Is a GTX 295 worth the money?

Azureth

Supreme [H]ardness
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I've read the reviews, but I want to hear from actual gamers. I have some money to spare, and I've been looking to get a new graphics card for my computer. I already have an 8800GT, but it's growing old.
 
Assuming you're using the rig in your sig., i'd say you need a better power supply.

And you can't go SLI, or I would say two GTX 260s would be fine for about $150-$200 less.

People will ask what your monitor res. is. I say, if you're gaming @ 1680 X 1050 or above and want eye candy, AA and Crysis on Very High and you don't mind spending $600 plus (with a new power supply included) go for it.


It's really a matter of personal preference. It will certainly rock most games out there.
 
Hmm...Well, I really don't care about SLI. I just want to know if I would see a big performance boost going from an 8800 GT to, say, a GTX 260? I will be playing 1920x1200.
 
You would see a huge difference but i would think at that res you should be looking more at the gtx285 or at least the 275..
 
the price is gonna fall dramatically once the new 4890x2 comes along, and theyre also making a single pcb version of it right now that should be about soon. dont forget it is a 'SLI on a card' type deal too.

i say go for a good single core card like a gtx 275 / 285 for that resolution
 
If I were to switch out my current card for a GTX 260 will I need to uninstall my current drivers?
 
If I were to switch out my current card for a GTX 260 will I need to uninstall my current drivers?

no... the latest 182.50 still supports the 8 series aswell as the gtx series

( well it does for me in vista x64 anyway :D )
 
If I were to switch out my current card for a GTX 260 will I need to uninstall my current drivers?

If your current drivers are current (latest), then no. I believe their download covers all their video cards. Their menu selection to download them is basically so they can get counts on what cards people have.
 
Great card, especially for high resolution LCDs like my 30" 3008WFP. If I were in the market for a new card, however, I'd wait to see what's coming over the next few months. If nothing else, the new cards will push down the prices for the GTX 295 and ATI 4870x2.
 
I was in the same boat...up until a few hours ago...

Frys (pendning if you have one near you) has the bfg 285gtx for 309.99 - 30.00 rebate = 279.99 (plus taxes)

but I went w/ evga (b/c I'm a fanboy of evga) and paid 30 bucks more (but w/ the same 30.00 rebate) for the step-up and I sleep easier w/ the customer service

after going through a 280 gtx ftw, 3x 4870x2's...I couldn't bring myself to buy another top of the line gpu
 
I was in the same boat...up until a few hours ago...

Frys (pendning if you have one near you) has the bfg 285gtx for 309.99 - 30.00 rebate = 279.99 (plus taxes)

but I went w/ evga (b/c I'm a fanboy of evga) and paid 30 bucks more (but w/ the same 30.00 rebate) for the step-up and I sleep easier w/ the customer service

after going through a 280 gtx ftw, 3x 4870x2's...I couldn't bring myself to buy another top of the line gpu

3 4870X2s? Man, WTF?

OP, look at a 4870X2 / 4850X2 as well. I was going to get the GTX 295 when Dell had a deal on it, but they screwed me and I ended up going ATI instead. I have a pair of 4890s coming in the mail, I'll get the first tomorrow and the second Thursday, and I'll be sure to let you know how they work out (I am running 1920x1200).

After looking at a lot of reviews I decided that the GTX 295 just wasn't worth its ~$500 asking price at this point in time. A 4870X2 is as fast if not faster in many cases for $100 less, and a 4850X2 2GB (don't get the 1GB version) is a little slower but a further $130-140 cheaper at ~$265 AR right now -- it's a steal at this price if your case is big enough.
 
3 4870X2s? Man, WTF?

OP, look at a 4870X2 / 4850X2 as well. I was going to get the GTX 295 when Dell had a deal on it, but they screwed me and I ended up going ATI instead. I have a pair of 4890s coming in the mail, I'll get the first tomorrow and the second Thursday, and I'll be sure to let you know how they work out (I am running 1920x1200).

