NVIDIA says it will win back performance leadership this year

[Villa]

OpenGL 3.0 was a still birth, no game developer is going to use it. Just go on over to the OpenGL site and read the comments from developers.

[Ninja Prime]

Originally Posted by namuk

me self am going to get a 280 this down to considerabley less power draw and runs alot cooler and nowing i can run me back log of games i have not played yet

That's just stupid and fanboyish. Anyone who gave two sh!ts about power use or how cool things run wouldn't buy a 280, period. Stop trying to justify things with fake logic and excuses.

Here, let me help:

"HAY GUYZ, IMA BUY AN NVIDIA CARD BECAUSE I LIKES TEH NVIDIA."

Much easier.

[gstanford]

My take on this is that its silly/unfair to compare a single gpu product to a multi gpu product, regardless of whether the multi gpu product is nvidia's own (9800 GX2) or the competition (4870 X2).

I currently a have a SLI 8800GTX based system, and I certainly wouldn't judge GTX280 against SLI'd 8800GTX's, however I will against a single 8800GTX.

FWIW, I'm just about to update to two GTX280's, in SLI, just need to decide between stock GTX280's (probably Zotac) or factory overclocked (Inno3d 650 core / 2.28 mem).

IMO, anyone who wants to compare a multi gpu solution to GTX 280 must also consider GTX 280 in a SLI configuration. I'm willing to bet that I know who will come out the winner between GTX280 SLI and 4870 X2.

[namuk]

Originally Posted by Ninja Prime

That's just stupid and fanboyish. Anyone who gave two sh!ts about power use or how cool things run wouldn't buy a 280, period. Stop trying to justify things with fake logic and excuses.

Here, let me help:

"HAY GUYZ, IMA BUY AN NVIDIA CARD BECAUSE I LIKES TEH NVIDIA."

Much easier.

lol i take it your not paying the bills then . stop SPUNGING off you parents lol

[azanon]

Originally Posted by gstanford

My take on this is that its silly/unfair to compare a single gpu product to a multi gpu product, regardless of whether the multi gpu product is nvidia's own (9800 GX2) or the competition (4870 X2).

Exactly. I have a SLI board where I don't use the second slot. It just so happens that the SLI boards tend to be the ones with more other features on them that I want. So certainly from my perspective, it'd make sense to consider GTX 280 x 2 vs 4870 X2.

4870 X2 is SLI on one board, including all the pains that go with SLI incompatibility. I tried the SLI thing recently. The overall tradeoffs for living with an SLI system (one video board or 2) just aren't worth it to me. So AFAIK, the real comparison is GTX 280 vs 4870 and on the game I play most (AoC), the GTX 280 wins.

[gstanford]

Not really the thread for it, but I fail to understand why people see SLI as troublesome. I love it. Sometimes you do need to fiddle slightly with compatability bits (I use nHancer), but overall its not that much more trouble than a single card so long as your hardware is up to the task of running SLI properly.

I myself love it for the SLI-AA modes above all else, performance concerns are secondary (not that I can complain much there either).

[walterman]

Originally Posted by gstanford

...
I myself love it for the SLI-AA modes above all else, performance concerns are secondary (not that I can complain much there either).

Does SSAA 2x2 work with the SLI-AA modes ?

[gstanford]

Not entirely sure off the top of my head just how the supersampling component of SLI-AA modes are made up of, but its always 2x Sli AA according to nHancer. (ChrisRay would be the person to answer this one properly, but I don't know if he still posts/reads here anymore)

I just know it looks fantastic (and yes, you can clearly see AA differences even @ 2560x1600 on a 30" screen).

The SLI modes that nHancer 2.4.1 recognises on G8x hardware running Fw 177.73 are as follows (you can still use enhance the app/Gamma correct/MS/SS transperancy AA on top of all these):

SLI 8x 4xMSAA + 2x SLI SS
SLI 16x 8xCSAA + 2x SLI SS
SLI 32xQ 16xQ CSAA + 2x SLI SS
SLI 64xS 16xS SSAA + 2x SLI SS (OpenGL only)

[Shocky]

They still have the only thing that counts to me, the fastest single GPU based card available, don't care about the multigpu crap, 9800GX2, 4870X2....I'll pass.

[mailman2]

Originally Posted by Ninja Prime

That's just stupid and fanboyish. Anyone who gave two sh!ts about power use or how cool things run wouldn't buy a 280, period. Stop trying to justify things with fake logic and excuses.

Here, let me help:

"HAY GUYZ, IMA BUY AN NVIDIA CARD BECAUSE I LIKES TEH NVIDIA."

Much easier.

ROTFLMAO - so true.

All these comments about the single fastest card and heat... you should know my HD4870 is water cooled and flashed to an Asus TOP bios. I'm running 890 Mhz on the core, a 150 mhz upgrade and my load temp is 38 deg C. Any true enthusiast with half a brain would know the HD4870 is the way to go. You just need to know how to overclock and water cool which most people here probably dont.

[azanon]

Originally Posted by gstanford

Not really the thread for it, but I fail to understand why people see SLI as troublesome. I love it. Sometimes you do need to fiddle slightly with compatability bits (I use nHancer), but overall its not that much more trouble than a single card so long as your hardware is up to the task of running SLI properly.

I myself love it for the SLI-AA modes above all else, performance concerns are secondary (not that I can complain much there either).

Because it is troublesome?

What's more likely to fail, a system running one video card or two? (This is not a trick question). Because several games don't support it. Some don't even work right with it on, including new ones where they haven't spent sufficient time in QC/QA on SLI compatibility. Of the ones that use it correctly, its twice the cost for ~ 30-50% more performance.

I recommend SLI to folks with lots of money who enjoy troubleshooting, or who have 30" LCDs.

There are better AA modes than what a single card offers? Heck, I just have one, and I can do 16x with transparency. Geez, who wouldn't be satisfied with that?

[gstanford]

Originally Posted by azanon

Because it is troublesome?

What's more likely to fail, a system running one video card or two? (This is not a trick question). Because several games don't support it. Some don't even work right with it on, including new ones where they haven't spent sufficient time in QC/QA on SLI compatibility. Of the ones that use it correctly, its twice the cost for ~ 30-50% more performance.

I recommend SLI to folks with lots of money who enjoy troubleshooting, or who have 30" LCDs.

There are better AA modes than what a single card offers? Heck, I just have one, and I can do 16x with transparency. Geez, who wouldn't be satisfied with that?

A properly setup SLI system is no more susceptible to failure than an non sli system. My current rig is my second SLI system, the GT280's will be my third.

I don't have "lots of money", I don't enjoy troubleshooting (though I'm certainly capable of it), I do have a 30" LCD, and yes, there are better AA modes than a single card can offer. In fact you probably haven't even seen all the modes your single card is capable of. Try using nHancer to enable the combined AA modes.