Maybe at averages/highest fps but the 470/480/5870 would offer much better minimums fps than his sli setup, given that a single 280 is slower than any of the newer cards.
-
Competitor rules
Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.
Replacement for GTX280 SLi?
- Thread starter smogsy
- Start date
Maybe at averages/highest fps but the 470/480/5870 would offer much better minimums fps than his sli setup, given that a single 280 is slower than any of the newer cards.
As an aside didnt a 'review' show that the full fat 480 only showed 6% performance increase over its standard version but with way more than 6% heat and power draw so I wouldnt count on waiting for that card as the current 480 would be a better proposition 
I used to have 260s in SLi and there's not a vast difference between them and my 480, given the 280 is faster than the 260 the difference would be even less.
As jigger was talking about the slower 470 and 5870 I honestly don't know how he can say they'd batter 280 in SLi.
As jigger was talking about the slower 470 and 5870 I honestly don't know how he can say they'd batter 280 in SLi.
I believe the thinking is that at worst the sli setup is only as good as one of the cards in the setup, maybe worse because of the overhead associated with multi gpu setups. Then its simply the fact that a 280 is slower than both a 470 or 5870.
Yeah I understand what you're saying, but Nvidias SLi profiles are pretty good nowadays, there's not many games that don't utilize SLi fairly well, I certainly didn't come across too many. Obviously in the couple of games the ops got issues with then a single 470 or 5870 is going to beat the 2 280s, but he's hardly going to notice any difference between them when SLi's working well.
@ 2560x1600 you really need to be looking at 470 SLi or 480 SLi for a marked improvement across the board.
Last edited:
Both of the op's main games are barely supported by sli "don't use SLI that great" and both nv and ati multi gpu setups have issues. Ati's drivers since 10.6 have been poor for crossfire, i just stuck with the 10.5's until i got my 5870, performance was great but i didnt want to buy 2 gpu blocks and wanted the pci-e slots.
Read thread. A single GTX470 or HD5870 will be a huge improvemnt. I can't understand how you can think a pair of GTX280's would be faster.
For the games listed a GTX470 or HD5870 will do a sterling job.
Last edited:
I've read the thread properly now 
However I still maintain that a GTX470 or 5870 will NOT be a huge improvement in the majority of games, the only time he'll see any significant improvement is obviously in the games that don't support SLi properly.
It would however be less noisy and create less heat granted.
However I still maintain that a GTX470 or 5870 will NOT be a huge improvement in the majority of games, the only time he'll see any significant improvement is obviously in the games that don't support SLi properly.
It would however be less noisy and create less heat granted.
Last edited:
The majority of games yes it won't offer a huge boon performance wise but as per the OP original post his main games don't like SLI. So for the OP it will increase his performance significantly while reduceing heat & noise.
I've read the thread properly now
However I still maintain that a GTX470 or 5870 will NOT be a huge improvement in the majority of games, the only time he'll see any significant improvement is obviously in the games that don't support SLi properly.
It would however be less noisy and create less heat granted.
Thank god for that, maybe you should edit your other posts they kinda make you look a bit mental now
Nvidia are suppose to have a GTX485 on the way at the end of the year.
I have been hearing rumours of a beefed up GTX470 replacement too. It would probably be worth waiting and having a look at them as if the gt460 is anything to go by as they might not have the same TDP problems the current cards suffer from.
Selling one GTX280, pooling the money might get you a much better card.
Thank god for that, maybe you should edit your other posts they kinda make you look a bit mental now
Cba, I'm sure some people think I'm a bit mental anyway
not really, the 480 loses more than it wins.
if you want pure polygon pushing power then the sli wins there too. only when AA comes into the equation does 480 compete
Soldato
- Joined
- 6 Feb 2010
- Posts
- 14,583
That's exact the impression I got since I read the very first post...you where pretty clear that you don't want to go down the dual-GPU path again, yet people still go ahead recommending 5970 (internal crossfire) and GTX460SLI (not saying that are bad set up...in fact both are great, but just not what you asking for).just to clarify i'm looking for a single GPU.