After looking at a lot of reviews I decided that the GTX 295 just wasn't worth its ~$500 asking price at this point in time. A 4870X2 is as fast if not faster in many cases for $100 less, and a 4850X2 2GB (don't get the 1GB version) is a little slower but a further $130-140 cheaper at ~$265 AR right now -- it's a steal at this price if your case is big enough.


oops, forgot to mention that I had (*as I literally just sold it) a 4850x2...I hate to beat a dead horse, but ATi drivers drive me bonkers...

the 4850x2 is an excellent card, but from my personal "pc" experience, I've had a LOT less headache w/ nvidia drivers/cards
 
I game at 2560x1600 and the GTX 295 was an amazing purchase for $500 shipped when I bought it at release in January. Four months later, it's still $500, and I don't think it's as attractive when a GTX 260 SLI set-up can be had for a little over $300. At this point, I'd recommend GTX 260 SLI or 4890 Crossfire. It might be worth it to grab one card, see how it performs, and then grab a second if you want more. However, if you went that route you'd need another motherboard, and that'd run into higher costs. Therefore, I'd say go for either single card and overclock the hell out of it, probably is enough for most games.
 
Great card for gaming and can moonlight as a very nice F@H producer. ;)
 
EVGA GTX280/285's are MIA from their site. Don't know why they did that. BFG on the other hand are still rockin'. :D

EDIT: Seems like the 285 is back up.
 
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Two questions:

1. If I do get the GTX 275 what kind of FPS should I expect to see while playing Crysis at 1920x1200?
2. Should I be able to max out most games out right now?
 
I'm in the same boat as you. I'm going to be getting a GTX 295 though. It'll pretty much max out any game now untill dx11.

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As you can see, the GTX 295 does alot better in Crysis then 4890 Crossfire, and a single GTX 285
 
I'm in the same boat as you. I'm going to be getting a GTX 295 though. It'll pretty much max out any game now untill dx11.

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As you can see, the GTX 295 does alot better in Crysis then 4890 Crossfire, and a single GTX 285

uh...it doesn't do better in Crysis than* 4890 CF at all, look at the reviews of CF performance, 4890CF actually outperform GTX 295 by a very noticeable number, 4890 itself already at the level of GTX 280, therefore don't even think about a pair of GTX 260 GPU will be able to stay up against it...

and it certainly does not do better than GTX 285 in DX9 mode, the stutter problem in DX9 multi-GPU setup really kills it in Warhead...

for Crysis, GTX 285 or a 4890 will be the most ideal card for it...

or wait until the next generation release which should be around august, 4 month away...
 
i hate seeing the kind of response i am about to give when this type of question is asked but...

its all subjective dude. if you have the money to burn, burn it. if you question is about performance:value, i think the answer is no. if its about whether or not a stepup from what you have now to this will offer a difference in your gaming experience, i think the answer is a clear yes.

but as others have said, you can do probably find better things to do with 600$ (with new psu) by getting a cheaper set of cards or a single slot solution.

if i were you however, id buy the GTX 295 and play crysis on max settings all day just because i could.
i crave eye candy.
 
Well according to most of the information that i have seen, any new major gpu release probably wont happen to around November. Its just like when they released the 8800GTX. You could aslo probably buy a new psu and another 8800GT and then you would be golden for a while, plus save some mad cash.
 
i hate seeing the kind of response i am about to give when this type of question is asked but...

its all subjective dude. if you have the money to burn, burn it. if you question is about performance:value, i think the answer is no. if its about whether or not a stepup from what you have now to this will offer a difference in your gaming experience, i think the answer is a clear yes.

but as others have said, you can do probably find better things to do with 600$ (with new psu) by getting a cheaper set of cards or a single slot solution.

if i were you however, id buy the GTX 295 and play crysis on max settings all day just because i could.
i crave eye candy.

QFT. If you don't have a gf, then get the GTX 295. If you have a gf, you can only afford a 275 :D
 
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