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upgrade for GTX 280?

M

macoppoli

n00b
Joined
Jun 19, 2010
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I have 1 GTX 280 in my mobo and I'm gettin some framerate drops in my favorite games when there is a lot going on (pretty much maxxed settings). When I built my system I bought my GTX 280 thinking I'd buy another one in a year and SLI it. Since then, the GTX 280 has been discontinued. Some horrible luck, so what would you guys recommend that could provide performance similar to two GTX 280's?
 
If you're going Nvidia, GTX 480 is your best bet.
You can also opt to look for a used GTX 280 and SLI them.
I don't know how much used ones go for, but definitely don't buy new as being discontinued jacked the price of new 280s.

Make sure your PSU can handle the beast though.
It gets hot and gobbles power.
 
macoppoli said:
I have 1 GTX 280 in my mobo and I'm gettin some framerate drops in my favorite games when there is a lot going on (pretty much maxxed settings). When I built my system I bought my GTX 280 thinking I'd buy another one in a year and SLI it. Since then, the GTX 280 has been discontinued. Some horrible luck, so what would you guys recommend that could provide performance similar to two GTX 280's?
Click to expand...

You could definitely pick up another 280 for <$200
 
I went from GTX 280 SLI to a single 5870, and the 280s were faster, so they are prob the same speed as the GTX 480.
 
I went from 3 280s to 2 480s before I went to 3 480s and the 2 480s kicked the crap out the 3 280s. Another thing to consider as well is single card performance when there are issues with SLI.

Rule of thumb, always go for the fastest single card you can afford BEFORE considering multi-GPU.
 
heatlesssun said:
I went from 3 280s to 2 480s before I went to 3 480s and the 2 480s kicked the crap out the 3 280s. Another thing to consider as well is single card performance when there are issues with SLI.

Rule of thumb, always go for the fastest single card you can afford BEFORE considering multi-GPU.
Click to expand...

hmm good to know. suppose my best bet is one 480
 
heatlesssun said:
I went from 3 280s to 2 480s before I went to 3 480s and the 2 480s kicked the crap out the 3 280s. Another thing to consider as well is single card performance when there are issues with SLI.

Rule of thumb, always go for the fastest single card you can afford BEFORE considering multi-GPU.
Click to expand...

What does "afford" mean to you though? I mean I guess a could afford a $2000 gpu but that doesn't mean I want one. In my case I could have bought a 480 but instead bought a 470 and will sli them for $540 (some good deals). Price and performance it made a lot more sense for me than a single 480 or future sli 480s. I also figure a future dual gpu gtx will probably be 2 gtx 470 chips on 1 card and I doubt it will be under $700.
 
The main reason why I say buy the single best GPU you can afford is because multi-GPU isn't foolproof and that if you play enough games you're going to run into games that don't support multi-GPU either properly or at all.
 
I've been pondering the same question, and in fact purchased a 480 that I have yet to open as I try to decide. Lately I've been leaning towards hanging on to the 280 and riding it out to 8800gtx levels of longevity. Then again I have the upgrade itch bad.

I love reading the input on questions like this on the forums, especially since alot of reviews for the newer cards don't include the gtx28x for reference.
 
GotNoRice said:
Get the 2nd 280!
Click to expand...

Two 280s will be a bit faster generally (but not always) in games with good SLI support but you'll have no DX11 support and that's actually kind of a problem as a number of games are supporting it and the list is growing much faster than DX10 at this point.
 
heatlesssun said:
Two 280s will be a bit faster generally (but not always) in games with good SLI support but you'll have no DX11 support and that's actually kind of a problem as a number of games are supporting it and the list is growing much faster than DX10 at this point.
Click to expand...

Well there is also the fact that getting a used 280 would cost less than half as much..

And not having DX11 support certainly is not a "problem". DirectX11 is fully compatible with DirectX10 and 10.1 hardware and will run directly on older cards. Sure you will miss out on a few things such as tessellation and only having Shader Model 4.0 or 4.1 instead of 5.0 but overall most users probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference, and the point being that the game will run just fine.

featurelevels.png
 
I find that flowchart interesting. Is backwards compatibility with DX9 supposed to be in DX10 as well, or is it new to DX11? Because Just Cause 2 is an example of a DX10-only game...
 
GotNoRice said:
Well there is also the fact that getting a used 280 would cost less than half as much..

And not having DX11 support certainly is not a "problem". DirectX11 is fully compatible with DirectX10 and 10.1 hardware and will run directly on older cards. Sure you will miss out on a few things such as tessellation and only having Shader Model 4.0 or 4.1 instead of 5.0 but overall most users probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference, and the point being that the game will run just fine.

featurelevels.png
Click to expand...

I didn't say it was a big problem, I said "kind of a problem" simply meaning that its something that you loose going with a second 280.

However in the SLI 280's favor you will get Surround, and that will be better supported than DX 11 in the near to medium term I'd think.
 
LstOfTheBrunnenG said:
I find that flowchart interesting. Is backwards compatibility with DX9 supposed to be in DX10 as well, or is it new to DX11? Because Just Cause 2 is an example of a DX10-only game...
Click to expand...

I believe feature levels (compatibility with older hardware) were introduced with DirectX10.1, which of course was never widely adopted due to Nvidia never really releasing 10.1 cards worth buying. DirectX11 will run on DirectX9 hardware but most games include a native DX9 executable for Windows XP users.
 
Honestly either a 5870 for a bit less money or a GTX 480 for max performance. I wouldn't SLI your GTX 280s.

I run 2 GTX 480's and the performance is incredible but the cost was very high. It'll be future proof for a long time to come but I don't really advise people to go for 480's because right now honestly the 5870 is such a great card for the money. The biggest advantage to Nvidia is the 3D stuff and that really differs from user to user , 3D surround gaming sounds pretty awesome but as for when drivers will be released supporting that who knows.

If you don't upgrade often then go for the most expensive option you can afford , always the best choice for the most part.
 
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