GTX295 @1680x1050 + future

[Kkkk1]

Hi all.

I buying a complete new system in the next moth or so and am planning on buying an i7 OC and GTX295. However I only game @ 1680x1050. Lots of people say this spec is over kill for my resolution. However that maybe so for now but what about in 2 years time when specs have gone through the roof and the minimum spec will probably be something like a 4830 or something, surely my 295 will keep playng games at my res for the forseeable.

(I have a wod of cash to spend NOW, not buy something like a 4870 now and upgrade when DX11 comes out. You know what the women are like......... you know what I mean, get my drift)?

I can't wait for DX 11 as i'm still using a P4 for god sake!! I've had enough and need something that will kick ass.

Anyone care to comment to help me out?

 

[z999]

an 295 is a serious overkill, you will have the same problem 8800 ultra/7950GX2 buyers have nowadays - they bought the best card in the market back then and spent all that money on technology that's gone old so now even though they lack some features (especially the 7950 w/o DX10) they are stuck because they don't want to pay to replace a card that cost them so much.
get urself a decent card like a 4870/90 or if you feel like it a 275 (just wait for the prices to cool down a bit) and then when DX11 is mature enough buy a card from that generation.

 

[baddad]

It will be a big jump in graphics power and will last a long time and if you get an SLI board like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131352 you'll be set for many years.

 

[baddad]

an 295 is a serious overkill, you will have the same problem 8800 ultra/7950GX2 buyers have nowadays - they bought the best card in the market back then and spent all that money on technology that's gone old so now even though they lack some features (especially the 7950 w/o DX10) they are stuck because they don't want to pay to replace a card that cost them so much.
get urself a decent card like a 4870/90 or if you feel like it a 275 (just wait for the prices to cool down a bit) and then when DX11 is mature enough buy a card from that generation.

I totally disagree.

 

[Zenthar]

Many X58 boards support both SLI and XFire I think (Gigabytes boards do at least) so you can get a decent card now and add one later if you really need it. The new 4890 and GTX275 both give good performance for ~250$.

 

[michaelmk86]

The GTX295 is NOT overkill for this resolution if you play games like crysis, STALKER Clear Sky, Cryostasis, farcry2, empire total war. But it is overkill for games like cod, left 4 dead.

Some benchmarks with GTX295 & i7:

Crisis benchmark 1920x1200 veryhigh DX10 = 40fps
Crisis benchmark 1680x1050 veryhigh DX10 = 48fps

STALKER Clear Sky benchmark 1920x1200 max Setting DX10 = 25fps
STALKER Clear Sky benchmark 1680x1050 max Setting DX10 = 30fps
.....

 

[swifty_morgan]

Dude if you have the money you get the biggest, baddest card you can cram in your case......... overkill.... BS !

 

[megamanx00]

Yeah it seems like overkill for many games now, but since you want to keep it for a few years it's a good choice. It will be a while before Direct X 11 games come out, but I think that even DX10 cards will benefit from DX11 due to the threading of frames and game logic. I say you buy this now. Since your CPU will hold it back you can spend your next wad of cash on a CPU/Motherboard upgrade and not have to worry that your Video card is weak. If you end up with an SLI board by the time you upgrade then you may get lucky and be able to pick up another GTX295 on the cheap from ebay. Even if you don't the 295 should be fine until you upgrade again.

Personally though for $500 I'd look into doing an affordable platform upgrade. Even at stock speed my Athlon 5000+ CPU seemed miles ahead of my overclocked Athlon 3000 or the P4 3.06.

 

[rangers]

you would be better of going with the 4890 it would still be overkill but will only get better when DX11 comes out

 

[scooterlibby]

It is definitely overkill.

 

[warezme]

an 295 is a serious overkill, you will have the same problem 8800 ultra/7950GX2 buyers have nowadays - they bought the best card in the market back then and spent all that money on technology that's gone old so now even though they lack some features (especially the 7950 w/o DX10) they are stuck because they don't want to pay to replace a card that cost them so much.
get urself a decent card like a 4870/90 or if you feel like it a 275 (just wait for the prices to cool down a bit) and then when DX11 is mature enough buy a card from that generation.

Totally wrong! I bought two 8800GTX's over two years ago and If I had them they would still be kicking butt to most mainstream GPU's. The old 8800GTX and Ultras are still around in the form of the 9800's and GTX250's, same chip just shrunk and slightly tuned. Anyone with a couple of 8800's can still hold their head up high with those old cards.

With your advise those folks would have had to buy new cards 2 or 3 times already just to keep up. It all comes out about the same.

BTW I have two 295+'s now and not looking back.

 

[jennyh]

The GTX295 is NOT overkill for this resolution if you play games like crysis, STALKER Clear Sky, Cryostasis, farcry2, empire total war. But it is overkill for games like cod, left 4 dead.

Some benchmarks with GTX295 & i7:

Crisis benchmark 1920x1200 veryhigh DX10 = 40fps
Crisis benchmark 1680x1050 veryhigh DX10 = 48fps

STALKER Clear Sky benchmark 1920x1200 max Setting DX10 = 25fps
STALKER Clear Sky benchmark 1680x1050 max Setting DX10 = 30fps
.....

The problem with those are, they are all still pretty much playing like a dog.

 

[Kkkk1]

Thanks for those responses. I think you have already told me what I already knew.

