my GTX 280 story

2008-06-29 18:03:05

#1

CaptainSpaulding71: Member; +119|6626|CA, USA

i needed to upgrade my video card and went to Fry's to see what they had. i have an EVGA 680i mobo with a QX6700 running crucial ballistix tracer sticks at 1066. so i requested a EVGA GTX 280, just to take a look at it. list price was 649.99 but due to some idiot mismarking the tag, it came up as 399.99 because it was marked as a GTX 260. naturally i didn't say anything. it went through like 2-3 additional places where they checked skus, looked at the box and so on, but i made it out the door saving myself 250 bucks. this happened to me once before at Fry's where i bought a 80GB hard drive and it came up as Army Men2 for 19.99 rather than 179.99 (this was 6 years ago). i love Fry's.

i guess the planets aligned for me today. about friggin' time something nice happened to me lately.

no i haven't installed it yet. i'll do the usual 3dmark stuff and post follow up soon.

2008-06-29 18:07:04

#2

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6467|Winland

We don't care. Benches. Now.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2008-06-29 18:46:15

#3

_j5689_: Dreads & Bergers; +364|6986|Riva, MD

I wish Fry's would pull their heads outta their asses and start putting stores up on the East coast. Newegg takes like 2 or 3 days and in some cases Fry's is cheaper than them anyway. Best Buy is local but they're just outta the fucking question.

2008-06-29 19:10:45

#4

Brasso: member; +1,549|6900

Wow, great luck on your part. Still too expensive though.

"people in ny have a general idea of how to drive. one of the pedals goes forward the other one prevents you from dying"

2008-06-29 19:37:49

#5

Wallpaper: ☺; +303|6263|The pool

Nice... Benchies/pics?!

My flickr

2008-06-29 19:42:54

#6

CaptainSpaulding71: Member; +119|6626|CA, USA

ok so here's my system again:

intel qx6700 running at 2.66GHz with Zalman 9700 cpu cooler
evga nvidia 680i mobo
4GB crucial ballistix tracer 1066 memory
evga gtx 280 gfx card
windows vista 32bit

3dmark06 score at 11467

https://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm221/CaptainSpaulding71/gtx280_3dmark06.jpg

everything is at stock speeds so far. the version of the card i have is the base version - not OC nor FTW edition.

seems a bit low to me. i'm sure i can get that a bit higher with some tweaking - we'll see. i'm pretty new to OCing to be honest. the best i can do with my particular cpu is 3.4GHz and not a Hz more - just a major wall there for me it seems

anyone have any opinions if this is a decent 3dmark06 # or not? i don't have 3dmark vantage yet.

2008-06-29 19:53:10

#7

Scorpion0x17: can detect anyone's visible post count...; +691|7035|Cambridge (UK)

CaptainSpaulding71 wrote:
ok so here's my system again:

intel qx6700 running at 2.66GHz with Zalman 9700 cpu cooler
evga nvidia 680i mobo
4GB crucial ballistix tracer 1066 memory
evga gtx 280 gfx card
windows vista 32bit

3dmark06 score at 11467

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm22 … mark06.jpg

everything is at stock speeds so far. the version of the card i have is the base version - not OC nor FTW edition.

seems a bit low to me. i'm sure i can get that a bit higher with some tweaking - we'll see. i'm pretty new to OCing to be honest. the best i can do with my particular cpu is 3.4GHz and not a Hz more - just a major wall there for me it seems

anyone have any opinions if this is a decent 3dmark06 # or not? i don't have 3dmark vantage yet.

To get an idea of whether that's a good score for your hardware, you need to use the ORB to compare your score with similar systems - I.E. those achieved with at least same CPU and GPU and ideally same mobo and ram also - start by looking at all scores for a GTX 280, and work from there...

