A Closer Look at the EVGA GTX 280 Superclocked

After all this talk about features, architecture and packaging, we finally get our first look at the EVGA GeForce GTX 280 Superclocked. The first thing that will stand out for you is probably the fact that the heatsink assembly looks very much like the one found on the 9800 GTX. However, there is more to it than what first meets the eye since the shroud hides a heatsink that has some serious cooling potential.

The fan assembly is decked out with EVGA’s usual panache for stylish graphics without going overboard into the area of gaudy with a predominantly black color scheme which is accented by a yellow and orange “spark” effect.


Many have been wondering about the size of this card and true to Nvidia tradition, the length stays the same as the 9800 GTX, 9800 GX2 and 8800 GTX at about 10.5”. Since the power connectors are pushed out to the side, the GTX 280 should have no trouble fitting into most ATX cases on the market.


Here we have something a little different from your standard run of the mill graphics card. Since the 1GB of onboard ran necessitates placement of ram modules on the back of the card, Nvidia has decided to cover the whole thing in one large heatsink. Without a doubt, this looks damn cool and kudos to EVGA for putting some graphics here as well so all your friends will know exactly what kind of badass graphics card you are running in your system.


Even though we mentioned that the heatsink looks similar to that of a 9800 GTX, the first hint that there is a different beast lying just below the surface comes with a look at the much larger fan which is used to draw in fresh air. Much like the assembly on the 8800 GTS 512MB, this rear portion of the GTX 280 is slightly vaulted so the fan clears the rearmost capacitors on the card.


While they may or may not have a functional use, the “shark fin” design on some portions of the GTX 280 looks great. It also seems to give a bit of flair to what is an otherwise very boxy looking card.


Since the power envelope of this card is about 236W when in stock form and quite a bit more when overclocked, it needs both the 8-pin and 6-pin power connectors plugged in. Luckily, this time Nvidia made it so 6+2 pin connectors would fit into the openings in the heatsink shroud.

Next to these power connectors is a small rubber-covered SPDIF port. This is used for cards that come with the optional audio connector which brings audio signals from your sound card to the GTX 280 which will then output the sound through the DVI to HDMI adaptor. Unfortunately, neither of these optional connectors were provided with this EVGA card.


The dual SLI connectors which are used for Tri-SLI are located below a plastic pull-out tab which pops off the side of the card. If you are running a pair of GTX 280 cards in SLI you will only need to use one of these connectors.

Much to our disappointment, the back of the GTX 280 is much like every other Nvidia card for the last several years with a pair of DVI-D connectors as well as the usual TV-out connector. There is no sign of a HDMI connector that we were hoping to see but I guess we can’t always get what we want…