Worth upgrading GTX 260 to GTX 560 for BF3? -- UPDATED! Splurge for the GTX 560 Ti?

[happy medium]

AMD Phenom II 965 Black Edition (non-OC'ed -- should I OC this?)

Thats your problem,and overclock the gtx560 past 6870 speeds.

 

[Aspyred]

Hey guys, thanks for your responses. After some more testing, BF3 does run OK on Medium, but I tend to want the smoothest FPS possible for competitive FPS games such as BF3. I have another 4 GB of RAM sitting around (perfect match w/ my other 4 GB; haven't bothered to install yet since still using Win7 32-bit), which I will install ASAP with Win7 64-bit.

Another question though! While I'm still within my return period, I did find a Geforce GTX 560 Ti for $189.99. So basically, a $40 upgrade to get the Ti-version of the GTX 560.

It is this one, cheapest Ti I could find, but it seems to run at a lower clock speed than some of the other Ti's I've seen:

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=58463&...c&promoid=1055

What do you guys think, worth it or not?

 

[tviceman]

Hey guys, thanks for your responses. After some more testing, BF3 does run OK on Medium, but I tend to want the smoothest FPS possible for competitive FPS games such as BF3. I have another 4 GB of RAM sitting around (perfect match w/ my other 4 GB; haven't bothered to install yet since still using Win7 32-bit), which I will install ASAP.

Another question though! While I'm still within my return period, I did find a Geforce GTX 560 Ti for $189.99. So basically, a $40 upgrade to get the Ti-version of the GTX 560.

What do you guys think, worth it or not?

I have a heavily overclocked gtx560ti, and after running the game myself (it ran well, but had to run with no AA and turn off ambient occlusion to get consistently really smooth frame rates) and then looking over benchmarks, at your resolution the gtx570 is going to give you the best performance per dollar for this game. Get one, overclock it a little, and enjoy.

 

[Aspyred]

I have a heavily overclocked gtx560ti, and after running the game myself (it ran well, but had to run with no AA and turn off ambient occlusion to get consistently really smooth frame rates) and then looking over benchmarks, at your resolution the gtx570 is going to give you the best performance per dollar for this game. Get one, overclock it a little, and enjoy.

So you're saying I should stick with the GTX 560 non-Ti? Yeah, the more I think about it, the more it seems like the extra $40 for the Ti version of this isn't worth it.

- $150, GTX 560 Non-Ti (already own+have installed)
- $190, GTX 560 Ti ($40 difference + hassle of returning card and ordering online and waiting for the card to come in mail)

Seems like the law of diminishing returns rears into focus here. I'm looking at whatever benchmarks and stuff I can find, and I can only really see a 7-10% maybe, increase in performance. So I could be getting 55 FPS over 50 FPS or something. The only unknown factor for me would be the OC-potential. I'm not much into OC'ing, but would a decent OC on the 560 Ti be that much of an improvement over a decent OC with the 560 non-Ti?

Price-to-performance ratio seems maximized w/ my current GTX 560 non-Ti given my specs/system.

What do you all think?

 

[The Ultimate]

The HD 6870 is slightly faster than the GTX 560, so moving to it doesn't worth the hassle and doesn't buy you a lot of performance. The HD 6950 is a better buy.

 

[tviceman]

So you're saying I should stick with the GTX 560 non-Ti? Yeah, the more I think about it, the more it seems like the extra $40 for the Ti version of this isn't worth it.

- $150, GTX 560 Non-Ti (already own+have installed)
- $190, GTX 560 Ti ($40 difference + hassle of returning card and ordering online and waiting for the card to come in mail)

Seems like the law of diminishing returns rears into focus here. I'm looking at whatever benchmarks and stuff I can find, and I can only really see a 7-10% maybe, increase in performance. So I could be getting 55 FPS over 50 FPS or something. The only unknown factor for me would be the OC-potential. I'm not much into OC'ing, but would a decent OC on the 560 Ti be that much of an improvement over a decent OC with the 560 non-Ti?

Price-to-performance ratio seems maximized w/ my current GTX 560 non-Ti given my specs/system.

What do you all think?

No, sorry. I thought I read you were also considering the faster gtx570. My gtx560ti is clocked to be essentially as fast as a gtx570 and I still had to drop down 1 graphical setting to get what I would consider consistent, super smooth frame rates. By the best card that you can afford. That is my advice.

