Upgrading: GTX 280 or 285?

CR0M

CR0M

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OK i'm confused. It's time to think about a second card to SLi, and although my single 9800GX2 SSC has performed very well, I am reluctant to get another one to quad, because of it's now apparent shortfalls. So, I've decided to get 2 x 280's or 285's instead.

The thing is, I found this EVGA GTX280 FTW on Scan for 476.10...

...and this EVGA GTX285 SSC on Scan for 389.85.

The 285 is not only faster, but runs cooler. Why is it the best part of 100 space credits cheaper..?
 
Wallet rape? If you must waste money, it's less wasted on the 285.
 
I can't for one second imagine how a GTX280 could be worth even 300 pounds now the GTX285 is out, let alone that ridiculous sum. If you must get a 285, then standard ones can be found for around 300. 390 is a lot of money to pay for a 285, pre-overclocked or not !
 
I don't think it would be worth the upgrade.
 
I always go for the EVGA SSC editions, force of habit, obviously they are a bit more expensive but worth the extra speed and reliability imo. Yeah I will shop around for a better price, but those are the 2 contenders I am looking at. Just couldn't figure out the stupid price of that 280.

Also have considered a single 295 instead, but after the GX2 i've gone off the gpu sandwich idea.

-Psy- said:
I don't think it would be worth the upgrade.
Click to expand...

What, from my hot, noisy, 512mb 9800 GX2? elaborate pls.
 
Not thinking so is said lightly. It's a waste of money. The average increase is about 20% at best
 
Aren't there any aftermarket coolers you could get for the 9800GX2?
 
get a GTX260, the 216 core 896mb version is cheap as **** now and it's pure sex.
 
People, he's upgrading from an 9800gx2. This thing is pretty much as fast as the gtx260. I wouldn't pay $100 to upgrade from a 9800gx2 to a gtx280.
 
That would be a complete waste of money. Don't buy anything for a while, save you cash. Sometimes people want to add things to their PC just because it feels good. In this case it's highly unnecessary. Seriously, this is madness.
 
It's been a while since we've had a Sparta chain.

Madness?
 
That's right.
madness_7.jpg
 
Wait for the next generation of cards, as you won't see all that much of a performance increase over your current card.
 
I have a 8800GTX and it runs the latest games on the highest settings possible. Your current card is better than mine so maybe your fine unless you love to have the latest hardware thats out which is cool.

Get the 285's thats what i would. Good luck!
 
you might also want to consider that the 285 runs cooler, quieter and uses less power than a 280.
 
If you don't have a 9800GX2, you don't understand the main drawbacks - Memory, Heat, Power.

a) The touted 1gb of memory is crap. The card uses 512 per monitor, if you dual screen. With 1 monitor, 512 is the max. Not even enough to keep GTA4 happy.

b) They run HOT. This is because some brainless twunt of a designer thought it would be a good idea to vent the hot air out the SIDE of the card (thus back into the PC case), instead of out the back. I didn't want to water cool so I modded an extractor vent into my case to suck this out and the card temp (and case temp) dropped by almost 10 degrees. Mine now idles at 56/57 and gets up to 87/90 under extreme stress (crysis) after fine tuning with RivaTuner. No longer the 100+ meltdown vanilla temps, but still hot, and noisy.

c) The card uses a LOT of power, to quad means ideally a PSU of over 1000w.

And that's just 1 card. I want to SLi, remember. 2 new 260's makes sense financially, but they don't run as efficiently (or anywhere near as fast) as the 285's. 2x 285's kicks the shiz out of quad GX2's, so the upgrade is worth it imo... I'm just not sure whether to go for 280's or 285's.
 
285 is cheaper and faster. decision made.
 
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