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Upgrading from GTX280

Swi1ch

Swi1ch

Swi1ch

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Joined
19 Nov 2008
Posts
1,584
So my GTX280 has pretty much packed in on me, and whilst it's in warranty I have no spare card to use while I send it back.

I'd really like a 5870 but I can't afford it, so I was looking at a 5770 given that they're only about £120 or so. I was just wondering if the 5770 is better than the 280 so at least it's an upgrade and not a sidegrade.
 
Having been checking out a lot of graphics card tests/reviews lately as I am looking to replace my failing 8800GTX I can tell you the 5770 won't be an upgrade over your gtx 280. The 5770 is more similar in performance to a gtx 260 - with a 260 usually beating it in tests by a little bit.

You should look at the 5850 if you can stretch to that price range, think I might have to go for that.
 
I think it might actually be cheaper overall for me to buy a really cheap card just for display purposes until I can RMA my 280 by the looks of it.
 
I went from GTX280 >1 5770 >2 5770 >3 5770 >1 5870 >2 5870 soon to be 3 5870 :p from my own experince and learning curve i recomend getting a £20 card to surf the web and get out in the sunshine while you wait for your RMA to be worth the money i advise 5870 and above. Yes you can get 5850 and o/c blah blah :D
 
If no gaming is required, think you can grab a 256/512MB 4350 new for around £25. Or a 2nd hand 8800GT for around £30-£40, if you are felling lucky it won't be DOA or bork on you too :D
 
I went from a GTX 280 to a 5830, but I bagged one for £100 from a friend.

All my games felt about the same, but I've gained DX11 and it's much quieter, less power hungry and cooler.
 
A 5770 or 5830 is not an upgrade from a gtx 280, I would push for a 5850 at the very least tbh.
 
Sorry Swi1ch, was an alnighter for me this morning - the fact you just need a card to get you by while the 280 is in rma (and not a complete upgrade) slipped me by, but the upgrade advice still applies if it was that situation!

I would go with what marine said - get a cheap card like that if you're not going to be doing much high end gaming (what is your resolution?), you can also find cheap deals on the lower end 8 and 9 series cards (some are fanless) new or 2nd hand. GT 240 which is similar to a 9600GT might also be worth a look (and can be a good physx card later on if you have the slot for it - I've been thinking about it, asus and zotac do fanless versions however they are the gddr3 and not the gddr5 versions which all have fan solutions from what I've seen).
 
If you have the money available you could buy a good card like a 5850 now, RMA the GTX 280, test it works, then immediately sell it.

Looking at recent prices on the MM - you should be able to sell the GTX 280 for ~£150, so upgrading to the 5850 will cost around £70. This is more expensive than buying a cheap £30 GPU to tide you over until the RMA is complete - but you will be able to use the PC at full power immediately and get a little upgrade in the process.
 
5770 is smaller and uses Far less power, Far better temps but its substantially slower than the 280 gtx.


search for something on the B Grade or do what OP said
 
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heh, finding a single card for me is going to be difficult considering I m = to a GTX295 atm
 
i went from a BFG GTX 280 OC to a Asus Direct CU 5850 as it was the thrid card to go faulty (still waiting for that RMA number BFG) , nice upgrade only game thats not silky smooth with lots of AA/AF is of course the crysis games, but its they are skily smooth if i turn the AA off or to 2xAA (this is at max details). and that's before it talk about the 60w+ in power consumption and the card is a lot quieter too
 
Unfortunate timing, there's not much value out there atm. I agree with getting a cheapo web surfing card to tide you over your rma. Useful thing to have anyway :)
 
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