Official GeForce GTX 280 and GTX 260 reviews thread!

[Mr_LoL]

Edit

[slaWter]

the way i see it : if the gfx card can play Crysis @VH smoothly then i'll be safe with any other upcoming big title (Alan Wake , Project Offset , FarCry2 ..) , if not then i have to worry.

Crysis DX10/VH might be good for that, predicting game performance for future titles.
Otherwise a modified DX9 config is the way to go! Much better performance...

[K007]

hardocp is a good read. min fps comparisons show a complete different story, especially on cod4 min fps and age of conan...but i have to wonder if the 9800 gtx was 1gb....would it pull ahead...

[Uberpwnage]

vr-zone (http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/NVIDIA_GT200%3A_NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_280_1GB_Review/5881-1.html)

The 280 wins every benchmark at every resolution vs the GX2, only review so far with such results...

[K007]

Need all review sites to show min fps as well.

[nekrosoft13]

I personally dont understand alot of the Crysis results on the web. In my experience. And my GTX 280/260 SLIPreview (http://www.rage3d.com/previews/video/nvg2xx/index.php?p=1) the 9800GX2 ran out of memory at post 1600x1200 with AA enabled which severely hampered its performance in Crysis. I wonder if some time demos dont tell the whole story or what their timedemos are actually doing. At very high you cant even turn on AA at 1920x1080 with the 9800GX2 without it dropping to 3 FPS.

speaking of Rage3d review, they said this

Nvidia's recent buyout of Ageia puts them in an interesting position. Subsequent to the buyout, the Ageia API has been converted over to CUDA in a matter of months, versus the year and half Ageia took to write it all in Assembly. All Geforce cards since the 8 series include PhysX support. While no PhysX supported games are currently available, Nvidia demos presented many PhysX enabled software that should hit the scene in the coming year. Some of it looked very interesting and some impacted game play in such manner that the game just wouldn't have been the same without it. The PhysX API is compatible with XBox360, PS3, and the PC and it looks to ultimately have a positive influence on the gaming industry.

there are plenty of PhysX games on the market that worked with old Ageia cards. Does this mean that this new nvidia PhysX will only work with new games? no support for all the older games?

[ChrisRay]

That was a mistake on my part. I have to go through my editor to get it fixed and we havent had a chance. Currently. I'm not entirely sure. Nvidia owns the API for PhysX. But I only know of the demo'd games Nvidia showed at editors day running PhysX. None of the older PhysX supporting titles were included or Demo'd except an UT3 Mod which may also be exclusive to GPU physX. So those are the only games I am willing to comment on specifically. All of which were titles Nvidia was heavily influencing the introduction of GPU PhysX into. I have been trying to find out the answer to that very question but Nvidia has been slower than usual with responses due to how busy this launch has made them.


Chris

[MrHydes]

NEW DRIVERS
Forceware 177.35

* WHQL-certified for Windows Vista
* Adds support for GeForce GTX 280 and GeForce GTX 260 GPUs.
* Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI™ technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and OpenGL, including 3-way SLI Technology with GeForce GTX 280 and GeForce GTX 260 GPUs.
* Adds support for CUDA™ Technology.
* Adds beta support Folding@home distributing computing application.
* Supports HybridPower, a Hybrid SLI Technology, on the following GPUs and motherboards:
o GeForce GTX 280 GPU
o GeForce GTX 260 GPU
o nForce 780a SLI motherboards
o nForce 750a SLI motherboards
* Supports GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.
* Please read the release notes for more information on product support, features, and known compatibility issues.
* Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.

Windows Vista 32-bit - Here (http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_177.35_whql.html)
Windows Vista 64-bit - Here (http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x64_177.35_whql.html)
Windows XP 32-bit - Here (http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_177.35_whql.html)
Windows XP 64-bit - Here (http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp64_177.35_whql.html)


lets see now how they do...

[MikeC]

Need all review sites to show min fps as well.I collected the minimum frame rate, but didn't have time to assemble the information before the review went live. I am in the process of updating the review with minimim frame rate numbers and I'll post the results here as I complete each chart.

First 1920x1200 with no AA. The GeForce 280 GTX has an overall advantage of 26% here.

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/geforce_gtx_280/images/1920_1200_no_aa_min.png

1920x1200 with 4x AA. The GeForce 280 GTX leads by 56%.

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/geforce_gtx_280/images/1920_1200_4xaa_min.png

2560x1600 with no AA. The GeForce 280 GTX has an advantage of 51%.

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/geforce_gtx_280/images/2560_1600_no_aa_min.png

2560x1600 with 4x AA. Biggest bang for the buck as the GeForce 280 GTX leads by 99%.

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/geforce_gtx_280/images/2560_1600_4x_aa_min.png

Minimum frame rates from the GeForce 9800 GX2, which was reviewed back in March on the same system.

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/geforce_9800_gx2/images/benchmarks_min_fps.png

[MrHydes]

GTX 280 vs 8800 GTX only 26% ahead :thumbdwn:

can you try forceware 177.35 WHQL they're out there allready

Windows Vista 32-bit - Here (http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_177.35_whql.html)
Windows Vista 64-bit - Here (http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x64_177.35_whql.html)
Windows XP 32-bit - Here (http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_177.35_whql.html)
Windows XP 64-bit - Here (http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp64_177.35_whql.html)

thanks

[brady]

This card is being reviewed very poorly with respect to Crysis. I'm going through every review site that's has a link on the nvnews front page and charting the data in an excel spreadsheet. I'll post it tonight after work when it's finished. So far I've gone through 10 sites and charted data.

