Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 review

The card itself is pretty familiar looking. Like the GTX 580 it’s not too huge at 267mm long, and so should fit in the vast majority of PC cases. The card has two 6-pin power connectors, and draws a fairly scary 219W under load. You’ll need a hefty power supply then to run it then, but it doesn’t need a 8-pin power connector like some high-end cards. There’s the usual pair of DVI outputs, plus a HDMI 1.4a port with support for all the latest 3D standards, plus the ability to output HD audio bitstreams such as Dolby True HD.

There’s little to compare the GTX 570 to at present. It obviously outclasses all Nvidia’s other cards, leaving the GTX 580 looking overpriced and trouncing all the older and lesser models. AMD has been dragging its heels when it comes to releasing its Cayman codenamed top-end cards. The fastest card in its current range is the capable HD 6870, it scores a very respectable 38.8fps in our Stalker test, but at around £100 less it’s obviously in a different class.

All the usual vendors have produced versions of the card, we tested Nvidia’s reference sample and Zotac’s identical iteration for this review. We’d recommend shopping around online, and checking all the various manufacturers for the best possible price, as these are fluctuating rapidly at present, though you should be able to pick up a GTX 570 for around £280 inc VAT

For now then, the GTX 570 is the performance graphics card to buy, and so we’ve given it the appropriate Ultimate award. However, we’d feel nervous about betting £280 on a card, when the competition hasn’t shown its hand.