EVGA employees say 260x2 < 280x1 true or false?

Well no, he doesn't have a good mobo or cpu. he's using like an old single core 3.2 ghz from 3-4 years ago, back when we had our other comps that were like "OMG WE HAVE THE RADEON 9800!! WE RAWK!". lol

Remember those days? XD

So yeah, that's what im thinkin. Also, since my GM's temps are fine, once this raids done tonight he's gonna OC to 3.2 and we'll see whats up with the fps. I'll go by that I guess to see if I upgrade or not. If it turns out to add 0 fps to me and my problem is still persistant I can always return it.

I DEFINITLY need to buy that new fan though. That's just a must for this stupid cpu.

This topics been amazingly helpfull btw. I love it, I just love it. Best topic I ever made, lol.

 

This only thing you need to do for WOW is.
#1 turn shadows to 50% or off
#2 turn the view distance to 75%(this makes it the same as preWOTLK)
#3 Get a better HSF
#4 OC your CPU to 3.0ghz
This will help your cpu to stay cooler and let you OC to get more FPS.
getting the new MOBO/RAM/CPU will not help WOW run any faster.
I would get the HSF first get your CPU to run cooler before you add a new GPU.

 

then the cpu well be good for your friend so will the motherboards i linked you to.

 

See, this is why im REALLY hoping it's the cpu or the gpu, because I talked to the blizz tech for like over an hour, and we changed ALL my settings to minimum and res to 80ox600 and stuff and my fps actually did not budge. I even restarted wow and the comp with it all on minimum to make sure it wasn't just getting stuck on something... and checked my nvidia control panel to make sure nothing was forced, but nothing changed. No setting turned up or down makes a diffrence for some reason in dalaran/raids for me.

Like, I go into crysis, move the res down one notch, and BAM! fps increase. You can see it, you can feel it, you can watch the little numbers. But with wow... Nothing. Almost like it just doesn't want to!
The blizz guys were like "well, we've seen this before, it could be the 8 series, or it could be your comps temps".

Well, the temps are under control on my friends machine with the same issues, so I really hope it's something as simple as swap my card.
Like I said though, friends gonna OC our CPU later and see if it makes a diffrence.

 

goodluck private message me with the results incase i forget to check.

 

I have the GTX216 and the 280..
Honestly I'm quite impressed with the GTX216's performance..
If u dont use full AA or full AF then the GTX216 will perform just like a GTX280 against it using AA and AF set to full..
It's a difference u can cheat..with the GTX216 @ lower AA and AF levels..

It's not worth the cash difference for many people in my opinion..
Both are great but if u get the GTX 280 , you'll be trouble free in almost every game with everything @ full !
Save the money for a cheaper GTX260 for later..

Who ever told u a sinlge GTX280 is twice as powerful , should be slapped..

 

mmk. Thanks again man!

 

Repost.

 

No.

So what you're saying is if the GTX 280 uses 8xQ and GTX 260 SP216 uses 4x or even 8x, they would perform the same? Where did you get that idea from? It would be the other way around, the GTX 260 SP 216 would easily outperform the GTX 280. Do you actually have GTX 260s because it seems you don't know what you're talking about? I had GTX 260 SP 216s in SLI before I stepped up so I know what I'm talking about.


Why are all the GTX 280 owners getting defensive? lol. GTX 260 SP216 depending on resolution and IQ settings are only ~5-10% slower than GTX 280... it seems they can't handle that fact and when someone says EVGA GTX 260 Superclocked or even XFX Black Edition is faster than stock GTX 280 (even shown by reviews), people get really really defensive.

 

They say a GTX 260 overclocked = a standard GTX 280.

Everyone seems to forget the GTX 280 can be overclocked too.

 

Yeah...I kinda noticed that too.

 

Is it just not common practice to OC the 280's due to their heat/power consumption or something?

 

And how much extra are you paying for a GTX 280? You can pick up a EVGA GTX 260 SP 216 Superclocked for almost $100 less than a standard GTX 280 and not all overclocks are the same. The GTX 280s (or atleast one of them) I have can't go over 666MHz on the core clock without the PC freezing on me while my old GTX 260 SP216s Superclocked could get up to 700MHz on core.

