Which GTX280

[M00SE]

Hey all

I`ve been thinking about changing my 2x 8800GTX`s for 2 x GTX 280`s. I wanted to get some feed back on which GTX280 would be the best buy. Is there a clear winner?

Any thoughts would be great.

Cheers all.

[staffsMike]

The cheapest one.

That said.. what on god's earth would you need two of them for?

[TheReaFireblade]

I personally prefer EVGA or BFG cards these days - primarily for the warranties they offer.
But other than that... [standard] cards are 'much of a muchness', so just pick whichever card/manufacturer offers the best overall package in the box - i.e. free game, DVI - HDMI adapter etc

[M00SE]

The individual cards will differ in quality from brand to brand.

I`ve heard reports of certain ones being noisey, to hot and some wont throttle down the fans.

So rather than buy the cheapest one and end up with issues. I`m looking to get the best overall card. Which there will be one of, it stands to reason that some will be better than others.

Cheers all

[staffsMike]

I would have though they were all put together in the same shop like always with nvidia but maybe I'm wrong. My money would normally go on gainward, leadtek or BFG.

Please don't buy two though

[sleepyhead]

<snip>

Please don't buy two though

Buy 3! Then tell us what it's like at benchmarking.

Whatever your reasoning is, you will get alot of (depending on all the other bits and bobs and how the games scale with multi-gpu) eye candy.

[shaithis]

If you are going to run them stock, not overclocking them yourself or changing the heatsinks, then pick the one that gives the best bang-for-buck, something like the 1GB BFG Tech GTX 280 OCX (BFGRGTX2801024OCXE)

If you are going to mess with them, just buy the cheapest.

[2Cold Scorpio]

I'd suggest Evga; their products (and warranty) rock. Their GTX 280 FTW edition looks quite nice, too.

[rufeo]

I'd say BFG, they've got a 10yr warranty which is the same as EVGA. whats more is that they have a customer service center in the uk so you won't have to send it to germany (for EVGA). plus their the only company to offer a rebate on the gtx series in europe afaik, now that's great customer service there!

[kalniel]

Wait for the 55nm one

[shaithis]

Wait for the 55nm one

Probably a damn good call.

[staffsMike]

Not that I would buy one at all but the 55nm sounds like a good idea if it's coming. I mean I'm sure your 8800GTX SLI setup isn't struggling.

If you can stomach buying from OcUK though they have a gainward on for &#163;250
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-072-GW

[NovaSphere]

Wait for the 55nm one

Maybe dumb question but, what's the big difference between the 65nm edition and the 55nm that (might) will come? Just the size of the chip, so also the size of the card or there are other differences?

[staffsMike]

They consume less power and thus should be cooler running.

[dangel]

They consume less power and thus should be cooling running.

...and/or may clock faster as a result.

[kalniel]

Maybe dumb question but, what's the big difference between the 65nm edition and the 55nm that (might) will come? Just the size of the chip, so also the size of the card or there are other differences?

nVidia apparently planned to release the GT200 chips at 55nm in the first place, but in the light of an increasingly competitive AMD took the safer decision to release on the proven 65nm technology first, which was safer and sooner. A 55nm chip should be 'the one they meant to make all along', and given the massive size of the current die it seems they will get around the current limitations such as having a suprisingly low clockspeed and a massive cooler. Who knows what else they might throw in with the smaller die, but in my opinion the current chips are definitely being compromised and 55nm should be a significantly faster chip, at a more reasonable price and power draw.