Review- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 (Part 1): Specification and Features

It was only last week when NVIDIA introduced the GeForce GTX 550 Ti, the most affordable variant of their second-gen, DirectX 11 class Fermi GPU. Turn the clock back some more, and we have the GTX 580, a graphics card armed with one of the most powerful GPUs to date. Now, we have the GTX 590, which is basically two GTX 580s combined together on one board.
Now, imagine what would happen if this is done with two, high-end GTX 400 (the GTX 4470 or the GTX 480) GPUs. Those previous GPUs are so hot and power consuming on their own, it’s nearly irrational to put two of them on the same board. But that’s no longer the case with the GTX 500. Thanks to the revised architecture, it’s now possible to construct a double-GPU GTX 500 card without having the end product consume way too much power or generate enormous amount of heat. Otherwise, NVIDIA wouldn’t have bothered creating it in the first place.
So, here it is, the GeForce GTX 590, NVIDIA’s top of the line graphics card that is supposed to be their fastest offering. But what is it like exactly? Read on!

The GeForce GTX 590

Unboxing

Our GTX 590 sample shipped inside a metal ammunition box. Yes, literally, as you can see in the pictures below. The NVIDIA logo, along with a “top secret” writing, are spray-painted on the front and top side, while the seemingly serious ammo contents remark on the back side can just be ignored.

Inside, the graphics card, coated in anti-static wrapping, rest amidst some paper shreds that supposedly keep it safe from bumps and bruises. A USB flash drive in the shape of a dog tag was also found inside. This is a rather unique way to deliver a high-end graphics card. It sure made the GTX 590 stands out among the rest of the graphics card crowd here in our lab.

This unique “dog tag” is actually a USB flash drive.