 

[edplayer]

Hey guys, thanks for your responses. After some more testing, BF3 does run OK on Medium, but I tend to want the smoothest FPS possible for competitive FPS games such as BF3. I have another 4 GB of RAM sitting around (perfect match w/ my other 4 GB; haven't bothered to install yet since still using Win7 32-bit), which I will install ASAP with Win7 64-bit.

Like I posted above, you are already near the "sweet spot" for price/performance. I wouldn't bother with a return for a 560Ti. You would notice the difference on an OC'd 570 or 580 but I don't think they are worth their price premium.

The only other choices that make sense for you are SLi or Crossfire choices. I don't think your board allows SLi so you are left with Crossfire. Two 6850 would big a big difference over your 560. I don't know how good you are at finding deals but over here (r u in Canada?) I've seen 6850 at $130 and less ($100 once) with rebate but they might come with a game you can resell to get the price even lower.

 

[7earitup]

No, sorry. I thought I read you were also considering the faster gtx570. My gtx560ti is clocked to be essentially as fast as a gtx570 and I still had to drop down 1 graphical setting to get what I would consider consistent, super smooth frame rates. By the best card that you can afford. That is my advice.

I agree with tviceman. Set a budget and buy the best card for that budget. Of course, finding a good deal is a priority too but that depends on the time you want to spend to look around for a deal and how soon you need a new card.

Half of the problem I have these days is determining which card is the best card in the price range I am shooting for. AMD and NVIDIA both have amazing offerings these days, so it is a matter of manufacturers, their warranties, and any added goodies.

 

[The Ultimate]

No matter how much you overclock the GTX 560 Ti, it will never match the GTX 570 in all scenarios, as the GTX 560 Ti architecture is slightly different from GTX 570 as it has superscalar elements which tends to cause inconsistent performance in some cases, while the GTX 570, as a pure scalar architecture, tends to be more consistent.

 

[ocre]

As far as price vs performance, your not gonna beat the deal you got. Its expensive for minute gains here on up. BF3 is very demanding, CPU and GPU. It looks wonderful at medium though, luckily!

In most games you will be just fine with the 560. Its price/performance ration is insane. But this topic isnt about other game......

So if you keep the 560 what you can do now to increase performance of BF3? I would definitely OC the 560 and your 965 as high as your comfortable with. Your at the point where you could benefit well from this.

FYI for future reference:
I hear its not to hard to get SLI working on a unsupported board. Two 560s should put you way up there in performance, and the price/performance ratio is still there in SLI, one thats very hard to beat.

 

[Aspyred]

Thanks for the advice everyone. You're right, where I am now is perfect, and I really shouldn't spend the money for a minimal gain. My budget doesn't allow for much, so what I have now, I should be satisfied with.

Thanks again everyone, this really is an awesome community.

 

[7earitup]

Thanks for the advice everyone. You're right, where I am now is perfect, and I really shouldn't spend the money for a minimal gain. My budget doesn't allow for much, so what I have now, I should be satisfied with.

Thanks again everyone, this really is an awesome community.

I will be upgrading my aging GTX 260 soon. How is that vanilla 560 handling the BF3 beta?

 

[Aspyred]

I will be upgrading my aging GTX 260 soon. How is that vanilla 560 handling the BF3 beta?

Hey man,

Really appreciate all the help I've been getting from the community here, so I need to make sure I pass it forward.

The GTX 260 on my rig totally could not handle BF3 on 1080p. I remember getting, what felt like, 20 FPS inconsistently on low details or something. Unplayable. After upgrading, an immediate difference.

Handles Medium on 1080p well. I can't comment on the exact FPS, but I like my competitive games BUTTERY smooth (like 70 FPS+), so I play it with a mix of Low and Medium details at 2x AA. Other games you have will also see immediate and significant improvements.

Do note, this game looks pretty incredible for "Low" and "Medium". Don't let that fool ya.

I really am happy with the deal I got at $150 CAD for the GTX 560, but if your budget allows (mine really didn't), these lovely people here on the forum seem to recommend more for games like BF3. But for me, thanks to everyone's advice, I think I got the best deal I could really get at this point.

Hope this helps, cheers!