GTX 260: 9 hours and counting down

H

Hypnotics

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 21, 2005
Messages
73
Well my GTX 260 will be here on my doorstep in 9 hours, got a nice little automated call from UPS. Anyone got any advice or cautions? And also is that 178.13 driver the one i want to use? I hope my high expectations will be fulfilled with this huge hunk of graphic power goodness. My 7900GTX just isnt making me smile like it used to. Mmmmm. Oh the non- jagged edge vistas I will soon behold are making my smile already.
 
I've had my best results with 177.92. You'll want to make sure you clear some physical space for the card as it's longer than John Silver.

I've found that the true value of the GT200 cards is not super-high max FPS but a very consistent minimum/average framerate; no matter how high I push the settings and resolution I get a great experience with my 260.
 
Yea it is a step-up from the 9800GTX i ordered, already had to remove my HD cage. Stability is the key, why i went with nvidia over ATI. Saw those benchies and didnt like my frames jumping all over the place. Smooth and steady is the name of the game. Some will say the 4870 is faster but none can say it is a smoother gamplay experience, especially with the newer games.(Check out [H]s Clear Skies review)
 
I ordered the EVGA 896-P3-1265-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 from Newegg and its out for delivery now..
I cant wait to get home....
I'm coming from a highly modded 8800GTX, so I'm curious to see how much of an improvement Ill get...I'm pretty sure it will be huge.. :eek:

I'm gonna use it over the weekend, and then send this one off to be "hopped up"
 
Yea i am hoping they will send me a new Core 216, but i am doubtful b/c when i called EVGA they said mine was already pending for Delivery. Crossing my fingers. You should see a nice little improvement, not so much in frames but in the ability to push the settings higher and still maintain smooth gameplay.
 
Crosshairs said:
I ordered the EVGA 896-P3-1265-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 from Newegg and its out for delivery now..
I cant wait to get home....
I'm coming from a highly modded 8800GTX, so I'm curious to see how much of an improvement Ill get...I'm pretty sure it will be huge.. :eek:

I'm gonna use it over the weekend, and then send this one off to be "hopped up"
Click to expand...

If you're planning to step up (presumably to the 280) why didn't you just order a 280 in the first place?
 
elleana said:
If you're planning to step up (presumably to the 280) why didn't you just order a 280 in the first place?
Click to expand...
I didnt say anything about stepping up.
I said "hopped up".....as in volt modded and what not
 
My Diamond HD 4870 just died on me last Friday and my EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 arrived yesterday evening at 5:00pm. You're gonna love it. I was reminded why I like EVGA so much even before I installed the card. Even there packaging is classy. The only part of the box that was cardboard was the box itself. The whole insides were made from grey StyraFoam with the EVGA logo etched into it, keeping the card very well protected.

Everyone was right about the size as well. Its' HUGE. I knew it was 10.5 inches long, but actually seeing it and holding 10.5" in your hands is a completely different story. :p (I just re-read what I wrote, but I'm leaving it anyway, have fun) :)

Annnnnyway, I think what makes the card appear so large is that the whole PCB is enclosed but a very, very, nice looking card I must say. For shiz and giggles, see the picture below next to my temp card the Nvidia 7300LE I use in between cards :p Hey, I thought tech was suppose to get smaller from Gen1 to Gen2. :smile: Still have plenty of room though in my case, even if Nvidia wants to make a 11.5" card I'm ready for that too because I have a little over an inch before the GTX 260 Core 216 hits my drive cage.

Oh, yeah. I knew how long the card was, but nobody said anything about the weight. After I installed the card I went to stand my case upright and I said WTF? It felt like someone hid a dead body inside. :tongue: I'm also going to need a new temp card because I dropped the GTX260 on my 7300LE by accident and it broke. :D

As far as gaming goes, the only thing I've had a chance to try is Crysis so far, and this is definitely the card to get for that game. After installing the card, the first thing I did was fire up Crysis and I was now able to bump all the detail settings back to high again and moved AA up a notch as well. IQ is on par with the HD4870 as well, so no complaints there at all.

I'm also using the exact clocks the EVGA FTW card uses which are 666 Core / 1404 Shader / 2214 Memory. There's seems to be a lot more headroom though so I'll try pushing it harder later. Average OC's on this card seem to be beteen 700-750 Mhz. for the core.

