is the gtx 260 a good card to buy or is it too slow?

[jvc08]

what are your opinions?

 

[FrozenGpu]

It's a great card, especially now that nvidia got kicked in the balls, and had to drop their prices. If you tell us what your set-up is, motherboard/chipset, CPU, PSU, and what resolution do you game at we can even narrow it down, whether or not it is complete overkill.

 

[kitsilencer]

Could the question be any more cryptic?

 

[blashyrkh]

LOL @ Kitsilencer !!!
Dude, depends on where you're coming from. If you had 9800GTX in SLI then no, it's not that fast but if your last card was a 7600GT then you'll see a big big difference. Also, you need to keep in mind that in order to drive these new mosters (NVidia 200 series and ATI 4800 series) you need a very good CPU to take full advantage and not bottleneck the card (like I do!!)
The 260 is a wonderfull card, but so is the 4870. Do your research before buying

 

[jvc08]

thanks for replying.
my processor is the intel e6700 *will be moving to a q9650 in the near future.
my graphics card is, no graphics card, i have onboard video.
my mobo is the retarded lol intel dg35ec (at least, it supports the q9650!).
my os is the fully working (finally) ms windows vista ult. 64bit.
the thing is, i have about $360 this month and i decided on buying a
decent but not that expensive video card, and after all i really don't
play that many games anyway, it is more for the 3d graphics/desktop of vista.

 

[jvc08]

i have a 1920x1200 lcd but i play at only 1400x900.

 

[rangers]

i have a 1920x1200 lcd but i play at only 1400x900.

if thats the rez you play at the 4850 would be a better option, save some cash

 

[Ascadia]

A 260 is complete overkill if you do not plan on any form of heavy gaming and only want your Vista Visuals to run smoothly.

Upgrade your processor as that will increase your total performance, and stick in a $70-$100 Video Card.

You should be able to pop in a 9600GT for under $90, have a passable experience gaming and it will be more than enough for the daily operation of Vista, watching movies and playing older games at maximum settings and new games on medium to low.

If Gaming is not your focus, then there is very little advantage to a top of the line GPU, if Gaming is your focus then it's the one area you do not want to skimp out on.

However at this point, anything is better than onboard video.

 

[rangers]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102792

better option, but even thats overkill for what you want it for

 

[L1qu1d]

The ram isn't just for Resolutions, I mean look at Crysis 1 Assasin's creed, etc they stress out cards alot even at 1280x1024.

To OP, if you are looking into play games in the future then the 260 GTX would be a good choice for your lcd monitor, and for high textured games.

But if not, then like ranger said the 4850 would do you well , adn its pretty cheap.

Even a 8800 GT could do alot but only for current gen games, as for new games, unless you sli the cards, they might not perform the way you want them to.

Personally if your gaming go with the 260 GTX or the 4870, or better yet wait for the 260 GTX revision, which should be faster than the 4870 or might help it be onpar with it.

nothing to rush now, unless you really must!

 

[jvc08]

260 GTX revision ???

 

[rangers]

its not for games its for vista aero, that card i linked to will be fine for vista

 

[ledzeprules]

yeah, if you're not going to be gaming a lot save money and buy an ati 4850 or an nvidia 9800 gtx, you'll still see an incredible performance boost but for $150-$175.
If you really want to save money, put in a 9600 gt for ~$100. It'll run vista great and games pretty well.

 

[Nica Guy]

the revision is they added a few more stream processors so the performance increased to the 4870 levels maybe a little bit more... think they went from 192 to 216 sp...

 

[Nica Guy]

theres a gtx 260 right now for like $230 before rebate so thats an amazing price if u ask me its not worth to pay the ~$80 for the new gtx 260 216... its not much of a difference...

 

[faster3200]

theres a gtx 260 right now for like $230 before rebate so thats an amazing price if u ask me its not worth to pay the ~$80 for the new gtx 260 216... its not much of a difference...

Here is more on that. Seems like the 216 performs 2-5 fps better on average than the standard GTX 260, sometimes about 10fps with certain settings in Crysis. I agree it isn't much of an improvement. There is also the possibility that due to the extra shaders it may not OC as well, so my guess is they will perform almost equally.

 

[Nica Guy]

made a little mistake but is still cheap... i think they changed it today... im sure it was $230 yesterday...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%201305520548%204018%20106792634%201369840785&bop=And&Order=PRICE

 

[ryanthesav]

Heres one for $239, but its open box, on newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121257R

...and this one is $219 after mail in rebate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133229

 

[Aristhewargod13]

Just buy the XFX GTX 260 xxx edition and you will remember me.
I have this card about 2 months and i am overwhelmed by the performance of GTX 260 xxx. All new games in 1650 x 1080 between 30-55 fps!
It's little more expensive from all the others GTX 260, but the benefits you gain are 12% more power from them and about 20-22% faster from the 4870's.

enjoy smooth play...

P.S. for those (4870 lovers) who will probably tell me to send them links just see this: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/590

or

see the latest vga charts of Tomshardware and put this card between normal GTX 260 and GTX 280.

 

[Nica Guy]

u get 12% more from normal gtx 260? and 20 - 22% from 4870?

i dont think thats right do the math and ur saying the normal gtx 260 is faster 4870 which we all know it is not...

 

[Nica Guy]

the only way a gtx 260 is worth buying is if u get it under $250...

 

[Nica Guy]

and the link this guy provided seems wrong to me...
in unreal tournament at 1680 x 1050 a 9800gtx beats any other card????????
i dont think so...

 

[Aristhewargod13]

Nica you are totaly wrong!
I cant understand you guys (4870 lovers) that even if you see the results and benchmarks of Tomshardware,in all resolutions with AA, antialising on normal GTX 260 is little faster than 4870.
So can you imagine the results of XFX GTX 260 xxx edition which is close to GTX 280?

Think before you write something...
;-)

 

[Nica Guy]

not a 4870 lover just sent one back actually, so stop blaming everything on fanboyism and read first...
i recommended the gtx 260 in the first place... im just saying the truth i dont know about that link u gave but i read in every other comparison that the 4870 is a little faster than the normal gtx 260... go to 3dguru and see for yourself or anandtech...
also neither the gtx 260 nor the 4870 are the best buy as the 9800gx2 costs almost the same and it smokes all those cards out of the water...
even the version of the gtx260 u provided so the only gtx 260 worth buying imo is the one for $220 after rebates...
its a great card im not saying anything different just not the best at the price...

 

[Nica Guy]

im a 4870x2 lover anyways