GTX 260 upgrade?

[TitusTroy]

is it worth it to upgrade my current 8800GT for a GTX 260 card?...will I notice a substantial increase in performance?...the only games my 8800GT card seems to struggle with are Crysis (later levels) and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky somewhat...is it a worthwhile upgrade?

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: TitusTroy
is it worth it to upgrade my current 8800GT for a GTX 260 card?...will I notice a substantial increase in performance?...the only games my 8800GT card seems to struggle with are Crysis (later levels) and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky somewhat...is it a worthwhile upgrade?

Not really unless you play Crysis and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky a lot I guess. Though it depends on what settings you want to play those games at.

If you want to play Crysis at highest detail settings with AA and AF forget about it until a year or two from now.

 

[Keysplayr]

Yes, you would notice a substantial increase in performance in most games. Though now is the time to ask, what is the rest of your platform? CPU? MB? PSU? Monitor and res?

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Yes, you would notice a substantial increase in performance in most games. Though now is the time to ask, what is the rest of your platform? CPU? MB? PSU?

Yeah but enough to be worth it? Maybe depends on the game but I would say not really.

 

[legcramp]

If he plays at 1920x1200, then yes, it's worth every penny right now.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Though now is the time to ask, what is the rest of your platform? CPU? MB? PSU? Monitor and res?

Exactly. Typical case of OP question being far too vague. OK, so we know the games/apps, but what about the monitor resolution and supporting hardware?

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: TitusTroy
is it worth it to upgrade my current 8800GT for a GTX 260 card?...will I notice a substantial increase in performance?...the only games my 8800GT card seems to struggle with are Crysis (later levels) and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky somewhat...is it a worthwhile upgrade?

There's a gazillion reviews of the GTX 260 out there. Check 'em out and see if the performance increase is worth it to you.

 

[adlep]

If the rest of your system is up to speed, then yes its worth it.
Especially in Crysis.
I have upgraded from
7950GT ->framerates in 10's
to
8800GTS -> framerates in mid 20's low 30's (faster than 8800GT)
to
GTX260 -> framerates in low 40's, comfortable playing experience...

So it was worth it for me. If you do upgrade don't forget to sell your 8800GT to bring your Cost of Upgrade (COU) down...
You could sell your 8800GT for around $80.00 easily so it will cost you only around $140.00 or so to upgrade to GTX260...
Not too bad

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: adlep
If the rest of your system is up to speed, then yes its worth it.
Especially in Crysis.
I have upgraded from
7950GT ->framerates in 10's
to
8800GTS -> framerates in mid 20's low 30's (faster than 8800GT)
to
GTX260 -> framerates in low 40's, comfortable playing experience...

So it was worth it for me. If you do upgrade don't forget to sell your 8800GT to bring your Cost of Upgrade (COU) down...
You could sell your 8800GT for around $80.00 easily so it will cost you only around $140.00 or so to upgrade to GTX260...
Not too bad

Have you played the whole Crysis game ? Like the ice levels. I bet it was not at the low 40's on your GTX260 at those same settings during the other parts of Crysis.

Not even the GTX280 can handle the ice levels good enough yet with all details on high or even very high. At 1680x1050 + resolution. You have to drop all the way down to 1024x768 with the GTX280 and even then you have to play with a mix of medium and high settings.

 

[adlep]

Originally posted by: pcslookout

Originally posted by: adlep
If the rest of your system is up to speed, then yes its worth it.
Especially in Crysis.
I have upgraded from
7950GT ->framerates in 10's
to
8800GTS -> framerates in mid 20's low 30's (faster than 8800GT)
to
GTX260 -> framerates in low 40's, comfortable playing experience...

So it was worth it for me. If you do upgrade don't forget to sell your 8800GT to bring your Cost of Upgrade (COU) down...
You could sell your 8800GT for around $80.00 easily so it will cost you only around $140.00 or so to upgrade to GTX260...
Not too bad

Have you played the whole Crysis game ? Like the ice levels. I bet it was not at the low 40's on your GTX260 at those same settings during the other parts of Crysis.

Not even the GTX280 can handle the ice levels good enough yet with all details on high or even very high. At 1680x1050 + resolution. You have to drop all the way down to 1024x768 with the GTX280 and even then you have to play with a mix of medium and high settings.