Temps are good as well. Jacked my fan speed to 65% and Idle sits at around 46c and after a round of Crysis, I'm in the lower 70C's.



Enjoy your card!
 
Damn those pics are making me excited to get mine tonight, cannot wait. Just hope that they sent me the core 216. 10.5 inches of graphical power, nice really nice.
 
The Core 16 rocks....it's the card to get. Even if it's not a Core 216...the GTX 260 is an awesome card. Enjoy!
 
Very nice. Step up is a cool thing, wish some ATI vendors had something similar.
Good luck.
RivaTuner is your friend.:D
 
I tried rivatuner once it just looked way to complicated. Maybe I was looking at it wrong. I have been using EVGA Precision, is rivatuner alot better?? I think ill hug the UPS guy it it finally comes been waiting on it for like a month now. 7900GTX was starting to make itself at home in my PCIe slot. LoL
 
Hypnotics said:
I tried rivatuner once it just looked way to complicated. Maybe I was looking at it wrong. I have been using EVGA Precision, is rivatuner alot better?? I think ill hug the UPS guy it it finally comes been waiting on it for like a month now. 7900GTX was starting to make itself at home in my PCIe slot. LoL
Click to expand...

Precision is also written by the RivaTuner author, Unwinder. It uses the same OSD etc. but it's stripped down to function as a Core/Shader/Memory/Fan adjuster with adjustable monitoring functionality.

It's a more user-friendly RT package for EVGA customers and is quite handy with its hotkeyed profiles.
 
Hypnotics said:
I tried rivatuner once it just looked way to complicated. Maybe I was looking at it wrong. I have been using EVGA Precision, is rivatuner alot better?? I think ill hug the UPS guy it it finally comes been waiting on it for like a month now. 7900GTX was starting to make itself at home in my PCIe slot. LoL
Click to expand...

Same guy Alex (UnWinder) makes both. I like the EVGA Precision utililty as I just set one fan speed and overclock the card.. Rivatuner is great though if you want the fan to ramp-up to different speeds depending on your temps, plus quite a bit more. I use to use Rivatuner all the time, but my needs are simple. Here's a guide on Rivatuner to give you an idea of what's possible ....

http://www.vaguetech.com/index.php?pageid=rt207


Edit:

Looks like you type faster than I badcaps. :p
 
Seems like the GTX260 core 216 for around 300 is a great bang for the buck card.
 
well, I got mine here also....but it wont work with my MSI IP-35 Pro...I cant get it seated in the slot as the cooler hits the SATA ports..:(

No worries, I did want to use it before I sent it to Viper John, but I guess that aint happening.....
Once its watercoled, Im sure it will fit right in....
 
Crosshairs said:
well, I got mine here also....but it wont work with my MSI IP-35 Pro...I cant get it seated in the slot as the cooler hits the SATA ports..:(

No worries, I did want to use it before I sent it to Viper John, but I guess that aint happening.....
Once its watercoled, Im sure it will fit right in....
Click to expand...


You mean Abit? I'm looking at a picture of an IP-35 Pro...don't see how the SATA ports would be blocking the cooler??
 
spaceman said:
Oh crap. Is that going to fit on a P43? It has the same layout except for the sata.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI...MSI P43 Neo3-F ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Click to expand...

yeah, it looks like you will be fine..
I actually did get it installed just now...had to use just the bottom 2 SATA ports.....
ill have to figure out how to get to the other ones if its still tight without the cooler...

I just ran 3Dmark 06..I went from 15903 with my modded and heavily overclocked 8800GTX to 17144 with this card dead stock...so far so good...

EDIT: here are some pics..and new info.

.....clocked it up just a hair and got 17650..I want to see what it will do when i get it back from John..


it barely fits in my system..I had to unplug 2 of my SATA drives as it covers the connectors...I don't know what Im gonna do about that..hopefully when the cooler is gone, it will fit better..this thing is fucking big....makes my 8800 look like a kid...

GTX003.jpg

GTX005.jpg

GTX006.jpg

GTX008.jpg

GTX010.jpg

GTX011.jpg


notice most of my drives are unplugged....you can seee the SATA cables hanging there....

