Taipei, Taiwan, 4 November, 2010 – GIGABYTE, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, introduces a powerful new addition to its Super Overclock Series: GTX 480 SOC (GV-N480SO-15I). To qualify for Super Overclock Series, a GPU must go through GIGABYTE’s innovative GPU Gauntlet™ Sorting process and it must be equipped with Ultra Durable VGA or VGA+ boards. Designed specifically for overclocking competition and gaming battle, GIGABYTE’s secret weapon GTX 480 Super Overclock Edition is built with NVDIA GeForce GTX 480 GPU. Based on 40nm processor and advanced GDDR5 memory technology, the powerful new GPU consists of ground-breaking features including Microsoft DirectX® 11 and NVIDIA PhysX™ which lead to incredibly immersive HD gaming experience and unrivaled performance. To satisfy hardcore gamers and extreme overclockers, GV-N480SO-15 is especially designed with GIGABYTE Extreme Dual BIOS technology. GV-N480SO-15I also features WINDFORCE™ 3X, 14 phase PWM design, OC Guru graphic card smart tuner and voltage read point.

GIGABYTE Extreme Dual BIOS technology

As opposed to the traditional concept of dual BIOS chips where one is a main BIOS and the other one is a backup BIOS, GIGABYTE Extreme Dual BIOS technology contains two different BIOS chips designed for separate purposes. GIGABYTE Extreme Dual BIOS technology supports one-touch dual BIOS switching button to shift between two BIOSes, SOC (Super Overclock Series) Default BIOS and LN2 BIOS. SOC Default BIOS allows gamers to build their dream machines to conquer digital battles on the web. LN2 BIOS is especially designed for overclockers to avoid potential cold bug* issues at extremely low temperatures. This feature equips selective GIGABYTE Super Overclock Series for extreme overclockability to break world records at any competitions.

*The “cold bug” is an issue occurred when a processor ceases functioning or overclocking at a low (usually sub zero) temperature, preventing the use of extreme cooling methods such as dry ice or liquid nitrogen.

WINDFORCE™ – GIGABYTE’s Latest Cooling Solution

GIGABYTE introduces WINDFORCE™, the latest cooling technology that differentiates the brand’s graphics cards from the rest. GIGABYTE understands that a fan is crucial to the graphics card, so only the fan with the most efficiency is selected for WINDFORCE™. To qualify for WINDFORCE™, the cooling solution must be equipped with anti-turbulence inclined-fin, ultra quiet PWM fan and pure copper heat pipe. Inclined-fins redirect airflow and help to reduce excessive heat and turbulence. Depending on its orientation, there are 3 types of inclined-fin designs: parallel-inclined, mirroring-inclined and 3D-inclined. Each type contributes to generating excellent exterior airflow for efficient heat dissipation from the interior GPU core.

WINDFORCE™3X: Anti-turbulence Cooling

GV-N480SO-15I is equipped with WINDFORCE™ 3X cooling solution. WINDFORCE™ 3X features 3 ultra quiet PWM fans. The special 3D-inclined triple-fan design effectively minimizes the flow of turbulence between three fans. With a unique vapor chamber, WINDFORCE™ 3X is able to transfer heat from the hot spot to the cool spot as thermal energy becomes evaporated to the surrounding air. By capillary action, the condensed liquid droplets circulate back to the base of chamber. The cycles of evaporation and condensation enhance heat dissipation for greater cooling efficiency. Moreover, WINDFORCE™ 3X is equipped with three copper heat pipes to strengthen the speed of heat dissipation.

Pure Power Architecture

GV-N480SO-15I has incredibly pure power. It is compatible with ATX standard length PCB. 14 phase PWM design includes 12 for GPU, 2 for memory. Standard GTX 480 graphics card has 6+2 power phases whereas GIGABYTE’s GTX 480 SOC has 12. Not only does GV-N480SO-15I have more power phases than reference card, the 12 power phase status LED indicators indicate graphics card’s current power phase, helping users monitor power consumption. This feature ensures a more stable system and better overclocking capability.

GPU Gauntlet™ Sorting

GIGABYTE’s very own GPU Gauntlet™ Sorting process is the key to the best GPUs for Super Overclock Series. A GPU must pass a sequence of tests to be selected. This unique process offers three major advantages. First, full-throttle performance tuning improves overclocking ability by at least 10% to 30%. Second, optimized thermal efficiency lowers extra temperatures by 5% to 10%. Fan speed is guaranteed at standard rpm in high-rated 3D and physics-accelerated games to reduce noise for an absolutely quiet environment. Lastly, expert power switching lowers power switching loss by 10% to 30%. With GPU Gauntlet™ Sorting, GIGABYTE SOC graphics card guarantees higher overclocking ability.

Ultra Durable VGA+

Thanks to Ultra Durable VGA+ that features 5+1 quality components, the Super Overclock Series supports top performance in graphics benchmarking. GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA+’s 5 units of proadlizer on GV-N480SO-15I graphics cards is able to provide purer power supply compared to traditional power design (zero proadlizers).

Proadlizer®

One of the quality components of Ultra Durable VGA+ is GIGABYTE’s exclusive use of proadlizers. On GV-N480SO-15I graphics cards, GIGABYTE uses five NEC Proadlizer®, also known as film capacitor, to provide amazing current capacity and extremely low ESL/ESR for super overclocking ability. The added proadlizers transmit more stable power even during heavy loading.

OC Guru – Graphic Card Smart Tuner

GIGABYTE proudly improves its graphics card smart tuner OC Guru. This graphics card tweaking utility puts together the best combination of software/hardware overclocking. It now features 3 profiles: OC (for overclocking mode), Gaming (for gaming mode), and Green (for power saving mode). The different modes cater to users’ different needs. GIGABYTE’s distinctive adjustable software offers gamers to adjust tuners for memory, voltage, and fan speed. OC Guru, the user-friendly software, gives hardcore gamers liberty when overclocking.

Voltage Read Point

GIGABYTE’s specific voltage read point supplies hardcore gamers an ultimate benching experience at overclocking competition. Heavy users can change the voltage simply through software instead of manually adjusting any components on PCB. It is easy for overclockers to master the platform and monitor GPU workload at any time just through voltage read point.

The GIGABYTE Super Overclock Series includes HD 5770, GTX470, GTX460 and GTX480. For more details about the Super Overclock Series, please visit the GIGABYTE VGA website at: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/main.aspx?s=43

GIGABYTE SOC: http://www.gigabyte.com/MicroSite/72/index.html

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