Asus ENGTX580 DirectCU II

The GTX 580 is Nvidia's flagship single-GPU graphics card, capable of playing virtually any game on any single monitor at high frame rates, and critics report that the Asus ENGTX580 DirectCU II is the best of the bunch. Experts say the card's slight overclock doesn't add much to the graphical performance, but tests show that Asus' DirectCU II custom cooling solution runs much quieter than normal -- even quieter than a GTX 560 Ti, in fact -- and keeps the card about 5 degrees Celsius cooler than stock GTX 580s. The downsides to all that quiet power are the card's high price and the gargantuan size of its cooling system; the Asus takes up three PCI-E slots, and critics say you should leave a fourth open to give the fans room to shed hot air. If you're looking for even better graphical chops and power/thermal levels in a two-slot package, experts recommend the XFX R7950 Double Dissipation Black Edition (*Est. $500) instead.

Asus assists troubled customers via chat, email or phone, but customers report that the service is lacking. To be fair, all graphics card manufacturers have the same problem. One bright side is the warranty, which covers video cards for three years from the date of manufacture based on its serial number, so you aren't in trouble if you lose your store receipt.

A number of sources cover stock GTX 580 graphics cards, but only XBitLabs.com, HardOCP.com and TechPowerUp.com evaluate the Asus ENGTX580 DirectCU II specifically. All three reviews are lengthy and full of benchmark tests, providing plenty of information about the card's capabilities.