Evga 260 SC or EVGA 280?

[darrensen]

I'm doing my research to build my own rig in the next couple of months. Fingers crossed that the prices will drop a little.

I'm anticipating the launch of Flashpoint 2 and ARMA 2 this Spring and need a fairly high spec machine. Debating going i7, but might just go Quad. Either way, i need a good GPU. I'll be running 1900X1200 so i guess a fairly high strain for either of these games.

Should i get a 260 EVGA SSC or 280 EVGA?

The price difference is about £60, is it worth going for the 280 or is the overclocked 260 faster than stock 280?

Thanks all

Darren

[Webby]

Is it worth the extra depends on how much you personally value the extra frames per second.

And in answer to the other question no a overclocked GTX260 is not faster than a stock GTX280.

Unless you are definetly sticking with nvidia you may also want to consider the HD4870 1GB (£180+) which is similar in performance to the GTX260 or a 4850X2 which is better than the GTX280 and costs £265 (available from ebuyer)

[darrensen]

Thanks for your reply.

I prefer to go with Nvidia due to the driver support. Had ATi in the past and wasn't best please with the support.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I prefer to go with Nvidia due to the driver support. Had ATi in the past and wasn't best please with the support.

This has no bearing on whether the driver support is good now does it?? It is the same argument people have used for justifying ATI over Nvidia!!

Having had two ATI cards(x1900gt and HD3870) since late 2006 under both Vista and XP I have never had any problems with their drivers. My 9500pro still works fine too after 5+ years!!

In fact Nvidia drivers for the G80 were among the major causes of Vista BSODs in 2007 according to Microsoft:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/27/n...crashes-in-20/

As far as I know they do not have the same problem now. I have also had a 8500GT and 8800GTS 512mb and these had no issues under XP either.

[Zhaoman]

gtx280 definitely. it is the difference between playable and twitchy on the most demanding games, and if you have the money then definitely go for it. Constant price drops since launch has nearly halved its price, and u can get a sizeable overclock from a stock version too.

[Tom O]

would think that it should be less than £60 difference now that the 285 has come out?!?

unless you are set on EVGA there should be cheaper end of line 280's out there.

as above, there is a slight difference between them on titles such as Crysis at higher res,

1920x1200 lets me run everything full on Crysis nice and smooth on my 285, although there was the ocassional slow down on my 260-216, although very minor.

[marshalex]

If you did want to go ati then pixmania are selling the sapphire 4870 for £140 + delivery, which is really good for the price as its got the newer silent cooler on which works! link

[Webby]

Just so people do not get confused that cooler is by no means silent (or mine wasn't at least, could potential to be in part due to the wireless card above it blocking its air flow some) fortunately it only stayed on long enough to make sure the card was in good working order before it was replaced with some decent cooling - read H2O

[vicar]

I will say 280 over the 260 any day.

[NoPrisoners]

GTX 280 gets my vote, if i had the money for my build I would have got it instead of my 260.