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Graphics upgrade?

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
160,229
Hi guys,

Now I've got my new Sandybridge install up and running (2500k, Asus P8P-67 Pro, 8Gb XMS3, 1.5Gb WD Black Series RAID0) I can't help wondering if my poor old GTX280 is looking a little out of place.

Is it worth an upgrade? I currently game at 1680x1050 but am considernig moving to 1920x1080 in the medium term.

I play all sorts - but mostly stuff like BC2, Crysis, etc.

If it is worth an upgrade, what to? It's rather difficult to set a budget when I don't even know what I've got to spend. I've had £300 graphics cards before now, so I'm not averse to that, but that was back in the days of cards like the GeForce3 Ti500, 6800GT and the 280 itself where there were clear benefits and no credible mid-range alternatives. It seems now things are different (As they were when I had an 8800 and went for a GT over a GTX) so I'm not inclined to blow a huge pile of cash if I can get 90% of the performance for 65% of the cost!

So, whats worth upgrading to?

Or is there a revolution 3 months around the corner? Obviously in the world of PC hardware there is always something new, but if there is something special within the next 3-4 months I'll probably wait?
 
What about getting another 280 and running SLI? Would I need more power than my Corsair HX520 can provide?

You wouldnt upgrade for 1680x1050 but how would my existing setup handle a 24" screen running 1920x1080?
 
Depends if you prefer a decent frame rate with max IQ, 1680x1050 is still demanding enough to kill fps in the latest demanding games with max IQ.

I wouldn't run 280 SLI with a 520 watt PSU.
 
[TW]Fox;18331176 said:
What about getting another 280 and running SLI? Would I need more power than my Corsair HX520 can provide?

You wouldnt upgrade for 1680x1050 but how would my existing setup handle a 24" screen running 1920x1080?
Click to expand...

well i was running a 260GTX on a 24" screen and i think only BFBC2 needed a bit of a drop in settings. (Less AA)

Your kit is vastly superior to what i had, lets be honest there is not an abundance of games out that take advantage of these monster gfx card are there? The mid range cards will pretty much run everything full whack now days
 
Some people are happy playing at 25-30 fps others like a smoother ride, I personally like to stay at 60 fps average though admittedly that's not possible in games like crysis, metro 2033, GTA4, ARMA and there are some real demanding DX11 tiles on the horizon.
 
RavenXXX2 said:
Some people are happy playing at 25-30 fps others like a smoother ride, I personally like to stay at 60 fps average though admittedly that's not possible in games like crysis, metro 2033, GTA4, ARMA and there are some real demanding DX11 tiles on the horizon.
Click to expand...

thats right, some games im happy with it running 40fps its fine

but for example i games like F1 2010 i want 60 fps with full DX11, its games like that that made me wish i had something better than a 460

actually thinking about it fox i would probably upgrade the monitor and then try out the games you play, if your not happy then upgrade
 
Difficult to say what your target card should be, currently looking at the GPU market there is a (relatively) linear performance relationship all the way up to around £270. To make it worthwhile upgrading from a GTX280 I'd say start at the GTX560 (£200) and work your way up through the 6950 and GTX480 to the GTX570/6970 depending on how much you feel like spending.

It's not like the old days where there was huge gaps in viable options and you had to spend an extra £100 to get something better.

One of the AMD cards with 2GB VRAM may be worth considering if you think you will have the card a while and may be getting a bigger monitor.
 
Get the 280 sold, should make £60, get a 560 and keep your monitor if you're happy with it. I'm still on 1680x with a 480 and there are plenty of games that struggle to keep a 60 fps average with max IQ.
 
HangTime said:
One of the AMD cards with 2GB VRAM may be worth considering if you think you will have the card a while and may be getting a bigger monitor.
Click to expand...

I must admit a lot of me now finds the idea of putting the screws on the side of the case and forgetting about it for years very appealing. I had 2 years out of my 280/Q6600 combo and was very pleased with that as a result.

Not like 5+ years ago when I spent more time in this forum than I did in Motors and had a new card every 6 months :eek:
 
a 560 will prob be similar performance to a 280, each generation of cards tends to catch up on last model so roughly speaking 280=470=560 in raw performance, obv theres other things like DX11, more memory, lower power draw, cooler running, quieter etc (well from the 4 to 5 series anyway)
I say resist the urge and stick with it til you start noticing slow down, Im still running 4890s and no need to upgrade, great desire but no need (or ability, think the bank manager would say "no" ATM, lol)
Plus at 1680x1050 you dont need more than 1gig of VRAM so theres no point upgrading for that front, its arguable whether or not you need more than 1 gig for 1920 so youre definitely OK on that front at your res
 
I've just made the same jump from GTX 280 which I had water-cooled and over clocked. I got the GTX 570 when it was on offer for £270 and then sent it back under DSR and got the GTX 580 OC on offer a few days later.

BC2 is probably the game that makes the most use of the graphics card that I play and I did notice a big improvement in smoothness, though I game at 1920 x 1200. With all the settings at max I get constant 60fps (vsync on) with the 580. The 570 was perfectly playable but as I'm going to water cool the card I decided to maximise the time before replacement.

At your current resolution it's not a critical upgrade at the moment but if you change your monitor you will want to change the card for the newer games if you want max settings and smoothness.
 
Fox,

I would suggest grabbing a second hand and GTX 480. Still quite pricey though.

Or a new 5870 which is ample enough and can be had for £199.99 from here. This would be my choice.

Both will do BF:BC2 and Crysis justice at a decent res.

Cheers

BoMb_Da_BaSs
 
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