Gigabyte GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclock Edition Video Card Review

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 470

Last week we took a look at the EVGA GeForce GTX 470 Hydro Copper FTW and I was pretty darn impressed with the capabilities of the GeForce GTX 470. Granted, that particular card is the top dog overclocked version from EVGA and not your vanilla reference edition. Keeping with the tradition of testing the top dog from companies, we have GIGABYTE’s top dog of their GeForce GTX 470 line. Today’s sample is the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclocked Edition (GV-N470SO-13I).

The GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclock Edition completely breaks away from the reference design. The PCB (printed circuit board) is quite different and the cooling couldn’t be more different. We will take a look at some of these differences later in the article. Whether you are looking at a reference NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 or the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclock Edition, both are built around the Fermi Technology from NVIDIA and use the NVIDIA GF100 chip.

The NVIDIA Fermi technology, as we have seen to date, is a fairly impressive piece of technology — especially when it comes to tessellation heavy applications. Legit Reviews has taken several in-depth looks at the NVIDIA Fermi architecture over the last few months since the release of the first NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470, but if you are looking for a refresher on the specifications of the reference NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 you can find that information below.

The GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclock Edition is, as the name suggests, a super overclocked version of the GeForce GTX 470. Though it still features the same basic features such as 448 cores, 1280MB of 320-bit GDDR5 Memory and the ability to run triple SLI. Beyond that though, the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclock Edition graphics card is quite different. Potentially the most noticeable difference, aside from the non-reference cooling, is the overall length. The vanilla GeForce GTX 470 is only 9.5 inches long, the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclock Edition measures 11 inches long.

Aside from the physical differences of the cards, there is one major difference: the clock speed. While the generic GeForce GTX 470 sits at a comfortable and well performing 607MHz on the core, that wasn’t enough for the folks at GIGABYTE. The fine folks at GIGABYTE wanted to push the limits of the NVIDIA GF100 chip. Instead of the comfortable and generic 607MHz on the core, the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclock Edition has been pushed all the way up to 700MHz. That is a 15.3% overclock out of the box! That should be a solid overall performance boost for those looking for an out of the box performance boost over the reference GeForce GTX 470’s.

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclock Edition Specifications

Series	GeForce 400 Series
Chipset	GeForce GTX 470
Key Features	SOC
Core Clock	700 MHz
Shader Clock	1400 MHz
Memory Clock	3348 MHz
Memory Type	GDDR5
DirectX	11
D-sub	Yes (By Adapter)
DVI	Yes
HDMI	Yes

Before we get to the enjoyment that is the benchmarks, let’s take a look at the retail packaging and bundle for the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclock Edition graphics card.