14 DAY TRIAL // Even though the GeForce GTX 480 is the highest-end video board that NVIDIA has on sale right now, it seems to be getting a fair bit less attention than its sibling, the GTX 470. Most likely, it is because the latter is still quite powerful, albeit somewhat less power hungry and hot compared to the former. This, in turn, leads to a higher overclocking headroom, which enthusiasts are always interested in. Knowing this, multiple hardware makers showed off, or plan to create, specially modified models of the 470.
Gigabyte has now joined this movement, though nothing has been officially discussed. Tom's Hardware claims to have stumbled upon a picture of what the upcoming GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclock will look like, as well as part of the basic specification sheet. As the name suggests, it should have a wider set of clock tweaking and voltage modifying options, though the extent to which modifications will be possible remains unclear.
The sample board pictured has, of course, a blue printed circuit board (PCB). A 12-phase power design is implemented, which means that current should circulate more smoothly and in higher quantities. The memory interface and number of CUDA cores will remain the same as those on the reference card, at 320 bits and 448 cores respectively. This also goes for the video output options, represented by dual-DVI ports and a mini HDMI connector.
Unfortunately, the leak did not have any details on the GPU, shader and GDDR5 frequencies, although it did say that a factory overclock is certain. There was also no mention of the cooling mechanism that would end up strapped onto this creature. As for availability, speed lovers can look forward to a late summer launch. In the meantime, they can revise their finances and keep an eye, or ear, out for more leaks related to this adapter and competing models.