9800GTX > GTX280?

Locky · 20 May 2010 at 14:56

The 280 is a solid card that will give great frame rates in games, the 295 is better but at what cost, if you was to buy a 295 for 250, may as well go for a 5850

Nickson · 20 May 2010 at 14:58

As far as i am aware none of them come with a warranty.
Im not trying to future proof (ref DX 11), just to do a quick upgrade as my card has started to cap squeal and to wait until October for the refresh.

How does the 5850 compare to the GTX280 and the GTX295?

The cards im looking at are XFX so dont they have a lifetime warranty? :s

^
Probably wrong here haha!

Sharpedge · 20 May 2010 at 15:00

I was after another 280 H20 card on fleabay and was outbid at around £140. If you can get the card for £70 then do it. You will not regret it. By the way what res are you plaing at?

Locky · 20 May 2010 at 15:00

The 5850 is faster than a 280, its slower than a 295, But when overclocked it can be faster, or slower depending on games, but the 5850 uses much less power. oh and DX11.

Nickson · 20 May 2010 at 15:03

Oh right..
5850 is looking like a pretty good alternative then..
Hmm...
So many choices!

cmndr_andi · 20 May 2010 at 15:04

This review gives a good indication of how the 5850 compares to the other cards mentioned in this thread. As well as the gaming performance please pay attention to the pages of that review on "Fan Noise" and "Overclocking" as this card does very well in these areas too.

As for buying a second hand card to replace an ageing card - its probably not the best idea as these cards have been out for a while (GTX 280 in particular) and in some cases are being sold for the same reason you are doing away with your 9800GTX. Since you get no warranty then you would be stuck with it. As for the GTX 295 - it has two GPUs and sets of memory - so twice as much to go wrong. The only reason I bought mine was because it was backed up with a 10 year warranty.

Nickson · 20 May 2010 at 15:05

Playing at 1650x1050 res at the moment.
But I will be upgrading to twin 24@ later on this year.. so 2x1980x1080

Meaker · 20 May 2010 at 15:05

Errr he can grab it for $70.

I would like to know where you can get a 5850 for that money.

Meaker · 20 May 2010 at 15:06

cmndr_andi said:
This review gives a good indication of how the 5850 compares to the other cards mentioned in this thread. As well as the gaming performance please pay attention to the pages of that review on "Fan Noise" and "Overclocking" as this card does very well in these areas too.

As for buying a second hand card to replace an ageing card - its probably not the best idea as these cards have been out for a while (GTX 280 in particular) and in some cases are being sold for the same reason you are doing away with your 9800GTX. Since you get no warranty then you would be stuck with it. As for the GTX 295 - it has two GPUs and sets of memory - so twice as much to go wrong. The only reason I bought mine was because it was backed up with a 10 year warranty.

Or it could just be that someone rich enough to get a 280 is now moving onto the 5850 or similar in their upgrade cycle and now he can pick up a perfectly good card that can still handle all of todays games for a bargain price.

cmndr_andi · 20 May 2010 at 15:13

Meaker said:
Or it could just be that someone rich enough to get a 280 is now moving onto the 5850 or similar in their upgrade cycle and now he can pick up a perfectly good card that can still handle all of todays games for a bargain price.

Could be.

However, its still going to be a 16-23 month old card with no warranty - if you are a gambling man then it may be worth a punt. Personally, I tend to be more cautious with my 230W+ electronics purchases.

Nickson · 20 May 2010 at 15:13

Daaamn the HD5850 wipes the floor with the 9800GTX and GTX280!

Sharpedge · 20 May 2010 at 15:33

Nickson said:
Playing at 1650x1050 res at the moment.
But I will be upgrading to twin 24@ later on this year.. so 2x1980x1080

I've got a 19" wide screena and a 24" on my 280 and it works well. BC2 on the 24" and team speak/stuff on the 19". I'm not so sure how you will get on with using both 24" screens to play in one game. Not tried that yet, again if the sliders don't need to be hard over I dont see it getting too slow. Before I got the 24" I was using extended desktop across 2 x 19" and that was great.

harryohh · 20 May 2010 at 18:19

I say go with the GTX 280.For just $100 go for it.A 5850 will cost you a lot more.

Meaker · 20 May 2010 at 18:45

cmndr_andi said:
Could be.

However, its still going to be a 16-23 month old card with no warranty - if you are a gambling man then it may be worth a punt. Personally, I tend to be more cautious with my 230W+ electronics purchases.

Wait what, you think it's going to burn down his house? Lol.

cmndr_andi · 20 May 2010 at 18:54

Meaker said:
Wait what, you think it's going to burn down his house? Lol.

Lol, not at all. I was just saying that a high-power graphics card that has been used for 1-2 years is more likely to fail than a brand-new one, and that with no warranty then there is little recourse other than putting it in the oven or using it as a decorative paperweight.

Nickson · 20 May 2010 at 21:26

I love decorative paperweights

Ha, but on a serious note..
I went for a GTX295 with a year and a half left of warranty.
Bought off a friend who has recently upgraded to a HD5970 for £170..
That a good price?

cmndr_andi · 20 May 2010 at 21:32

Nice one - that's a great price and since you bought from a friend then you should be OK if it decides to die - good job

.

Out of interest, what is the spec of you current machine, especially the power supply?

mame · 20 May 2010 at 21:33

Nickson said:
Nope,
But the pound sign shows up as a # for some reason!

change your keyboard layout to UK then

Nickson · 20 May 2010 at 21:37

cmndr_andi said:
Nice one - that's a great price and since you bought from a friend then you should be OK if it decides to die - good job .

Out of interest, what is the spec of you current machine, especially the power supply?

Yeahh got quite lucky, hes just got back from uni for the summer (4 months off, lucky so and so), got talking and he had it for sale

Current spec is as followwwwwss:
Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.6GHz
Asus Rampage 2 Extreme
6GB Corsair Dominator 1600MHz
Corsair HX620W PSU < Is that enough?

XFX 9800GTX (obviously) lol
And storage! No need to detail that lol

mame said:
change your keyboard layout to UK then

I was at work at the time

Too much effort

rjk · 20 May 2010 at 21:43

Locky said:
The 280 is a very good card, and will still run most games maxed out, maybe not the very latest, yes a worth while upgrade from a 9800 if the out lay is not massive.

the Lock speaketh the truth

i have a 5870 at the moment but wish i had never got rid of my 280 SLI

easily the best graphics configuration i have ever had.