Upgrade time... what to get?

[eshank881]

It's time to upgrade my vidcard, and I'm not sure what to get. Here's my current build:

680i SLI mobo
E6600 Core2Duo @ 3.2GHz
4GB DDR2-800
8800GTS 640MB
CoolerMaster Centurion5 case
Corsair 650W PSU
Vista Premium 64-bit
1680x1050 display

Two years from now it'll be time for a whole new system so this card really only needs to get me there. I prefer NVidia for their drivers, but the 4870 is an undeniable performance bargain. Which of these do you think is best with my current build, and will these beasts fit in my case:

4870 1GB
GTX260 216
GTX285

Budget is an issue, I really only have about $250 to spend. I could wait and scrape up another $100 over the next month or so if the 285 is really going to be a big benefit, but my main problem is I don't know if I'm going to enough of a performance boost going to the GTX285 from say a 4870 1GB since I'm still on an (OC'd) E6600. I think my proc's probably going to be a bottleneck and the extra cost may not be justified. Am I correct in thinking this?

 

[pr2thej]

Depends what your playing, most games are fine with a 3GHz processor but that will gradually change over the next 2 years as multithreading becomes more prevalent. FS X is the only game that comes to mind which requires more. I think you are right in going for your GPU though and honestly ive seen one too many driver issues for the 4870 to confidently recommend it again so would suggest a 260.
Cheaper, and early adopters (eg 285) are getting stung these days with ropey drivers. From memory the 260 is 10.5 inches long.

 

[L1qu1d]

its been known that the 280 GTX can be 10-15% faster than the 4870, sometimes more, and the 4870 X2 is up to 20% faster from latest benchmarks I've seen.

So the 285 GTX would be the 10-15% + 10%. Though there are games that all the cards come pretty close.

Here are some far cry 2 benchmarks showing the 280 285 and 4870 1 gig

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-285-review--3way-sli/13
@ 1680x1050

4870 = 38
280 = 46
285 = 50

280 GTX is 21.1% faster than the 4870
285 GTX is 31.5% faster than the 4870

@ 1920x1200

4870 = 34
280 = 42
285 = 45

280 GTX is 23.5% faster than the 4870
285 GTX is 32.4% faster than the 4870

The 260 GTX should be very close to the 4870, but slightly above (atleast lately). And since you have a sli board....well....

 

[coozie7]

All the cards listed should fit easily enough, but if you`re in doubt, get out the tape measure and check.
With an SLI board and a prefenence for Nvidia, the choice really comes down to the GTX260 or 280, to my mind the price premium for a GTX285 is just too high to justify the small increase in performance it offers.
Me, I`d get the GTX260 and give it a good overclocking.

 

[eshank881]

Thanks everybody who weighed in... I decided to go with the 260. Should be here tomorrow, can't wait!