nVidia GT200 Series Review Thread

[MraK]

Originally posted by: Extelleron

Originally posted by: MrAK

Originally posted by: Fallen Kell
What is the IPS 26" LCD resolution? If it is only 1920x1200, a single will be more than enough.

So in order to make use of 2 GTX280s I would need to have a 30"inch monitor? I always thought using a 1920x1200 resolution monitor would be enough for 2 GTX280s.

As Taltamir said, you can use GTX 280 SLI with any resolution monitor. Of course if you are gaming on a 19" 1280x1204 panel, you will not need SLI. A single 9800GTX would be enough for something like that. GTX 280 SLI is overkill for 1920x1200 in general; everything but Crysis would run fine on a single GTX 280 at that res. But if you want to run Crysis very well, then GTX 280 SLI will be good for your monitor.

So having 2 GTX280s in SLI under a 1900x1200 resolution monitor would enable Crysis to be fully maxed out in graphics? *pure 16XAA*

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: MrAK

Originally posted by: Extelleron

Originally posted by: MrAK

Originally posted by: Fallen Kell
What is the IPS 26" LCD resolution? If it is only 1920x1200, a single will be more than enough.

So in order to make use of 2 GTX280s I would need to have a 30"inch monitor? I always thought using a 1920x1200 resolution monitor would be enough for 2 GTX280s.

As Taltamir said, you can use GTX 280 SLI with any resolution monitor. Of course if you are gaming on a 19" 1280x1204 panel, you will not need SLI. A single 9800GTX would be enough for something like that. GTX 280 SLI is overkill for 1920x1200 in general; everything but Crysis would run fine on a single GTX 280 at that res. But if you want to run Crysis very well, then GTX 280 SLI will be good for your monitor.

So having 2 GTX280s in SLI under a 1900x1200 resolution monitor would enable Crysis to be fully maxed out in graphics? *pure 16XAA*

No, not with 16xAA, but with max in game settings, yes. 1920x1200, Very High No AA will definitely be playable on GTX 280 SLI. 2x AA with those settings should be good as well. 4xAA, perhaps. But any more than that and you are pushing it. Crysis is very playable at ~25 FPS average, so you don't need an amazing framerate.

http://www.tweaktown.com/artic...arks_crysis/index.html

There is Crysis with Very High settings. At 1920x1200, GTX 280 SLI gets 37.2 FPS (the cards are oc'd to 700/1300/2300).

 

[Denithor]

...or you could just SLI a pair of 8800GTs as seen here. 19x12 and they beat a single GTX280 handily for 40% of the cost.

 

[nZone]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: Lord Athlon

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
No offense, but if you have to worry about a couple dollars in power bills, a top of the line card probably isnt for you anyway.

This card would be much more attractive @ $599, which is where Im sure it will end up soon. EVGA has it listed for $649, and e-tailers generally have the cards for around $50 less after launch.

I disagree on the first part

You pay for the card once while you pay your for electricity monthly so it's not really comparable , especially your bill goes up by 50 $ or more.

Show me how one of these will run your bill 50 dollars higher per month than it already it is? Even if you run this thing 100% at full tilt 24/7 I bet it would amount to less than 10 bucks. That said most may run it full tilt for a few hours a week. Which will be a few bucks tops.

It is valid. The electric bill does go up quite a bit. I have the older card 8800GTX and on average I spent on playing game about 5 hours a day. The electric bill usually runs around $175/month. This last couple of months, well I have some other things to do, I didn't spend a single hour playing game; and I saw my electric bill drop down to $130/month.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: nZone

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: Lord Athlon

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
No offense, but if you have to worry about a couple dollars in power bills, a top of the line card probably isnt for you anyway.

This card would be much more attractive @ $599, which is where Im sure it will end up soon. EVGA has it listed for $649, and e-tailers generally have the cards for around $50 less after launch.

I disagree on the first part

You pay for the card once while you pay your for electricity monthly so it's not really comparable , especially your bill goes up by 50 $ or more.

Show me how one of these will run your bill 50 dollars higher per month than it already it is? Even if you run this thing 100% at full tilt 24/7 I bet it would amount to less than 10 bucks. That said most may run it full tilt for a few hours a week. Which will be a few bucks tops.

It is valid. The electric bill does go up quite a bit. I have the older card 8800GTX and on average I spent on playing game about 5 hours a day. The electric bill usually runs around $175/month. This last couple of months, well I have some other things to do, I didn't spend a single hour playing game; and I saw my electric bill drop down to $130/month.

You don't need to guess, you can use the power of MATH!
X = amount of watts something takes (from the wall)
Y = amount of hours per day you use said device (so if you are checking video card and you play an average of 2 hours a day EVERY day, this would be 2)
Z = cost of electricity in your region in $/kwh. (in texas it is 14 cents per kwh, so that makes it 0.14$/kwh)

X watts * .001 kw/watt * Y hour/day * Z $/kwh = $/day cost of operation...

X watts * .001 kw/watt * Y hour/day * Z $/kwh * 365 days/year = $/year cost of operation...