First of all, almost every site I've gone through so far is doing a horrible job at stating what the conditions are that Crysis is being tested at. Some say DX10 but fail to mention if it's running in VH or H. Some say VH but fail to mention if that's DX9 or 10. It's difficult to fill in the missing data because they're all using different benchmarks within the game. You just can't assume because they say DX10 that means VH. On the other hand, you can't assume because they say VH they mean DX10 VH. It's just a huge mess.

What's more, of the 10 sites I've charted so far only 4 of them even bothered testing Crysis in VH. Of those 4 that tested in VH only 2 of them mentioned that it was DX10 VH. Of those 2, one of them doesn't test the 280 against the GX2 and so you can't make a comparison. In short, there's only 1 site out of 10 that benches Crysis DX10 VH with results for both the 280 and the GX2, and in that review they use 16xAF which either doesn't work or disables DX10 displacement effects.

Is it really that difficult to report your settings and make clear comparisons?

[ChrisRay]

My Crysis results were run in DX 9.0 mode. And were benched as gameplay bench on the first level. Very High DX10 results were excluded because the 9800GX2/9800GTX could not complete the tests with AA enabled ((IE 2-3 FPS AVGes))

If you have any other question I'd be happy to answer them.

Chris

[MrHydes]

This card is being reviewed very poorly with respect to Crysis. I'm going through every review site that's has a link on the nvnews front page and charting the data in an excel spreadsheet. I'll post it tonight after work when it's finished. So far I've gone through 10 sites and charted data.

First of all, almost every site I've gone through so far is doing a horrible job at stating what the conditions are that Crysis is being tested at. Some say DX10 but fail to mention if it's running in VH or H. Some say VH but fail to mention if that's DX9 or 10. It's difficult to fill in the missing data because they're all using different benchmarks within the game. You just can't assume because they say DX10 that means VH. On the other hand, you can't assume because they say VH they mean DX10 VH. It's just a huge mess.

What's more, of the 10 sites I've charted so far only 4 of them even bothered testing Crysis in VH. Of those 4 that tested in VH only 2 of them mentioned that it was DX10 VH. Of those 2, one of them doesn't test the 280 against the GX2 and so you can't make a comparison. In short, there's only 1 site out of 10 that benches Crysis DX10 VH with results for both the 280 and the GX2, and in that review they use 16xAF which either doesn't work or disables DX10 displacement effects.

Is it really that difficult to report your settings and make clear comparisons?

yeah no to mention the drivers issue... i completely agree with that your right...
some don't even say wich drivers their using too...

and some don't even review against GX2 wich is clearly the first competitor of GTX 280

[spajdr]

Some 280GTX (SLI) tests from JethroBodine at 1900x1200 and 2560x1600, great min.fps improvements, at least in some games :)
http://endeavorquest.net:8880/GT200/index.htm

[brady]

My Crysis results were run in DX 9.0 mode. And were benched as gameplay bench on the first level. Very High DX10 results were excluded because the 9800GX2/9800GTX could not complete the tests with AA enabled ((IE 2-3 FPS AVGes))

If you have any other question I'd be happy to answer them.

Chris

Well, then I'd say the 280 doesn't have any competition in Crysis at it's highest settings (VH) in DX10 with AA. That's what we're all trying to run it at aren't we? But everyone seems to be testing the game at something else less than that and then declaring the GX2 the winner.

[MrHydes]

2x 4850 = GTX 280 KILLER

http://www.forumdeluxx.de/forum/showthread.php?t=500923


right now, ati looks to be a better choice, i have already sold my gtx 280!! hehe for a good amount of money, before they were released, i will either pick up 4850 crossfire on p5q3, or 4870 crossfire. (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3069048&postcount=2912)

[GitDat]

How much of a performance cut will I be taking installing a GTX 280 on a PCIe 1.0 motherboard slot?

[cvearl]

IMO, these guys put out a really fine review as well. they liked the card alot. They just thouhg it was kinda hot and loud was all they could think of as CONS...

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/7972-evga-geforce-gtx-280-1gb-superclocked-review.html

C.

[walterman]

Dunno if this has been posted, but here is a review of the GTX280 running the SSAA modes:

http://www.pcghx.com/aid,647812/Reviews/GT200_Review_Extreme_FSAA_benchmarks_and_overclock ing/

They compare the 8800Ultra vs the GTX280 running SSAA 2x2 + MSAA 4/8x. Also they compare the overclocked versions of the cards.

It's a good review for the users interested in running old games with SSAA.

[Blacklash]

You fellows my keep your ATi cards and their one AFR mode. Yes it will rock in some instances and I am not bothering with that headache. 512Mb interface with 1Gb ram is going to be a lot smoother even with lower FPS.

[G-Man]

http://www.abload.de/img/crysis4xaaql2.jpg

[Blacklash]

Here's a good article on the "Crysis" built in bench-

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ2MSw0LCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

[CaptNKILL]

How about Crysis at 1600x1200 with all very high settings, directX10 and no AA?

The game clearly isn't going to run decent with AA on any card for a very long time, so I don't know why people keep forcing it...

[GitDat]

The game clearly isn't going to run decent with AA on any card for a very long time, so I don't know why people keep forcing it...

+1

[brady]

+1

-1

I run Crysis at 1366x768 on my 720p HDTV. I bet I could easily run at 4xAA DX10 VH at that res with a 280. Anyway, what card is that screenshot from? Dual 4850s, dual 4870s or the 4870x2? If dual 4850s can get 22fps in DX10, VH at 1920x1200 then the 4870s and X2 are going to be even better. The X2 will probably end up costing around current 280 prices and if they've ironed out microstutters it's going to give the 280 some serious competition.