different GTX 480 question

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I run UT3. Pretty much the only game I play and I use a GTX 480. I've not settled on a resolution I like playing at (highest monitor will go is 1080p 120Hz) nor have I settled on playing with Vsync on. Max frames per second are not the problem.. the minimums are not really a problem either. GPU usage while gaming ranges from 50-60% usage depending on what resolution I am testing/using. So while all those things above really are not the issue, what could I expect out of the GTX 670 FTW, and would it be a sensible upgrade?

Other things, my system at idle pulls 200w from the wall (previously from 171w with an SSD and a few less fans) While ingame my wattage reader hits around 300-350w

Thanks.

..dang upgrade bug

 

[Gordon Freemen]

LOL a 550 ti would be more than enough to pump fast frame rates in UT3 you wasted far to much money on a GTX 480 to run that old game enough said.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

LOL a 550 ti would be more than enough to pump fast frame rates in UT3 you wasted far to much money on a GTX 480 to run that old game enough said.

Right. Thanks for the power usage and heat dissipation vs the 670 from the 550ti info :thumbsup:

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Right. Thanks for the power usage and heat dissipation vs the 670 from the 550ti info :thumbsup:

If you want a cool running card that will easily max out UT3 which by the way takes very little GPU muscle to do then there are many options in the $150 price bracket that will do just fine and use considerably less power than a 670 and will save you hundreds of dollars.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

What does GPU usage mean on MSI's Afterburner mean? Cause I was getting a 93% usage reading

 

[Jaydip]

I run UT3. Pretty much the only game I play and I use a GTX 480. I've not settled on a resolution I like playing at (highest monitor will go is 1080p 120Hz) nor have I settled on playing with Vsync on. Max frames per second are not the problem.. the minimums are not really a problem either. GPU usage while gaming ranges from 50-60% usage: not a whole lot. So while all those things above really are not the issue, what could I expect out of the GTX 670 FTW, and would it be a sensible upgrade?

Other things, my system at idle pulls 200w from the wall (previously from 171w with an SSD and a few less fans) While ingame my wattage reader hits around 300-350w

Thanks.

..dang upgrade bug

670 FTW is cooler while being faster and way more power efficient.Its less noisier as well.If u OC the card it will widen the gap even more.So yeah it will be a nice upgrade but don't expect any overwhelming results.I upgraded to 680 from 580 and it was an incremental upgrade.

 

[ViRGE]

What does GPU usage mean on MSI's Afterburner mean? Cause I was getting a 93% usage reading

Basically it's an aproximation of load based on performance counters. 93% means just that: your card is working at 93% of its capacity.

 

[blastingcap]

Aren't you mostly CPU limited?

 

[borisvodofsky]

Aren't you mostly CPU limited?

on an i7 920 @ 4ghz??

that's unpossible!

 

[BFG10K]

LOL a 550 ti would be more than enough to pump fast frame rates in UT3 you wasted far to much money on a GTX 480 to run that old game enough said.

Not quite; UT3 is actually a twitchy game and thus it needs a high framerate to feel smooth. Also enabling AA reduces performance significantly because the driver needs to work around a deferred renderer of sorts.

I run the game at 2560x1600, but I stick to 2xTrSS to keep the framerate high. At that setting I got a 14% performance gain going from a GTX580 to a GTX680. So depending on his settings, a high-end GPU might not be a waste at all.

And no, he’s most certainly not CPU limited.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Not quite; UT3 is actually a twitchy game and thus it needs a high framerate to feel smooth. Also enabling AA reduces performance significantly because the driver needs to work around a deferred renderer of sorts.

I run the game at 2560x1600, but I stick to 2xTrSS to keep the framerate high. At that setting I got a 14% performance gain going from a GTX580 to a GTX680. So depending on his settings, a high-end GPU might not be a waste at all.

And no, he’s most certainly not CPU limited.

That's a great resolution. I use to run that on an old Viewsonic P225F CRT @ 100Hz


I ended up going with a GTX 670 FTW EVGA card.. Just ordered it about 15 minutes ago... the card is clocked at a GTX 680 reference clocks: 1006MHz Core Clock, 1084MHz boost clock, and 6208MHz effective memory clock. So the performance is just about on par with a 680 at current 670 priceshttp://redirect.anandtech.com/r?url...duct.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787&user=u00000687

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Basically it's an aproximation of load based on performance counters. 93% means just that: your card is working at 93% of its capacity.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Not quite; UT3 is actually a twitchy game and thus it needs a high framerate to feel smooth. Also enabling AA reduces performance significantly because the driver needs to work around a deferred renderer of sorts.

I run the game at 2560x1600, but I stick to 2xTrSS to keep the framerate high. At that setting I got a 14% performance gain going from a GTX580 to a GTX680. So depending on his settings, a high-end GPU might not be a waste at all.

And no, he’s most certainly not CPU limited.

HD+ your resolution si almost double that of 1080P stop being fickle a purely mid range GPU can run UT3 as fast as it needs to go for instant response no lag. I feel sorry for the poor chap whom throws away $500 just to run AA in UT3 LOL Face Palm Face Palm Face Palm ...

 

[Don Karnage]

UT3. Isn't that the game where people just bunny hop while firing weapons at each other?

