14 DAY TRIAL // Though NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 480 has been the top-tier card on the market so far, as far as single-GPU adapters are concerned at least, it appears that the GTX 470 has gained more popularity than its older sibling. This can be seen from the significant number of custom cooling solution that have been created for this model, and by how Gainward has now again joined the crowd with the GTX 470 Golden Sample. This newcomer seeks to provide enthusiasts with an overclocking headroom higher than the one available on the stock model.
The Gainward GTX 470 GS is based on the GTX 470 GOOD Edition and has a longer printed circuit board (PCB), of 10.5 inches compared with the reference 9.5. Also, being equipped with a dual-slot 'hybrid' cooler, with a copper base, 6mm copper heatpipes and a pair of 80mm fans, it can run at higher clocks and still produce less heat.
To be more specific, the GF100 GPU works at 650MHz (607Mhz in stock), whereas the shaders and the 1280MB of GDDR5 operate at 1301MHz (1215MHz reference) and 3400MHz (3348), respectively. The number of CUDA cores (448) and the memory interface of 320 bits are unchanged.
Now come the elements that truly distinguish this new model from the fold. For one, extra connectivity options are available, with the full set including dual DVI outputs, HDMI 1.3a and a DisplayPort connector. The other major enhancement is the presence of low-ESR solid-state OS-CON capacitors. It is these capacitors that provide additional stability when experimenting with frequencies.
Gainward intends for this video controller to be used with the award-winning graphics tuning utility Expertool. This program gives end-users control over the fan speeds and clock rates and even features a fail-safe clock-down override, in case the owners' experiments end up generating too much heat. Unfortunately, the hardware maker did not provide pricing details.