Anyway I'm going 295, but how can an OC i7 hold back a 295???? mmm, a bit of BS there don't you think?

 

[nickhoff]

I bought the GTX 295, but most MMORPG's (my games of choice) don't support multiple gpu's, and most MMORPG's don't utilize dual SLI. If I could do it again, i'd down grade and same some cash for when the games can utilize the full potential of the card.

I'm happy with it, but I have to disable multiple GPU for any MMORPG (WoW, EQ2, Darkfall) So really im not even utilizing half the card.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

^ Mainly cuz most MMORPGs have graphics that would get more than enough with even at the low end of the medium tiered GPUs. (ie. You can get great fps with relatively crappy GPUs such as the 9400GT, 8600GT, 8400GT, etc)

 

[mindless728]

i say if you are willing to get it, go for it, that card will last a while in the long run

 

[Outlander_04]

an 295 is a serious overkill, you will have the same problem 8800 ultra/7950GX2 buyers have nowadays - they bought the best card in the market back then and spent all that money on technology that's gone old so now even though they lack some features (especially the 7950 w/o DX10) they are stuck because they don't want to pay to replace a card that cost them so much.
get urself a decent card like a 4870/90 or if you feel like it a 275 (just wait for the prices to cool down a bit) and then when DX11 is mature enough buy a card from that generation.

I agree .
A card that powerful for a 22 inch LCD is a waste of power

Heres what Tomshardware says in the latest best graphics cards for the money article

"With exponentially increasing prices over $340 offering smaller and smaller performance boosts, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than two Radeon HD 4870 512 MB cards in CrossFire. While the Radeon HD 4870 X2 and the GeForce GTX 295 perform impressively in multiple-card configurations, there’s just not enough of a gain compared to two Radeon HD 4870 512 MB cards, unless you play at resolutions beyond 1920x1200."

 

[werxen]

lol... wow some of the answers here blow my friggin mind.

that card is NOT overkill if you play games on that resolution with serious graphics enhancements such as AA and AS filtering.

take this into consideration: would you rather want to run crysis on my video card or the one hes planning on buying with that same resolution? exactly.

 

[Outlander_04]

lol... wow some of the answers here blow my friggin mind.

that card is NOT overkill if you play games on that resolution with serious graphics enhancements such as AA and AS filtering.

take this into consideration: would you rather want to run crysis on my video card or the one hes planning on buying with that same resolution? exactly.

LOL ... wow some of you have very easy minds to blow

 

[jennyh]

Truth be told, I'd save money and buy a 285gtx for 1680x1050 instead of a 295gtx. Or I'd save a lot more money and be happy with a 4870 512/1gb or maybe a 260 216.

Both the 4870x2 and gtx295 are for 1900x1200 minimum. At 19x12 I'd take the 4850x2 on pure cost, and at the highest resolution you can take either one of the other two dual gpu's.

 

[Homeboy2]

Hi all.

I buying a complete new system in the next moth or so and am planning on buying an i7 OC and GTX295. However I only game @ 1680x1050. Lots of people say this spec is over kill for my resolution. However that maybe so for now but what about in 2 years time when specs have gone through the roof and the minimum spec will probably be something like a 4830 or something, surely my 295 will keep playng games at my res for the forseeable.

(I have a wod of cash to spend NOW, not buy something like a 4870 now and upgrade when DX11 comes out. You know what the women are like......... you know what I mean, get my drift)?

I can't wait for DX 11 as i'm still using a P4 for god sake!! I've had enough and need something that will kick ass.

Anyone care to comment to help me out?

Duh, take that "wod" of cash and buy a decent 1920 x 1200 monitor or better yet a 30" incher. Never could understand why people will spend fortunes on video cards and upgrades and use a crappy 19 or 22 inch monitor.

 

[jennyh]

Duh, take that "wod" of cash and buy a decent 1920 x 1200 monitor or better yet a 30" incher. Never could understand why people will spend fortunes on video cards and upgrades and use a crappy 19 or 22 inch monitor.

Well i agree, sort of. 19" is just no good these days, however 22" is just fine for the vast majority.

People who buy the top graphics card and save money by using the same old monitor really do need to reprioritise however. I think that is the main reason why others are saying a 295gtx at 1680x1050 is overkill.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

^ 19'' is no good!?!?! HEY man, I got a 17' running Crysis on ultra-high (gfx mod) at 1280x1024, and I have no complaints since I'm getting like 30-40 fps average.

 

[jennyh]

^ 19'' is no good!?!?! HEY man, I got a 17' running Crysis on ultra-high (gfx mod) at 1280x1024, and I have no complaints since I'm getting like 30-40 fps average.

I was playing 19" for the past 4-5 years and it was fine. I was happy enough with it until my best friend bought a 22".

After seeing that, I bought two 22" monitors for both my pc's and truly, it's the best hardware decision I ever made. It's not just the resolution btw - if you have been using an older 19" for a few years then the actual quality of the 22" is incredible. Faster ms, more vibrant colours and brighter screens are even more important than viewing area.

If I hadn't seen my friends I'd still be happy with the 19" ofc. 😀

 

[cokenbeer]

I'd consider something in SLI or crossfire instead... the dual cards tend to lack support after a certain period of time (thinking GX2) and with crossfire 4890's or SLI 275's you can't really go wrong.