Good time to buy new cards?

Apocalypsee

Apocalypsee

New member
I'm looking for a boost to play some games. The latest game I play is Cryostasis, yes its a rather old games but it doesn't run that fast with all eye candy enabled (AA included). I use GTS250 with 9600GT as PPU but even at 1280x1024 it struggles at some areas especially with lots of lighting and melting snow. I really love this game, would buying 2nd GTS250 would boost the framerate even more? Even Crysis runs at paltry 20-25fps with everything on Very High at 1280x1024 with no AA at all :mad:

One thing I noticed, when using 9600GT as PPU my 3DMark Vantage score dropped about 300 marks but in Cryostasis the framerate actually going up. Weird :confused:
 
What's your budget? The answer will go far in determining whether adding a 2nd card for SLI or simply replace with a new faster single card (retiring the 9600GT and using the GTS250 for PPU if necessary) is the better option.
 
Since prices are vastly different from you guys, I could only say the card I could buy, for my budget the highest card I could buy is either GTX260+ or HD5770
 
I would say either buy a 5850 or wait with an upgrade. Going from 5770 to OCed 5850 (look for asus with their up to 1.3v warranty or any brand with unlocked OC) is like changing dimensions. GTX 465 would be ok also but only as long as you can unlock it to 470.
 
Apocalypsee said:
I'm looking for a boost to play some games. The latest game I play is Cryostasis, yes its a rather old games but it doesn't run that fast with all eye candy enabled (AA included). I use GTS250 with 9600GT as PPU but even at 1280x1024 it struggles at some areas especially with lots of lighting and melting snow. I really love this game, would buying 2nd GTS250 would boost the framerate even more?
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Cryostasis is a poorly coded game and it will require an nV card to run it with full physics on high. If that's your favorite game do not get an ATI card and see if you find benchies of the game with a 400 series card.

Our moderator loves Cryostasis and has benched it with his former tri SLI setup. See if you find those benchies.

Here you go!

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33946557&highlight=Cryostasis
 
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I doubt anything you can afford is going to make a difference with Cryostasis. I still lurk on the publisher's forums and I know guys running 2X480's @ 1080P and still complain about the performance taking large dips when entering areas with large phyx components.

You're best bet is to probably get a GTX 265 and keep your 9600GT as a ppu.

I have a HD4890 and a 8800GT2 as a physX card and its not enjoyable at 1680 for me. Fiddling around with settings still seems to do very little when the frozen fecal matter hits the rotating appliance.
 
DiaperJe|\|i3 said:
I doubt anything you can afford is going to make a difference with Cryostasis. I still lurk on the publisher's forums and I know guys running 2X480's @ 1080P and still complain about the performance taking large dips when entering areas with large phyx components.
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QFT!
 
It's always a good time to buy new video cards. It's always a bad time to buy new video cards.
 
Oh, it looks like its even worse to tame than Crysis! Looks like its not worth to upgrade for this game.

Looking forward for Crysis 2 but until the game released I hold my upgrade
 
There are always good deals in the for sale thread. In fact, a GTX 285 for $200 comes to mind.
 
Apocalypsee said:
Oh, it looks like its even worse to tame than Crysis! Looks like its not worth to upgrade for this game.

Looking forward for Crysis 2 but until the game released I hold my upgrade
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CRysis 2 is a console money grab , it wont be pushing graphics tech like crysis 1 did..
 
Cryostasis not worth upgrading for. It's not an awful game by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not well optimized and even the most powerful machine on Earth won't make the desultory Bioshock-inspired gameplay shine.

I got a copy of the game for free with my GTX 470 and I can't motivate myself to play it with Heavy Rain, God of War III, and finishing up Sacred 2 in my immediate pipeline, with Persona 3 Portable and Valkyria Chronicles 2 looking to dominate my summer. And then I have to figure out how I'm going to continue to have a full-time job, sleep regularly, eat and wash myself daily, all while playing Final Fantasy XIV when that game launches.
 
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Apocalypsee said:
GTS250 in SLi is slightly faster than single GTX285. link
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I believe this statement needs qualification as it is not entirely accurate. First and foremost, this is only true up until you run out of VRAM, which if you're running 512MB GTS 250s will happen a heck of a lot sooner than with a GTX 285 (1GB or 2GB). Secondly, you need an SLI-capable motherboard which for AMD systems means a severely out-dated chipset and for Intel systems means either a high-end i7 system or a crap-tastic NV 6/7 series board for socket 775. Finally, when running multiple GPUs in AFR mode you need twice the framerate of a single GPU to have the same input latency.

Given these facts I'd take a GTX 285 over 2x GTS 250s every time.
 
ShaidarHaran said:
I believe this statement needs qualification as it is not entirely accurate. First and foremost, this is only true up until you run out of VRAM, which if you're running 512MB GTS 250s will happen a heck of a lot sooner than with a GTX 285 (1GB or 2GB). Secondly, you need an SLI-capable motherboard which for AMD systems means a severely out-dated chipset and for Intel systems means either a high-end i7 system or a crap-tastic NV 6/7 series board for socket 775. Finally, when running multiple GPUs in AFR mode you need twice the framerate of a single GPU to have the same input latency.

Given these facts I'd take a GTX 285 over 2x GTS 250s every time.
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I was talking about my system, which I do have ASUS Crosshair II Formula, uses nForce 780a chipset, not only supporting SLi but Tri-SLi as well. And I using 1GB GTS250 in the first place, I only play at 1280x1024 so VRAM is a non issue.

I won't buy any current card (first gen DirectX 11 cards) because its highly inefficient. A refresh with die shrink would be better if its follow the tradition
 
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