GeForce 9600 GT/GTS 250/GTX 260 Non-Reference Roundup

[amorrd]

Great article nice to see a comparison of this type of non-standard stuff

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]bal32[/nom]How could the FPS in Left 4 Dead be so low?[/citation]

I make my timedemos to reflect the worst-case-scenaro. As such, I get barfed on by a boomer and then immediately shoot a car alarm so the game spams as many zombies as possible while rendering the weird blurry shader effect.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]demonhorde665[/nom]why does this site still quite stupidly run thier test at resolutions that a budget gamer WOULD NOT be rungin at ... ... the lowest frame rate i see is 31 ..a budget gamer can't afford a 24 -30 inch monitor [/citation]

1680x1050 is a 19" monitor, dude. Those are about $100 now. That's *exactly* what the budget gamer will be buying.

As for the higher resolutions, 1920x1200 is fair game for all 3 cards.

2560 x 1600 was included for curiosity's sake, as a reference. Even the 9600 GTs managed to pull some playable numbers there, too.

People tend to upgrade their monitors in the future, bro. I'd rather demonstrate a worst case scenario than a best case scenario.

 

[terr281]

I have to agree with Cleeve on the resolution issue. Almost any new monitor bought today will...at least...be running 1440x900. (This even includes new 16" laptop screens.)

Any new "gaming" computer that can't run a resolution past 1280x### shouldn't be bought today.

 

[swat565]

Where did you get the Asus Matrix 260gtx, Iv looked everywhere and cannot find it

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]swat565[/nom]Where did you get the Asus Matrix 260gtx, Iv looked everywhere and cannot find it[/citation]

I really didn't make this as clear as i should have in the review; i don't think these cards are available yet, they should be coming out soon.

I'll ask ASUS and MSI for a concrete date and get back to you guys.

 

[nerrawg]

[citation][nom]Cleeve[/nom]Your comparison is a little flawed in that doesn't take performance into account.Yes, the 4670 is cheaper than the 9600 GT, but the 9600 GT performs notably better.The new 4770 is a game changer though, it does sort of throw both the 4830 and 9800 GT into obsolescence.[/citation]

Thanks for the reply, true that I didn't put performance into the comparison - I just wanted to see what the prices looked like when they were all together. I thought it was a bit funny though that the 9800GT was selling for such a high price (on reputation maybe?), although looks like it has come down a bit now. Still looks like it is overpriced compared to the 4770, and yet, still seeing people in the forums initially placing it in their builds. Thought therefore that one should suggest to them to get the ATI 4770 - or if they have to go NVidia - then go with either the 9600GT or GTS 250, because they are more appropriately priced. Does that sound like solid advice - or is there actually a good reason to consider getting a 9800GT for $100+?

 

[cleeve]

Nah, with the 4770 available there's no good reason to look to the 4830 or 9800 GT... unless prices change appropriately.

 

[chyll2]

It would be helpful if they would include reference models in the benchmark.
So we really get to know what extra are we paying for and if it is worth it. Im pretty sure that those GTX 260 can easily reach the price bracket of a vanilla GTX 275. (Right now, the Pre-order price of the MSI lightning is more expensive than some reference GTX 275 here)

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]chyll2[/nom]It would be helpful if they would include reference models in the benchmark.[/citation]

The only tier which didn't have a reference-clocked competitor was the GTX 260's, and frankly the ASUS Matrix was running so close to reference speeds it wouldn't make much difference.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]demonhorde665[/nom]really wow, why don';t you come tell that to my 19" Sceptre lcd monitor then .. cos idont think it knows that (it's resolution maxes at 1280x1024) [/citation]

Well DH, I'd talk to your monitor but I don't know it's phone number.

Maybe you can have a talk to it for me. Let it know this little tip: the performance at 1280x1024 will be better than it is at 1680x1050.

Now you and your monitor can have a look at those 1650x1050 stats and be confident in the knowledge your rig would perform at least that well.

 

[Guest]

Does anyone know if the NVIDIA GeForce 9000 will run Left 4 Dead?

 

[cletus_slackjawd]

Browsing at the local Best Buy today and saw an unadvertised special on the GTS 250 1gb DDR3 for US$99
But honestly, not sure if I need to upgrade my SLI'd 9600GT's just yet. Looks like it's a rather small bump up and not worth the 200.00 plus tax on my 22" LCD running 1680x1050.