Any new GTX 460 owners want to share their experiences and impressions?

Staypuft said:
BFBC2 @1600x1200 all high settings, DX11, 8xCSAA, HBAO off, VSync off, Undergrowth Medium. GTX460 768MB running 40-50fps with some dips to mid 30's. If I go DX9 for apples-to-apples against the GTX260 it will run twice as fast at 90-100 fps. This game's performance on Fermi GPU has been improving with driver updates. There is obviously something up with DX11, our architecture and this game.
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Hmm, sounds like I'm not crazy. We're getting similar performance hits.

My settings:
1280x960, DX11 all settings high, HBAO on, 4xMSAA plus TRMSAA in the control panel. Your settings have 50% higher resolution, but you disable HBAO (about 30% performance gain), and don't have TRMSAA enabled. It seems like I get the most slowdown when player models enter the field of view (lots of polys, and lots of edges), and when I'm facing underbrush (tons of leaves to be TRMSAAed).

My settings are barely playable (I'm not running FRAPS), so I will try with 2xMSAA tonight and see if things get smoother.

I mean, I AM seeing an improvement over my 4850. I get smooth shadows and TRMSAA, two things this game desperately needed. But I was expecting more :D
 
defaultluser said:
Hmm, sounds like I'm not crazy. We're getting similar performance hits.

My settings:
1280x960, DX11 all settings high, HBAO on, 4xMSAA plus TRMSAA in the control panel. Your settings have 50% higher resolution, but you disable HBAO (about 30% performance gain), and don't have TRMSAA enabled.

My settings are barely playable (I'm not running FRAPS), so I will try with 2xMSAA tonight and see if things get smoother.

I mean, I AM seeing an improvement over my 4850. I get smooth shadows and TRMSAA, two things this game desperately needed. But I was expecting more :D
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One thing I noticed, having tried out a GTX480 in this machine, is that the 460 isn't much slower in BFBC2. The 480 ran a lousy 50-60 fps at same settings except HBAO on and undergrowth high, with no change in perf for AA setting (since really nothing would make the 480 run faster, including lower rez, I was like wtf???). All other games seemed normal. That 480 also suffered from stuttering and an underutilized GPU @ 40% on BFBC2. In the end I felt my system was bottlenecking the card. I will likely go SLI this year when I go widescreen. That'll mean a whole new system. Plan to migrate up to the 1GB GTX460 cards as well. Will do an apples-to-apples then.

Forgot to mention, the above numbers are at a 750 core overclock. I didnt even bother testing stock since reviews out there indicate it's guaranteed. Right now I'm sitting at 800 core.
 
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Digital Illusions has demonstrated repeatedly their total incompetence for engine design, it should not be coming as a shock to anyone.
 
Evga GTX460 1gb SC EE (763/1526/1900) @ (800/1600/2000)

Used MSI Afterburner. Stock Voltage. Max Temp 74C on stock fan profile after stomping on it with Kombustor, BFBC2 and Just Cause 2(Maxed w/4x AA) for over 5 hours. Fan gets up to about 54% at those settings while playing. Idle temps before and after OC are 40C @ 40% fan speed.

The Fan noise ramps up quick on my model. It doesn't bug me till about 65% though. I never hit 65% fan on the above clocks while playing.

This baby will do A LOT more. If you don't mind the fan noise.

I'm Happy.:D

P.S. I actually like Just Cause 2. It's a pretty/fun game. EVGA is giving away copies of Cryostasis on it's website for EVGA owners. That game ran like complete shit on my system no matter what I did. Uninstalled after 30 minutes:(

Windows 7 64bit
Q6600 @ 3.2ghz
4 gigs ddr2 @ 1066
Evga GTX460 1gb SC EE
Evga 260 SC core 216(used for PhysX)
 
So, my second experience tonight:

I was able to run BFBC2 1280x960 DX11 all high HBAO on with 4xMSAA and TRMSAA smoothly this evening. So, I'm not sure what was going on last night, but maybe I was just nuts. OR maybe it was lag...I have no clue.

If this keeps up, I'm happy with the performance increases.
 
defaultluser said:
Hmm, sounds like I'm not crazy. We're getting similar performance hits.

