I change my mind about the GTX280

[john19055]

I kept saying that my two 9800GTx running in SLI was better and faster then my one BFG GTX280 OCX.I ran my two 9800GTx in SLI for about a month and it would get 16,350 in 3DMark06 running at 780/1900/2200 and running Crysis at very high settings at 1920x1200 would get 37FPS ,plus it was a few frames higher in other games.But I decided to put my BFG GTX 280 OCX back in and see if I could tell that if it is any better.It maybe just my eyes but even 2D look better.Running 3DMark06 I would get 16,006 and in Crysis I would get 35FPS ,but it look so much more sharper and in Crysis my lows did'nt dip as low as it did with my two 9800GTx running in SLI.It may be a placebo effect but ever game I ran just looked so much better.So I will be sending my two ASUS EN9800GT ULTIMATE/HTDP/512M back to newegg.com,I got lucky and they are not going to charge me the 15% restocking fee.But I can't make up my mind if I want to get another GTX 280 or wait or buy something else.I would like to get a Q9550 but then I would have to get a new mother board.I thought about buying another Q6600 since I would more then likely get a GO and be able to overclock a little more.I have a B3 that I run all the time at 3240gigs at 1.37v.I just don't know if getting another GTX 280 running at 1920x1200 would be worth it without a faster CPU.

[Madpistol]

You have 2 9800 GTX's AND a GTX 280?!?!?

Overkill much?

To answer your question, a faster CPU would probably be a wise investment if you're thinking about going SLI GTX 280's.

[Lfctony]

What else is new mate? This has been reported by a lot of users with 9800GX2 cards after upgrading to a single 280. Average FPS never offer the real picture. SLIed cards always suffer lower minimums versus a slower on average single card that is faster than a single of the 2 SLIed cards... It has been said time and again, 2 cards does not equal double the frame rate. That's why I said in another post, that if you are faced with a choice between two solutions of the same speed, but one is a single card and the other is two cards together (even if the two cards are slightly faster), the single card will always offer a better experience, in terms of less problems and better gameplay...

[john19055]

Lfctony do you have two GTX 280's running in SLI on the Q6600 running at 3.2gigs and if you do how much does running two help.

[Lfctony]

Well, its less smooth than one card. There's severe stuttering from time to time. The motherboard does make a difference in smoothness etc. The CPU takes a hit from SLI, 200-300mhz I'd say for syncing the cards... Also, you only notice a difference where you are GPU limited. In CPU limited scenarios, your system is slower because of the extra burden on your CPU. If I had a choice to get 500e back and return one of these cards I would. I prefer a single card experience with lower details...

Say Crysis(Crysis scales quite bad, suffers from stuttering due to the load it places on the cards and your system in general) on High looks good and plays good.Add a second card and run on High, performance is actually lower (at 1680x1050 with one 280 the game is CPU limited).Take it up to Very High, the game looks better, plays better than with one 280, but still, it doesn't play as smooth or as fast as I would like. Warhead would dip to 19fps in DX9 from time to time, it would have been worse with DX10...

[aceflier]

Originally Posted by Lfctony

Well, its less smooth than one card. There's severe stuttering from time to time. The motherboard does make a difference in smoothness etc. The CPU takes a hit from SLI, 200-300mhz I'd say for syncing the cards... Also, you only notice a difference where you are GPU limited. In CPU limited scenarios, your system is slower because of the extra burden on your CPU. If I had a choice to get 500e back and return one of these cards I would. I prefer a single card experience with lower details...

Say Crysis(Crysis scales quite bad, suffers from stuttering due to the load it places on the cards and your system in general) on High looks good and plays good.Add a second card and run on High, performance is actually lower (at 1680x1050 with one 280 the game is CPU limited).Take it up to Very High, the game looks better, plays better than with one 280, but still, it doesn't play as smooth or as fast as I would like. Warhead would dip to 19fps in DX9 from time to time, it would have been worse with DX10...

