4850 CF or 280?

[stipalgl]

Unfortunately, the Canadian prices are far higher than their US counterparts due to the exchange rate and such. So all these "nice" prices you're seeing posted from people on these forums that appear too good to be true, probably are since they're in US currency for US customers. You won't find a GTX 280 anywhere under $400 in Canada at the moment, but perhaps something might give following the expected release of Nvidia's 55nm refresh soon.

 

[Cymera]

Thank you for the replies. My intention is, within the next 2-4 months, to get a video card that will perform well for ~1.5-2 years at which point I will make a completely new machine. When I built my current machine, I did not go for the best possible card (Ultra) at the time, and despite the overclocking, I am noticing the lower frames in Far Cry 2, Crysis, and World in Conflict (All maxed out, but anywhere between mid 20s-low 30s in FPS).

That is why this time around I would like to get a "better" card that will last longer, that is why I was looking for a good overclocker as well. Considering the criteria I outlined above, the only logical solution, in the $400-500 price range is the 280.

But I am still curious if the GX2 is a viable option, as I have seen that it gets excellent frames (better than the 280) in all current games, does that mean it suffers less from scaling issues or is it coincidental that it has scaled well so far?

I would go for a 216 GTX260, but that seems to be the same problem that I created for myself when I purchased the 8800GTS instead of the Ultra, a compromise in price which leads to a compromise in performance that is very noticeable with future games.

Thoughts?

(Thanks again everyone )

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: Cymera
Where did you happen to see that? I'd grab that right now!

Compusa it is not there anymore. Though it is still a pretty good price but $50 more

Link

Sorry for taking a few days to get back to you.

 

[Damn Dirty Ape]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Cymera
I have seen GTX280's for as low as 450 - 470. I suppose the alternative is a 4870 1GB, but if it were between the two, which is a better overclocker?

Thanks again guys.

excuse me?


i paid $380 for my GTX280 BFGTech months ago

another vote for the 280
- it is *perfect* for 16x10 with maxed out settings

2 weeks ago I picked up a NIB BFG gtx280 oce from ebay for 350 with free ship THEN minus 25% ms cashback. 250~ afte the dust settles. With receipt and BFG accepted it for the warranty registration. Deals to be had, yes indeed.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Originally posted by: Cymera
Thank you for the replies. My intention is, within the next 2-4 months, to get a video card that will perform well for ~1.5-2 years at which point I will make a completely new machine. When I built my current machine, I did not go for the best possible card (Ultra) at the time, and despite the overclocking, I am noticing the lower frames in Far Cry 2, Crysis, and World in Conflict (All maxed out, but anywhere between mid 20s-low 30s in FPS).

That is why this time around I would like to get a "better" card that will last longer, that is why I was looking for a good overclocker as well. Considering the criteria I outlined above, the only logical solution, in the $400-500 price range is the 280.

But I am still curious if the GX2 is a viable option, as I have seen that it gets excellent frames (better than the 280) in all current games, does that mean it suffers less from scaling issues or is it coincidental that it has scaled well so far?

I would go for a 216 GTX260, but that seems to be the same problem that I created for myself when I purchased the 8800GTS instead of the Ultra, a compromise in price which leads to a compromise in performance that is very noticeable with future games.

Thoughts?

(Thanks again everyone )

I can see where you're coming from, but the performance difference between the Ultra and the 8800GTS at the time reviews were made showed the Ultra being quite a bit faster. This time around, there isn't as big of a gap between a Core 216/4870 1GB and a GTX 280, especially if you overclock either card. Also, there are some games which just plain favor the AMD architecture, and these games typically tend to be newer. There are, of course, other games that favor the Nvidia architecture.

As far as performance goes, you can't really go wrong with a Core 216, HD4870 1GB, or GTX 280. It just depends on what you really want to spend.

Here's just one example of what I mean:

Performance of 8800GTX vs. 8800GTS 640MB at the time when they released in Oblivion. As you can see, at 2560x1600 the GTX gets 31.7 fps while the GTS gets 23.7 fps, which translates to the GTX performing 33.7% faster. Fastfoward to today and compare the GTX280 to a Core 216 and HD4870 in Oblivion (which doesn't really like the new HD48xx series) at 25x16. The GTX280 only performs 14% faster than a Core 216. And in a game like GRID, the HD4870 actually outperforms the GTX280 by 29% at 25x16 resoulution. So there really isn't as huge of a performance difference between and HD48701GB and GTX280 as there was between an 8800Ultra (which would have been faster than the regular GTX in the benchmarks I provided) and 8800GTS.

 

[Cymera]

Thank you for the comparison, but if we are to consider overclocking, which is a better overclocker, the GTX260/280/GX2 or the 4870 1GB? I have read about several "issues" or more accurately concerns regarding the temperature of ATI's 4K series, which I assume would be a limiting factor in overclocking?

 

[Cookie Monster]

The nVIDIA cards seem to OC pretty well compared to its ATi counterparts. We are talking about maybe a rough approximation of ~700/~1400/~2200 for core/shader/memory clocks .

 

[Cymera]

Is it possible to OC a GTX260 Core 216 past the performance of a standard GTX280? If so I assume that the 280 can also be overclocked substantially. How about the GX2? Does the "SLI based" card allow for as much overclocking as a 280?

 

[Cymera]

Update: I Can get an EVGA 9800GX2 for 269.99. Catch is that it is re-certified, does that mean it comes with no warranty? Should re-certified cards be avoided? Thanks.