Replace 295GTX with 480? or wait until 580GTX

[Well Splattered]

As title,

Looking to replace my current 295GTX in my system. Is it worth swapping to a 480GTX or holding out for its bigger brother.

The reasons for upgrade are temps, the 295gtx gets upto 95c per GPU and refuses to reboot when warm. I have to wait for the cores to cool down before it restarts. Very annoying when a games crashes (Fallout 3 hates the hig res).

I game at 2560x1600 on the spec in my sig. I assume video memory is important!

Will I see much difference with a 480GTX? I do not benchmark, but I do play a lot of new games at 2560x1600. BFBC2, COD MW2, MOHAA.

Thanks

 

[jorzeh]

Clean the fans or buy a after market cooler you wouldnt see a big upgrade from a 480gtx from a 295gtx you would have to get the 580gtx which will be stupid money (£480).

 

[arc@css]

Yes, as mentioned, give it a clean - a thorough one!

What are temps like for idle / variety of games?

 

[Scon]

I have the same card as you, managed to get a second hand waterblock and a 360mm rad/pump etc set-up for £190.

Temps don't get over 60c ever and it's silent. Got a pretty huge overclock on it aswell. (not sure on the numbers, can get them if you want.

Maybe that's an option for you i dunno.

 

[han_solo]

if you do decide to clean, use a smallish paint brush (or something similar) and it will clean very very well! no need to get expensive cans of compressed air

 

[Well Splattered]

Thanks for replies. It's the dual pcb version so trickier to clean. It idles in the 50's on desktop. I have cleaned before with an air duster with minimal affects on temps. Will go again. It's a non smoking house in a cool room. Will keep an eye on the new cards.

 

[arc@css]

If the card still within it's warranty maybe it's worth considering an rma?

 

[Gerard]

Thermal compound may not be applied properly, and those dual cards are a real pain to take apart without voiding the warranty as some of the screws are underneath the companys stickers, so pretty obvious if its been taken apart.

 

[Skyrocket]

^^^sorry but the gfx doesn't sound faulty how can he rma it?
Sounds like dust buildup.
Rma should be reserved for cards that fail.
I think this process get abused far too often.

 

[arc@css]

Good point Gerard, was thinking that myself. Very possible to have left the factory in not quite the near perfect condition / state.

 

[Gerard]

Good point Gerard, was thinking that myself. Very possible to have left the factory in not quite the near perfect condition / state.

Yup, i took apart an old 8800gts the other day and the thermal compound looked like it had been appliied with a jcb bucket.

Might be worthwhile tring to get it rma'd, might get the superior cooled single pcb version out of it.

 

[Gerard]

^^^sorry but the gfx doesn't sound faulty how can he rma it?
Sounds like dust buildup.
Rma should be reserved for cards that fail.
I think this process get abused far too often.

Well he's already said the card needs to cool down before it wiill display a signal when rebooting so obviously its not working as intended. And if he was to redo the thermal compound and it failed later on the holes in the sticker would be grounds for the vendor to refuse the rma as it had been messed with. The fact thats its getting upto 95c would also indicate somethig is wrong as they generally load in the mid 80's at most.

 

[Skyrocket]

Well he's already said the card needs to cool down before it wiill display a signal when rebooting so obviously its not working as intended. And if he was to redo the thermal compound and it failed later on the holes in the sticker would be grounds for the vendor to refuse the rma as it had been messed with. The fact thats its getting upto 95c would also indicate somethig is wrong as they generally load in the mid 80's at most.

He needs to buy a can of compressed air and clean the heatsinks out.
Manufacturers will NOT accept rma if failure comes out of wear and tear, ie dust buildup...I know that for a fact.
In regards to high temp he wants to jump from one hot card to another?

 

[Gerard]

He needs to buy a can of compressed air and clean the heatsinks out.
Manufacturers will NOT accept rma if failure comes out of wear and tear, ie dust buildup...I know that for a fact.
In regards to high temp he wants to jump from one hot card to another?

It's the dual pcb version so trickier to clean. It idles in the 50's on desktop. I have cleaned before with an air duster with minimal affects on temps.

Sounds to me like the hsf isnt making a good contact.

 

[arc@css]

Yeah, would be good if he got the single pcb, run a bit cooler iirc?