eVGA "Step Up" Question

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Burner27

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I purchased an eVGA GTX260 Superclocked card back in August. The specs are as follows:

Core clock 602MHz
Stream Processors 192 processing cores
Memory Clock 2052MHz
Memory Size 896MB
Memory Interface 448-bit

and now I see that eVGA has the "core 216" which offers the following specs:

Core clock 576MHz
Stream Processors 216 processing cores
Memory Clock 1998MHz
Memory Size 896MB
Memory Interface 448-bit

Now I know clock for clock, a GTX260 Core 216 with 216 stream processors VS a stock GTX260 w/192 stream processors will be a better performer but mine is a factory "superclocked" version and I am asking for opinions on whether I should go for the "step up" from eVGA. The cost would be rather minimal (~$35). Would the performance be enough to justify the "step up"?
 
I would, just because after the 90 days go by, the card is yours forever. It my only be 10% faster, but I would want it... :)

Your current card is OC'ed at the factory, but with Precision, I bet you could also OC your 260 216 just as much?

The last thing is how much of a pain in the rear is it going to be going for a few days withought your 260? Do you have a fall back GPU you can eak by with? I would hate for my PC to be 100% down for that long. :p

Heck, get a new shiny card. They may have even made some other improvements we don't know about yet...
 
Its a simple process, but it means you are without your GPU for almost 2 weeks. The 3 or 4 days to ship your card to them plus the 6 or 7 days for them to ship the card back.

When does your 90-day expire? Wait until the last possible moment. You'd hate to step up for $35 if it turns out they make a price cut or a new card with a new improvement. I waited until about two weeks were left before I made the final decision to go ahead and Step-Up. I'm glad I did.

Also, don't forget the cost to ship your card to them. It was about $10 for me using the Post Office's flat-rate box. I boxed up all my eVGA stuff in the original box, and then I put that box in the Post Office's flat-rate box. That was all there was to it.

EVGA Precision will let you overclock for free, too, so you could self-make your own 260 216 OC before evga does.
 
I got a quick question if someone wouldn't mind sorting me out with an answer.

Do you have until the very last day of your expiration period to simply 'initialize' the step-up, or does your old card have to already be in their hands with the step-up process 'finalized and complete' before your deadline?

What I mean is this, can I simply click, I wish to step-up on the last day, and since I have done this, even when my expiration date passes I will be safe since I already initialized the process, or does the process have to be well on its way by the time my step-up date expires? I also have a GTX 260 Superclock that I may look into stepping up since this current card clocks like a dog.
 
mellojoe said:
Its a simple process, but it means you are without your GPU for almost 2 weeks. The 3 or 4 days to ship your card to them plus the 6 or 7 days for them to ship the card back.

When does your 90-day expire? Wait until the last possible moment. You'd hate to step up for $35 if it turns out they make a price cut or a new card with a new improvement. I waited until about two weeks were left before I made the final decision to go ahead and Step-Up. I'm glad I did.

Also, don't forget the cost to ship your card to them. It was about $10 for me using the Post Office's flat-rate box. I boxed up all my eVGA stuff in the original box, and then I put that box in the Post Office's flat-rate box. That was all there was to it.

EVGA Precision will let you overclock for free, too, so you could self-make your own 260 216 OC before evga does.
Click to expand...



Yeah i am going to wait. i bought my card on 8/13/08 so i have until 11/13/08 and by then the new cards will *hopefully* be out by then
 
2-3 weeks? Where are you shipping the card from? I shipped my 2 9800GTX cards to them last thursday at lunch, my new 260s will be here monday. Thats only 11 days.

Also, you have 90 days to "start" the stepup. So i usually wait until day 89 just to be safe so nothing wiggs out. You start the stepup process, pick your card, then get in line. Once they have a card for you (this can sometimes take up to a week) they will ask you for a copy of your invoice, you upload that, they confirm that (another couple days) then they ask you for your payment. Once verified, (another couple days) they will give you an RMA number that is good for 14 days. This is the point at which you send them your cards. If everything at its longest point, you can be in the 115-120 days after purchase point. Once they get your card, they inspect it, and send out your new card, usually 2-3 days turnaround.

