Crysis at 1680

[sdambra]

I finally built a new rig about 6 months ago [780i, Q9450 & 4GB ram (win xp)] but still have an old Radeon 1900xt which has been running like a champ. Been standing on the sidelines watching the 8800 series, 9800s, GX2's and now the 280's (and even the 4870's) and am wondering which is best for me. I want to play Crysis at 1680 w/high settings.

I have an SLI capable motherboard but ya know at the rate cards have been being released, I'm not sure SLI is a great upgrade path/strategy when you need more power in 6mos to a year. It seems lately like SLI is only a momentary strategy if you want uber framerates and bragging rights for a particular moment and you're going to grab both cards at the same time, since 2 generations later a single gpu is faster than the SLI setup (without the sli headaches)

So, what's the better strategy here? Save coin for a GTX 280? Don't worry about SLI and get a 4870? Wait for GTX 280+?

I also enjoy COF4 and am looking forward to FarCry2. I just think turning up all the extra eye candy would rock.

Thoughts?

 

[sticks435]

A 280 or GX2 is WAY overkill for that resolution, even with Crysis. I have a 260, and I can run Crysis fine at that resolution on default high. I'm actully using custom settings, so that I get the good parts of very high using xp. It drops the framerates a bit, but since you have a faster cpu, you might be ok.

 

[CP5670]

For Crysis specifically, those cards are not overkill at all, unless you don't mind framerate dips into the low 20s. I played the game with a mix of high and very high on a GTX 280 at 1280x960, and even that was too much for some of the alien fights later on, during which I had to go down to 1024x768.

 

[natty1]

Originally posted by: sticks435
A 280 or GX2 is WAY overkill for that resolution, even with Crysis. I have a 260, and I can run Crysis fine at that resolution on default high. I'm actully using custom settings, so that I get the good parts of very high using xp. It drops the framerates a bit, but since you have a faster cpu, you might be ok.

*facepalm*

 

[sticks435]

Well, I just ran 3 different benchmarks and got fps of 36-40, so I don't know what to tell you guys. This is on 64-bit winXP Pro, 2xAA/16AF, game default high. Used the HOC Benchmark, and the Guru3d benchmark Harbor_Assault timedemo.

For what the OP wants, I personally think the 260 or 4870 would do fine. Even when my frames did dip into the 20's, I thought it was still fairly smooth and playable.

 

[Cutthroat]

I think you will find your GTX260 slows to a crawl at very high settings in Crysis with more than 4xAA or 4xAF.

My GTX280 cannot run all very-high settings with any more than 4xAA & AF at 1680x1050 without the fps dipping into the teens at times.

 

[CP5670]

Note that the built-in benchmark for this game is a pretty useless indicator of actual ingame performance. The game often runs much more slowly, especially during the outdoor alien fights later on.

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: CP5670
Note that the built-in benchmark for this game is a pretty useless indicator of actual ingame performance. The game often runs much more slowly, especially during the outdoor alien fights later on.

Indeed. There are no specular effects and certain lighting methods used in the bench- it's pretty useless.