My settings:
1280x960, DX11 all settings high, HBAO on, 4xMSAA plus TRMSAA in the control panel. Your settings have 50% higher resolution, but you disable HBAO (about 30% performance gain), and don't have TRMSAA enabled. It seems like I get the most slowdown when player models enter the field of view (lots of polys, and lots of edges), and when I'm facing underbrush (tons of leaves to be TRMSAAed).

My settings are barely playable (I'm not running FRAPS), so I will try with 2xMSAA tonight and see if things get smoother.

I mean, I AM seeing an improvement over my 4850. I get smooth shadows and TRMSAA, two things this game desperately needed. But I was expecting more :D
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Try disabling HBAO.

That one setting can hit performace very hard.
 
I got my EVGA 460 786meg installed tonight. I played BC2 for a bit and it seemed to run fine.

I ran BC2 at 1920x1200 Everything on High with 16 CSAA and 16 MSAA. It seemed to run acceptable for me.

Later on, after reading this thread I got the MSI tools and bumped my card up to 800/1800. I had GPU temps of 48, so I then bumped up the fan to 50%. At that speed I didn't hear it, but it kept the GPU cooler.
 
BFBC2 is an especially poorly coded game, no matter how awesome it is, and benefits immensely from an i5/i7, especially with a GTX 4xx card.
 
Got mine yesterday to replace my 4850. The card is definitely faster in benchmarks, e.g. 3DMark 06/Vantage.

However it struggles a little with the Heaven benchmark at max settings. Same with Metro 2033 with maximum DX11 settings. I suppose there's a reason these things sell for $200 when a proper GTX480 is over $500 :p It may also be that I'm slightly CPU bound. Not that I'm complaining, it has tripled the framerate in some games and allows much higher levels of AA and quality settings.

The card is much shorter than the 4850, which was nearly touching the hard drives in the front of my case. It also works fine with my VX450W PSU, saving me quite a bit of money compared to a 4850 or GTX470, which would require both a new case (unless I were to physically remove the hard drive cage) and a new PSU.
 
Arklight said:
Try disabling HBAO.

That one setting can hit performace very hard.
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I know. But I refuse to disable HBAO to get higher AA settings I didn't spend $230 to start cutting features - if I wanted to do that, I would have ditched my CRT for some 1920x1200 monstrosity :D

The reality is I was able to run my lowly 4850 DX10 at the same resolution all high 2xMSAA with HBAO on. This is why I was unimpressed with my GTX 460 - I could only add soft shadows and one bump in AA level.

But now that TRMSAA plus 4xMSAA seems to be working (perhaps just a laggy server for the previous evening?), I'm satisfied.
 
Ambient Occlusion is more of a driver hack than a proper feature. Kind of like ATI's "TruForm" feature of early Radeon cards. Something to try and play around with, but not something you're meant to keep enabled.

If a similar looking effect was implemented as a native feature of a game engine, the performance hit would not be nearly as severe.
 
Anyone getting or had gotten some weird ghosting on NPC's when running Stalker CoP in Dx11? Kinda sucks because other than that it looks great, but can't run in it because of this.

Just curious.
 
JimmiG said:
Ambient Occlusion is more of a driver hack than a proper feature. Kind of like ATI's "TruForm" feature of early Radeon cards. Something to try and play around with, but not something you're meant to keep enabled.

If a similar looking effect was implemented as a native feature of a game engine, the performance hit would not be nearly as severe.
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It's a native feature of Battlefield Bad Company 2 in-game, and makes a sizable difference in lighting quality.
 
ragejg said:
Here's a shot I took of my EVGA 768 without the shroud, idk if that's what you're looking for:

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Random question, but does removing the shroud change the temp/noise performance at all (for better or worse), and is it easy enough to take off?
 
The Galaxy cards are loud, extremely loud. If it wasn't for TD's shitty return policy they'd be going back. Stupid me having to bite on the BCB instead of waiting for detailed reviews (didn't see the article with the noise ratings until after they shipped). At 50% they are louder than my 260s were at 80%. At 80% I can hear them across the room.

