5:05
see there's a little vent here. So, when this fan spins, it's going to exhaust
5:08
just a little bit of air out the back, cool off those solid caps, and make sure
5:12
that they're all staying nice and not
5:16
toasty. So, that is performing very well. So, MSI has put on their
5:20
customized branding on the card here. So, we've got an MSI logo to go along
5:23
with the GeForce One on the top. And then we've got a little uh looks like
5:28
some kind of like a jet or something. What is this here? There's a bigger one
5:32
here. If you guys can tell me what that is, I would very much appreciate it.
5:35
Maybe it's like a spaceship. I'm not actually sure. Anyway, so it's got
5:39
afterurner branding on it as well as MSI branding on it. And they've called out
5:42
the name of the N580 GTX right there. You've got a standard fan, that is to
5:47
say a rear exhaust fan, which NVIDIA has been using on their reference high-end
5:51
cards for quite some time because it does allow you to remove the heat from
5:55
the card and exhaust it out the back of your case rather than exhaust it into
5:59
your case where it's just going to mean that all of the other components are
6:03
going to run hotter, which isn't to say that it's the only approach that works,
6:06
but it's worked quite well for NVIDIA over the last little while, so they've
6:09
continued to use it. On the back, we've got two DVI ports as well as a mini
6:13
HDMI. And MSI has generally generously included the mini HDMI to HDMI cable
6:19
because not many people have televisions that run off mini HDMI. So, thank you
6:24
for checking out my unboxing of the MSI GTX 580. So, this is a 1.5 Gigabyte
6:31
graphics card. That's the amount of memory. And it also has the fastest
6:38
graphics processor in the world right
6:41
there.