As this would hopefully reduce the Heat (2 cards would give of more heat than one?) & 1 card should also reduce the noise as well.?
I will have a look at reviews, Benchmarks
keep up the discussion though its interesting.
I know you said you want a less noisy cooler card, but reading between the lines you gave off the feeling you would see speed/performance as greater priority than less noisy and lower temp- which is why I recommended the GTX480. Also to remind you that while these ard would probably do you better in games that SLI/Crossfire don't scale well, GTX480 will have lower average frame rate than your GTX280SLI in games that scale well with SLI, but minimum frame rate should be better (refer to the Crysis Warhead results in the link below):
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/158?vs=167 (They don't have GTX280SLI results there, but I think the GTX285SLI is close enough to use as representation)
I never said the GTX480 is not loud...all I said was it is not as loud as people making them out to be, yet someone try to attack me via that point which I have not idea what he is trying to achieve, unless he failed to pick up your hinting the 1st priority being Single GPU and speed (for not having to worry about SLI/Crossfire scaling craps), 2nd priority being less noisy and lower temp. Now, while the GTX480 indeed can get noisy under load, I 'think' (has to emphasize the word 'think' because some people feel the need to oppress other peoples' opinions with personal insult just because they disagree, rather than putting their own arguments and points across sensibly in a civilised manner in a discussion) it would still be more quiet and lower themp than the GTX280 fans with the two of them in SLI, although may be not by much (this is what I imagine base of the temp of the GTX280SLI I've seen, so it may or may not be true).
You could consider the 5870, but it is fair bit slower than the GTX480. In the games that scale well with Crossfire/SLI, 5870 is slower than the GTX280SLI (I know the bench result is GTX285SLI, but they don't have GTX280SLI results there but I thought the gap is big enough illustrate the point even if the GTX280 is a bit slower than the GTX285.)
Here's a the 5870 and GTX480:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/162?vs=158
And here's a comparison between GTX480 and GTX285SLI:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/158?vs=167
While the GTX285SLI is a higher on average frame rate, the minimum frame rate is better on the GTX480 (see the Crysis Warhead results)
So basically, if you prioritise quietness, lower temp over speed/performance, then get the 5870 (5dB(A) lower than GTX480 at load according to AnandTech). If you prioritise speed/performance over quietness, then get the GTX480...or if you can wait, see what the HD6000 series and the GTX485 are going to be like).
Sidenote: Have you gave your GTX280s a clean and to see if there are any dust flakes built up on the heatsink?
Last edited:
thank you all for your great analysis. at this point i think im going to run GTX280 SLI for a little longer till theres a Single GPU that will give me a nice performance boost/price ratio as well as being cooler/less noisy.
Regarding the The 280GTX Cleaning i've cleaned the fan with a tissue which got a little out. however i don't want to void the warranty (9 years left) so i wont be opening them up
Regarding the The 280GTX Cleaning i've cleaned the fan with a tissue which got a little out. however i don't want to void the warranty (9 years left) so i wont be opening them up
Soldato
- Joined
- 6 Feb 2010
- Posts
- 14,583
A while ago, someone also ask about removing dust from the heatsink without removing the cooler, someone suggest using a vaccum cleaner at the end of the card/brackets to try to suck the dust out while and don't let the fan spin.Regarding the The 280GTX Cleaning i've cleaned the fan with a tissue which got a little out. however i don't want to void the warranty (9 years left) so i wont be opening them up
This just what I read and is not my idea and I have not tried it myself, but it might just work. To do it or not, I think you would have to decide for yourself.
think it never hurts to take off the whole cooler and give the whole PCB a clean, the amount of dust build-up and even spider parts i found in my 8800GTS cooler was unreal. GFX coolers are always reliant on a huge external factor, ambient temperature, i think lots of these review sites must be situated in hot places like US for example, since my 4870X2 does not reach 80*C, like at all and its not really noisy either, thats why i suspect lots of these reviews are done in either hot places or hot rooms so don't take them as lore but rather a guide. 