Gigabyte HD 5870 Super Overclock Review - PAGE 1

The dust has mostly settled from one of Nvidia's largest ever launches, the introduction of the GTX 480. However, whether due to popularity, a small initial production run -- or both -- the GTX 480, and to a lesser extent the GTX 470, had up until recently been very hard to come by in hardware stores, even up to about four weeks after the official launch of the product. But this situation is changing: the initial rush is over, and the GTX 480 is much easier to track down. For many people looking to get a new video card, that means that deciding between the green team and the red team has become a more interesting proposition. 

With the HD 5870 out now for a while, different companies are working on fresh new designs to grab your attention. There is not as much reason now to go for a standard, reference design HD 5870 if want, as these days, there is a wealth of options available. Gigabyte is one such company vying for attention with today's HD 5870 Super Clock. As you can imagine, this card is overclocked. What might not be as apparent immediately though is that this is one of the most heavily overclocked HD 5870's out there. GPU's chosen for these extreme clocks have been hand-selected for their ability to sustain the strain. In short, you are getting the best Cypress GPUs produced. 

With the factory overclocked models there is generally that old adage: is the extra performance worth the extra coin? With the Super Clock, which retails for about $100 more than Gigabyte's own standard-clocked HD 5870, this question is particularly pertinent. But Gigabyte has promised us some big performance to match this price tag, so it should be interesting to see how this ends up. This certainly isn't your every-day HD 5870 here today.