Will I see an increase with a GTX 260?

ratef42 · Post by **ratef42** » 02 Aug 2009, 15:56

Hi all, I have a 7900gs that I use for all my gaming right now but recently Its just been flopping and not really being able to keep up well. Or is it my other components?

Pc specs:
core 2 duo E8400
2GB DDR2
500 gb sata

I have found a gtx 260 for £110, is that worth it or am i better off waiting?

Thanks

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 02 Aug 2009, 16:47

Well, it's certainly an upgrade from a 7900GS. Playing the waiting game on hardware is always a bit of a gamble - if you're after newer stuff then Q4 this year for ATi and Q1 2010 for new nVidia cards are the rumours that seem most popular at the minute.

Is that a new 260, or used? 192 or 216 core version? Scan have a 216 core version for £115...

Alternatives are available - a 1GB 4850 (£87) is about level with a 260, while a 4870 1GB (£119) just beats it IIRC.

ratef42 · Post by **ratef42** » 02 Aug 2009, 23:11

Thanks for the reply, I've been trying to extend the length of the 7900gs by using extreme overclocking and tweaked drivers etc. But I like how long its lasted me but its finally time to upgrade.

The card im looking at is a used point of view 260 core 216 boxed and everything. Thanks for the recommendations but after some bad experiences with ATI I prefer Nvidia now. :D

Frag Maniac · Post by **Frag Maniac** » 02 Aug 2009, 23:32

...after some bad experiences with ATI I prefer Nvidia now. :D

Know what you mean there. I've spent the last 4.5 yrs of my 7.5 yrs of gaming on an X800XT and X1950Pro and the driver support is atrocious. Worse yet, a while ago they stopped driver supporting anything older than the 2000 series GPUs. I will never buy an ATI GPU again, period.

whismerhill · Post by **whismerhill** » 03 Aug 2009, 02:42

My main culprit with ATI is that they don't have any profile support with application detection.
despite the fact that their so called catalyst AI supports made by ATI profiles with application detection ...

now you can do sort of profiles & special shortcuts that put the profile in place & start the game but that is just a bother to setup
plus you can't play with application specific optimisation, AA compatibility settings, multiGPU (CF) settings...

On the driver side though I got some problems here and there both with ATI & Nvidia, like for example a problem with Oblivion Invisibility effects which affected framerates a lot in specific conditions with a few driver sets & a 8800GTS512

edit: the 260 is definitely a very nice increase over a 7900GS since this is a two generations jump...

skeeder · Post by **skeeder** » 03 Aug 2009, 04:03

I went from a 7900GS (it died...sent it in on warrenty) and got a 8800GTX 320MB...the difference...is HUGE. The 260 will probably give you a termindous increase and you would be very pleased for the price.

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 03 Aug 2009, 10:45

Fair enough, ratef42. :)

I use both ATi and nVidia hardware... which I buy at the time tends to seesaw between the two depending on performance/cost and which manufacturers cards have annoyed me more recently. :lol: I was going to get GTX260SLI a while ago because I'd become sort of equally irritated with the two companies... but then the 4870X2 had a large price drop, so I went with that instead... I'd also have needed to get a PSU with 4 PCI-E power leads if I'd gone SLI. Now that ATi have fixed the lack of 5040x1050 in TripleHead, my biggest complaint against ATi's drivers has been nullified.

JohnnyWakko · Post by **JohnnyWakko** » 03 Aug 2009, 13:29

I went from 8800GTS to 260GTX

Worlds apart!

erikjanneman · Post by **erikjanneman** » 03 Aug 2009, 16:02

6600GT to GTX 275. As expected, big difference :p.

Post by **GeneralAdmission** » 03 Aug 2009, 18:56

I went from 8800GTS to 260GTX

Worlds apart!

Glad to hear that. I'm looking at this upgrade (later this year) to improve my TH performance.

If a money miracle happens, I might be able to nab a 275. Of course, I need to a new case to fit one of these bad boys. :)

ratef42 · Post by **ratef42** » 06 Aug 2009, 20:46

Just got the 260 yesterday and the difference in immense from the 7900.
I can actually play maxed out again :D
COD 4 went from 25-40 fps with settings lowered to 1680x1050 maxed 90+ fps
Really liking CUDA and the fast video encodes too!

JohnnyWakko · Post by **JohnnyWakko** » 07 Aug 2009, 08:41

[quote]I went from 8800GTS to 260GTX

Worlds apart!

Glad to hear that. I'm looking at this upgrade (later this year) to improve my TH performance.

If a money miracle happens, I might be able to nab a 275. Of course, I need to a new case to fit one of these bad boys. :)

A little overclock of the 260GTX and Cyrsis runs a treat at 2nd highest settings on my resolution.

Post by **GeneralAdmission** » 07 Aug 2009, 11:06

[quote][quote]I went from 8800GTS to 260GTX

Worlds apart!

Glad to hear that. I'm looking at this upgrade (later this year) to improve my TH performance.

If a money miracle happens, I might be able to nab a 275. Of course, I need to a new case to fit one of these bad boys. :)

A little overclock of the 260GTX and Cyrsis runs a treat at 2nd highest settings on my resolution.
Nice. Although for TH that might mean I need to shoot higher than a 260. What kind of fps do you average in Crysis? I'm ok tweaking down graphics to gain performance, but I always want a significant upgrade when it comes to hardware.

I'd love a 275 or more. Money is always a factor, though.

erikjanneman · Post by **erikjanneman** » 07 Aug 2009, 11:14

I installed crysis the day before yesterday. Everything on 'Very High'. 1920*1080. 4x AA. Vsync on. I dont know in fps, but it runs very smooth.

(i have a GTX 275).

ratef42 · Post by **ratef42** » 09 Aug 2009, 15:27

ok quick question guys, I just installed Brothers in Arms Hells highway that I got with the card and the the fps are quite low.
Im getting around 28-45 fps with 1680x1050 all on high.

This review shows that I should be getting 70fps on average
Does anyone know what the problems is?
Any help is greatly appreciated!

Full specs:
Core 2 duo E8400
2GB Geil RAM
ASUS P5B-VM SE
GTX 260 216 SP

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 09 Aug 2009, 16:39

Have you got antialiasing turned on to a higher than normal level? (Or enabled it in the driver panel or something?)

ratef42 · Post by **ratef42** » 09 Aug 2009, 20:25

It was initially set to quality so i then set it to performance but it doesnt show any significant changes, now im hovering around 40-50 fps but nowhere near the 70-90 it should be getting.

http://www.hitechlegion.com/images/stories/palitgtx260/graph2.jpg

I'll post some 3D mark 06 results soon.

Daleon · Post by **Daleon** » 12 Aug 2009, 22:28

I went from an 8800GTX to a 260 (192) a while back. Was able to sell my old card and get the new one for about a $30 difference. Was a great upgrade. Performance was a little better, but VQ was incredibly better.

I've seen similar problems before where people don't get the fps they should after an upgrade. Using a driver cleaner is your best option.

Can give this a try:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/Guru3D---Driver-Sweeper-(Setup)-download-1655.html

If that doesn't help, a good clean format is always nice.

Yui · Post by **Yui** » 24 Aug 2009, 05:01

There are so many factors that determine fps in games. Maybe the benchmark does not have the same system specs as yours.

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