my 280 gtx

Hi,
Here are my 1st impressions of the 280gtx.
First off let me state that my impressions are, my impressions.
I am not a "pro" reviewer, so there you go.
Here are my system specs. I ran games in 1920x1200 on highest settings, with vsync enabled, highest AA (16x) and anthropic filtering (16x).
My goal for this system was to be able to play my favorite games at these settings. I am not a competitive gamer so 60 fps is good enough for me.


Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500

Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler

Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R

MSI N280GTX-T2D1G OC GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

2x CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

CoolMax Model# CUQ-1200B power supply

Liteon 20x dvd writer serial ATA

Lian Li AROMORSUIT PC-P80

Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP 24

I used Speed Fan to monitor temps & fans. And I used Riva tuner to OC the GPU and double check temps.

Results.
3dmark 06 = 14471
3d mark vantage = CPU 6555, graphic 10140, overall 8920
Crysis demos CPU #1 min= 28fps, high= 51fps,avg 39fps.
CPU #2 min= 6fps, high=32fps, avg= 18fps.
GPU min= 24fps, high= 55fps, avg= 49fps
COD 4 (on a public server with 32 players) min=55fps,high= 60fps,avg= 58fps
Team Fortress 2(public server with 30 players min=45fps,high=60fps,avg=55fps
HL2 Lost coast video stress test. min=30, high= 60fps, avg= 58 fps.
GTR2 (35 car at night in rain) min=18fps, high=60fps, avg=45fps

I just built this system last week, I have only done a little playing with OCing the 280. It seems to OC well. I had it running at 724 with no problems. I gained some numbers from the OC, but at some point I think my CPU was becoming a bottle neck. For instance in GTR2 my minimum FPS did not go up after the OC.
I OCed the GPU to 724 core clock,1448 shader clock,1150 memory clock. These settings brought the 3d vantage score to 9220.
As for temperatures, the GPU ran at 42c/idle, 72c under heavy load (3d vantage). The OCing of the gpu raised the GPU temp to 75c. Under normal gaming> COD4 for two hrs. the temp never went above 65c.
For now I am happy with the cards performance. Next week or so I will OC the CPU and see what benefits it brings.
For now I just want to game for awhile and enjoy.
Poe
PS this is my first build and it went pretty well. The toughest part was installing Vista and the on going process of learning a new OS. In the last two or tree days I have used the word Vista with every form of curse word in several different languages repeatedly. Vista + Poe = $#%#@$#&^%!

I have nearly the exact same setup as you except vista ultimate and a q9450

16AA. Really? Is it CSAA or straight up 16x FSAA.

Dude that amount of AA is sick! It's every gamers dream to purchase a flagship GPU the day it's released.

(I know the 9800GX2 beats it in some titles at some resolutions/AA settings.)

I really want one too, but the cost/power requirement aren't worth it to me just yet. The 1GB of video memory must be helping the 16x AA.

"16AA. Really? Is it CSAA or straight up 16x FSAA."

Straight up.
Poe

Did you run 3dmark 06 default, or did you crank up the resolution?

Am I to assume you are running vsync in all of your games? How is the noise and how far is your comp from you? Do you keep it in a desk or is it sitting right next to you where you could get a good judgement of the noise, and is the fan high pitched?

I ask this because the only thing that is stopping me from getting this card is the noise level that I have read so much about. That and I actually prefer ATI over nVidia, but that usually doesnt affect what I buy unless the performance is identical.

Best,

3Ball

looking at your results u have vsync on lol

turn it offfffffff lololol

Nice rig tho, my new build is looking to be simular to that... but maybe quad and 4gb ram

kkthanksbye

You should! They always work for me. I just got one back for my ram making it almost free!

Congrats on your new card and I'm glad you're enjoying it. My new 4850 should be getting here any minute and then I'll be joining in your fun

yea i kno
lol lowers 3Dmark scores compared to the Beta drivers I post about 177.26

Looks to me like it was a new build!

Best,

3Ball

Hey,
"Did you run 3dmark 06 default?"
3dmark default.

"judgement of the noise, and is the fan high pitched?"
Fan noise with the GPU fan set at 60%. At about 75% i can start to hear the GPU fan above the rest. Overall this pc is nice and quiet. I have the CPU fan set at 50%, and the case fans at 60%. The loudist thing in the build is the Hard drive on spin up.

"looking at your results u have vsync on lol"
Yep Vsyn on. Thats the way I play games. Texture tearing on a 24" monitor is pretty ulgy. So for my use it makes sence to me to benchmark it with it on.

"NEW NVIDIA DRIVERS. 175.19 OUT ALREADY."
I did the test with 177.35. thought they were the latest.

"it would be nice to know what card you upgraded from... that would help me in my opinion of it"

Before I put the 280GTX in I installed A 8800gts 512. The 280 is a nice step up. Higher fps across the board and higher low fps.
My last PC (now my sons) was an AMD2 6000 @3.3 with 2x8800gts 512 sli. Once agian the 280 scores better and feels better with higher settings. And it has pretty consistant preformance in all games. The SLI set up was sometimes very good and some games not so good.
For me the lowest FPS is just as important as the highest FPS.

so I can barely run 4xx AA at 1280x1024, but it works at 1920x1200 16xaa @ 50 fps???

I don't know. I am no pro as I said. I could have made an error.
Or maybe it's the extra Ram. The "not enough ram" on the 9800 GX2 issuse, maybe?
The not enough ram on the 9800 gx2 is what kept me from getting one. Had they released a 9800 GX2 with 2 gigs of ram I would have got one. In fact it may be possible the the 9800 GX2 would be the king of the hill, Making the 280 look bad/worse?

If I read the OP right, he has 4GB (2x [2x1]GB)