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GT200 GTX280/260 "official specs"

Strife212 said:
It's the best single GPU card by a long shot but disappointing results against the dual GPU cards. It's still the best card by a small amount though.
Click to expand...

Depends what you are playing, but 9800 GX2 is so close most of the time i would go with that if i was coming from a 8800 GTX, will save some money too
 
I wonder will it be safe to use a 6pin to 8pin pci-e adaptor on a gx280 for those of us with psu's with only 6pin pci-e connectors.

Reason I ask this is because af riend of mine has a Dell XPS 630 and wishes to upgrade from 2 x 8800gt's to a gx280 when it comes out. I know, I know. He should keep what he has. But heh...I'll get 2 gt's for really cheap then :) All I know so far is the psu is rated for 750w max, and has 4 12v rails, 18amp each. Not sure yet what the total ampage is on the 12v rail. The motherboard that came with the system I believe uses PCI-E 1.0 or 1.1 slots and he has 2 x 8800gt's running in it, each one using a single 6pin PCI-e cable. The psu comes with 2 6pin PCI-e cables.

He wants to upgrade to an Nvidia GX280 (maybe even an ATI 4870X2) when it comes out. Like the GX2, it uses a 6pin and an 8pin PCI-e connector. So he has already got one of the 6pin to 8pin adaptors. EVGA say it's not ok to use these, while BFG say it it providing you have a min. of a 580w psu and 40amps on the 12v rail. Nvidias website says that the extra 2 pins on the 8pin allow the card to draw up to 150w (doubles it from 75w with the 6pin), and to make sure your psu can provide this 150w over a 6pin cable if using one of these adaptors. Is there anyway to tell from the psu if it will provide enough power ? I assume since he is using a PCI 1.0 or 1.1 slot, that the motehrboard will only draw 75watts or so, and the single 6pin pci-e connector the same. So I am assuming he is going to need to be able to draw the balance of 150w over the 6pin to 8pin adaptor plugged into the 2nd 6pin pci-e cable. That is, assuming the card can draw up to 300w to begin with.

Anyone have a clue ?
 
They probably been posted but there are some results in the Inquirer that look too good to be true for nVidia!!

nv_280_scores_1.jpg
 
Obviously wait until official reviews are out (if the card is paper launched today shouldn't these be around now ?).
But in 1920x1200 with 4aa and af it looks like games have anywere between 35-130% boost over a 9800gtx, not sure how that relates to an overclocked ultra but that seems pretty decent to me for a single GPU card.
For those that dont want to rely on dual gpu for whatever reasons, it looks to be a good option.
 
yeah, thouigh... where are the reviews?

oh, and @ the guy with the Dell - i don't think it's a smart idea... Change the PSU if you plan to use such a powerful card - going with a no-name PSU (what it sounds like) is probably going to blow everything
 
-iceblade^ said:
oh, and @ the guy with the Dell - i don't think it's a smart idea... Change the PSU if you plan to use such a powerful card - going with a no-name PSU (what it sounds like) is probably going to blow everything
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Good luck with that.

The last time I tried to fit a standard PSU to a Dell computer, I discovered that Dell use their own, special-size PSUs. The stardard one did not fit.
 
-iceblade^ said:
yeah, thouigh... where are the reviews?

oh, and @ the guy with the Dell - i don't think it's a smart idea... Change the PSU if you plan to use such a powerful card - going with a no-name PSU (what it sounds like) is probably going to blow everything
Click to expand...

Well most PSU are made by only a few manufacturers. Just rebadged. Same as Foxconn make shedloads of stuff for apple,nvidia,dell,gateway etc. I think the Dell PSU is actually a Channel Well model. So probably decent.


Duff-Man said:
Good luck with that.

The last time I tried to fit a standard PSU to a Dell computer, I discovered that Dell use their own, special-size PSUs. The stardard one did not fit.
Click to expand...

I should have mentioned that since Dell brought out the new XPS range EVERYTHING is standard ATX now (XPS 420,630 and 730). The PSU is a pretty decent 750w model. The case on the 630 is the 1st one they designed to take a standard replacement atx psu and motherboard if need be and does not even require you to plug in the front case power/reset/hdd cables into the new board, as those cables plug into an ESA pcb which is plugged into the motherboard via a usb cable, and psu via a 4pin molex. Probably means you are stuck with nividia boards though :(

Anyway, I guess I'll have to look into the psu a bit more to see if it can do 40amps on the 12v rail. But can anyone with a 9800gx2 tell me if they used a 6pin to 8pin pci-e adaptor on their psu to begin with ?
 
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Duff-Man said:
The last time I tried to fit a standard PSU to a Dell computer, I discovered that Dell use their own, special-size PSUs. The stardard one did not fit.
Click to expand...

That is generally true (much to my annoyance), but the XPS630 is meant to follow an ATX design, so no proprietary components. That would suggest upgrading the PSU should be easy. Its also been widely accepted that dell PSU's were underrated, but I wonder if that would still be the case for this system?

Anyway the OP should probably check out the dell forums and get a qualified answer there before buying any new upgrades.
 
noisecrime said:
That is generally true (much to my annoyance), but the XPS630 is meant to follow an ATX design, so no proprietary components. That would suggest upgrading the PSU should be easy. Its also been widely accepted that dell PSU's were underrated, but I wonder if that would still be the case for this system?

Anyway the OP should probably check out the dell forums and get a qualified answer there before buying any new upgrades.
Click to expand...

Unfortunatley you'd be surprised at the lack of technical knowledge on the Dell forums. It's generally NOT a good idea to rely on what some people say there, even the mods. Yeah, the psu is upgradable. It means removing the mobo as they routed some cables behind it. PITA as I'll have to do it if he wants a new PSU. And of course there is the extra cost. If I can't find out any more info on the psu, I will advise him to stick with a GX260 or 4870. I just want my 2 x 8800gt's, which he is giving me gratis :)
 
Duff-Man said:
Good luck with that.

The last time I tried to fit a standard PSU to a Dell computer, I discovered that Dell use their own, special-size PSUs. The stardard one did not fit.
Click to expand...

Also Dell use to use their oen mobo where the power connector was wired up backwards and so was the psu which means you had to buy a new psu from Dell.

If you google it, there used to be a video on the new showing what happens when you plug a normal psu into a Dell mobo - fireworks and sparks!

Might not be the case now but something to check cause as well as a new psu, you might be looking at a new mobo as well.

No bad thing if you did though since at least you will be able to overclock since Dell cripple the bios on their mobo.
 
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