How much of an upgrade is a GTX 570 from a GTX 280?

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cold_steel

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I have a GTX 280 (I game at 1920x1200) and a friend of mine has an 8800GTS g92 (he games at 1440x900). I was just wondering how much of an upgrade I would get going to a gtx 570, and in turn what kind of a jump he would see going from the 8800GTS to the gtx 280.
 
Hoping someone has some input on this topic as well. I have a GTX275 that's starting to feel a little long in the tooth. The GTX570 is looking mighty tasty right now. I also game at 1920x1200
 
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I have an 8800GTS 640mb SSC that was my main card for quite awhile (SSC = 112 stream processor version). Duly noted the 8800GTS 512mb is still better, but not by a ton. Anyway, I had run 8800GTS 640mb SLI for a time as well. When I upgraded to my GTX 280 running at 1920x1200 I got performance improvements of ~2x across the board and benefits I can't slap a multiplier on (driver panel Ambient Occlusion just isn't feasible with the 8800GTS 640mb SSC in almost anything, but it's quite doable on my GTX 280; likewise, the disparity in AA levels is tremendous; my biggest complaint is that in Team Fortress 2 I can't get 16xQCSAA + Quality AO- I have to opt for 16xCSAA + Quality AO or 16xQCSAA + Performance AO, and I go with the latter as AA is just much more important; all told though, very minor complaint, lol). Compared to my SLI 8800GTS 640mb set-up, where that actually performed well (ala CoD 4) the GTX 280 still remains above it.

All that said though, if your friend keeps that 1440x900 monitor he isn't going to see the kinds of differences I saw. Still, he should be able to amp AA + AO on everythiing, and the GTX 280 does set him up to get a bigger monitor whenever he feels like it.

For a GTX 275/GTX 280 to a GTX 570, my best recommendation would be to screw around w/nVidia's GeForce Optimizer. For example, GTX 285 in BFBC2 versus GTX 570 in BFBC2. At 1920x1200 you're looking at the same playable settings, but a 66% improvement in framerate for the GTX 570 (and DX11, so I suppose "same playable settings" isn't necessarily fair). Adjust the GTX 285 results slightly downward for a 280 and a bit farther downward for a 275 and there ya go. Quite a few other games in there to get a proper feel for things.
 
You both are in for about twice the performance of your current cards. Should be a nice jump :)
 
phiberoptik said:
I would wait for next generation nvidia/ati cards, in January.
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There is no next generation - this is it (GTX 580/570 6850/6870/6950/6970) unless you want to wait for the rumored 560 or the expensive 6990.

The 570 should be 50-100% better than the 280, and will completely destroy an 8800GTS.
 
As long as your cpu's are good enough your games should perform a great deal more smoother with more eye candy in today's and tomorrows games (at least games that use the Ego and Frostbite and Unreal engine. I suspect that id Tech 5 will run amazingly well also.)
 
It's probably about 50% faster or so depending on the game or ap. If your running a high res monitor get a GTX 580 to 6970 instead (wait 8 days)
 
I have a C2D e8600 @ 4GHZ (the GTX 280 machine) and he is running a Phenom II X4 @ 3.5GHz (the 8800GTS machine). I think a CPU refresh may be in order for me soon, for the longest time a 4GHz C2D was outperforming a lot of quads bc most games werent using more than 2 cores and the clock speed was so much higher, but I have a feeling that is no longer the case
 
wait for the new stuff to come out (560 and 6900s)
the 570 is good but when you can get 480s for $300 now, I'd get one of those over it (despite their inefficiency, that extra memory may give them an edge sometimes)
 
I'm guessing that the differences are more pronounced at higher resolutions? I'm running at 2560x1440 with a gtx 280 right now.
 
Neb said:
I'm guessing that the differences are more pronounced at higher resolutions? I'm running at 2560x1440 with a gtx 280 right now.
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Yup read the H review. 570 is recommended for 2560x1600.
 
cold_steel said:
Already OC'd, been running that processor a good 2 years or more now = )

If I went for the 570, would I benefit a ton also stepping into an 1156 quad or something higher?
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At this point I'd wait for Sandy Bridge to overhaul the CPU side

For the GPU, wait 7 days.
 
I would definitely recommend hopping on board the 570 train. Price / Performance will likely be excellent. Recently upgraded from a 280 to a cheap 470 (then SLI) and it was well worth the investment. However, now i regret buying in because I want a 570 myself :mad:
 
Neb said:
I'm guessing that the differences are more pronounced at higher resolutions? I'm running at 2560x1440 with a gtx 280 right now.
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yes. do wait for the 6900 though. if nothing else its more options.
 
cold_steel said:
I have a GTX 280 (I game at 1920x1200) and a friend of mine has an 8800GTS g92 (he games at 1440x900). I was just wondering how much of an upgrade I would get going to a gtx 570, and in turn what kind of a jump he would see going from the 8800GTS to the gtx 280.
Click to expand...

that would be a big upgrade. for both. and unnecessary. if you want a nvidia card I would wait and see what the 560GTX looks like. right now the 570GTX is running about 125 over what you can get a 5870 for (222AR currently). and there is no real difference between on a 2.3mp screen, at least not a c note +. now the guy with the 3.7mp it probably worth it. I was looking forward to upgrading myself but until I get a bigger screen I am not seeing the point.

the irony here is that if it wasn't for the midrange cards doing so damn well the 570GTX at 350 would be awesome. but as it is if you don't have a big screen to drive its hard to recommend to anyone to spend the money.
 
If you are considering this upgrade for WoW: Cataclysm, you should take a look at these Tom's Hardware threads located here and here. I am considering going from my two GTX 280's to one GTX 580 or 570 as well, especially because WoW doesnt utilize SLI....properly.
 
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