 

I did a few tests to day just to see how much of a difrence there is in WOW with my CPU at difrent clock speeds.
I used the ingame flight bench mark ran each flight 10times both ways.
I used the new Beta 185.20 drivers.
Intel Q6600 @2.4Ghz 8xMSAA 16xAF all ingame settings on high.
min 15.683 fps
max 59.259
Ave 40.541

Intel Q6600 @3.0Ghz 8xMSAA 16xAF all ingame setting on high.
Min 18.793 fps
Max 71.603 fps
Ave 42.751 fps

Intel Q6600 @3.3Ghz 8xMSAA 16xAF all ingame setting on high.
min 22.654 fps
max 75.335 fps
ave 46.751 fps

So this shows that the game does like higher clock speeds, but the gains are not huge by any means.

 

Holy ****, that's a really indepth test you did there. That's actually really really valuable information too.. Damn man, well done.

So im guessing that the combination of this new GX260 on the way and my new cooling to OC my cpu to 3.2 will provide atleast a decent upgrade for me in fps. Enough to raid atleast. XD

btw, this makes me wonder... are there any new drivers out that are "suggested" for wow atm?

 

Ok! so I got my parts finally, and here's where im currently at.

GTX260 216 55nm card, overclocked to 675 core, 1458 shader, 1152 mem, set to 100% fan speed, running at 40C in games atm.

My CPU, I used the Turniq Tower CPU heatsink/cooler (omg that was so ****ing hard to get on too, and it cut my hand up so badly doing it), with some new thermal coating, and I currently run 40-50C under heavy load atm with my CPU now, but it's not overclocked.

Now, this is an overall improvment in my comps temps and marks, and in wow I run at about 30-40 fps in dalaran atm (havn't been in a raid to test it yet) with everything maxed on 1900x1200 wide screen res.

Unfortunatly, even with all the help you guys gave me, I have yet to beable to OC my CPU, simply because this 680i msi mobos BIOS is like a ****ing labryinth, and doesn't match up with any screen shots I find online.
I have the numbers on what to put the stuff in the mobo at thanks to you guys, but I can't find out WHERE to put it for the life of me.

I think I've gone through every menu and every option without changing any settings around, and it's just like the options in there don't exist.

There was this weird option though I found with percents and funny names on an option that sounded like it might be overclocking.
It was like 10% sergeant, 15% commando, or some **** in the bio options. lol
I have no idea what it was for, so that breif and unhelpfull description puts you guys at about where I am on that matter I belive.


Sooo yeah. Almost done fixing this beast up, but I just need more help with getting through my bios to handle the finishing touchs.

*edit*
Keep in mind, my goal for the cpu is still 3.2 ghz. So it shouldn't run that much hotter then what it's at now. The cooling on the CPU is on 100% too btw.
The knob on the back of my comp makes adjusting it... So easy. So so easy. lol

 

Those automatic overclocking option in your bios dont do that good of a job,Yea it is stupid that they use silly names. You better off raising the fsb your self. Its really trial and error. Also you might not have to use muiti 8x to get over 3ghz, if your lucky 9x will still let you.Tho you can inup having a q6600 which reqs you to lower the cpu muiti to do it.

I forgot how the bios was set up on the 680is for ocing.But you prolly not noticing it unless that MSI 680i mobo bios is really a mess.

Edit: bewarn those twist screws on the tuniq can get stuck and can break if you try to get them unstuck, which in up happening to me with my tuniq.Tho you can use certain size of screws to mount it. or use the vga twisting screws that be on vga ends of cables to hold it down.Like I had to do at one point.

 

So that's what those are? They're overclocking options?

Honestly, I know what to put into the areas for the values to OC my cpu to 3.2 since it was already posted in this topic I think on either page 2 or 3, but finding WHERE to put them in is... Maddening. It's like the options don't exist, but that weird auto one is there.

 

yea, they do overclocking by a % and usually dont work correcty when you use them.Because I have tried them to toy with them And they in up not booting up and was more hassle then what they worth.

As for the options MSI prolly pulled a gigabyte with the bios and prolly hide them with a key combo like gigabyte does. Because it doesnt make any sense for those options to not even be there.
Unless you need to update the bios of the mobo or some one at msi that wrote the bios had alittle too much to drink and forgot to add it.

 

Hidden eh? Well damn! Didn't even know they could do that ****.
I know that the mobo came with an overclocking tool for cpu's that just didn't work because mine was a quad core. Makes me wonder if they updated it for quads yet.