Today we shall review Zotac GeForce GTX 480 1536MB and Zotac GeForce GTX 470 1280MB graphics cards, though we'll focus more on the latter which is going to be far more interesting to customers thanks to its more affordable price.

In brief, GeForce GTX 470 differs from GeForce GTX 480 by fewer unified processors (448 vs. 480), fewer TMUs, lower core and memory frequencies. That and a narrower memory bus (320-bit vs. 384-bit), so it also has less memory (1280MB vs. 1536MB).

Design

Zotac GeForce GTX 470 1280MB
GPU: GeForce GTX 470 (GF100) Interface: PCIe x16 GPU frequencies (ROPs/shaders): 607/1215 MHz (standard) Memory frequencies (physical (effective)): 840 (3360) MHz (standard) Memory bus: 320-bit Vertex processors: - Pixel processors: - Unified processors: 448 TMUs: 56 (BLF/TLF/ANIS) ROPs: 40 Dimensions: 270x100x33mm PCB color: black RAMDACs/TDMS: integrated into GPU Outputs: 2 x DVI (Dual-Link/HDMI), mini-HDMI VIVO: - TV-out: - Multi-GPU operation: Hardware SLI
Zotac GeForce GTX 480 1536MB
GPU: GeForce GTX 480 (GF100) Interface: PCIe x16 GPU frequencies (ROPs/shaders): 700/1400 MHz (standard) Memory frequencies (physical (effective)): 925 (3700) MHz (standard) Memory bus: 384-bit Vertex processors: - Pixel processors: - Unified processors: 480 TMUs: 60 (BLF/TLF/ANIS) ROPs: 48 Dimensions: 270x100x33mm PCB color: black RAMDACs/TDMS: integrated into GPU Outputs: 2 x DVI (Dual-Link/HDMI), mini-HDMI VIVO: - TV-out: - Multi-GPU operation: Hardware SLI

Zotac GeForce GTX 470 1280MB
1280MB GDDR5 SDRAM in 10 Hynix memory chips on the front side of the PCB. Peak clock rate 1000 (4000) MHz.
Zotac GeForce GTX 480 1536MB
1536MB GDDR5 SDRAM in 12 Hynix on the front side of the PCB. Peak clock rate 1000 (4000) MHz.

Comparison with the reference design, front view
Zotac GeForce GTX 470 1280MB	Reference card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480
Zotac GeForce GTX 480 1536MB

Comparison with the reference design, rear view
Zotac GeForce GTX 470 1280MB	Reference card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480
Zotac GeForce GTX 480 1536MB

Both graphics cards copy the reference design. The reference GeForce GTX 470 has a number of peculiarities compared to its higher-end counterpart. It's shorter, has a simpler power circuitry (and two 6-pin power connectors) and consumes up to 180W vs. 300W of GeForce GTX 480.

The PCB of GeForce GTX 470 is also simpler. Instead of using the more expensive PCB of GeForce GTX 480, NVIDIA created a custom design with a 320-bit bus and 10 memory chip seats. The cooler is also simpler, but we'll focus on that later.

As stated above, GeForce GTX 470 has two 6-pin power connectors. In turn, GeForce GTX 480 has one 8-pin and one 6-pin power connectors. The 8-pin connector may require an adapter.

These graphics cards have their own audio codecs and can transmit both video and audio via HDMI.

Also note that, working in SLI, both graphics cards can output video signal to three monitors simultaneously.

Maximum resolutions and frequencies:

• 240 Hz maximum refresh rate
• 2048 x 1536 x 32bit @ 85Hz max. via analog interface
• 2560 x 1600 @ 60Hz max. via digital interface (Dual-Link DVI/HDMI)

As for the HDTV support, a review is available here.

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