Stepping up to a g280 or stay with 9800gx2

krash3x

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Mar 27, 2008
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Hi everyone. I have a 9800 gx2 from evga and I can't really decide if stepping up will be worth it with the g280. My main fuss with the 9800 gx2 is that it will not play S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The other problem is the size of this thing make it so I can fit my tv card in there with out them almost touching. I have my case pretty well vented and even have a case fan blowing out since it vents out the sides and the back( verified air direction of the card with plastic) . When I was playing mass effect I checked the temp and it was all the way at 98 degrees celcius. I had ram problems and hope thats not the reason why and maybe its crucials bad. Performance wise I dont see a big change except here and there the g280 does better with aa and af. I do use that in almost all my games. From what I'm reading this new card is still huge and still runs pretty hot under load but its not a s big since its a single card. Do you guys think that the performance will get better with physx being utilized in new driver versions? Will new drivers make the g280 beat the gx2. Its only going to cost me about 60 dollars to trade up I was hoping someone had some good insight. Thank you all for your time and I appreciate any advice you can give me.
 

emp

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If it's only $60 the step up, then I'd do it, only because SLI scaling/support isn't perfect, even though it has improved over the years a lot.
 

gadgetnerd

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Yes step up. then step up again when the new 55mm shrink ones come out also i heard the waiting list atm is over 300 ppl waiting for the step up for the 280's if u look on evga fourm
 

Kaldor

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Jul 13, 2006
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Stay with the Gx2 for the moment. The prices will decrease and availability will increase on the 280s. Nvidia really needs to do a die shrink on the 280. At that point the price will drop more, and then it will be worth buying.
 

krash3x

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yes that was very warm and I even have an air conditioner and desk fan blowing in the case. the case has good air flow and my cpu and board dont really get very hot but this thing I could heat my room with. after seeing that I became a big believer of evga's precision tool. As far as holding off on buying it I got my card on 03/27 so I have 06/27 to get this thing done before my 90 days are up. After talking to you guys I think I am going to trade up though. I just hope it doesnt take to long to do this step up thing I use my pc alot.
 

Kaldor

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Better solution. Just Xfire a pair of 4870s. :)

Or wait for a 4870X2.

In all seriousness, the 280 isnt that great of a card, trade up or not. When Nvidia shrinks the die, I think the card will improve alot.