If you are running a video card you should do this twice.
Once with hours per day you game at max power draw of card. (ex, 2 hours a day at 150 watts)
And a second time with the difference in power consumption in idle mode times the hours a day you have the computer on but don't game (ex, 10 hours a day of web surfing at 30 watts - 5 watts of an IGP... or you could do 30 watts of new card - 35watts of current card = -5 watts, aka, save power during idle).

If it is a GTX 280 in a media center then you should do it a third time... for how many hours a day you will use it for decoding video (it has 3 modes... 25 watts in idle, 35watts in video decode mode... and I think it was over 150 watts during gaming)

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: nZone

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: Lord Athlon

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
No offense, but if you have to worry about a couple dollars in power bills, a top of the line card probably isnt for you anyway.

This card would be much more attractive @ $599, which is where Im sure it will end up soon. EVGA has it listed for $649, and e-tailers generally have the cards for around $50 less after launch.

I disagree on the first part

You pay for the card once while you pay your for electricity monthly so it's not really comparable , especially your bill goes up by 50 $ or more.

Show me how one of these will run your bill 50 dollars higher per month than it already it is? Even if you run this thing 100% at full tilt 24/7 I bet it would amount to less than 10 bucks. That said most may run it full tilt for a few hours a week. Which will be a few bucks tops.

It is valid. The electric bill does go up quite a bit. I have the older card 8800GTX and on average I spent on playing game about 5 hours a day. The electric bill usually runs around $175/month. This last couple of months, well I have some other things to do, I didn't spend a single hour playing game; and I saw my electric bill drop down to $130/month.

I highly doubt it was from your gaming that you saved 45 bucks. As somebody already pointed out in this thread. It would cost under a buck to run one of these on a monthly basis. If you had other things to do. You most likely were out of the house, not watching tv, lights off ect.

 

[taltamir]

Well use the magic of math... a 9800GTX... say, in a sufficiently beefy system... idle power of system 150 watts... load... 300 watt.
He says he gamed for 5 hours a day for a month.
Cost of electricty varies wildly, from 7 cents per kwh hour in some places in the US, to 25 cents in others. in texas it is 15 cents per kwh (all those costs are for the CHEAPEST power available in your region after hidden costs. You could easily be paying much, much more.)

300 watts * .001 kw/watt * 5 hour/day * 0.15 $/kwh * 30 days/month = 6.75 $ a month.
if he has the misfortune of living somewhere where it is 25 cents per kwh:
300 watts * .001 kw/watt * 5 hour/day * 0.25 $/kwh * 30 days/month = 11.25 $ a month.

However that is not taking into account the extra cost of cooling the house due to generated heat.

Cooling is much more expensive then heating when it comes to electrical air conditioning.
Since a 300 watt power heater would offset an AC several times its power requirement, and he could very well live in a 25 cents per kwh zone (and by that I mean a place where 25 cents is the CHEAPEST he could buy a kwh for...) There is also the fact that 300 watts might be too little, considering he might OC (which is very inefficient as far as power goes), and he might be playing a game that is maxing out both the CPU and the GPU... (taking more power). And using a high end speaker system and a massive monitor... (perhaps even a dreaded CRT... a 24 inch LCD takes 50 watts of power, a 22 inch CRT could take 300 watts by itself!)

I would not be surprised if a large chunk of those 45$ were indeed from gaming.
The rest are probably just normal variations.

 

[bryanW1995]

I'm going to go buy a $19.95 fishing pole and sell all of my computer parts. This computer this is just getting way too expensive with all the new power requirements. Now, if I could just find a deal on a 42' bayliner...

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: taltamir

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
I think that we've seen a shift in intel's thinking over the past 12 months. Instead of amd being their top rival, it is now nvidia. Intel is going to work VERY closely with amd to keep them competitive against the green team for the forseeable future. If larrabee creeps up towards the high end that will obviously change, but for now amd and intel have a common enemy: nvidia. My enemy's enemy is my friend as they say, no? A strong amd graphics division gives intel a true option to block out nvidia chipsets completely from their hardware, and will incidentally make amd a much more competitive player in the cpu market...this whole menage a trois between intel/nvidia/amd is extremely interesting. Not as interesting to me as it is to the guy who spent $80 at a strip club and $649 on a gtx 280, but still interesting nonetheless.

My enemy's enemy is my enemy's enemy, nothing more, nothing less.

true, but if one enemy is completely crippled and not a threat to you while the 2nd company is very strong and IS a threat to you, you might consider helping out company #1 to distract #2 from taking you on as efficiently as they might otherwise. It's called "strategy", I know we're from texas but we have to display a better grasp of this concept than our commander n chief!

 

[taltamir]

granted alliences of convience are always welcome... just as long as you recall that they are just that.

 

[Foxery]

You forgot that the CPU and speakers ramp up their power usage at the same time. My UPS actually flashes every time I turn on my surround sound amp because it thinks there's been a power surge (The battery doesn't trip, but the display comes on.) Switching from neffing to gaming takes me from ~150W to ~450 in a hurry.

