No buzz about GTX 260?

[ochadd]

There seems to be loads of reviews, info, and posts about the 4000 series. The GTX 280 has gotten allot of attention as well. The GTX 260 might not be the best bang for your buck compared to a 4850 but why do things seem so quiet?

I ordered an EVGA superclock because it seems to trade wins with a 4870, runs cooler and quieter at load, better factory support, and can overclock very well. OC for OC from what I can tell the 260 will meet or beat the 4870 in most games. Dont see these merrits coming up very often.

Am I missing something here or is $300 for this thing the deal I think it is.


ED: Spelling

 

[chizow]

It is a very good deal and a very good card for sure. I think the problem was that it launched with the GTX 280 but wasn't available for another 8-9 days. Although some sites reviewed it, many did not and didn't bother to do follow-ups or dedicated reviews when it hard launched a week later. It does seem well covered in the 4870 reviews though.

But ya after the price drops to $299 this basically made the 9800GTX+ pointless at $229, which may be why we haven't seen any 9800GTX+ available yet. It still makes sense for NV to sell 55nm G92 chips, but they might just quietly transition it into the existing 9800GTX line.

 

[nitromullet]

I've been kind of surprised at the lack of GTX 260 SLI benchmarks. At $600 for two of them, this seems like it might be a good option for people with an SLI motherboard.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Probably not very likely they phase out the + branding on it. Even if you think it's useless the 9800 GTX+ is probably going to be the coolest running card in its tier of competition. I'm probably going to get one if the price from the vendors is reasonable enough.

 

[Magusigne]

I ended up getting one over my HD4870.

They actually can be overclocked to near GTX 280 speeds. The main issue was that when reviewers were looking at these cards they were priced at approximately 450 dollars...and when the HD4870 can best it at many things...well, I believe the enthusiasm dropped off the radar.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Originally posted by: Powernick50
I ended up getting one over my HD4870.

They actually can be overclocked to near GTX 280 speeds. The main issue was that when reviewers were looking at these cards they were priced at approximately 450 dollars...and when the HD4870 can best it at many things...well, I believe the enthusiasm dropped off the radar.

Indeed but after the price drop people still haven't really returned to look at it in its new light. I guess this is a wake-up call now?

 

[OCGuy]

Its a great card, enjoy!

 

[Pugnate]

Quite what?

 

[ochadd]

Originally posted by: Pugnate
Quite what?

fixed.

 

[dds14u]

Perhaps you could do a review of your own to help us all out. :-D

 

[ochadd]

Originally posted by: dds14u
Perhaps you could do a review of your own to help us all out. :-D

Will be delivered tomorrow. I'm more curious than anything. When I saw the price drop I was on the verge of submitting an order for a 4870 and an Accellero setup. Saved about $30 going with the 260 and got the factory OC and EVGA perks to boot.

I dont see myself needing a second card until after Nehalem comes out, at which point Ill need a motherboard upgrade anyway.

 

[Wreckage]

Now with the price drops I think the 260 is becoming a more viable option.

 

[raddreamer3kx]

4870 is a bit faster in most reviews, 4870 is more future proof with ddr5 and dx 10.1, Im not saying the 260 is a bad card (its great) but these are the reasons I choose the 4870.

 

[Magusigne]

Originally posted by: raddreamer3kx
4870 is a bit faster in most reviews, 4870 is more future proof with ddr5 and dx 10.1, Im not saying the 260 is a bad card but these are the reasons I choose a 4870.

Rad,

I'm not sure how ddr5 makes a card future proof? I mean it all comes down to memory bandwidth and they are very evenly matched.

4870- higher speed memory 512mb
260- Bigger Bus Width 868mb

In this realm I'd say the 260 is more "future" proof just due to more VRAM for games coming out that have alot more textures.

DX 10.1 I'm not too familiar with, but I'm pretty sure its not going to be that big of a change. Now when something goes to DX 11...that will be worth getting.

Another thing to say about future proofing...intergrated Physics processing anyone?
HD 4870 might get software based HAVOK intergrated but the 260 already has the Physx

Lastly, The 4870 IS faster in many games. I know that there isn't much overclocking headroom due to heat, and the card is already set at 750mhz...ATI tool has it capped at 790 (maybe more?) GTX 260 can reach speeds of 670mhz comfortably (up from stock 575)

Oh...and no ATI partners cover overclocking in the warranty.

I bought a 4870...it is now on ebay and my GTX 260 arrives shortly.

4870 Pro's
+Faster in many respects
+DX 10.1
+Drivers can only get better

Con's
-No intergrated physics at this time
-512mb of Vram a limit?
-heat?
-board partners suck (aside from visiontech

260
+Overclocking headroom can reach 280GTX's
+868mb of RAM w/ 448 bit bus
+Intergrated Physx
+Runs cooler
+Board Partners such as eVGA/XFX have MANY perks

-Drivers already at peak?
-Gets trounced by 4870 in some review's
-Cost? Although it has come a long way from 450.


In the end man I decided that I'd rather go with a good brand such as XFX over ATI's board partners. All the other pro's and con's I weighed out balanced out except for the board partners being superior on NV's side.

 

[Rhino2]

I'm not sure why the 448 and 512 bit memory buses on the 260 and 280 respectively would go under a "pro" column. 868mb of ram? Sure, thats more than 512, add it to the "pros", but the wider bus doesn't actually translate into higher memory bandwidth, so it's not a "pro", it's not really a "con" either (Unless you went into GDDR5's OC ability over GDDR3), it's just a different way of achieving similar memory bandwidths.

 

[gramboh]

Re: the DX10.1 issue, my personal opinion is that because of NV's marketshare, game developers are not going to cripple the graphics in games using features that are not supported on NV cards, at least not until the next generation of cards come out. Could be totally wrong here, but I'd be surprised.

