Official GeForce GTX 280 and GTX 260 reviews thread!

[slaWter]

Actually i think the best would be x48 motherboard with two HD 4870X2. Extremely fast system for much less money then 790SLI + SLI GTX280.

The X2 is still months away... it's not really an alternative.

[hell_of_doom227]

GTX280 is great card, but $650 is just too much. For SLI $1300, holy crap....

I think Nvidia lost perception for the market. I think 9800GTX+ is an answer for many of us including myself :)

[pizzaguy]

I think Nvidia lost perception for the market. I think 9800GTX+ is an answer for many of us including myself :)

That is probably the rout that I will take unless I can get a GTX 260 for around $350.00.

Its just not worth it to me any more to have the absolute best when the price is so high.

[methimpikehoses]

Hey pizzaguy.

[pizzaguy]

Hey pizzaguy.

Whats up.

[pizzaguy]

Get your 9800GTX for $199!!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130339&Tpk=9800gtx

[methimpikehoses]

Those 4850's for $199 ain't too bad either.

[pizzaguy]

Those 4850's for $199 ain't too bad either.

Thats true, some of the benches look good for it.

I just pulled the trigger though on the $199.99 EVGA GTX. My plan will be to use their step up program in a couple of months when the prices on the GTX 260 and 280 come down.

Its a win win for me the way I see it.

[methimpikehoses]

Not too bad... I might do that myself.

[pizzaguy]

Not too bad... I might do that myself.

You should man, just think.......in 2-3 months drivers for the GTX 260 and 280 will be much better and any other issues such as the current temp issue should be fixed. If we are luck we might even be able to step up to the 55nm GTX 280 or 260!

Thank goodness I resisted the temptation.

[pizzaguy]

These 9800GTX's overclock a good bit better than the 8800GT's right? I know it will probably not be much of an upgrade over what I have right now but thats not really my reasoning for getting this new card either.

I figure I would do best to get out of my 8800GT right now before the prices drop to much, I only paid $150.00 for it and knowing Ebay I will get every bit of that right back. LOL.

[methimpikehoses]

nvm - I'm almost biting.

[pizzaguy]

nvm - I'm almost biting.

dooooooooooo iiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttttt :)

[pizzaguy]

Ok I am seeing people that have hit 800mhz on the core without much trouble on this exact same 9800GTX. That will actually be a very nice bump over my 8800GT which maxes at 712 on the core.

I bet the shaders and mem go a lot higher too.

[SH64]

I like the idea of being able to see the percentage difference/advantage for each card compared to the others when you mouse over them in this computerbase review (http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/hardware/grafikkarten/2008/test_nvidia_geforce_gtx_280_sli/17/#abschnitt_gothic_3) .. pretty neat feature IMO! :thumbsup:

[Revs]

This one chart is enough to totally put me off. Unless they sort this with a driver these cards would be no good for me as I play FSX quite a bit. :(

http://media.bestofmicro.com/H/C/110784/original/image030.png

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-gtx-280,1953-15.html

[slaWter]

This one chart is enough to totally put me off. Unless they sort this with a driver these cards would be no good for me as I play FSX quite a bit. :(

http://media.bestofmicro.com/H/C/110784/original/image030.png

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-gtx-280,1953-15.html

FSX performance is the same as with the GX2 or 8800GTX (with 177.35 and .39) drivers.
No worries :) THG is still THG, pretty useless...

[Revs]

Good to know. So you're finding the card good with FSX?

[slaWter]

Good to know. So you're finding the card good with FSX?

Yeah. GPU is not really important anyway. FSX is heavily CPU limited.
But there's definitely no performance downgrade compared to other cards.

[SH64]

This one chart is enough to totally put me off. Unless they sort this with a driver these cards would be no good for me as I play FSX quite a bit. :(

http://media.bestofmicro.com/H/C/110784/original/image030.png

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-gtx-280,1953-15.html
Obviously driver issue ..

[brady]

Yeah. GPU is not really important anyway. FSX is heavily CPU limited.
But there's definitely no performance downgrade compared to other cards.

With the 280 and it's newer drivers you aren't seeing stuttering are you? I can't use any driver version above the 169.xxs with my 8800GTX without horrible FPS swings and bad stutters in FSX.

[CaptNKILL]

Yeah. GPU is not really important anyway. FSX is heavily CPU limited.
But there's definitely no performance downgrade compared to other cards.

What is it that makes a flight sim so CPU limited? I've never really understood that.

How can hundreds of AI soldiers in an RTS or dozens of bots in a first person shooter (with realistic physics) run at 80+ fps when Flight Simulators seem to be stuck in the 20s indefinitely?

How can they be THAT CPU heavy with a single object moving through the air?

If they are actually simulating the movement of air over the wings, I can see how that'd bring a decent CPU load... but looking back at the numbers, it still seems like a bit of a stretch to think that the fastest cpu on the market can barely manage 30fps average.

[slaWter]

With the 280 and it's newer drivers you aren't seeing stuttering are you? I can't use any driver version above the 169.xxs with my 8800GTX without horrible FPS swings and bad stutters in FSX.

I have some slowdowns but I'm not sure if it's really GPU/driver related. Could be the CPU overload while reloading some objects or something... It doesn't stutter all the time.
It's not really different now with the new card and drivers. Performance (including stuttering) is about the same as before.

CaptNKILL, it's not just the plane. Clouds, buildings, traffic, water. There's a lot to calculate in FSX. You should put that question in the FSX thread. I'm sure someone will have a better answer to your question ;) I'm just an FSX user, I don't know the game really well in its details.

[hell_of_doom227]

All these reviews are totally useless. No bench in 1280*1024 and 1600*1200.

[brady]

What is it that makes a flight sim so CPU limited? I've never really understood that.

How can hundreds of AI soldiers in an RTS or dozens of bots in a first person shooter (with realistic physics) run at 80+ fps when Flight Simulators seem to be stuck in the 20s indefinitely?

How can they be THAT CPU heavy with a single object moving through the air?

If they are actually simulating the movement of air over the wings, I can see how that'd bring a decent CPU load... but looking back at the numbers, it still seems like a bit of a stretch to think that the fastest cpu on the market can barely manage 30fps average.

FSX attempts to simulate real flight dynamics. So, yes, there's a lot of calculation going into wind speeds, resistence, air pressure, and other physical factors affecting flight. It's also calculating those things for any other AI planes you might have flying around. That's why you get such a big performance gain by turning off AI controlled aircraft.