Say you are getting dips to 19fps in warhead at 1680x1050? Something is wrong with that man my 260's smoke warhead especialy in dx9 at 1920x1080 I never saw below 34fps in the final battle with the boss. Id say this is the most demanding spot in the game?

[Bman212121]

Actually I'd bet it's more due to your RAM limitations on the 9800GTX cards versus the GTX 280. In 3dmark it's not going to touch your ram, where Crysis turned up the way you have it will likely tank because of the 512MB vram.

Also, I don't think a CPU upgrade is going to get you very far. Unless it's to a E8600 or something you can get to 4.0Ghz, it will probably be a moot point.

Far Cry 2 has already shown it likes 4 cores, so for future games you're already sitting pretty well.

[Lfctony]

Originally Posted by aceflier

Say you are getting dips to 19fps in warhead at 1680x1050? Something is wrong with that man my 260's smoke warhead especialy in dx9 at 1920x1080 I never saw below 34fps in the final battle with the boss. Id say this is the most demanding spot in the game?

Well, my mate was playing yesterday (so my eyes were free), and during the game there was a lot of action at the beginning level and the frame rate would drop below 20fps at several points and stay there... It could have been a background program causing it though, don't remember what I had open at the time.

SLI is working fine, the cards are also fine as far as I can tell since they are working in all games as they should. My P Vantage score is above 20000. Warhead does utilise SLI somewhat, my average FPS are higher with two cards vs one. Can you run a couple of benches for me?

Download the Warhead Benchmark tool and run the Frost (plain) level and the Airfield Flythrough at Enthusiast DX9 1680x1050, let me know what it scores.

http://downloads.guru3d.com/Crysis-W...load-2072.html

Thanks,
Tony.

[aceflier]

Originally Posted by Lfctony

Well, my mate was playing yesterday (so my eyes were free), and during the game there was a lot of action at the beginning level and the frame rate would drop below 20fps at several points and stay there... It could have been a background program causing it though, don't remember what I had open at the time.

SLI is working fine, the cards are also fine as far as I can tell since they are working in all games as they should. My P Vantage score is above 20000. Warhead does utilise SLI somewhat, my average FPS are higher with two cards vs one. Can you run a couple of benches for me?

Download the Warhead Benchmark tool and run the Frost (plain) level and the Airfield Flythrough at Enthusiast DX9 1680x1050, let me know what it scores.

http://downloads.guru3d.com/Crysis-W...load-2072.html

Thanks,
Tony.

ENTHUSIAST SETTINGS

Frost

!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 38.38s, Average FPS: 49.03
Min FPS: 15.77 at frame 62, Max FPS: 59.46 at frame 180
Average Tri/Sec: 28846766, Tri/Frame: 588349
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -0.32
TimeDemo Play Ended, (1 Run Performed)

Airfield Flythrough

!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 39.93s, Average FPS: 50.09
Min FPS: 19.88 at frame 90, Max FPS: 81.37 at frame 1457
Average Tri/Sec: -40817188, Tri/Frame: -814832
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: 1.21
TimeDemo Play Ended, (1 Run Performed)

I would say the min. FPS is caused from loading all the textures into memory as its in the first 100frames each time more along the lines as 28-30fps lows.

Guess i should add i normaly run my shadows on gamer as they are the system killers.

[mailman2]

ONE CARD!!!!!

All dual card solutions, SLI, 9800GX2, 4870x2 have micro stutter which make good frames seem choppier, less smooth, etc. Stick with a single GPU, problem solved!!!

[aceflier]

Originally Posted by mailman2

ONE CARD!!!!!

All dual card solutions, SLI, 9800GX2, 4870x2 have micro stutter which make good frames seem choppier, less smooth, etc. Stick with a single GPU, problem solved!!!

Says you

I have not seen this myth on my system as of yet.

[Xion X2]

Originally Posted by aceflier

Says you

I have not seen this myth on my system as of yet.

Neither have I, but that won't keep the single GPU fanboys from shouting it from rooftops constantly.