Less than £200 graphics ATI or Nvidia

[Alexrose1uk]

Thats about right, theres not a huge amount in between them, bar the ATI has native HDMI audio, that doesn't matter to most people so go for whichever you feel more confident in, or like the box art of; Im sure you'll enjoy either of them!

 

[reflux]

I am waiting delivery of a bargain Gainward 260 golden sample which has a custom cooler and pcb. I would be glad to get something close to your Zotac!

That wouldn't happen to be one of these would it? I received mine yesterday; runs nice and cool although the fans are a bit noisy at stock.

 

[luismenendez]

That wouldn't happen to be one of these would it? I received mine yesterday; runs nice and cool although the fans are a bit noisy at stock.

yes it is. i though it was more quieter and cooller than the reference heatsink.

Did you try to overclock it?

 

[Vince]

What a great input to the thread, why even bother? is the one post that important to you?

If posts were that important don't you think I would have more than 600 or so after being a member for 6 years? I won't say any more than that

 

[reflux]

yes it is. i though it was more quieter and cooller than the reference heatsink.

Did you try to overclock it?

It's probably about 5-10c cooler than the stock cooler on the default 40% fan speed, but noticeably louder. I've set it to 30% and it keeps it around the 80c mark in Left4Dead and pretty quiet.

Haven't bothered overclocking - I don't usually bother, but seeing the results around the web with these cards I might give it a shot.

 

[Greebo]

that is high, did you do any volts mod?

I though 720 and 2500 was high for the GTX 260 216 cores!

I am waiting delivery of a bargain Gainward 260 golden sample which has a custom cooler and pcb. I would be glad to get something close to your Zotac!

Regarding the ATI/nvidia question, I believe an overclocked GTX 260 is just a bit faster than an overclocked HD 4870, correct me if i am wrong!

i'm running my GTX260 216 at 740/1572/1200 atm with no volt mods and I still haven't fount the max yet!

Fan never goes above 40% (silent) and temps hit 70C max.

I am beating a lot of GTX280 in crysis, far cry 2, vantage, 3dmark benchmarks so well chuffed.

Also I went from a 4870 215Mb overclocked to 750 to this card (the 1gb is meant to be slightly faster) and I am finding a noticable improvement in framerates in games. My crysis dx10 1680 x 1050 went from 55fps to 70fps.

So if priced equal, my vote is for the GTX260

 

[Greebo]

It's probably about 5-10c cooler than the stock cooler on the default 40% fan speed, but noticeably louder. I've set it to 30% and it keeps it around the 80c mark in Left4Dead and pretty quiet.

Haven't bothered overclocking - I don't usually bother, but seeing the results around the web with these cards I might give it a shot.

Disagree then as it is a worse cooler then my reference EVGA one. I max out at 70C running at 740/1572/1200 with the fan at 40% and quiet.

 

[mpj88]

you could prob get a 2nd hand gtx280?

 

[luismenendez]

Disagree then as it is a worse cooler then my reference EVGA one. I max out at 70C running at 740/1572/1200 with the fan at 40% and quiet.

it depends also on your case and fans. Review tests say the temp is 10C below reference and the same they use on the 4870x2!

 

[reflux]

Hmmm, yeah, your case must be like a turbine greebo, because my old now dead GTX 280 would load at 84c in DoW, and that used the superior older GT200 cooler.

 

[555BUK]

The Gainward 260 Golden Sample cooler performs about the same as the reference version. The cooler itself weighs less (less copper/metal) but has two fans that blow air directly where it is needed.

My guess is that Gainward use this cooler because it is cheaper to buy/manufacturer than the reference one but provides almost identical results.