And yeah, that's my million dollar 8800 GTX hanging by its hose.... :)

EDIT: 17711 with the card at 615/1050

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=8390400
 
Well guys I just got my 260 installed with no problems. All i can say is holy shit. I just had to do it, I fired up crisis at 1280x1024(19'' Monitor) I was able to turn everything to Very High and 8xAA. I dont even know if i can go higher didnt try the 16xAA. What is that setting under AA that says 8xQ????? Dloading 3dmark06 as we speak, will post score
 
Hypnotics said:
Well guys I just got my 260 installed with no problems. All i can say is holy shit. I just had to do it, I fired up crisis at 1280x1024(19'' Monitor) I was able to turn everything to Very High and 8xAA. I dont even know if i can go higher didnt try the 16xAA. What is that setting under AA that says 8xQ????? Dloading 3dmark06 as we speak, will post score
Click to expand...

Hey, you got EVGA right? Well when you register the card there will be a link on that page to download 3dMark Vantage Advanced and a license key for free. Just in case you were interested. Also, I kept getting cut off after 6 min. from the EVGA link so I ended up downloading it at Guru3D.com. In other words you can download it from anywhere and just use the EVGA License Key. Have fun with your new friend. :p
 
Just finished 3dmark06 score 13903, that about right for my system? Ill run vantage also and let ya know how it goes.
 
don't be afraid to crank that sucker up. I've got mine running @ 700/1450/1200 for everyday use. It will go up to 725, but I don't feel safe gonig past 700
 
so is this thing longer than a 9800gtx? If I buy one (199 AR at the Egg is very tempting), I don't want to have to mess around with my case too much, and my 9800gtx is cutting it very close to my HDD cage.
 
Am i correct in assuming that at 700mhz the core 216 is faster then a stock gtx280?
 
Hypnotics said:
Well guys I just got my 260 installed with no problems. All i can say is holy shit. I just had to do it, I fired up crisis at 1280x1024(19'' Monitor) I was able to turn everything to Very High and 8xAA. I dont even know if i can go higher didnt try the 16xAA.
Click to expand...
I can too, but it's far from playable. At stock clocks my 260 averages 26FPS on the island benchmark with everything set to Very High with no AA at 1280x1024. And that is a terrible performance indicator anyway as the second half of the game is far more stressful. I use a custom config and play under DX9 - doesn't look quite as nice overall, but pretty close and runs much much better.
Hypnotics said:
What is that setting under AA that says 8xQ?????
Click to expand...
That would be true 8x multisampling, which looks identical to the 8xAA on my old 4870 but absolutely kills performance (4870 runs 8xAA far more easily). The standard 8x is a bit naughty if you ask me. It does smell a bit of nVidia wanting to make their 8xAA performance look better than it really is - I would prefer them to list 8xQ as 8x and use 8xC or something to indicate the reduced quality mode. There is a noticeable difference in IQ (not huge), but moving up to 8xQ is just not worth the performance drop - 16x looks as good if not better and is still less costly.
 
GTX260 is the best card of choice. I wouldn't go for the Core 216 as they jacked up the price on those cards...and there literally is 0 performance gain going from the 192 to the core 216. I'd save the $100 and heck...put that towards another core 192 260 and sli them. Hopefully you get one that OCs well. Clocked my core to 700 just fine, and don't feel the need to go higher.
 
JohnM said:
GTX260 is the best card of choice. I wouldn't go for the Core 216 as they jacked up the price on those cards...and there literally is 0 performance gain going from the 192 to the core 216. I'd save the $100 and heck...put that towards another core 192 260 and sli them. Hopefully you get one that OCs well. Clocked my core to 700 just fine, and don't feel the need to go higher.
Click to expand...

Um, no that's not true. The word 'literally' is bothering me there, because there literally is a performance improvement. Just not one worth $100. :)
 
JohnM said:
GTX260 is the best card of choice. I wouldn't go for the Core 216 as they jacked up the price on those cards...
Click to expand...

Then don't go for one, but please don't come in this thread and start telling people how to spend their money...

There is a difference, and weather or not its worth $100.00 is completely subjective...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top