 

[jamesbond007]

Anyone else see the ASUS Radeon 4870 for $275 shipped at NewEgg? After MIR, of course.

I was going to jump on the MSI GTX 260 (a week? 2 weeks ago) when it was $240 or $260 after MIR, but I'm glad I didn't. The 4870 is faster in some aspects, but I've ran into several quirks with nVIDIA drivers lately. This is in part due to my attempted transition to Windows Vista, but I'm currently stuck on XP x64 because Vista x64 Ultimate would not take.

In regards to the heat, the Accelero S1 Rev2 is apparently the cream of the crop. Plus, it is passive, so I guess cooling is optional? Hah, well, I wouldn't run the GPU passive, but it does leave options open for a 120mm fan to keep things cool and silent. People say their idle and load temps are nearly cut in half! Almost makes me wonder if the HSF on the 4870 needs some new thermal pads or Arctic Silver under there...

~Travis

 

[Rhino2]

Originally posted by: gramboh
Re: the DX10.1 issue, my personal opinion is that because of NV's marketshare, game developers are not going to cripple the graphics in games using features that are not supported on NV cards, at least not until the next generation of cards come out. Could be totally wrong here, but I'd be surprised.

Re:Re: DX10.1: Assassin's Creed was DX10.1, it was patched down to DX10 (they deny it was because it's a TIMTBP game), but one of the advantages people were seeing on DX10.1 was a 20%ish performance increase with AA enabled, so as another point, I wouldn't write off DX10.1 as "minor", and only care to jump to 11, there are features that complement the rest of DX10 well.

 

[DaveSimmons]

There seems to be loads of reviews, info, and posts about the 4000 series. The GTX 280 has gotten allot of attention as well. The GTX 260 might not be the best bang for your buck compared to a 4850 but why do things seem so quiet?

Because the stock 260 launched at $400 which was more than $100 overpriced compared to the faster 4870.

Almsot everyone waiting for the new cards before upgrading picked a 4850 or 4870 since they were much better values than the nvidia cards.

Nvidia finally saw the light and repriced cards the cards a second time (after we laughed at the initial price trims), but that was after we all rushed out and bought ATI. Too late for the first wave of buyers.

The 280 got attention because despite the massive price gouging it was still the fastest single GPU card, and the best choice for people wanting speed at any (over)price.

I'd have bought a 280 myself at under $300 since I've been buying nv since the geforce 2, but nvidia's arrogant overpricing cost them my sale.

 

[dakels]

Has the data corruption and other problems with SLI been resolved? I'm trying to help a friend consider SLI or more costly big single card replacement.

 

[raddreamer3kx]

Originally posted by: Powernick50

Originally posted by: raddreamer3kx
4870 is a bit faster in most reviews, 4870 is more future proof with ddr5 and dx 10.1, Im not saying the 260 is a bad card but these are the reasons I choose a 4870.

Rad,

I'm not sure how ddr5 makes a card future proof? I mean it all comes down to memory bandwidth and they are very evenly matched.

4870- higher speed memory 512mb
260- Bigger Bus Width 868mb

In this realm I'd say the 260 is more "future" proof just due to more VRAM for games coming out that have alot more textures.

DX 10.1 I'm not too familiar with, but I'm pretty sure its not going to be that big of a change. Now when something goes to DX 11...that will be worth getting.

Another thing to say about future proofing...intergrated Physics processing anyone?
HD 4870 might get software based HAVOK intergrated but the 260 already has the Physx

Lastly, The 4870 IS faster in many games. I know that there isn't much overclocking headroom due to heat, and the card is already set at 750mhz...ATI tool has it capped at 790 (maybe more?) GTX 260 can reach speeds of 670mhz comfortably (up from stock 575)

Oh...and no ATI partners cover overclocking in the warranty.

I bought a 4870...it is now on ebay and my GTX 260 arrives shortly.

4870 Pro's
+Faster in many respects
+DX 10.1
+Drivers can only get better

Con's
-No intergrated physics at this time
-512mb of Vram a limit?
-heat?
-board partners suck (aside from visiontech

260
+Overclocking headroom can reach 280GTX's
+868mb of RAM w/ 448 bit bus
+Intergrated Physx
+Runs cooler
+Board Partners such as eVGA/XFX have MANY perks

-Drivers already at peak?
-Gets trounced by 4870 in some review's
-Cost? Although it has come a long way from 450.


In the end man I decided that I'd rather go with a good brand such as XFX over ATI's board partners. All the other pro's and con's I weighed out balanced out except for the board partners being superior on NV's side.

hey I agree with you, you bring up really good points, you convinced me, lol

 

[Magusigne]

Well..I mean honestly..there both really good cards. The 4870 is very impressive! But like I said to me everything equals out except the warranties/perks offered by the board partners...XFX gives you a double lifetime warranty, which covers overclocking..and the card i bought came with assasin's creed!

 

[sticks435]

Yea, I'm going to return my 4850 and get a 260. Just can't decide between a stock Evga, or the factory overlocked XFX with COD4. I really like the Evga precison tool and the step up program, but COD4 and factory OC are nice perks too. Though the xfx is $30 more.

 

[Magusigne]

XFX warranty covers overclocking and HSF replacements. Double lifetime warranty that transfers to whomever buys your card (Increased resale value).

eVGA Step-up is also a nice perk.

IMHO for 30 bucks more for a game and factory OC is good

 

[sticks435]

Originally posted by: Powernick50
XFX warranty covers overclocking and HSF replacements. Double lifetime warranty that transfers to whomever buys your card (Increased resale value).

eVGA Step-up is also a nice perk.

IMHO for 30 bucks more for a game and factory OC is good

Yea. It looks to be the 2nd highest OC behind the FTW edition. 640/2300.