This is my 5th stepup so far and everything has been flawless.
8800GTS 320 > 8800GT512
2 8800GTS512s > 9800GX2s
2 9800GTX > GTX260s
 
good to hear. Hopefully they will have 55nm GTX 280's out by christmas so I can step up:D
 
Your Step-Up has to be approved before the end of your 90 day period. All that means is basically what veedubfreak said: It takes them no time to approve your Step-Up. In fact, it may be automatic. I wouldn't wait until day 89, more like day 87 or 88, but that's only because I'm conservative / cautious / a worry-wart.
 
good to hear. Hopefully they will have 55nm GTX 280's out by christmas so I can step up
Click to expand...

I would like to see the 55nm 280gtx gaming performance. :) However since I have already stepped up, I would have to buy the card outright!
 
Thats interesting, went to EVGA's site, it will only let you step up to a core 216 GTX 260, and not the regular one now, I would of imagined they would lower the price on that one to try to get rid of it, but its not on the step up program list anymore.

I got till nov 22nd to step up, ill see what my options are between now and then.
 
yea I think it is best to wait until the end of your step-up unless you obsolutely need more performance. Sometimes you may be better off just selling the card and picking up a new card rather then stepping up to the MSRP
 
Actually no, you only have to apply for stepup before the period ends. They dont have to approve it before. Mine wasnt approved until like day 92.

I'm still hoping i end up with the new core 260s, but i'm not holding my breath.
 
veedubfreak said:
2-3 weeks? Where are you shipping the card from? I shipped my 2 9800GTX cards to them last thursday at lunch, my new 260s will be here monday. Thats only 11 days.

Also, you have 90 days to "start" the stepup. So i usually wait until day 89 just to be safe so nothing wiggs out. You start the stepup process, pick your card, then get in line. Once they have a card for you (this can sometimes take up to a week) they will ask you for a copy of your invoice, you upload that, they confirm that (another couple days) then they ask you for your payment. Once verified, (another couple days) they will give you an RMA number that is good for 14 days. This is the point at which you send them your cards. If everything at its longest point, you can be in the 115-120 days after purchase point. Once they get your card, they inspect it, and send out your new card, usually 2-3 days turnaround.

This is my 5th stepup so far and everything has been flawless.
8800GTS 320 > 8800GT512
2 8800GTS512s > 9800GX2s
2 9800GTX > GTX260s
Click to expand...

you must of bought your cards at the perfect time to go through 5 step up periods...I missed my 8800gts 320mb upgrade period by 3 days...
 
Well i lucked out a bit on the gx2's, i got in on the 120 day extension, but the rest were all bought with the stepup in mind.
 
Thanks to the posters who confirmed that the step-up just has to be STARTED before your 90 days. That gives me a few more days to sit and wait. I was going to do it like day 85 just to be sure. Now I may wait till day 87-89 and see how I fare. I may just jump right to GTX 280, haven't decided yet. I have until Dec. 4.
 
Burner27 said:
I purchased an eVGA GTX260 Superclocked card back in August. The specs are as follows:

Core clock 602MHz
Stream Processors 192 processing cores
Memory Clock 2052MHz
Memory Size 896MB
Memory Interface 448-bit

and now I see that eVGA has the "core 216" which offers the following specs:

Core clock 576MHz
Stream Processors 216 processing cores
Memory Clock 1998MHz
Memory Size 896MB
Memory Interface 448-bit

Now I know clock for clock, a GTX260 Core 216 with 216 stream processors VS a stock GTX260 w/192 stream processors will be a better performer but mine is a factory "superclocked" version and I am asking for opinions on whether I should go for the "step up" from eVGA. The cost would be rather minimal (~$35). Would the performance be enough to justify the "step up"?
Click to expand...

5fps worth the hassle? Don't think so.
 
Burner27 said:
I purchased an eVGA GTX260 Superclocked card back in August. The specs are as follows:

Core clock 602MHz
Stream Processors 192 processing cores
Memory Clock 2052MHz
Memory Size 896MB
Memory Interface 448-bit

and now I see that eVGA has the "core 216" which offers the following specs:

Core clock 576MHz
Stream Processors 216 processing cores
Memory Clock 1998MHz
Memory Size 896MB
Memory Interface 448-bit

Now I know clock for clock, a GTX260 Core 216 with 216 stream processors VS a stock GTX260 w/192 stream processors will be a better performer but mine is a factory "superclocked" version and I am asking for opinions on whether I should go for the "step up" from eVGA. The cost would be rather minimal (~$35). Would the performance be enough to justify the "step up"?
Click to expand...