(not that I'm sure you can or how to do that (been a long time since I looked at ORB))

Last edited by Scorpion0x17 (2008-06-29 20:02:41)

2008-06-29 21:32:03

#8

CaptainSpaulding71: Member; +119|6626|CA, USA

ok so i did a small bit of overclocking. end result is 13639 on 3dmark06

qx6700 @ 2.67 w/ gtx280 at stock speeds = 11462
qx6700 @ 3.2 w/ gtx280 at stock speeds = 12480
qx6700 @ 3.2 w/ gtx280 @ 670/1442 core/shader = 12536
qx6700 @ 3.4 w/ gtx280 @ 670/1442 core/shader = 13639

so i guess i'm ok with this last number given my cpu generation. i think the newer penryn's have much larger cache and probably can get to 4GHz where i hit a brick wall at 3.4. nothing i can do will get it above this - i tried newer bios, all the tricks i have learned online, nothing works for me. even so, 2.67 -> 3.4 isn't bad.

i found that my cpu was running extremely hot so i unseated the zalman cooler and noticed it was clogged with dust and the thermal paste was severely deteriorated. so i reapplied the past and everthing is much cooler now (by 20C). good thing i noticed this.

https://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm221/CaptainSpaulding71/gtx280_3dmark06_overclock.jpg

2008-06-29 21:41:52

#9

Poseidon: Fudgepack DeQueef; +3,253|6807|Long Island, New York

That's crazy man! Nice job.

inb4amoralfagsayingyoushouldtakeitback

2008-06-29 21:54:04

#10

The#1Spot: Member; +105|6809|byah

I was about to say what were you thinking. You could resale that for 700-800 on ebay.

2008-06-29 23:24:47

#11

ELITE-UK: Scratching my back; +170|6743|SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND

LOL i get flamed to fuck when i get my GTX 260 which i get higher scores than his GTX 280, but he doesnt....HMmmmmmm

2008-06-30 05:12:55

#12

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6467|Winland

Something is seriously wrong here.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2008-06-30 05:26:52

#13

Jenspm: penis; +1,716|7002|St. Andrews / Oslo

Freezer7Pro wrote:
Something is seriously wrong here.

indeed

https://static.bf2s.com/files/user/26774/flickricon.png

2008-06-30 05:29:18

#14

Slayer: ---hates you; +1,137|7026|Hell, p.o box 666

first off, good buy Same happend to me with a free 9800GTX, a free Raptor 140GB(?) and a free Samsung 226BW at some german shops

13k in 3dmark06 with this setup and already overclocked? Somethings really wrong here.

I benched the following systems on saturday:

Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, Sparkle 9800GTX, no ocing ----> 12516
Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, XFX 260GTX, no ocing ----> 13957
Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, XFX 260GTX, no ocing ----> 15149
Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, 2 x XFX 260GTX, no ocing ----> 17003
Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, XFX 280GTX, no ocing ----> 15916
Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, Saphire HD4850, no ocing ----> 12636
Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, Saphire HD4870, no ocing ----> 14291

and the same settings but 4GB to 8GB...

edit: why the fuck wont the links work

2008-06-30 07:35:24

#15

Jenspm: penis; +1,716|7002|St. Andrews / Oslo

maybe you did get the 260, lol.

2008-06-30 07:45:19

#16

CaptainSpaulding71: Member; +119|6626|CA, USA

Slayer wrote:
first off, good buy Same happend to me with a free 9800GTX, a free Raptor 140GB(?) and a free Samsung 226BW at some german shops

13k in 3dmark06 with this setup and already overclocked? Somethings really wrong here.

