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Try before you buy on GFX cards???

parxuk

parxuk

parxuk

Associate
Joined
18 Apr 2008
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240
Location
Bristol
OK, i probably already know the answer to this question, but is there a way to try a GFX card before buying it (thinking maybe here of using the UK distance selling act, but dont want to abuse it).

Basically my situaton is that i have a system which is pretty high spec and about 4 months old. I have an Nvidia 9800GTX which was as good as it got at the time when i purchased it.

I am an avid flight simmer (FSX) and use a Matrox triple head to go, to get a cockpit that spans 3 17" monitors. The problem is this reolution (3840 x 1024), really spanks performance. When there is lots of cloud and objects to render FPS may go down to 8 - 10, without the TH2GO it would typically be at about 30. When the FPS goes so low i begin to think about selling the TH2GO, as it makes the sim look horrible.

I am wondering if the 280 GTX with 1GB memory may help with rendering of these objects and make the sim more playable. The problem is, there is no way i want to spend £300 to find it makes no difference over my current 9800GTX.

What do people think, will it make a difference, and is it possible to legitametly use the distnce selling law to trial the 280GTX, and if i dont like it return it??. If i thought i could get an extra 10fps in high density regions i would gladly but it.
 
You can return almost any item under DSR if it fails to meet your expectations. Some retailers will be resistant, but you will have Consumer Rights on your side.
 
Krooton

I have been searching for something like that for ages, thanks very much. The difference at the higher resolutions is astounding, and shows promise for the extra that i want/need with FSX.

The OCUK guys seems like a decent bunch, is there any way to contact them direct, explain the situation and ask if i can get a refund if it doesnt meet expectations???
 
555BUK said:
You can return almost any item under DSR if it fails to meet your expectations. Some retailers will be resistant, but you will have Consumer Rights on your side.
Click to expand...
I doubt the distance selling laws were ever intended to allow customers to "preview" items they aren't committed to buying.

The intent of the law, I thought, is to prevent mis-representation of goods online (ie no/small photo, inadequate description, etc).

Personally I'd feel guilty as hell if I ever used it to trial stuff, unless the seller expressly permitted this.
 
Foxeye

I know where you are coming from, and feel a bit like you. However, i have to be selfish and put myself above the retailer. I dont have £300 to blow on a HOPE that it will work better than my current card.

I know it would be difficult but there really should be something in place to enable this sort of thing. I personally wont but a CD without listening to it, or buy a car without driving it, and the same goes for this. I want to try it first so that i know i am not wasting my money.
 
I wouldn't have thought you'd be the only one in the FS community with this kind of set-up?

Shirley there must be someone on one of the FS forums with hard data to compare in situations like this? Otherwise, I'd do what you said you were going to do, drop a note to the e-tailer and ask 'em.
 
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/...008/Microsoft-Flight-Simulator-X-SP2,785.html

Microsoft Flight Simulator X SP2
Fraps/Freeflight (1920x1200, Game AA, Game AF, Ultra Quality)
Untitled-11.jpg
 
I doubt the distance selling laws were ever intended to allow customers to "preview" items they aren't committed to buying.
Click to expand...

Correct they were not intended for this purpose but due to poor excution they do allow for this.

So in answer to the OPs question yes you can use the DSR for this purpose its just morally wrong (in my opinion anyway).
 
I have seen that Toms review get slammed elsewhere as bo11ox, but am yet to see anybody post any figures/benchmarks looking any better or more positively for the 280GTX. It certainly doesnt seem right though.
 
krooton said:
What the hell?

Surely that cannot be right?
Click to expand...


I don't have FS-X, but what that graph suggests is that it is a very heavily CPU limited game.

To the OP: try benchmarking the game with your CPU underclocked and then your GPU underclocked. That should quickly tell you whether you will see an improvement from changing the GPU.
 
mea98rm said:
I don't have FS-X, but what that graph suggests is that it is a very heavily CPU limited game.

To the OP: try benchmarking the game with your CPU underclocked and then your GPU underclocked. That should quickly tell you whether you will see an improvement from changing the GPU.
Click to expand...

But the test bed uses the same cpu does it not?

So even if it is heavily cpu slanted, the better cards should still perform better, not worse!
 
krooton said:
But the test bed uses the same cpu does it not?

So even if it is heavily cpu slanted, the better cards should still perform better, not worse!
Click to expand...

Newer cards require more CPU cycles simply because the GPU is more complicated and the JIT compiler is newer. In cases of extreme CPU limitation (like in FSX with the diabolically slow CPU THG used), slower cards can outperform faster cards.

In essence FSX requires ludicrous amounts of CPU and GPU power.
 
It is not morally wrong to use the DSR for this purpose. You are buying the 280GTX in order to gain fps in games. This is your reasonable expectation of a £300 spend so if when u use it it does not meet your expectations you can send it back under the DSR.
 
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