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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Rev. 2

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Rev. 2: The Resurrection of a Legend in the Era of Modern Technologies

Analysis of the Graphics Card for Gamers and Enthusiasts in 2025

Introduction

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 is an iconic model from the 2010s, known for its performance on the Fermi architecture. In 2025, the company surprised fans by releasing the GTX 580 Rev. 2 — a reincarnation featuring modern technologies. This card is positioned as a budget solution for gamers and users who do not require top-tier RTX options. Let’s explore what this GPU is capable of and who it is suitable for.

1. Architecture and Key Features

Architecture: NVIDIA Ampere Lite

The GTX 580 Rev. 2 is built on a simplified version of the Ampere architecture, which was previously used in the RTX 3000 series. This allowed for a cost reduction while maintaining decent performance.

- Process Technology: 8-nm Samsung (similar to RTX 3050).

- CUDA Cores: 2560 (30% less than RTX 3060).

- Unique Features:

- Support for DLSS 3.0 via software emulation (without hardware Tensor Cores).

- FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR 3.0) from AMD — a cross-platform alternative for increasing FPS.

- Absence of RTX Accelerators — ray tracing is processed via CUDA, which reduces its effectiveness.

2. Memory: Fast, but Not Revolutionary

- Memory Type: GDDR6 (not GDDR6X).

- Capacity: 12 GB — surprisingly generous for a budget card.

- Bus: 192-bit (bandwidth — 336 GB/s).

Impact on Performance:

- 12 GB is sufficient for gaming at 1440p and 4K with high textures, but the narrow bus limits speed at 4K.

- In synthetic tests (e.g., 3DMark Time Spy), the card scores ~8500 points, which is close to the RTX 3060 (8900 points).

3. Gaming Performance

1080p (Full HD):

- Cyberpunk 2077 (Ultra, no RT): 65–70 FPS (with FSR 3.0 — up to 90 FPS).

- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare V: 110 FPS.

- Starfield: 55 FPS (high settings).

1440p (2K):

- Requires activation of FSR/DLSS for comfortable gaming:

- Hogwarts Legacy: 45 FPS → 60 FPS with FSR 3.0.

- Forza Horizon 6: 75 FPS (high settings).

4K:

- Only for less demanding titles:

- CS2: 120 FPS.

- Fortnite (high settings + FSR): 60–70 FPS.

Ray Tracing:

- Enabling RT reduces FPS by 40–60% (e.g., Cyberpunk 2077 with RT Medium — 25 FPS). For RT, it’s better to check out RTX cards.

4. Professional Tasks

- Video Editing: In Premiere Pro, rendering a 4K video takes 20% longer compared to RTX 4060.

- 3D Modeling: In Blender (using CUDA), rendering a medium scene takes ~15 minutes versus 10 minutes for RTX 3060.

- Scientific Calculations: OpenCL and CUDA support make the card suitable for basic machine learning, but the lack of Tensor Cores limits performance.

Summary: The GTX 580 Rev. 2 is an option for novice professionals, but for serious work, RTX cards with AI accelerators are preferable.

5. Power Consumption and Heat Generation

- TDP: 180 W — lower than RTX 4070 (200 W).

- Cooling:

- The reference version is equipped with two 90mm fans.

- Temperatures under load: 75–80°C (maximum — 85°C).

- Recommendations:

- A case with 3–4 fans for ventilation.

- Avoid compact cases (Mini-ITX) — overheating may occur.

6. Comparison with Competitors

AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT:

- Pros:

- Native support for FSR 3.0.

- Better optimized for 4K.

- Cons:

- Only 8 GB GDDR6.

- Price: $300 vs. $270 for GTX 580 Rev. 2.

Intel Arc A770:

- Pros:

- 16 GB GDDR6.

- Good support for DX12 Ultimate.

- Cons:

- Drivers are still unstable.

Conclusion: The GTX 580 Rev. 2 wins on the price-to-memory balance, but loses optimization for 4K.

7. Practical Tips

- Power Supply: At least 550 W (recommended 650 W for headroom).

- Compatibility:

- PCIe 4.0 x16 (backward compatible with 3.0).

- Support for Windows 11 and Linux (drivers 555.xx+).

- Drivers:

- "Game Ready" mode automatically optimizes settings for new projects.

- Avoid beta versions — possible issues with DLSS emulation.

8. Pros and Cons

✅ Pros:

- Affordable price ($270).

- 12 GB of memory for texture work.

- Good performance at 1080p/1440p.

