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Time to upgrade my GTX280 for BF3?

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Is it time to upgrade my GTX280 for BF3?
Just started playing the beta and realize it will not be as smooth as I prefer. The only thing keeping me down is my GTX280...

I have been extremely busy with work and not keeping up on anything over the last 8 months. :cool:
Whats a fair upgrade? A friend suggested a 6870 however I prefer Nvidia but not willing to consider an alternative. $200-$300 range. May stretch to $325


Thanks


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Bo$$

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GTX570 is awesome if you can afford it, bought it and was amazing... my gtx280 really struggles in B3 and that card was miles better in any game
 
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GTX570 is ok. Less hassle with drivers as well since your rolling on a GTX280 (provided you have up to date drivers). Just slap it in and your all set.
 

qubit

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Short answer: yes. Not only does it not have the horsepower any more, but it doesn't support DX11 and if BF3 doesn't support DX11, then I'll eat my quantum hat! That CPU is being significantly held back by it now.

Get a GTX 580, you won't regret it - I have one and can vouch for it. If you shop around, you can get some very reasonably priced reference ones nowadays, too.

Your PSU appears to be a 750W Coolermaster unit. Having a decent brand of sufficient power is crucial for a card like this, so yours will be fine.
 
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If you can I would even try to increase that budget a bit more and get the best card you can (within reason) you have a great CPU that is being held back A LOT by your graphics card and you need a GPU that matches up :)
 
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which ATI compares to the 580?

not really concerned about drivers as I am due for a reformat... need to get some shit off my ssd, nearly maxed.
 
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A 6950 or 6970 would be the closest thing to compare to a 580 that I can think of.
 

qubit

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which ATI compares to the 580?

not really concerned about drivers as I am due for a reformat... need to get some shit off my ssd, nearly maxed.

The top-end single GPU HD6970. Check out the reviews on TPU to help you decide which brand to buy. However, I'm very pleased with my 580 and it runs 3D Vision beautifully. :cool:
 
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Is BF3 built catering to Nvidia based GPU's? I remember BF2 was somewhat.
 
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No, AMD GPU's perform just as well on BF3.
 
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Is BF3 built catering to Nvidia based GPU's? I remember BF2 was somewhat.

No, not at all. It is a misconception. It's quite possible that a 6970 2gb could be better for a cheaper price. It does have more Vram and this game will need it. With a single monitor and from a price perspective I would definitely go with the 6970.
 
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I do like the price tag on the 6970 much better then the 580...
how about heat issues? are the 580s going to heat my office..lol
 

qubit

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I do like the price tag on the 6970 much better then the 580...
how about heat issues? are the 580s going to heat my office..lol

The 580 does run hot when gaming, but not unreasonably so for a card of this performance and the 6970 will be similar. It's basically a GTX 480 v2 with all the issues that had completely ironed out. Fan noise is a strong point for the 580, too. Definitely read those TPU reviews before deciding...
 
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In my experience the GTX 580 runs cooler then the HD6970 or HD6950's. It's not by that noticeable of a difference but it's still there.

I like both cards.... The GTX 580 is a great card.... right now I own two and one or two will run BF3 like butter at 1920x1080p. My buddy owns a couple of HD6950's right now and with two he can play the game at the same res (1920x1080) at a easy Plus 60FPS. But with one he has to turn the settings down to High not ultra.

My advice would either be two GTX 560 Ti's, Two HD6950's, Or if you can swing it Two GTX 570's. But if a single card solution is all you are looking for.... go with the GTX 580 IMO.
 

qubit

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In my experience the GTX 580 runs cooler then the HD6970 or HD6950's. It's not by that noticeable of a difference but it's still there.

I like both cards.... The GTX 580 is a great card.... right now I own two and one or two will run BF3 like butter at 1920x1080p. My buddy owns a couple of HD6950's right now and with two he can play the game at the same res (1920x1080) at a easy Plus 60FPS. But with one he has to turn the settings down to High not ultra.

My advice would either be two GTX 560 Ti's, Two HD6950's, Or if you can swing it Two GTX 570's. But if a single card solution is all you are looking for.... go with the GTX 580 IMO.

Yup, the 580 is a fantastic card. Thanks for the specific example of why. :toast:
 
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Taking my time with a decision... I am not sure what to do just yet.

With my current job I will only have a 4-6 hours on the weekends to game. Not sure I want to cough up for a GTX580 right now.
 

qubit

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Ya, don't rush it, it's a lot of money and the 280 is still a great card.

I'm going to be upgrading my E8500 soon and I'm considering an i7-2600K like yours, but I'm holding off for a month until SB-E is released, to see how the market looks then.
 
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Yes the GTX280 is still a good card, but lacking DX11.
From the BF3 Beta I can tell I would like to upgrade the gfx card...
 
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if a card is kept for a long time its just so worth getting gtx580,, otherwise 570/6970
 
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if a card is kept for a long time its just so worth getting gtx580,, otherwise 570/6970

I am leaning toward the 570 as as I am more comfortable with Nvidia,
unless someone can persuade me..
 
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The FrostBite Engine isn't vRAM hungry. The Beta was unoptimized and buggy, that's why it was hard on systems. I can get up to SLi 64XCSAA in BC2 MP. Doesn't work well in SP though, lol.



At 1600x1200, vRAM usage is about 700 MB. Even with so much filtering. DX11 would increase the needed virtual memory, still, you shouldn't exceed 1-1.5 GB at lower settings. But if you're going to SLi/CF in the future, then the extra vRAM would be handy. Here are a few good options:

VisionTek 900353 Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 ...

EVGA 012-P3-1578-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) Classi...

I love the reference 6970 myself; it has dual Volterra Digital PWM for power, along with more vRAM to future-proof. That 570 is built on a 580 PCB though.
 
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a 6950 2gb is plenty of power for BF3. They are pretty cheap right now.
 
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The FrostBite Engine isn't vRAM hungry. The Beta was unoptimized and buggy, that's why it was hard on systems. I can get up to SLi 64XCSAA in BC2 MP. Doesn't work well in SP though, lol.

http://vovtpw.bay.livefilestore.com...PyKQmluGMpLzyF1mVEr2I4tdi/BFBC2 SLI 64xAA.jpg

At 1600x1200, vRAM usage is about 700 MB. Even with so much filtering. DX11 would increase the needed virtual memory, still, you shouldn't exceed 1-1.5 GB at lower settings. But if you're going to SLi/CF in the future, then the extra vRAM would be handy. Here are a few good options:

VisionTek 900353 Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 ...

EVGA 012-P3-1578-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) Classi...

I love the reference 6970 myself; it has dual Volterra Digital PWM for power, along with more vRAM to future-proof. That 570 is built on a 580 PCB though.

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.
 
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