EVGA GTX 580 FTW Hydro Copper 2 Review

Once you've been bit by the enthusiast bug, a funny thing happens. Graphics cards are never fast enough. Processors will never be too powerful. And motherboards will never have too many features. Manufacturers continue to push the envelope and make enthusiast level products because of demand. Along with the goal of being the best in their respective markets, many hardware companies continue to improve their product line up to stay competitive, while also offering consumers options at different price points and performance levels. 

Located in Brea, California, EVGA has a solid reputation in the industry. Their customer service support is top notch with an exclusive Step-up Program and lifetime warranties on many products. As an NVIDIA add in board (AIB) partner, EVGA regularly modifies reference design models in order to accommodate consumers who desire products that perform faster, run cooler, and operate with less noise. In general, they achieve this by aggressively binning GPUs to provide factory overclocked options and substituting the stock cooler with an advanced aftermarket solution. 

EVGA GTX 580 FTW Hydro Copper 2 Videocard

The EVGA GTX 580 FTW Hydro Copper 2 is made for a specific type of enthusiast. It comes with a custom, pre-installed water block that eliminates two of the biggest concerns associated with high end graphics cards: heat and noise. When interconnected to a liquid cooling loop, the HC2 makes no sound and operates at relatively frigid temperatures. The lower operating conditions inherently lead to increased overclocking ability and the performance edge that goes along with it. Keep reading as we install this monster in our liquid cooled test bed to see how fast it can really go.    

EVGA GeForce GTX 580 FTW Hydro Copper 2

Specifications and Features

Core Clock	850 MHz
Memory Clock	1049 / 4196 MHz (Clock Rate / Effective Rate)
Shader Clock	1700 MHz
CUDA Cores	512
Total Memory	1536 MB GDDR5
Memory Interface	384 bit
Memory Bandwidth	201.4 GB/s
Output Connectors	1 x Mini-HDMI, 2 x Dual Link DVI-I connectors
Key Features	Microsoft DirectX 11 Support NVIDIA CUDA C/C++, DirectCompute 5.0, OpenCL Support NVIDIA PhysX Technology NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology NVIDIA 2-way, 3-way, 4-way SLI Ready NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround Ready OpenGL 4.1 Support Dual Link DVI-I HDCP Capable One Mini-HDMI 1.4a Connector
Power Requirements	1 x 6 pin , 1 x 8 pin PCI-E power connectors Minimum 600 Watt power supply
Dimensions	Height - 4.376 in / 111.15 mm Length - 10.5 in / 266.7 mm Weight - 3 lbs Single slot form factor
Warranty	Limited Lifetime Warranty Must register within 30 days
Price	$699

Let's get this out of the way first. The GTX 580 FTW HC2 is really expensive. While it's not the most expensive consumer gaming card out there (Asus HD 5970 Ares 4GB sells for $1099), buying the HC2 will leave a considerable hole in your wallet. But if you're seriously interested in this card, it's a safe bet that price is not the deciding factor in your purchasing decision. There are plenty of mainstream models that offer better bang for your buck. This card targets the ultra high end of the market and was designed for the handful of enthusiasts that want no comprimise solutions.

With that said, the Hydro Copper 2 delivers the highest clock speeds of any GeForce GTX 580 in the market. Since the 580 is the flagship card from NVIDIA, the HC2 is currently the fastest GeForce video card available. At 850MHz core, 1700MHz shader, and 1049MHz memory, it's rated well beyond reference specifications (772MHz core / 1002MHz memory). We can't wait to see just how well this baby performs, but first let's look at the details of the card and what comes in the box. 
source:hothardware.com