Can't post anything about performance yet, because I haven't actually gotten them to work properly (see my other thread if you have any ideas).
 
I have a 1gb Galaxy GC, my computer sits on the floor in a CM690 loaded with low speed yate's. The galaxy with fan @ 100% doesn't seem to increase the noise already present with 7 low speed yate's (I can't hear it over the yates unless I take the side of the case off and put my head within a couple inches of it). Maybe I just got lucky.....
 
Cliff Couser said:
isn't the 460 just about the same speed as a 275?

just wondering.
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The 460 is a bit faster but it varies from situation to situation. Some games will have little benefit but some will see a sizable boost. Overall however, upgrading to a 460 from a 275 is not worth it unless you want lower noise/heat/energy usage, or you have to have DX11 right the hell now.
 
Follow-up on my earlier noise compliant about the Galaxy card. I was up till 3:00 last night messing with these things. The fan actually protrudes a decent amount from the card, to the point where it can easily bump up with parts protruding from the card below (like the heat sink mount screws on the next card down). I tried to separate the two GTX 460 cards enough apart that they wouldn't interfere with each other, but it wasn't quite possible without the bottom one being too close to my PhsyX card.

I also have one damaged fan already, on a brand new $240 card. I'm hoping they'll replace it. This is really a horrendous design, the space is so tight and there is no way to really see exactly how much clearance the fan has once they are all installed. I've been running SLI since 2005 and I've never had problems like this.

Do the fans on the reference or other non-reference designs protrude past the shroud or is this a side effect of the removable fan system?
 
Just tested it with Metro 2033. Computer can't handle it (highest setting of course). I have a X3 720 with fourth core unlocked and OC at 3.2, with 2GB of memory and the 1GB version of the MSI. Tried bumping the clock up to 850 (1700 mem), but the game still isn't as fluid as i would like. Is my CPU bottlenecking this thing? I'm playing at 1920x1080, btw.
 
Lyric Suite said:
Just tested it with Metro 2033. Computer can't handle it (highest setting of course). I have a X3 720 with fourth core unlocked and OC at 3.2, with 2GB of memory and the 1GB version of the MSI. Tried bumping the clock up to 850 (1700 mem), but the game still isn't as fluid as i would like. Is my CPU bottlenecking this thing? I'm playing at 1920x1080, btw.
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Metro 2033 is brutal on any single gpu, regardsess of whether you are in the green or red camp.

see...

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GeForce_GTX_460_Cyclone_OC_1_GB/27.html
 
Lyric Suite said:
But what if you OC the card? In my case the difference is not substantial, which suggests my CPU must be pulling it back. BTW, how can i get a benchmark with this game? If i can can get an hard number i can make accurate comparisons between standard clock and over-clock.
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An overclock from the stock 675 MHz to to 850 MHz is only a ~25% overclock. According to the Techpowerup benchmarks, a stock GTX460 1GB gives you 19.1 FPS. Even with perfect scaling, you'd still be looking at only 24 FPS after the overclock. Not enough to really change anything. The GTX480 with their 3.8 GHz i7 only gets 31FPS in that game...

The game must be poorly optimized, or maybe they over-estimated the power of new DX11 GPUs.

darkpaw said:
Do the fans on the reference or other non-reference designs protrude past the shroud or is this a side effect of the removable fan system?
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Here's what a Gainward GTX460 looks like:
http://www.fudzilla.com/reviews/reviews/reviews/gainward-gtx-460-gs-goes-like-hell-tested/page-3
I have the non-GLH version of this card. Best design IMO - it's shorter than the reference GTX460 and the power connectors are in the right place. It almost looks as if the fan protrudes slightly on the reference design they compare it to.
 
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At least that has a partial cover over the fan, which would help with the spacing.
 
requiem99 said:
The 460 is a bit faster but it varies from situation to situation. Some games will have little benefit but some will see a sizable boost. Overall however, upgrading to a 460 from a 275 is not worth it unless you want lower noise/heat/energy usage, or you have to have DX11 right the hell now.
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that's what i was thinking. cool.
 
