EVGA GeForce GTX 285 1GB SSC Edition Review

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Heat and Acoustics

Heat and Acoustics

As expected, we see some interesting figures when it comes to the GTX 285’s heat output. Before we begin explaining these numbers, you should remember that the EVGA GTX 285 we tested is the SSC edition which is highly overclocked and will thus produce more heat than a stock-clocked card. Even though this is the case the numbers are quite telling considering the idle temperatures are some of the best we have seen in a long time from a stock cooler. What surprised us was that the idle temperatures of this card actually beat those put down by the 55nm GTX 260 216 we tested a few weeks ago. Could it be that Nvidia further refined their 55nm process between that card and the current GTX 285? Anything is possible I guess since the ambient temperatures were precisely the same.

Load temperatures are right in-line with the outgoing GTX 280 which is to be expected considering this card has a core speed that is some 100Mhz faster than the older card. It also seems that the new heatsink –like the old one- is designed to keep the core at a constant 85°C under load and will not allow it to move upwards from there. Thus, it is understandable why we are seeing identical temperatures.

While the load temperatures seem to be in-line with the GTX 280, the acoustical footprint of the EVGA GTX 285 SSC is noticeably smaller. Due to the lower heat output from the core, the fan is able to spin at a much more pedestrian pace even when the card is under full load conditions. Granted, the fan will spin up every now and then This eliminates one of the major gripes we had with the GTX 280 upon its release and makes the GTX 285 all that more appealing.

 

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Power Consumption in Games and Folding@home

Power Consumption

For this test we hooked up our power supply to a UPM power meter that will log the power consumption of the whole system twice every second. In order to stress the GPU as much as possible we once again use the Batch Render test in 3DMark06 and let it run for 30 minutes to determine the peak power consumption while letting the card sit at a stable Windows desktop for 30 minutes to determine the peak idle power consumption. We have also included several other tests as well. Please note that after extensive testing, we have found that simply plugging in a power meter to a wall outlet or UPS will NOT give you accurate power consumption numbers due to slight changes in the input voltage. Thus we use a Tripp-Lite 1800W line conditioner between the 120V outlet and the power meter.

Unlike the GTX 260 55nm we tested a few weeks ago, the GTX 285 actually seems to show some great improvements when it comes to power efficiency over the outgoing card. Idle power consumption is actually right in line with the 55nm GTX 260 while under load it consumes 14W less than the GTX 280. Not too bad at all considering the overclocks this card is carrying.

Game Power Consumption

In games we are able to see that due to the higher overclocks on the EVGA GTX 285 SSC, it is still able to either match or beat the GTX 280 in terms of power consumption.

Folding Power Consumption

This is a test that I was hoping would run in the GTX 285’s favour and I wasn’t disappointed at all. On average it takes a good 30W less than a stock GTX 280 and considering the PPD jump the overclocked shaders are bound to give you, the GTX 285 should be near the top of your list of possible Folding cards.

 

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Overclocking

Overclocking

Considering the EVGA GTX 285 SSC is already pre-overclocked, we really weren’t expecting much at all but as you can see below, the final overclocks are nothing short of shocking. Granted, the core clocks could only be bumped up a few Mhz but it is the memory clocks that floored me. We are talking over 3Ghz (DDR) on GDDR3 here and with this overclock I bumped right into the CPU limitation presented by my near-4Ghz quad core. The 20,100 score in 3DMar06 couldn’t be passed no matter what I did so maybe I will revisit this overclock as I play around with higher CPU overclocks.

That being said, here are the final clocks:

 

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Conclusion

Conclusion

The EVGA GTX 285 SSC is fast. If I could end this conclusion right there I would have since that one line pretty much sums up the theme of this review from start to finish. However, there is so much more to this card than that so we would be completely off our rockers if we didn’t mention that the 285 is also highly efficient and runs as quiet as a mouse for the most part. Usually quiet operation, efficiency and performance don’t walk hand in hand down the streets of GPU Ville but this time they get along just fine without getting into a ruckus. Indeed, other than a few custom-designed ATI 48xx-series cards we believe the GTX 285 has the quietest stock cooler of any high performance card. There will be times when the afterburners need to kick in (particularly in Dead Space) and the fan quickly spins up but those instances are few and far between.

Performance-wise, there is no faulting this card considering it beggars the GTX 280 while at times flicking the ears of the HD 4870 X2. Even though we didn’t test a non-overclocked card, I think it is safe to say that the GTX 285 is currently the fastest single GPU card on the planet. As it stands, ATI just doesn’t have anything on their menu to compete with the GTX 285 since the HD 4870 1GB is woefully outgunned and the HD 4850 X2 is nowhere close to achieving widespread availability. So what more is there for ATI in all of this? Well, they may be able to pull a rabbit out of their hats somehow but until that is done, Nvidia has the $400 to $500 CAD price bracket dancing to their tune.

Unfortunately, the GTX 285 succumbs to the ages-old problem faced by intermediate graphics cards: its closest competition is the card it replaces and that card is now retailing for quite a bit less. This means that even though the GTX 285 has some truly jaw-dropping performance for a single-GPU card, the GTX 280 remains the better buy for the time being. The real question that begs to be answered with this card is: just how much are you willing to pay for performance? Granted, the price of around $500 for the GTX 285 isn’t highway robbery but you have to remember that the performance we saw here today came courtesy of a highly overclocked version of this card. This means the EVGA GTX 258 SSC we tested will probably end up going for mode than $500 CAD when launched which puts it into HD 4870 X2 territory and at that point, its shine rubs off damn quick.

We aren’t here to talk about price since that is one aspect of this launch that seems to change on an hourly basis. Looking through the fog of potentially high prices, it is easy to see that the EVGA GTX 285 SSC is a hell of a card that isn’t held ransom by the dodgy SLI / Crossfire profiles and high power consumption that come with high performance dual GPU cards. It offers incredible performance through higher clock speeds and brings with it actual power savings we hadn’t seen on the Nvidia 55nm manufacturing process until now while offering a Lifetime Warranty. What is there not to like?


Pros:

- Very, very fast
- Low power consumption
- Quiet
- Lifetime warranty
- Literally all alone in this price bracket
- Good overclocking potential


Cons:

- Potential price versus the GTX 280
- No competition = Nvidia can initially set whatever price they want

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