 

[JohnnyChuttz]

I run UT3. Pretty much the only game I play and I use a GTX 480. I've not settled on a resolution I like playing at (highest monitor will go is 1080p 120Hz) nor have I settled on playing with Vsync on. Max frames per second are not the problem.. the minimums are not really a problem either. GPU usage while gaming ranges from 50-60% usage depending on what resolution I am testing/using. So while all those things above really are not the issue, what could I expect out of the GTX 670 FTW, and would it be a sensible upgrade?

Other things, my system at idle pulls 200w from the wall (previously from 171w with an SSD and a few less fans) While ingame my wattage reader hits around 300-350w

Thanks.

..dang upgrade bug

Sounds like it is running just fine on your gtx 480. If it ain't broke.....

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

UT3. Isn't that the game where people just bunny hop while firing weapons at each other?

If you can beat any of these two players, i will give you my gaming pc. Nice try on the condescending remark now go play in your bf3 and modern warfare call of duty sandboxes, you stinker - j/k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJpdMovHpao

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

HD+ your resolution si almost double that of 1080P stop being fickle a purely mid range GPU can run UT3 as fast as it needs to go for instant response no lag. I feel sorry for the poor chap whom throws away $500 just to run AA in UT3 LOL Face Palm Face Palm Face Palm ...

You've missed my point again just to make a snide remark. Go fail somewhere else

 

[Gordon Freemen]

You've missed my point again just to make a snide remark. Go fail somewhere else

Sorry mate that was a bit of a low ball remark on my part but I am trying to understand where you are coming from are you getting the "itch" to upgrade cause that I can understand. There will be absolutely no benefits as far and Performance and IQ going from a GTX 480 to a GTX 680 for UT3. Getting a GTX 680 for the "power consumption" is just under the wrong premise though a decent little side perk for those with lower wattage PSUs.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Sorry mate that was a bit of a low ball remark on my part but I am trying to understand where you are coming from are you getting the "itch" to upgrade cause that I can understand. There will be absolutely no benefits as far and Performance and IQ going from a GTX 480 to a GTX 680 for UT3. Getting a GTX 680 for the "power consumption" is just under the wrong premise though a decent little side perk for those with lower wattage PSUs.

I appreciate that Thank you.

I chose to upgrade and not to side grade. I can offset the price of the GTX 670 by selling this GTX 480 if and when I ever do.

The 480 idles hot. I'd like to keep my room temps down. I understand I'm not going to get any more fps or image quality, I am after less heat, then a quieter and a more electrical efficient card.

 

[Don Karnage]

If you can beat any of these two players, i will give you my gaming pc. Nice try on the condescending remark now go play in your bf3 and modern warfare call of duty sandboxes, you stinker - j/k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJpdMovHpao

I could school them both quite easily :biggrin: :whiste:

 

[Gordon Freemen]

I appreciate that Thank you.

I chose to upgrade and not to side grade. I can offset the price of the GTX 670 by selling this GTX 480 if and when I ever do.

The 480 idles hot. I'd like to keep my room temps down. I understand I'm not going to get any more fps or image quality, I am after less heat, then a quieter and a more electrical efficient card.

Honestly if all you play is UT3 then that's not what the 680 was designed for save yourself the coin or put it to real use and buy up some SSDs or if you really want a new GPU wait for the GTX 660 or get a 7850 they only take one 6 pin and are very cool and silent @ around 130watts .

 

[BD231]

Honestly if all you play is UT3 then that's not what the 680 was designed for save yourself the coin or put it to real use and buy up some SSDs or if you really want a new GPU wait for the GTX 660 or get a 7850 they only take one 6 pin and are very cool and silent @ around 130watts .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIHHBvFhYt0

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Sounds like it is running just fine on your gtx 480. If it ain't broke.....

I totally understand, and i probably could of stuck with it, but the heat coming from this thing in 80-90*f ambients is atrocious ....especially after working in the heat all day long: winter is a different story ;-) At idle it hits 45-55*c (this is with the sidecover off too). The other factor is, even though the Case cooling is optimized, the heat rising off the PCB board goes straight past the NorthBridge and into the VREGS. They can hit mid 50's with the optimized cooling, before the would hit ~ 70c

So my direction is more "Green" concious in both power efficiency and heat dissipation, also making my A/C work less, while maintaining equal or greater performance on the fps & image quality front.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Honestly if all you play is UT3 then that's not what the 680 was designed for save yourself the coin or put it to real use and buy up some SSDs or if you really want a new GPU wait for the GTX 660 or get a 7850 they only take one 6 pin and are very cool and silent @ around 130watts .

Thank you for your suggestions Gordon Freeman, I appreciate your help

 

[Gordon Freemen]

I totally understand, and i probably could of stuck with it, but the heat coming from this thing in 80-90*f ambients is atrocious ....especially after working in the heat all day long: winter is a different story ;-) At idle it hits 45-55*c (this is with the sidecover off too). The other factor is, even though the Case cooling is optimized, the heat rising off the PCB board goes straight past the NorthBridge and into the VREGS. They can hit mid 50's with the optimized cooling, before the would hit ~ 70c

So my direction is more "Green" concious in both power efficiency and heat dissipation, also making my A/C work less, while maintaining equal or greater performance on the fps & image quality front.

Get a GTX 560 non ti is runs very cool & quite and consumes far less power than a GTX 480 and a GTX 560 will run UT3 flawlessly no problem. I don't understand the need to play such an old game like UT3 on a brand new powerhouse GPU and if you are worried about power consumption and heat then there are many more GPU that consume less power than a GTX 680 and will run UT3 flawlessly on maxed setting full everything.