From what ive been told and from what ive seen the 216 is "5-10% faster" than the standard 260. And if you think that percentage difference is worth the 35 dollars then i say go for it... its all about if you think that its worth it. Granted, the 5-10% difference is between reference clocked models and the 216 you'll be getting can only be the reference clock so the gap between what you have now and that card is going to be even smaller since you have an OC'd card. :)

cantankerous said:
Thanks to the posters who confirmed that the step-up just has to be STARTED before your 90 days. That gives me a few more days to sit and wait. I was going to do it like day 85 just to be sure. Now I may wait till day 87-89 and see how I fare. I may just jump right to GTX 280, haven't decided yet. I have until Dec. 4.
Click to expand...

Correct, i usually wait til the very last day to see all my options since the price of the cards wont be going up and the value of my card for stepup wont be going down. So i just wait it out and stepup on the last day. :D Also if you have any other EVGA related questions feel free to PM me and i will do my best to give you an immediate response. ;)3

Also, regarding stepup times... it really depends on what shipping option you choose to ship it to EVGA and how close you live. If you live within 1 shipping day of EVGA(southern california) then you can easily do it within a week. :)
 
eVGA is gay though..they don't stepup for international costumers..

I live in the caribbean and I cant step up.. so for me,eVGA is just like another company, nothing special...
 
vict0r said:
eVGA is gay though..they don't stepup for international costumers..

I live in the caribbean and I cant step up.. so for me,eVGA is just like another company, nothing special...
Click to expand...

Hopefully that will change soon. I dont know what plans EVGA Latam has for their customers...
 
vict0r said:
eVGA is gay though..they don't stepup for international costumers..

I live in the caribbean and I cant step up.. so for me,eVGA is just like another company, nothing special...
Click to expand...

What if you registered the card with someone in the states and when you wanted to step up just have them send the card to eVGA?

That might be more trouble than it's worth though...
 
I don't understand why you can't step up to overclocked models. It is still money in EVGA's pocket. The overclocked models cost more than the standard, so if anything they would get an extra few bucks in their pocket by allowing this.
 
cantankerous said:
I don't understand why you can't step up to overclocked models. It is still money in EVGA's pocket. The overclocked models cost more than the standard, so if anything they would get an extra few bucks in their pocket by allowing this.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have a 666 Mhz "FTW" edition GTX 260. The only feasible set-up option for me is a GTX 280. The vanilla GTX 260 "216" isn't going to help me unless I get the urge to overclock it myself (which I doubt I will).

Just got it - should have waited a month or so for a 216 "FTW" to get released. :p
 
cantankerous said:
I don't understand why you can't step up to overclocked models. It is still money in EVGA's pocket. The overclocked models cost more than the standard, so if anything they would get an extra few bucks in their pocket by allowing this.
Click to expand...

Its mostly to do with the fact that overclocked models have lower quantities of availability and because of this there are a lot less cards that can be spread between step up and retail as well as bulk sales. So because there are more reference cards than there are overclocked models and the higher the clock the less cards there are that reach that clock... so its simply based on ability to supply these cards to the public and the step up customers.
 
Burner27 said:
I purchased an eVGA GTX260 Superclocked card back in August. The specs are as follows:

Core clock 602MHz
Stream Processors 192 processing cores
Memory Clock 2052MHz
Memory Size 896MB
Memory Interface 448-bit

and now I see that eVGA has the "core 216" which offers the following specs:

Core clock 576MHz
Stream Processors 216 processing cores
Memory Clock 1998MHz
Memory Size 896MB
Memory Interface 448-bit

Now I know clock for clock, a GTX260 Core 216 with 216 stream processors VS a stock GTX260 w/192 stream processors will be a better performer but mine is a factory "superclocked" version and I am asking for opinions on whether I should go for the "step up" from eVGA. The cost would be rather minimal (~$35). Would the performance be enough to justify the "step up"?
Click to expand...

I was faced with the exact same dilemma, and it would have only cost me $20 to step up, so I did.

I'll just overclock it myself back to the 602 level, at least.

Oh, and I also have a $40 mail in rebate for my GTX 260, which I plan on redeeming, so after its all said and done, at the end of the day, it will cost me $279 - $40 + $20 = $259 for a GTX 260 216. :)
 
RussianHAXOR said:
Its mostly to do with the fact that overclocked models have lower quantities of availability and because of this there are a lot less cards that can be spread between step up and retail as well as bulk sales. So because there are more reference cards than there are overclocked models and the higher the clock the less cards there are that reach that clock... so its simply based on ability to supply these cards to the public and the step up customers.
Click to expand...

Yea, I can see this point. Thanks for clarifying, makes plenty of sense... unfortunately lol.
 
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