I benched the following systems on saturday:

Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, Sparkle 9800GTX, no ocing ----> 12516
Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, XFX 260GTX, no ocing ----> 13957
Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, XFX 260GTX, no ocing ----> 15149
Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, 2 x XFX 260GTX, no ocing ----> 17003
Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, XFX 280GTX, no ocing ----> 15916
Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, Saphire HD4850, no ocing ----> 12636
Intel C2D E8500, 2GB Corsair TwinMX DDR 800Mhz Cl4, Asus P5ND-SLI, Saphire HD4870, no ocing ----> 14291

and the same settings but 4GB to 8GB...

edit: why the fuck wont the links work

thanks for the great post. at least now i have some sort of comparison points - i had trouble finding 3dmark06 scores on the net for the gtx280 card.

is my processor limiting me here? the e8500 is 1333 FSB whereas i can only get 1133 max out of my cpu with overclocking - default is 1066. i'm wondering if i can't feed the CPU enough due to a bandwidth limit on cpu side - not on the card side. my reasoning here is that i noticed when i increased my CPU speed, the numbers jumped by large amounts. when i reached a maximum there and then switched to overclocking the vid card, the numbers didn't jump that much - indicating to me something was limiting me (ie, cpu). my previous generation cards did not have this behavior - rather i was able to overclock the cpu and noticed only modest gains whereas when i overclocked the cards, i got huge gains over stock speeds - which makes sense since i wasn't feeding the cpu as much data as with the new card.

Last edited by CaptainSpaulding71 (2008-06-30 07:51:02)

2008-06-30 09:30:55

#17

Bell: Frosties > Cornflakes; +362|6819|UK

ELITE-UK wrote:
LOL i get flamed to fuck when i get my GTX 260 which i get higher scores than his GTX 280, but he doesnt....HMmmmmmm

Didnt the GTX 260 just drop by like £50?

2008-06-30 09:37:27

#18

kylef: Gone; +1,352|6763|N. Ireland

I can see why you did it, but I would have said "that's the wrong price". Call me crazy, but being morally right is better imo.......

2008-06-30 12:54:46

#19

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6467|Winland

kylef wrote:
I can see why you did it, but I would have said "that's the wrong price". Call me crazy, but being morally right is better imo.......

Nah, you're just gay.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2008-06-30 14:30:20

#20

Poseidon: Fudgepack DeQueef; +3,253|6807|Long Island, New York

Poseidon wrote:
inb4amoralfagsayingyoushouldtakeitback

kylef wrote:
I can see why you did it, but I would have said "that's the wrong price". Call me crazy, but being morally right is better imo.......

Called it.

Spoiler (highlight to read):
Sorry Kyle, I still love you.

2008-06-30 16:46:46

#21

Scorpion0x17: can detect anyone's visible post count...; +691|7035|Cambridge (UK)

Freezer7Pro wrote:
Something is seriously wrong here.

His CPU is bottlenecking the GPU.

2008-06-30 16:55:13

#22

Sydney: 2λчиэλ; +783|7113|Reykjavík, Iceland.

Something is really wrong, I get 13k with my E6600 and 8800GTX...

2008-06-30 16:57:04

#23

Gooners: Wiki Contributor; +2,700|6902

Sydney wrote:
Something is really wrong, I get 13k with my E6600 and 8800GTX...

You've OCed ur CPU?

2008-06-30 16:57:32

#24

Sydney: 2λчиэλ; +783|7113|Reykjavík, Iceland.

Gooners wrote:
Sydney wrote:
Something is really wrong, I get 13k with my E6600 and 8800GTX...
You've OCed ur CPU?

So has he, and his is a Quad, and 3dmark loves quads.

2008-06-30 16:58:34

#25

CaptainSpaulding71: Member; +119|6626|CA, USA

what version of drivers are you guys using?

do you recommend i somehow clean out my existing drivers before reinstalling the new ones rather than relying on the install tool for the drivers to do that? does that make a difference.

i'll nuke my bios tonight and reset it to defaults. will post update later

thanks to all for your inputs. appreciate your time.

BF2S Forums my GTX 280 story

CaptainSpaulding71 wrote:

Freezer7Pro wrote:

Slayer wrote:

ELITE-UK wrote:

kylef wrote:

Poseidon wrote:

kylef wrote:

Freezer7Pro wrote:

Sydney wrote:

Gooners wrote:

Sydney wrote:

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