A few questions for recent GTX 280 owners

[Ninja Prime]

I was going to wait out the R700 but my trigger finger is getting itchy and I might get a GTX 280 instead. I have a few questions/concerns though:

1: Is the overheating problem that seems to be effecting like 50% of them fixed yet on recent cards?

2: Is the driver issue with not being able to display above 60hz on Vista fixed now?

3: Does anyone have a Corsair HX620 power supply and is running a GTX 280? If so, how does it work? From what I can tell, it can be done, but it requires a bunch of half-assery and converter connectors and I'm not sure I want to go that route.

4: Drivers in general, any crashes/instability?

5: Any specific board makers having lots of problems? I have a BFG 8800GTX OC right now, was thinking about going with them again as they seem respectable, thinking about getting the BFG GTX 280 OCX version, anyone have this?

Thanks.

[saturnotaku]

Originally Posted by Ninja Prime

1: Is the overheating problem that seems to be effecting like 50% of them fixed yet on recent cards?

It should be. The eVGA GTX 280 I initially bought was from the early batch that had problems. I did an RMA through eVGA directly, and the new card has been working fine. If you buy one online, there is still a chance that it could be one of the early units, so make sure you get it from someplace like Newegg that has a good return/exchange policy. Otherwise, hold on to your invoice and deal directly with the manufacturer.

2: Is the driver issue with not being able to display above 60hz on Vista fixed now?

Never heard of this. Are you talking in general, or is this about the 60 Hz thing that's been present since Windows 2000? I just tired 1024x768 @ 75 Hz and it worked fine.

3: Does anyone have a Corsair HX620 power supply and is running a GTX 280? If so, how does it work? From what I can tell, it can be done, but it requires a bunch of half-assery and converter connectors and I'm not sure I want to go that route.

The general rule of thumb is that you want to avoid using any sort of power adapter(s) with these cards. I have an OCZ GameXStream 600W, which has a 6- and 8-pin connection, and the card works great. If you don't have the proper power connections, you might want to consider investing in a newer PSU.

4: Drivers in general, any crashes/instability?

Biggest problem right now, aside from overheating, is the card throttling its speed in 3D applications for no apparent reason. We have a sticky on that issue here, and apparently NVIDIA is aware of the problem. A fix is allegedly on the way, but that was discussed a couple weeks ago. There are workarounds you can employ with RivaTuner.

5: Any specific board makers having lots of problems? I have a BFG 8800GTX OC right now, was thinking about going with them again as they seem respectable, thinking about getting the BFG GTX 280 OCX version, anyone have this?

Personally, I would go with an eVGA board because when you register the card, you can buy their advance RMA service. For about $10-19, you can get a replacement card shipped to you first, and eVGA will pay shipping to send the old/defective card back. I picked the standard overnight RMA, which I think was $17. When you submit an RMA, it takes a day or two for them to process and ship the replacement card, but that's still faster than you having to send in your card first and wait for them to ship a replacement. It was a pretty hassle free process, all things considered.

[nekrosoft13]

Originally Posted by Ninja Prime

I was going to wait out the R700 but my trigger finger is getting itchy and I might get a GTX 280 instead. I have a few questions/concerns though:

1: Is the overheating problem that seems to be effecting like 50% of them fixed yet on recent cards?

A lot of reported problems where just problemw with airflow, I had overheating problems before re-located one fan and temps dropped from 105c to 75c Max. There are some card that are really defective, just make sure you get one from a company with good warranty or store with good return policy.

2: Is the driver issue with not being able to display above 60hz on Vista fixed now?

Sorry have LCD, couldn't test.

3: Does anyone have a Corsair HX620 power supply and is running a GTX 280? If so, how does it work? From what I can tell, it can be done, but it requires a bunch of half-assery and converter connectors and I'm not sure I want to go that route.

technically it should, corsair PSU and some Cooler Master PSU are made by same comapny, some Cooler Master/Corsair PSU cause power spikes when they run close to max, causing hardware to fail. Just something to keep in mind.

4: Drivers in general, any crashes/instability?

everything ran like a dream when i had GTX 280, still might buy GTX 280.

5: Any specific board makers having lots of problems? I have a BFG 8800GTX OC right now, was thinking about going with them again as they seem respectable, thinking about getting the BFG GTX 280 OCX version, anyone have this?

just buy one from EVGA, BFG or other big brand that has lifetime warranty

[john19055]

I think you will be happy with the GTX-280 ,like most nvidia products ,but I can't help but wait for the 4870x2 2gig to come out .I think that will be a good deal.But you can;t go wrong with either of them IMO.

[nekrosoft13]

Originally Posted by john19055

I think you will be happy with the GTX-280 ,like most nvidia products ,but I can't help but wait for the 4870x2 2gig to come out .I think that will be a good deal.But you can;t go wrong with either of them IMO.

4870x2 will be a great card, just in my case not sure if that much power is nessesary.

4870x2 for 1gb buffer will cost 550, unless ati really want to hurt nvidia and really lower the price.

while gtx 280 right now is 450, GTX 280 performance is more then enough for me, so why not save a bit of cash.

[Monolyth]

Originally Posted by Ninja Prime

3: Does anyone have a Corsair HX620 power supply and is running a GTX 280? If so, how does it work? From what I can tell, it can be done, but it requires a bunch of half-assery and converter connectors and I'm not sure I want to go that route.

I am running GTX 280 w/a Corsair HX620 with no issues. My 620 came w/a 6-pin & 8-pin PCIe power connector.

Originally Posted by Ninja Prime

4: Drivers in general, any crashes/instability?

I've not see any issues yet.

[Ninja Prime]

Originally Posted by Monolyth

I am running GTX 280 w/a Corsair HX620 with no issues. My 620 came w/a 6-pin & 8-pin PCIe power connector.

Odd. Mine must be older, it only has two 6 pin connectors.

So even if I use a 2x6 pin to 8 pin converter, I don't have any 6 pin connectors left. They make a 2x4 pin to 6 pin converter too but I don't know if I want to go with all that wire mess and extra power cable loss, can't be good for the card or PS.

[nekrosoft13]

grab a new silverstone

[Monolyth]

Originally Posted by Ninja Prime

Odd. Mine must be older, it only has two 6 pin connectors.

I'm not sure if they are still doing it but if you owned an HX620 you could e-mail Corsair and request an 8-pin cable, you just pay for the S&H on the cable.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum...fm/800623.html - for more info.

[Ninja Prime]

Newegg just decided for me.

An email notification just popped up from them that said the BFG GTX 280 OCX was in stock and that they had a Corsair TX750w power supply for $100. Should be here on friday.

[SH64]

Well said Saturn .. thanks for the info!

[hemmy]

Originally Posted by nekrosoft13

technically it should, corsair PSU and some Cooler Master PSU are made by same comapny, some Cooler Master/Corsair PSU cause power spikes when they run close to max, causing hardware to fail. Just something to keep in mind.

You are on drugs, Corsair PSU's are amazing, Coolermaster PSUs are budget PSUs