GTX 570 - out of the box

Well, I finally got this.
I've been waiting for GTX 670, but it was too expensive for me (~$400).
The next best thing was 660 or 660ti, but the rumor was there were too many 570 in stock, and until they are depleted nVidia wouldn't release 660.

I even saw someone saying there are over 120000 new 570s in market, so it'll take some time until we see 660. Also, because there are so many 570s waiting to be taken, there may be a deep price cut in near future.
Well, there may or may not be a price cut.

Anyhow, I noticed 570 is already getting cheaper, so I just bought one from Amazon.
It was $250 after $20 mail-in-rebate.

The box.

There are several variations of 570 out there, and I couldn't figure out what "HD" meant, and I don't really care. "DS" means "double shot" - it has 2 cooling fans.

Yes, 2 fans.

What's in the box.

Upper side. The bulge on the bottom of the card is a heat-pipe route.

See that heat-pipe? It supposedly draws heat from the cheap compared to the cooling-fin-alone type.

One thing I'm worried about is the side of the vent. Compared to other 570 models, this one has smaller exhaust vent.

The smaller exhaust vent may not be a serious problem, but until I put the side panel of the case back on, I can't be sure what the temperature will be (I'll show you what happened to the side panel later).

It requires 2x 6pin 12V power.

The card is installed. Because of the weight the right end is sagging a bit.

Since I opened up the case, I decided to replace the dust filter I put on there. My case (Corsair 600T) has one intake fan (shown in the bottom right in the previous picture) and 2 exhaust fans (one top and the other on the top left corner). Because the largest air intake through the intake fan, I figured I could put a dust filter there when I bought the case.
The filter is nothing but a sheet of Swiffer. You know that dust picker-upper thingy. See here.
It reduces the air flow a bit, but when it comes to the  dust filtering, it works like magic.

This is the Swiffer sheet only after 3 months of use. It it wasn't there, all that dust could have ended up in my computer.

This is the air intake.

Now it's covered with a clean sheet. I'll have to replace it in a few months, but this will keep inside clean.

Some may wonder why I care how much dust my computer collects inside. Well, usually the dust ends up on the cooling fins preventing effective heat transfer. So, the fan has to run faster making more noise. If you don't care about fan noise, I guess you don't care much, but I hate those fan noises.
Keeping the dust filter in the air intake keeps the computer clean and "QUITE"

Anyhow, if you're looking for a filtering material for your computer, consider Swiffer.

This is an exhaust fan I took out from my old Dell computer. It runs on 12V and I just realized the 4pin fan controller on the mobo supplies 5V. The fan is not running.

Yes, I've been looking for a better exhaust fan for the case and transplanted the case fan from my old Dell. Unfortunately the power supply on the mother board's 4pin connector is 5V. The airflow of the existing Corsair fan didn't provide satisfying airflow.

I ordered a new exhaust fan with good airflow from Newegg, and until I get it, I'll just leave my case open.