❌ Cons:

- Weak ray tracing support.

- Narrow memory bus for 4K.

- Lack of dedicated AI cores.

9. Final Conclusion: Who Is the GTX 580 Rev. 2 For?

This graphics card is an ideal choice for:

1. Gamers with 1080p/1440p monitors who want to play at high settings without paying a premium for RTX.

2. Budget PC builders: Price-to-performance ratio is comparable to 2022–2023 standards.

3. Novice editors and designers: 12 GB of memory and CUDA support will simplify work in Adobe Suite or Blender.

Alternatives: For those needing RTX or 4K — consider the RTX 4060 ($330) or RX 7700 XT ($350).

Conclusion

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Rev. 2 is a successful example of a classic reincarnation. It does not aim to be a flagship but offers balanced performance at a reasonable price. In a world where GPU prices continue to rise, this model serves as a reminder that technology can be accessible.

Basic

Label Name

NVIDIA

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

June 2011

Model Name

GeForce GTX 580 Rev. 2

Generation

GeForce 500

Bus Interface

PCIe 2.0 x16

Transistors

3,000 million

TMUs

Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) serve as components of the GPU, which are capable of rotating, scaling, and distorting binary images, and then placing them as textures onto any plane of a given 3D model. This process is called texture mapping.

Foundry

TSMC

Process Size

40 nm

Architecture

Fermi 2.0

Memory Specifications

Memory Size

1536MB

Memory Type

GDDR5

Memory Bus

The memory bus width refers to the number of bits of data that the video memory can transfer within a single clock cycle. The larger the bus width, the greater the amount of data that can be transmitted instantaneously, making it one of the crucial parameters of video memory. The memory bandwidth is calculated as: Memory Bandwidth = Memory Frequency x Memory Bus Width / 8. Therefore, when the memory frequencies are similar, the memory bus width will determine the size of the memory bandwidth.

384bit

Memory Clock

1002MHz

Bandwidth

Memory bandwidth refers to the data transfer rate between the graphics chip and the video memory. It is measured in bytes per second, and the formula to calculate it is: memory bandwidth = working frequency × memory bus width / 8 bits.

192.4 GB/s

Theoretical Performance

Pixel Rate

Pixel fill rate refers to the number of pixels a graphics processing unit (GPU) can render per second, measured in MPixels/s (million pixels per second) or GPixels/s (billion pixels per second). It is the most commonly used metric to evaluate the pixel processing performance of a graphics card.

24.70 GPixel/s

Texture Rate

Texture fill rate refers to the number of texture map elements (texels) that a GPU can map to pixels in a single second.

49.41 GTexel/s

FP64 (double)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy, while single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

197.6 GFLOPS

FP32 (float)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

1.613 TFLOPS

Miscellaneous

SM Count

Multiple Streaming Processors (SPs), along with other resources, form a Streaming Multiprocessor (SM), which is also referred to as a GPU's major core. These additional resources include components such as warp schedulers, registers, and shared memory. The SM can be considered the heart of the GPU, similar to a CPU core, with registers and shared memory being scarce resources within the SM.

Shading Units

The most fundamental processing unit is the Streaming Processor (SP), where specific instructions and tasks are executed. GPUs perform parallel computing, which means multiple SPs work simultaneously to process tasks.

512

L1 Cache

64 KB (per SM)

L2 Cache

768KB

TDP

244W

Vulkan Version

Vulkan is a cross-platform graphics and compute API by Khronos Group, offering high performance and low CPU overhead. It lets developers control the GPU directly, reduces rendering overhead, and supports multi-threading and multi-core processors.

N/A

OpenCL Version

1.1

OpenGL

4.6

DirectX

12 (11_0)

CUDA

2.0

Power Connectors

1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin

Shader Model

5.1

ROPs

The Raster Operations Pipeline (ROPs) is primarily responsible for handling lighting and reflection calculations in games, as well as managing effects like anti-aliasing (AA), high resolution, smoke, and fire. The more demanding the anti-aliasing and lighting effects in a game, the higher the performance requirements for the ROPs; otherwise, it may result in a sharp drop in frame rate.

Suggested PSU

550W

Benchmarks

FP32 (float)

Score

1.613 TFLOPS

Compared to Other GPU

FP32 (float) / TFLOPS

Tesla M10

1.705 +5.7%

Radeon R7 360

1.645 +2%

GeForce GTX 580 Rev. 2

1.613

GeForce GTX 770M

1.561 -3.2%

Quadro M1200 Mobile

1.498 -7.1%