Asus GeForce GTS 450 TOP Overclocking

Asus ENGTS450 Top Specifications

As we said, Asus has bumped the GPU core clock to 925MHz, which is an 18 per cent increase. The stream processor clock has been equalliy boosted from 1,566MHz to 1,850MHz. Asus has opted to put faster Samsung GDDR5 memory on the card too, swapping the standard 800MHz (3.6GHz effective) parts for faster 1GHz (4GHz effective) ICs instead. Obviously this partly accounts for the increase in cost and should give the card further overclocking headroom over and above a stock card: the usual GDDR5 overhead is around 200MHz extra.


The PCB has also received a redesign, and it sports 4+1 phase power for the GPU and memory respectively, rather than the 3+1 phase power of a standard GTS 450. There are some hefty chokes instead of the low profile ones often used on graphics cards.

Asus has also kitted out the Top's backside with 'POS Caps' that offer a 104mV lower ESR (electrical noise) than normal. Asus claims this gives better overclocking stability, although this is unfortunately an untestable factor.


Along the top side side of card, Asus has bolted on a PCB stiffener bracket (yes, that's a 'stiffener' on a Fermi card - Frankie Howerd would have a field day) to prevent the card from bending. This is because the Top's cooler is held on by just four screws around the GPU socket, versus the several across the PCB that would usually help spread the weight and brace the cooler during transport. The heatsink isn't that heavy by modern standards, as it boils down to two fat copper heatpipes attached to some thin aluminium fins. Evidently Asus feels the need to prevent the small solder joints cracking and to improve reliability.

Specifications

• Graphics Processor: Nvidia GeForce GTS 450 GF106
  
• Pipeline: 193 stream processors (1,850MHz), 16 ROPs
  
• Memory: 1GB GDD5 Samsung K4G10325FE-HC05 GDDR5, 4GHz effective
  
• Bandwidth: 64GB/sec, 128-bit interface
  
• Compatibility: DirectX 11, OpenGL 3.1
  
• Outputs/Inputs: 1 x DVI, 1 x D-sub 1 x HDMI, 1 x SLI
  
• Size: 218mm (8.5 inches) long, dual slot
  
• Power Connectors: 1 x 6-pin PCI-E, side-mounted
  
• Warranty: Two years