Power consumption is serious business! For people able to pony up $600 every six months, a few more bucks on the electric bill doesn't phaze them. More budget-minded folks see it as an added cost for their hobby and may put more thought into it.

 

[Janooo]

Seeing midnight paper launch I am looking forward to 260's price drop when 4870 comes out.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: Foxery
You forgot that the CPU and speakers ramp up their power usage at the same time. My UPS actually flashes every time I turn on my surround sound amp because it thinks there's been a power surge (The battery doesn't trip, but the display comes on.) Switching from neffing to gaming takes me from ~150W to ~450 in a hurry.

Power consumption is serious business! For people able to pony up $600 every six months, a few more bucks on the electric bill doesn't phaze them. More budget-minded folks see it as an added cost for their hobby and may put more thought into it.

I was being generous there.. but yea, some systems can take much more then that...

Don't forget many people skimp on the PSU and get a low efficiency one. And then there are those with multiple GPUs....

 

[Akabeth]

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but check this thread out. There seems to be a consistent overheating issue with the GTX 280, with some applications/utilities.
Seems to consist of real users

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=114925

 

[Akabeth]

From neverwouldof of XtremeSystems

Reviews coming from Guru3D show below scores... and note the Tri GTX280's were run at a higher clock of 4.2 QX9770 while the 9800GX2's were at 3.2 yet still managed Same FPS at 2560x1600 with all settings High ! So (2) 9800gx2's at $425-450 each or (3) GTX280's at $600plus each equal same performance? Thats just plain insanity i tell ya !

 

[LightningRider]

Originally posted by: Akabeth
Not sure if this has been posted yet, but check this thread out. There seems to be a consistent overheating issue with the GTX 280, with some applications/utilities.
Seems to consist of real users

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=114925

I was reading on what people said about temps on their GTX 280s on the evga forums and some say they have their cards go to 100+C and some say they only get to 70-75. Some even lower. Some had their cards idling at 45C.

Seems some cards are affected and some aren't... Also a lot said that after reapplying AS5 to their GPU's and making sure the heatsink was in firm contact with the chip that their temps dropped by a large margin.

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: LightningRider

Originally posted by: Akabeth
Not sure if this has been posted yet, but check this thread out. There seems to be a consistent overheating issue with the GTX 280, with some applications/utilities.
Seems to consist of real users

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=114925

I was reading on what people said about temps on their GTX 280s on the evga forums and some say they have their cards go to 100+C and some say they only get to 70-75. Some even lower. Some had their cards idling at 45C.

Seems some cards are affected and some aren't... Also a lot said that after reapplying AS5 to their GPU's and making sure the heatsink was in firm contact with the chip that their temps dropped by a large margin.

A quality control issue is always possible considering the complexity of the cooler/shroud. But..

You have to take temp claims with a pinch of salt. I'll never forget a post I read, 8800 GT at launch, single slot cooler of course. The guy was having temp issues, installed card in a mATX case with ONE 80mm exaust fan, the one on the psu...

 

[bryanW1995]

well, it's a single slot cooler so it can't run THAT hot, right? RIGHT???

 

[LightningRider]

I try to look at people's rigs that some put in their sigs when reading their temp problems. A lot of them had full chassis towers with several fans. Some had issues, some didn't. Hopefully I won't when I step up...

 

[ronnn]

Certainly no availability problems around here. Nvidia looks to well positioned for the upcoming price war.

 

[sxr7171]

Originally posted by: LightningRider

Originally posted by: Akabeth
Not sure if this has been posted yet, but check this thread out. There seems to be a consistent overheating issue with the GTX 280, with some applications/utilities.
Seems to consist of real users

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=114925

I was reading on what people said about temps on their GTX 280s on the evga forums and some say they have their cards go to 100+C and some say they only get to 70-75. Some even lower. Some had their cards idling at 45C.

Seems some cards are affected and some aren't... Also a lot said that after reapplying AS5 to their GPU's and making sure the heatsink was in firm contact with the chip that their temps dropped by a large margin.

Yeah, these cards are put together like crap generally. Everytime I've taken out a GPU heat sink, all I see something that looks like wall spackle in enough thickness to better insulate the GPU than cool it.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Agreed with above. This however happens with almost all IHVs, especially mobo manufacturers and their crap stock TIM.

 

[Nightmare225]

Originally posted by: ronnn
Certainly no availability problems around here. Nvidia looks to well positioned for the upcoming price war.

Yeah neweggs in stock and all.

 

[Cookie Monster]

I was surfing the web when i came across these set of benchmarks that illustrate the minimum FPS on many titles.

Link

Im quite surprised at the minimum framerates which is quite rare to find in most reviews. Its almost 50~200% higher than the 8800GTX!

 

[ViRGE]

Most games don't report a minimum framerate, so it's hard to accurately get. FRAPS doesn't really factor in to this either, while it's good enough for average framerates I don't think anyone trusts it for minimums.