Just repasted my palit heat sink but still maxes out at 82deg. The stock paste wasn't bad at all, I have had 5 degree drops from that alone in the past.
 
stevedave said:
Just repasted my palit heat sink but still maxes out at 82deg. The stock paste wasn't bad at all, I have had 5 degree drops from that alone in the past.
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wait for the thermal grease to set.. you might get that drop. I have seen up to 5c drops after AS5 sets.. ymmv obviously.
 
Went from 9800gtx+ to gtx460 768 standard clock. I run a constant overclock @830 core, 1660 shader and 1950 mem with fan @53. Still quiet enough and temps never get over 65, usually in the low 60s.
Running q9950 with 4 gigs 1066 w/ win 7 64.

A few differences in gta 4, but nothing too major. 50/50/40 high everything 4xaf.
Call of pripyat can be played at around 35-45fps dx 11 max 1680@1050.
The parts of fallout 3 that would choke on max are no more. This really pleased me.
Crysis and Warhead playable on max dx10 w/v sync @ 30fps. Wasn't expecting 60fps.
Dirt 2, pretty much the same performance as 9800gtx+, just with dx11 and max details. 50-60fps
Mafia 2. Super increase. Playable at 60 most everywhere.
Boarderlands. Mostly 60 constant on max vysnc, but the same area that caused my 9800gtx to drop is causing the exact same drop, down to 40fps. Kind of hoped that this wouldn't happen with my new card......
Cryostasis. Can use dx10 now, still with 35-45 vsync.
Conviction. Simliar, but in the 40s/50s mostly, lowest only in the 30s.
LF4D1/2. No slowdowns under 60, not matter whats going on. Exactly what i wanted.
Just cause 2 demo. 20s with 9800GTX. 40-55 with some 30s on max.
Lost planet dx10 demo. Lowest in 30s, mostly in the 45-60 range on v sync.
Metro 2033 dx11 all high. Mostly at 30fps constant with v sync. Sometimes gets into the 40s/50s in easy to render areas. Very high looks pretty, but high is pretty enough.
Trackmania nations united, 60fps on max w vsync everywhere. Huge win for me. Really what i was looking for with this card and i got it.

To be honest i had some visions of 60fps on everything but metro 2033 and crysis but.... thats what a future upgrade to sli is for.

Overall, i'd have to say that for $170 shipped from amazon that this card is great. Its not the super killer app but it plays the newest and the most demanding older games and sli is an attractive step up looming in the future.
 
I just installed an MSI cyclone 768. Mine overclocks very well. Stable @ 925/2340 (YES teh memory is maxed out in afterburner!). Got a great deal and it came with 3 games.


I cannot really tell the difference between it and my 5850 in gameplay (BFBC2). The 5850 does give more FPS but smoothness is about the same.

Not sure if i should keep it or not. Maybe i will sell the 5850....
 
Swapped my 2x 4870's in crossfire for an EVGA GTX 460 oc'd to 835 core. Slight decreases in some games, roughly the same in others. The real difference is in Folding@home, where my PPD went from 2500 to 15,000. Looking forward to adding a second card when I get the cash
 
Activate: AMD said:
Swapped my 2x 4870's in crossfire for an EVGA GTX 460 oc'd to 835 core. Slight decreases in some games, roughly the same in others. The real difference is in Folding@home, where my PPD went from 2500 to 15,000. Looking forward to adding a second card when I get the cash
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You are getting 15k ppd? Dang, makes me want to upgrade to a 460.
 
Got an evga gtx460 768mb running furmark stable at 835/1670/2000 no higher than 63c. :)

EDIT: now at 850/1700/2100
 
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ya EVGA came out with an updated bios that OC's their normal cards a little bit. i guess they started shipping cards with that bios too. if you want more info just look up "evga gtx 460 free performance boost".
 
LOCO LAPTOP said:
Got an evga gtx460 768mb running furmark stable at 835/1670/2000 no higher than 63c. :)

EDIT: now at 850/1700/2100
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Nice. Just remember Furmark only stresses temperature and shaders... it doesn't stress memory.

I can go MUCH higher in Furmark than nearly any other game, but a few minutes into BFBC2 will bring the whole thing down. Spend twenty minutes in BFBC2 to verify the card is stable.
 
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