Update, well the GTX285's and 295's are rollin in! Seems the GT200 chips are turning out to not only take on popularity but perform very well in performance. This is the place to talk about it, share your results, help others, show off OC's and scores, whatever it is as long as it's GTX 200 series we're good!
Alright, as of 7/24/2008 I am the proud owner of a vanilla EVGA GTX260, which at the time of purchase on newegg cost $299.99 shipped. Mere days later the price dropped to $269.99 shipped, Newegg gladly refunded the difference. This post will be updated as I learn with this card and progress with it's performance. I look forward to what other members with GTX200 series cards also offer to this thread!
GTX 260/280 Stuff!
GTX 260/280 Teaser Drivers TPU Thread - Good for more than just the GTX200 series!
Zotac GTX280 TPU Review
PoV GTX280 TPU Review
EVGA GTX 260 FTW Edition OCC Review - Check out the OC results! I know YMMV, but damn!
Anand's GTX 260/280 Overview
TOM's GTX 200 Overview
Overclock.net's GTX200 Thread
HardOCP's Oc-ing of GTX 280 and GTX 260
GTX 260/280 Drivers!
Nvidia CUDA Approved Drivers
Nvidia WHQL
Nvidia BETA
Nvidia PhysX/CUDA
NVidia GeForce PowerPack
Current WHQL:
180.48
Current BETA:
180.84
GTX 260/280 Overclocking!
A few things to know about overclocking a GTX 200 series video graphics card:
- Turn that fan up! Heat has a negative affect on anything OC'd, these cards have a limit of 105c, what's the point of pushing it that far?
- The max GPU:SHADER ratio is 1:2, i.e. 700GPU is the maximum OC-able with 1400Shaders.
- Ensure you have the latest drivers for your GTX card...I've noticed increased stability in OC's with both DX9 and DX10 applications.
- The clockspeeds increase in steps, as has been the norm for many cards, instead of an increment of 1MHz, this card can jump approx 20MHz on GPU, Shader and Memory clocks. GPU-Z does not detect this properly, but rivatuner and EVGA Precision will in their graphs. There is a difference between the driver level OC you input and the hardware level speed that the hardware is actually running at. More to come!
I highly recommend getting the most recent driver released, along with using the most recent Rivatuner or EVGA Precison. Both were created by the same person, both are excellent, Precision is simpler and has just what you need to OC your cards, it's compatable with many NV GPU's as a plus too!
EVGA Precision
Rivatuner
GTX260 OC GPU-Z - Damn Awesome OC's IMO! Hopefully we can see more of this action! This must have been a pre-OC'd GTX 260 as stock GPU clocks are 576, but 800 on the GPU is pretty crazy! I sourced that GPU-Z score from this thread:
http://forums.slizone.com/index.php?showtopic=24933&st=0
HardOCP's OC of GTX 260 & 280 - Seems right around 670 on GPU is about right for most of these results...of course YMMV, need to see some TPU-er's getting their GTX 2XX OC-ing results posted up!
GTX 260/280 Mods!
XTreme System's GTX 280 Volt Mod Thread - GTX 280 hard-vgpu/mem mods thread.
I have personally tested the GTX 260 Bios Vmod, which I created myself due to little on the web at this point...so I figured I'd mess around with it, create a small guide in this thread to give you guys an idea of how easy it is on this card, not much different from modifying other cards that accept vmods. I instantly noticed an increase in temps around 3-5C at 80% fan speed whenever in EXTRA mode (3D Gaming), I was able to attain higher clocks, but there is a give and take between stability, clocks and heat with these cards and maybe a flat-out limitation, if you desire a higher overclock and can deal with the higher heat output, read on for sure! If planning to do a vmod, modifying clocks and fan speed, I recommend using the most recent version of Rivatuner and/or EVGA Precision, both are made by the same guy, and both are excellent in their own rights. So here it goes!
I have performed a BIOS mod on my GTX260, where the Extra (3d gaming) voltage is increased from 1.12v to 1.18v. This is a very easy mod to perform, first go get NiBitor 4.4 (4.3 also works):
http://www.mvktech.net/component/op...func,fileinfo/filecatid,2760/parent,category/
Next get NVFlash 5.67+:
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1127/NVFlash_5.67.html
I recommend GPU-z 2.7+ for acquiring your Bios:
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1153/TechPowerUp_GPU-Z_v0.2.7.html
Alright, first thing's first, save a backup...GPU-Z saved mine as GT200.bin. I would save that in a location where it won't be confused as a modded file or overwritten. Then I'll make a copy of it, and start modifying.
There are only 2 mods that really need to be done within a GT200 series BIOS with the NiBitor utility as-far-as I'm concerned. One is adjusting the EXTRA voltage, the other is modifying the minimum fan speed. You can adjust clock rates and voltages per profile, i.e. 2D, 3D and EXTRA. That is up to you, whether you want a Bios OC clock set, with or without extra voltage...I highly recommend increasing the OE fan speed from 40% (standard setting on my GTX260) to around 70-80%+, I have found in my Antec 900 that 80% is very tolerable for improved cooling stock and OC'd compared to 40%, you hear more air than the actual fan itself.
