Time to upgrade my GTX280 for BF3?

John Doe · Oct 17, 2011

erocker said:
I think it's realistic to think that with Ultra settings along with the higher resolution textures that comes with it, that we'll see over 1gb of vRAM being used.

The 2gb 6950 is by far the best "bang for the buck" card to get.

Well, depends on the situation. I couldn't find a reference 6950. Personally, I prefer to stay away from cheaped out non-ref designs. But yes, the Cayman GPU is solid. Shame that you can't find the unlockable, quality versions anymore.

Darkleoco · Oct 17, 2011

John Doe said:
Well, depends on the situation. I couldn't find a reference 6950. Personally, I prefer to stay away from cheaped out non-ref designs. But yes, the Cayman GPU is solid. Shame that you can't find the unlockable, quality versions anymore.

Try looking at hte MSI Twin Frozr II or III 6950's , they are most certainly not cheaped out and are very nice cards.

John Doe · Oct 17, 2011

Darkleoco said:
Try looking at hte MSI Twin Frozr II or III 6950's , they are most certainly not cheaped out and are very nice cards.

Aye, forgot about those. Might as well move up straight to the Lightning.

MSI R6970 Lightning Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDD...

alexsubri · Oct 17, 2011

erocker said:
I think it's realistic to think that with Ultra settings along with the higher resolution textures that comes with it, that we'll see over 1gb of vRAM being used.

The 2gb 6950 is by far the best "bang for the buck" card to get.

It said in the slides that you need a multi gpu to run at Ultra Settings that maintains an average of 60 FPS. I know my 5850 Crossfire can get around that FPS when the game releases.

lkkgg72200812 · Oct 21, 2011

I think 560Ti or 6870 is ok for BF3 if you needs high level settings. I recommand gigabyte's graphic cards for his awesome fans XD and good dissipation.
take a look
http://www.gigabyte.us/MicroSite/275/3x-Outward-Inclined.html
GIGABYTE GV-N560OC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) ...

johnson · Oct 21, 2011

i bet a gtx280 will be able to MAX out BF3.

it wont be as demanding as others believed it to be.

i promise. as evidenced in the beta.

i plan to MAX out bf3 with my overclocked 5850. i have a good feeling that i can.

AnomalouS · Oct 21, 2011

Thanks for everyone's input.
Any concerns with a 6950, 6970 or 570 doing 1080p @120hz?

johnson · Oct 21, 2011

AnomalouS: u r just wasting ur time and our time in here. keep ur 280.

AnomalouS · Oct 24, 2011

johnson said:
i bet a gtx280 will be able to MAX out BF3.

it wont be as demanding as others believed it to be.

i promise. as evidenced in the beta.

i plan to MAX out bf3 with my overclocked 5850. i have a good feeling that i can.

I guess we will find out tomorrow if your 5850 will hold a candle to MAXED OUT settings.
I doubt it.

As for keeping my GTX280 and its lack of DX11... I will be upgrading.

Hayder_Master · Oct 24, 2011

6970 2G, u like nvidia add more for GTX580

mrw1986 · Oct 24, 2011

I'm dying to get a MSI GTX 560 Ti 2gb but I'm waiting for them to come in stock at NewEgg because I have gift cards there...

phanbuey · Oct 24, 2011

Got my 570 ready to go... pending user reviews of the game... anything with this much hype is almost always a let down.

As for the upgrade... the 580 is a great card - OC it and it will dominate, nothing will be able to touch it.
The only other choice is some SLI action... I don't know much about AMD cards, but the 2gb 6950 looks like a great deal - may be able to pick them up, unlock and OC CF for an insane setup at a low price.

If you are looking for a good price perf then there are some refurb 480's floating around for an amazing bang/buck.

Also there is this: $50 off a 6970 - not bad.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1148914&CatId=3669

570 GC decent deal:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=499981

you can pick up a pair of these - recert 470's for $194 a pop - these can OC to within spitting distance of a stock 570 give or take 5-10% Two of them will dominate, power consumption is not too bad if you dont go crazy with the voltage and if noise is not a huge factor.

Recertified: EVGA 012-P3-1470-RX GeForce GTX 470 (...

What looks to be an unlockable 2GB 6950 for $254
PowerColor AX6950 2GBD5-2DH Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256...

Ferrum Master · Oct 25, 2011

As a GTX280 SLI owner...

Don't even think about upgrading now just for BF3 and don't listen to them...

The only thing that doesn't run in ultra settings is Terrain... as it simply doesn't have DX11 and visually wise tessellation still isn't the game changer.

I've accidentally forgot to turn on SLI after latest driver update, and I've played through the first campaign level... FPS floating from 30-60... it was enough for me... it felt very smooth.

Wait for the 28nm... whatever you prefer - red or green spiced...
The 5xx series are so flawed and immature at driver level... in some situations my tandem still is breathing bad breath in the face of GTX580 and my wallet has no reasons for opening up...

phanbuey · Oct 26, 2011

Ferrum Master said:
As a GTX280 SLI owner...

Don't even think about upgrading now just for BF3 and don't listen to them...

The only thing that doesn't run in ultra settings is Terrain... as it simply doesn't have DX11 and visually wise tessellation still isn't the game changer.

I've accidentally forgot to turn on SLI after latest driver update, and I've played through the first campaign level... FPS floating from 30-60... it was enough for me... it felt very smooth.

Wait for the 28nm... whatever you prefer - red or green spiced...
The 5xx series are so flawed and immature at driver level... in some situations my tandem still is breathing bad breath in the face of GTX580 and my wallet has no reasons for opening up...

As ex OC'ed GTX 260 SLI owner, I couldnt disagree more. The 5xx feels way smoother than a G200 SLI setup. A 570, never mind 580 gives way higher min FPS than my previous SLI setup... and I was clocked at 810/1620 under water.

