After having bought my 480 GTX from EVGA I recieved a (free) package from them today containing their new high flow 400 series bracket. It is supposed to lower operating temperatures by several degrees celcius. They are a breeze (that is a pun) to install.The new brackets for the cards are identical for all air cooled reference designed 400 series cards, to date. Anyone with an applicable card can order copies from them, even those who bought from other manufacturers. You can order from EVGA RIGHT HERE.Stephen

Stephen

Did you have to request this? I ordered my 480 thru new egg but EVGA delivered it straight from CA.

Did you have to request this? I ordered my 480 thru new egg but EVGA delivered it straight from CA.

Hi Scott,I bought my 480 GTX direct from EVGA through the step-up program, so they shipped the bracket to me free after I called them. If you bought through a retailer in Canada or the USA, then this is the link for you: EVGA ORDER FORM FOR NEW HIGH FLOW BRACKETIt will be free, but you will have to pay for the shipping fee. Hope this helps.Stephen

Hi Scott,I bought my 480 GTX direct from EVGA through the step-up program, so they shipped the bracket to me free after I called them. If you bought through a retailer in Canada or the USA, then this is the link for you: EVGA ORDER FORM FOR NEW HIGH FLOW BRACKETIt will be free, but you will have to pay for the shipping fee. Hope this helps.Stephen

Thanks for that Stephen. BTW thanks for all your posts and work. You have helps many of us. Cheers!

Stephen, I have a question for you regarding the step-up program. I'm considering going from the GTX470 to the 480. Does EVGA wait until they have your card before they ship the new one, or do thjey allow you to ship your old one to them as your new one is one the way? I guess what I'm really asking is, what's the turn around time? Did you feel the upgrade was worth it?

Thanks for that Stephen. BTW thanks for all your posts and work. You have helps many of us. Cheers!

Scott,You are most welcome my friend. I hope it has encouraged those who enjoy our hobby enough to participate to the fullest extent of their ability and affordable level of equipment acquisition and integration. <---- Gee that sounds good! I wonder what it means??? :( Stephen

Stephen, I have a question for you regarding the step-up program. I'm considering going from the GTX470 to the 480. Does EVGA wait until they have your card before they ship the new one, or do thjey allow you to ship your old one to them as your new one is one the way? I guess what I'm really asking is, what's the turn around time? Did you feel the upgrade was worth it?

Hi Mike,EVGA must receive your video card before they will ship out the new one. I was fortunate insofar as I still had my 275 GTX to use in the interim. They received my card on a Friday morning, shipped it on Monday and I had it on Thursday in Canada. Here is a link to their Step-up rules:EVGA STEP-UP PROGRAM QUIDELINESWas it worth going from the excellent 470 GTX to the excellent 480 GTX? I don't know, for the FSX performance difference in actual FPS is marginal at best, however the bigger brother has more in reserve, a lot more. My massively overclocked i7930 was able to use up all or most of the 470 GTX's capacity, whereas it only has enough computational speed to utilize 70% or so of the 480 GTX on average. The differences between the two are, as far as possible with my limited equipment and experience, objectively recorded here:DIRECT COMPARISON STATISTICS BETWEEN THE 275 GTX, 470 GTX and 480 GTXWould I do it again, perhaps not, for the 470 GTX really fit the rest of my system. If I had a faster CPU with more cores, I would certainly buy the 480 GTX in order to take advantage of it's additional capabilities. Am I glad to have done the step-up, I suppose, for now I know I have the best video card in the world, for the moment! Had I not did what I did, doing the stepup, I would likely have been dissatisfied, thinking I was missing out on something. That being said, the EVGA 480 GTX is a dream to own. Thanks for asking.I hope this helps.Stephen.PS: While I was writing this I just received a phone call that my new Mushkin 1600mhz cas 6 memory has arrived at the shop, so I am shutting down and going to get it, install it, and report back any operational difference between it and the Kingston HyperX 1600mhz @ 9 cas I presently have.

Stephen,Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I had no idea that EVGA had created a better vent.I would really be impressed if EVGA was giving it away to their customers. I spent enough on my gtx 480 card.For $10 maybe it might help reduce heat on some gtx 480 cards.

Stephen,Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I had no idea that EVGA had created a better vent.I would really be impressed if EVGA was giving it away to their customers. I spent enough on my gtx 480 card.For $10 maybe it might help reduce heat on some gtx 480 cards.

Hi,Be Impressed,You don't have to pay $10.00 for yours since you have an EVGA 480 GTX. Yours will be free and all you pay for is the shipping of $4.95 for Fedex delivery (for USA and Canada) at this URL address: HIGH FLOW BRACKETS FOR EXISTING EVGA 400 SERIES VIDEO CARD REGISTERED OWNERSI got mine for free presumably because I did not buy my 480 GTX from a retailer, but directly through them in the EVGA Step-up Program.In any case, they probably are not making money on them but just trying to better serve their customers.

Stephen, Thanks for your reply. It was very helpful towards making a decision whether to upgrade or not.

Stephen,Thank your for the heads up on the new bracket. Got one on the way. ;)Bob

Thanks for the heads up on the bracket, on average how much of a temperature difference have you noticed?

Thanks for the heads up on the bracket, on average how much of a temperature difference have you noticed?

There are a lot of different answers people have given, but on the EVGA forums the claims run from 3 to 6 degrees celcius. One benchmarker claims only 1 degree celcius change, but the routine used devalue the test IMHO. I have not carefully tested but I would guess at 4 or 5 degrees C lower for me. Here is a report that looks quite credible:EVGA BRACKET TESTStephen

Just to add a little to the discussion for those not part of the EVGA step-up program (thanks again Stephen for the heads up).I ordered my 480 thru newegg.ca (it was delivered directly from EVGA in CA). I subsequently created an account with EVGA to register my 480 which included submitting a copy of my invoice (jpg). By logging on to the EVGS page and following Stephen's link, I was able to get a bracket on its way.

Stephen,Thanks again!