Below are some screenshots of NiBitor 4.4 with my stock GT200 Bios to show you where to go and what to look for:
- Alright so here we have the main screen and
Clockrates Tab after you open up your saved bios backup. This is where you get a glimps of the clock-rates and profiles. Yes there are 4 and as you can see the Thrtl has no clocks, and it has no voltages...I recommend NOT modifying anything but the EXTRA clocks and Voltages. The power savings features on these cards functions very well, modifying them can lead to problems that only you are responsible for.
- Here is the voltage profiles under the
Voltages Tab, again 4 profiles, I recommend leaving 2D, 3D and Thrtl alone as there is no reason to modify them. The only voltage setting you should even focus on here is
EXTRA, see the next image for more!
- Here we go, this is what you need to see...1.12v is stock from what I've found with EVGA, XFX and other bioses, whether Pre-OC'd versions or not. I could be wrong here too, but like I said I've gone through only a few brands..with your help we can find more truth here. Stock as you can see is 1.12v, and you have the option to go up to 1.18v. Some have claimed hitting 800GPU, 1600Shaders with this mod. I was unable to attain those clocks, but was able to bench at 795/1590, remember ymmv, your choice, your risk, your responsability if choosing to do this. One more thing for GTX 280 users, I do believe that your EXTRA is at 1.18v stock due to the extra goodies the 280 has over the 260, whether or not you can perform a voltage mod beyond 1.18v is unknown at this time, but I doubt there is a BIOS voltage mod for 280 users at this time, I have yet to find it aside from hard-mods.
- Not much in this window that is useful, but if you click that Fanspeed IC button should be clicked, as this is where you access the minimum fan speed setting.
- Here as you can see I have the menu dropped showing the values, which range from 0%-100% in 1% incrememnts for the minimum fan speed. The lable for this option is
min Duty Cycle. As I recommended earlier 70-80% is usually easy to deal with yet very effective...ymmv, I recommend using Precision/Rivatuner to find what the highest fan speed you want to deal with is...just remember the higher the fan speed, the more effective the cooling which is a good idea for overclocking, not as necessary for stock clocks.
So there you go, you have a few options if you want to go the BIOS MOD route. If you are not familiar with flashing a video card, you may need to do some researching and learn the commands you NEED to know, ensure the files you have for flashing show a Green Dot next to Integrity in NiBitor. Make an easy name, oe1, gt200, whatever, but keep it simple for DOS. Personally I use an old 512MB USB flash drive for my GFX Flashing purposes, very easy to do, works quite well. But you can also go the CD or Floppy route if you're more comfortable with that. If you are interested but unexperienced in using USB for a Bootable drive for flashing your MB/GFX bioses check this link out:
http://www.student.livjm.ac.uk/cmpsgoos/usb_bootdrive_guide.htm
That is an excellent guide that shows you how to quickly and easily make a bootable USB drive, then add a folder say...NV, toss in NVFlash, and your bioses that you want. Restart, set bootable primary HDD to the USB drive, boot to it, hit CD NV, then type your command.
NVFlash Commands for flashing this card are very easy to remember, but WRITE THEM DOWN anyways, just in case.
For Normal Flash: nvflash -5 -6 newbios.rom
For Forced Flash: nvflash -4 -5 -6 newbios.rom
It'll ask if you want to update the bios on the adapter, press y to continue, any other button to cancel. If you press y to flash, it should take about 10-15 seconds from start to finish, then it'll go back to command prompt. You're good to go!
Remember the risks involved with flashing your video card, the flash could fail, you could lose power or it could possibly freeze even in DOS...you may be able to blind flash, or you just created a very expensive paper weight. Last I checked, no GFX company covers modified bios flashing under warranty.
GTX 260/280 Folding!
As many now know, newer AMD and NV GPU's can now fold! Tough luck to the guys that had compatability with the original GPU app, as they found that it was more of a waste and they couldn't get nearly the research done with it, so it has been discontinued and is no longer supported. But for the newer and more powerful GPU's with more shaders and newer processing technology, enter the GPU2 FAH App. I have tested it stable on Vista x64, even in beta is seems more stable than the original GPU GUI/Console versions. Below is a look at what the early beta GPU2 program was accomplishing, the numbers are pretty good, but not as astonishing. Remember this is an early beta! My Palit 9600GT Sonic was attaining around 4400PPD, which is about +1400 from what this graph shows...as we get more information, a new TPU Graph may be created.
Image borrowed from Tom's Hardware GTX200 Overview
GTX 260/280 Shopping! -US for now, If you want overseas prices and such, please feel free to PM me or post them! Sorry!
Newegg's GTX 260 Line-Up
Newegg's GTX 280 Line-Up
TigerDirect's GTX 260 Line-Up
TigerDirect's GTX 280 Line-Up
Alright folks, that's it for now, if you want to see something up here, or have something to donate, please don't hesitate to contact me...I am very busy during the work week, but will do my best to get newer info up as it happens!
Thanks!
