GeForce GTX 285 Gets 2 GB: Gigabyte's GV-N285OC-2GI

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Benchmark Results: Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X

Air combat game H.A.W.X provides visually stunning backgrounds, but they’re essentially static. It’s a little disappointing to see scorch marks on the ground disappear a few seconds after your opponent crashes, but this design is probably what allows the game to be playable at its highest detail levels across most high-end cards.

Owners of 30” flat panels should appreciate smooth game play at super-high detail levels and 2560x1600 pixels.

Most graphics cards are limited to 4x AA at 2560x1600 in H.A.W.X. The 2 GB GeForce GTX 285 doesn’t seem to have any advantage yet.

At 8x AA the GTX 295 would crash, locking the system using a 2560x1600 resolution. The 18 FPS shown for the GTX 285 1 GB card is just a fantasy, since the game lost background image data and crashed immidiately after the performance test. Meanwhile, the 2 GB card could play the game all day at our highest setting, though at slower-than-ideal frame rates.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
70 Comments Comment from the forums
  • twisted politiks
    ive had EVGA's GTX 285 for about two months now, nothing new in the memory department
    Reply
  • rambo117
    wow... that was quite pointless, i was really expecting a good article but it was the same numbers basically, why not just have a single page with the average gains with 2gb vs 1gb (which was completely nonexistent anyways)
    Reply
  • astrodudepsu
    Well, all I can say is good try. Not some of your best work, but worth exploring nonetheless.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    astrodudepsuWell, all I can say is good try. Not some of your best work, but worth exploring nonetheless.
    Tom's Hardware was hoping to find more 2560x1600 scenarios where the 2GB advantage would play out. When very few advantages were found, Tom's did the honest thing and published the numbers anyway.

    I think you can take a lot from this article. I just spoke to a guy who asked "2GB or water cooling?" when looking at cards of the same price. He has a powerful water cooling loop, so the answer was easy.
    Reply
  • one-shot
    I think it is a great article. Too often people approach me thinking a larger frame buffer means extra performance. Actually, just recently a co-worker wanted to get a GTX 285 with 2GB of VRAM. Great article, keep it up!
    Reply
  • SpadeM
    Just a quick question: Since the GTX285 is a high range card, those the same "1GB is enough" rule apply to mid range/low end cards?

    PS: I'm thinking slower GPU might benefit from more memory
    Reply
  • astrodudepsu
    CrashmanTom's Hardware was hoping to find more 2560x1600 scenarios where the 2GB advantage would play out. When very few advantages were found, Tom's did the honest thing and published the numbers anyway.
    Which is why I said it was worth exploring. I realize you wouldn't do all this work and NOT publish your results, as mundane as they may be.
    Reply
  • rambo117
    it was quite informative and worth exploring like astrodude said. just wish that it was a little more 'exciting'.. idk, maybe an sli 2gb vs 1gb will prove to be possibley more interesting.
    Reply
  • Hellbound
    If a card is going to cost $350-$400, and perform as much as %50 less than the car that costs $500....get the $500 card. You are already spending an insane amount for a card, might as well go all the way. As for me, I'm waiting for the DX11 cards to come out.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    rambo117it was quite informative and worth exploring like astrodude said. just wish that it was a little more 'exciting'.. idk, maybe an sli 2gb vs 1gb will prove to be possibley more interesting.
    Three-way would have been best, but there's just not enough samples to go around.
    Reply