It's a lose - lose situation: GTX 480

[adrencg]

I had nothing but weird system problems with my 480, and sent it back. I'm on the verge of trying the 580, and hopefully it will work out better.

What OS and 3D package are you using?

Be sure to post your experience with 580, I'm interested if the 5xx series has the same problems as 4xx.

Windows 7 + XSI

There were no performance issues. The card functioned great and was unbelievably fast for Octane. But, it would randomly cause my system to freeze -- really hard. My system has never frozen until I put that 480 in. Once I went back to the 280 everything worked.

I will let you know how the 580 works, but I'm waiting for Octane to update first before I buy it.

[Rogue]

There were no performance issues. The card functioned great and was unbelievably fast for Octane. But, it would randomly cause my system to freeze -- really hard. My system has never frozen until I put that 480 in. Once I went back to the 280 everything worked.

After reading about similar issues in several related forums, I feel that the 480 might have some problems with certain mainboards (x58 seems to cause problems). It's very strange, though: some people say they do not experience any problems with their 4xx cards in either Maya or Max. Or are they unaware of the problems due to the low performance of their previous card, or are they using simple scenes only? On the other hand, even "Autodesk certified" Dell workstations with the 4xx-s are having trouble running Max properly. But Autodesk and Nvidia still remain silent.

It's all very confusing.

[adrencg]

As I've reported in another thread somewhere on this board, the 580 is working out great overall. A little faster, much quieter and cooler -- and doesn't hang my system.