Nvidia's GeForce GTX 580 graphics card is the fastest single-GPU graphics card we have ever tested. Nvidia's response to rival AMD at the high-end DirectX 11 graphics card market came a little bit late, but we feel that the GTX 580 finally allows Nvidia to look AMD into the eyes. Compared to the previous GTX 480, the GTX 580 is based on the GF110 GPU, it has a more-complete architecture allied to higher clocks, making it plain faster in games by almost 15%. And this performance comes at a similar power-draw due to the better cooler that is also quieter. Available for $499 +VAT, (€479 Euro, £399), the GTX 580 is available at a matching price point compared to the GTX 480. With all these in mind, we think that the GTX 580 could be a winning product for Nvidia if it had been released half a year earlier.

This does not mean that the GTX 580 is not a great card. Actually, it is possibly the highest performing single-GPU card available today - at least before AMD come out with its Cayman GPUs (HD 6970 ). For now, the GTX 580 is almost as fast as the latest dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970 while it leaves the single-GPU Radeon HD 5870 to the dust. The question is whether getting the GTX 580 is a better option than choosing a - possibly cheaper - multi-GPU setup. Well, it's up to you... if you you have a board capable of supporting a pair of 6870s and don’t mind the extra power it’s hard to go wrong, but only if you’re willing to put up with the limitations of a multi-GPU setup.

Today we tested the Inno3D GTX 580 OC graphics card. Smartly enough, Inno3D overclocked the card offering a small performance advantage compared to stock implementations, and also a performance boost that was enough to position the GTX 580 OC closer to multi-GPU cards in terms of performance under specific game titles. On the other hand, the factory overclocked Inno3D GTX 580 OC did not leave us many options for further overclocking. We managed to push the card's core to 840MHz, the memory clock to 2212MHz and the shaders to 1680MHz. That could be considered as a decent overclock for a range-topping model but overclockers could find it more enjoyable to play with stock clocks.

On the weak side, we could only mention the lack of audio bit streaming though the card's mini-HDMI port as well as the fact that you will still need two cards in order to enjoy the Nvidia's 3D Vision Surround.

At $500 the GTX 580 is pricey but that's always the case for the high-end market. We appreciate Nvidia's efforts and technology put into the GTX 580, while we welcome Inno3D's decision to factory-overclocked Inno3D GTX 580 OC to the market. With the GTX 580, Nvidia made a step forward offering a great replacement for its GTX 480 and a product that raises the bar when it comes to single GPU performance.