If you only have one card, its time to upgrade. A GTX 580 with OC is easily double the speed of his 280, without the crap SLI hassles and worries if your game is optimized or not.

neatfeatguy · Oct 26, 2011

Ferrum Master said:
As a GTX280 SLI owner...

Don't even think about upgrading now just for BF3 and don't listen to them...

The only thing that doesn't run in ultra settings is Terrain... as it simply doesn't have DX11 and visually wise tessellation still isn't the game changer.

I've accidentally forgot to turn on SLI after latest driver update, and I've played through the first campaign level... FPS floating from 30-60... it was enough for me... it felt very smooth.

Wait for the 28nm... whatever you prefer - red or green spiced...
The 5xx series are so flawed and immature at driver level... in some situations my tandem still is breathing bad breath in the face of GTX580 and my wallet has no reasons for opening up...

phanbuey said:
As ex OC'ed GTX 260 SLI owner, I couldnt disagree more. The 5xx feels way smoother than a G200 SLI setup. A 570, never mind 580 gives way higher min FPS than my previous SLI setup... and I was clocked at 810/1620 under water.

If you only have one card, its time to upgrade. A GTX 580 with OC is easily double the speed of his 280, without the crap SLI hassles and worries if your game is optimized or not.

Dual GTX 280s run about 10-15% behind a GTX 570 in most games - at least on my PC. Basically, anything under a GTX 570 or HD 6970 isn't really worth an upgrade in my opinion.

You can check my results I got from running benchmarks with my dual GTX 280s vs the GTX 570 I picked up here: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147481

You can do one of two things:
1) if you have the hardware and space, get a second GTX 280 to run in SLI to get roughly a GTX 570 performance
2) if you must get a new GPU, settle for nothing less then a GTX 570 or HD 6970

phanbuey · Oct 26, 2011

neatfeatguy said:
Dual GTX 280s run about 10-15% behind a GTX 570 in most games - at least on my PC. Basically, anything under a GTX 570 or HD 6970 isn't really worth an upgrade in my opinion.

You can check my results I got from running benchmarks with my dual GTX 280s vs the GTX 570 I picked up here: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147481

You can do one of two things:
1) if you have the hardware and space, get a second GTX 280 to run in SLI to get roughly a GTX 570 performance
2) if you must get a new GPU, settle for nothing less then a GTX 570 or HD 6970

sound advice :toast:

Ferrum Master · Oct 26, 2011

neatfeatguy said:
Dual GTX 280s run about 10-15% behind a GTX 570 in most games - at least on my PC. Basically, anything under a GTX 570 or HD 6970 isn't really worth an upgrade in my opinion.

You can check my results I got from running benchmarks with my dual GTX 280s vs the GTX 570 I picked up here: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147481

You can do one of two things:
1) if you have the hardware and space, get a second GTX 280 to run in SLI to get roughly a GTX 570 performance
2) if you must get a new GPU, settle for nothing less then a GTX 570 or HD 6970

Yeah mates, thats right... for me it a bit smoother min fps because of OCed i7 at 4.2Ghz now.... for SLI setups are very dependent on CPU and overall system latency. My X58 has it all there for I am not willing to upgrade to SB-E also...

You have to take in count - if you have DX11 card, then actually it will run slower because of additional effects and stuff (that is barely noticeable tough

)

And we have to agree GTX280 is one heck of a card... and as I've said previously... BF3 is not worth that upgrade price yet... next gen of DX11.1 cards are soon here... So in this situation, as for me as an example... I must spend ~500$ for GTX580 and get the same FPS with some sort of fancy post filter gimmicks... :wtf:

Maybe just ebay for another GTX280, they are very cheap sometimes... beware - there were few with overheating problems (as one of mine XFX made), had to remove IHS and replace thermal paste

no problems since then)

kajson · Oct 26, 2011

I don't know in how much in a hurry you are, but I would like a couple of people said here before me, seriously wait for the next gen. 28 nm seems to be ready for production and I would say that within 6 months the new top models will be launched.

Couple of months without a wee bit of eye candy seems like a small price to pay for me, compared to being first in line for a die shrink that will allow a big performance increase.

Also there's fresh drivers out for BF3, you cant judge your GFX performance on the beta, or at least I wouldn't.

AnomalouS · Oct 26, 2011

Thanks for the follow ups, sounds like I can hold off on buying a new card. I will do some looking for a gtx 280 to sli with and do it for much less the buying any new 570 or 6970.

phanbuey · Oct 26, 2011

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BFG-Geforce...311?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item3a6bac842f

AnomalouS · Oct 26, 2011

Thanks

Leaning towards an identical match for my EVGA GTX 280...
EVGA 01G-P3-1280-AR GeForce GTX 280

There are a couple on ebay now I am watching.

AnomalouS · Nov 2, 2011

look what i found.... :rockout:

mdbrotha03 · Nov 2, 2011

johnson said:
i bet a gtx280 will be able to MAX out BF3.

it wont be as demanding as others believed it to be.

i promise. as evidenced in the beta.

i plan to MAX out bf3 with my overclocked 5850. i have a good feeling that i can.

So hows that max looking for ya :laugh:

AnomalouS · Nov 2, 2011

mdbrotha03 said:
So hows that max looking for ya

Not sure how his 280 is doing.

I have to say I was not "happy" with my GTX280, I prefer to max out and eat up the eye candy. Solved... See 2 post up! :toast:

Darkleoco · Nov 2, 2011

I would love to have 2 of those 580 lightning's in SLI :toast:

How much did you get that card for?

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Time to upgrade my GTX280 for BF3?

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