What is good to replace my 280? (August 2012)

Matt151b

Hi, what would be a good change for my gtx 280? I purchased the card for $199 right before the gtx 285s were released as part of a clearance sale, so I ended up buying a really good card for very little money and that has been the reason I have not upgraded yet. As all the generations came out I had a hard time spending money for a new card and knowing I wasn't getting a huge increase.

I was thinking of buying a gtx 660 ti, but I wish they were a little cheaper($300) I also stumbled across a site where they are trying to unload the gtx 480 for $179 and this has me thinking...

the guru3d charts show the 660 getting 49 fps in crysis 2, while the 480 was 45 fps. (1920x1200, which is also the same as my monitor). Looking at it this way with the 660 I am paying $6.10 per fps and with the 480 I am only paying $3.97 per fps. The 480 seems like a better deal.

Is there some games I should look at where the gtx 660 might win? I never really followed the 400 series statistics, is there something bad about it?

Matt151b · 08-18-2012, 16:44 | posts: 436 | Location: California, USA

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=284311

I went back to my old thread and hit f5 on my memory to remember I scored the deal on the gtx 280 on what might have been a pricing error.

Black Mesa · 08-18-2012, 17:00 | posts: 299 | Location: Canada

GTX 480 is $180 on sale only available online at EVGA (B stock). The 660ti will walk all over the 480 in almost every game by like 10-20fps and only a few games like Crysis 2 where the 660ti only pulls ahead by a few fps. The GTX 480 is a great deal but the 660ti is a much better card.

XBEAST · *Last edited by XBEAST; 08-18-2012 at 18:13.*

GTX 660 Ti is on average 25-30% faster than GTX 480 @ 1920x. It also has a lot lower power consumption, runs cooler and quieter.

But GTX 480 with 3 years warranty for 180$ is a really good deal. Tho, you would have to repay some of that money in form of increased electricity bills

.

With a rig like yours GTX 660 Ti SLI setup is a green light too.

saud1 · 08-18-2012, 18:23 | posts: 63 | Location: Saudi Arabia

its a good deal no doubt but i don't think gtx 480 is future proof...its kinda OLD these days plus u have to consider its power consumption + heat a negative point
go with gtx660 ti

Matt151b · 08-30-2012, 04:43 | posts: 436 | Location: California, USA

Gtx 670 on order. I hope the 280 still brings a few dollars on eBay.

dk_lightning · 08-30-2012, 05:11 | posts: 614 | Location: North Wales

I got a 480 for £110 yesterday and im loving the card. Upgrade from a 550ti.

£240 was a bit much for a 660ti that was not that much faster than the 480.

Have fun with the 670!

660 may be 30% faster but its 120% the cost

loop29 · 08-30-2012, 17:53 | posts: 704 | Location: Nürnberg, Germany

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt151b

Gtx 670 on order. I hope the 280 still brings a few dollars on eBay.

Definitely the best buy you can get right now. It´s a lot of money that´s for sure but you won´t have to upgrade at least for 2 years lol...

Cheers

Matt151b · 08-31-2012, 06:05 | posts: 436 | Location: California, USA

It arrived. So far, games don't look that much better. Not that much better compared to the price. Not sure if I want to keep it.

INSTG8R · 08-31-2012, 06:09 | posts: 1,188 | Location: Lost in Norway

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt151b

It arrived. So far, games don't look that much better. Not that much better compared to the price. Not sure if I want to keep it.

Define "looks better"? What games are you playing? I would assume you turned up the "eye candy" now that you have more horsepower?

Matt151b · 08-31-2012, 15:14 | posts: 436 | Location: California, USA

What is a good game to show off the 670? I have just installed mine and it replaces a gtx 280. So far, not that impressed. I mean, sure, it gets twice the frame rate most places but cranking all the settings to the max doesn't offer that much more visual stuff. I've been testing crysis warhead, Alan wake, serious sam 3, batman arkham city, sleeping dogs, sniper elite 2...

And skyrim. Skyrim was nice cause I was using about 1.2 gb of video ram which was nice since before I only had 1gb.

INSTG8R · 08-31-2012, 15:26 | posts: 1,188 | Location: Lost in Norway

Well Sleeping Dogs is a pretty good "litmus test" With the High Res DLC installed you should just be able to set it to "Extreme" to max everything out then just back the AA off to High(Extreme is brutal 4xFXAA+4XSSAA) I run it like that and I turn off Blur(cuz I don't like it)It runs just great for me at those settings and looks pretty damn good to me.

Skyrim with the HD DLC is something that should look pretty good too. I don't run any mods on mine but that HD DLC really made it look awesome.

I mean it's not gonna make your games jump off the screen at you but turning the eye candy up with the new card should be noticeable outside of the performance increase.

Undying · 08-31-2012, 18:08 | posts: 2,674 | Location: Serbia

Just get a GTX660 Ti and everyone is happy...

eternitykh · 08-31-2012, 21:16 | posts: 296

interesting... i came from a 470 to 670, and i was immediately impressed... so impressed i went sli on 670s xD

sykozis · 09-01-2012, 01:18 | posts: 13,489 | Location: US East Coast

Most people will never notice any difference visually....