I was playing on Windows XP in DirectX 9 mode + some DX10 hacks on 1280x1024 and no AA (21in CRT FTW!). Contrary to your claims, it is possible to get a very comfortable playing experience without sacrificing a lot of effects, but you have to do some tweaking to the game's config file...

Read this noob (just kidding).
Yet some more tweaking info...

 

[exar333]

I went from a 8800GTS to a GTX 260 and Fallout 3 @ 1920x1200 was a "night and day" difference. Considering you can get the 260 for a little over 200 with a MIR, and you can sell the 8800gt for around 80-90; it's a great deal.

Edit: Added Resolution information

 

[Whitedog]

Originally posted by: TitusTroy
is it worth it to upgrade my current 8800GT for a GTX 260 card?...will I notice a substantial increase in performance?...the only games my 8800GT card seems to struggle with are Crysis (later levels) and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky somewhat...is it a worthwhile upgrade?

Depends on your res. Lets have it.

As far as Crysis goes, 1680x1050 and up, you'd be looking at ~a 2x frame rate increase.

Lower res than that, probably less.

 

[Denithor]

Better yet, get a GTX 260 on eBay with the Microsoft cashback program and save 25% for a very good price (I got mine two months ago for $168 shipped).

 

[SneakyStuff]

All depends on what resolution you play at. As others have said the amount of performance gained will coorelate with resolution. It's a nice card regardless though.

 

[BFG10K]

I recently finished benchmarking a whole bunch of games when I went from a 4850 to a GTX260+, and in most cases the difference between the two is substantial. Not only that, but a 4850 is faster than a 8800 GT.

But it all depends on the games and settings you play at. 1680x1050 with no AA might not see such big gains though Crysis and Clear sky probably will.

Clear Sky is so demanding I need to drop to 1600x1200 on my 260+.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Link BFG?

Appreciate you spending time to benchmark a whole load of games at settings most of us are interested about.

 

[BFG10K]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
Link BFG?

Appreciate you spending time to benchmark a whole load of games at settings most of us are interested about.

Click.

 

[exar333]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
Link BFG?

Appreciate you spending time to benchmark a whole load of games at settings most of us are interested about.

Click.

Very nice review; it was great to see some of the legacy games on there! Have you done a similar comparison with the 4850 1GB card? I chose the 260 over the 4850 1GB myself, but I would be curious to see the differences with the additional memory.

 

[badnewcastle]

Here's my results when compared directly to my 8800GT notice the OC and it's a gtx260 core 216:

Res: 1680x1050 no AA
8800gt @ 720|gtx 260 c216 @ 702/1512/2400

Crysis & Warhead DX10 - everything on Very High/Enthusiast
12-15|28-31 AND SMOOTH!!! (compared to 8800gt ne-ways)

Stalker: Clear Sky Enhanced Full Dynamic Lighting (DX10)/Full AF/All On/Maxed No AA

7-12 (not Playable)|42(avg.) 25-33 in the am when the sun in trees DEFINITELY PLAYABLE!!!

COD 4/5 (beta MP) All Maxed/4x AA
64 (avg)|100+ Nuff said...

Grid All Maxed/16QSAA
7-10(not playable)45 with 4xAA|56-60

FC2 Maxed out 16AF 0xAA 53-58 avg. 45 minimum <--- can't compare to 8800GT.

For what it's worth every game plays way smoother @ my res and maxed. TF2 comes to mind as one with stutter on my 8800gt when maxed out.

 

[themisfit610]

Yeah, if you want 1920x1200, with AA on some titles, the 260 is worth the upgrade. I just put one in a client's system and the improvement was quite nice when I "tested" the card in my box. It was also stupidly faster than his old 7800GTX SLI rig

~MiSfit

 

[BFG10K]

Originally posted by: ExarKun333

Very nice review; it was great to see some of the legacy games on there! Have you done a similar comparison with the 4850 1GB card? I chose the 260 over the 4850 1GB myself, but I would be curious to see the differences with the additional memory.

No, just the 512 MB version, but I mentioned a couple of times where I thought 512 MB could be hindering the 4850. There were some situations where performance really tanked at high detail levels.

 

[UberNeuman]

Just from my viewpoint, as I've come off of using a 8600 GTS - which was a fine card, but suffered with Crysis and had some slowness with newer games, the GTX 260 I have now makes my gaming better.

The GTX 260 is a good deal at a great price.