GTX 490 throws down to 5970

Behind closed doors at Computex, nVidia is likely to be showing its most important partners a very serious piece of new kit. The GTX490. Remember when the 7950 GX2 was considered power-hungry for pulling 110w in 3D testing?  Looking back at that era, it seems that ATI and nVidia just weren't trying hard enough.

As we continue to look under the rocks in Taiwan, more interesting information about nVidia’s new high-end card has come to light. To be honest, water-damage and exposure to UV rays means the ink has run in places and we’re looking at this document over a weak video link, but we’re pretty sure that the key info is intact. Question remains: Is it accurate?

Firstly, it shows that the GTX490 is a dual-GPU card.  We gathered that.

It’s likely to use the Fermi GTX470 processors, but we’re unable to confirm the exact clocks etc.

GTX490’s power draw looks to be around 375w.

Given that the GTX470 is a 215w part when shipped on its own PCB, there would appear to be some serious down-clocking in action.

We know from the big notebook manufacturers that nVidia sells GTX chips that can run on as little as 100 watts (if you have plenty of spare money and can wait for them to be speed binned).

The key question won’t be “Can the GTX490 beat the original 2GB Radeon HD 5970?”.

The actual question will be “Can GTX490 beat the new 4GB Radeon HD 5970?”.

KitGuru says: Like watching a 20 year old Mike Tyson looking to re-unify the heavyweight belts, we just can’t wait for these boyz to get into the ring and knock seven shades of crap out of each other!

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