no love for the 9600gt...from anyone...

Does anyone else kinda feel like these cards are almost pointless? I mean, the only really demanding game tested here is Crysis. I beat that almost two years ago with a "measly" 8800GTX and don't really plan to return to it. Its "sequel" is actually a bit toned down on the detail in a few ways and runs better as a result of that and some performance improvements.

Is there even anything in the pipe that makes such powerful cards worthwhile these days? Hell, my 8800GTX tears through the other games used here. Fallout 3 runs better than Oblivion, probably due to much better data stream loading and because the world is so barren. Dead Space is actually quite playable on a 7800 GTX! :) CoD4 isn't exactly mind blowing visually and L4D is almost 5 year old technology basically.

I'm starting to think we're not going to see a big change in anything until we're into a new console generation, honestly. Probably best to hold off until then.

Great review of course though. I like how well NVIDIA is keeping idle power in check. I almost want to replace the 8800GTX with a 285 just for the 50W drop in idle power I'd probably see.

YO DAWG i heard you like gaming so we put video card on your video card so you can game, while you game

#112

I try to buy a resolution "up" from what my monitor really is...I game at 1600...so I look at the 1900 resolution just for some headroom. I figure that mitigates the differences between Damage's Core i7 and my C2Q.

What affects gaming:

HDD style, size, cache, RPM
Memory...stock timings versus performance settings
Bus speed (HT speed?)
CPU generation...even at high resolutions
Non virgin copy of Windows with all patches in place...how much junk do you have running in the background that you don't bother to turn off?

In short, you think you are getting measures of ABSOLUTE performance, but the best you can get, even at other sites, is RELATIVE performance.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

why in the heck would you run Warhead at just gamer and not enthusiast settings for this test? these are high end cards so that seems a little silly because the gtx295 can easily handle that. heck I play Warhead on DX9 enthusiast settings at 1920x1080 with an overclocked gtx260 just fine for the most part.

Nice review Scott!

There's a typo in the Call of Duty page (http://techreport.com/articles.x/16229/9) and also the navigation combo box with the article's pages. It's referenced as Call of Duty 4: World at War, when it should be Call of Duty 5.

I really wished Grid had been one of the games used to test. From the GTX 260 vs HD 4870 1gb this game was one that really taxed the cards and showed how much a difference gpu memory could make.

100th!!! Thank you . Thank you.

You know when your card is knocked off the list of TR benchmarked cards, that it is time to think about upgrading...

Ugh... Starting to worry about the decision to get a 512 MB 4870 instead of a 1 GB, it seems like games finally do need more than 512 MB, at least I still game at 1680x1050 though, I guess I'll squeeze by for a little longer.

Oh well, I guess when I get my new monitor it will serve as a great excuse to upgrade.

Now the long wait until the next big release...

Scott, would it be possible to remeasure the 4870x2 idle power consumption?
it doesn't look quite right. specifically in comparing:
http://www.techreport.com/r.x/geforce-gtx-285/power-idle.gif
http://www.techreport.com/r.x/gtx260-vs-4870-1gb/power-idle.gif

with comparative cards the numbers vary by 20-30W
this can be attributed to the different testing platforms
the 4870x2 out by 50W. well outside the changes of other cards

My video card isn't included in the benchmarks anymore, so it must be time for an upgrade.

285 and 295 = meh, unless you need to feed a 30" monster.

Nvidia got the trophy back from AMD's hands. It is just that 260 Reloaded and 4870 are too much of a good deal too pass up. 4850/9800GTX+, 4670/9500GT are still good deals if $$$$ is tight.

Back OT: Damage: What ever became of that ElderAlert 4850 X2? Did Sapphire replace it?

It's pretty easy to "unbrick" a vid card. Drop in a PCI video card or another PCIe card (needs to initialize first) and boot a DOS USB stick or floppy. Re-Flash with another BIOS or your hopefully-backed-up original BIOS with ATIFlash. Read the ATIFlash docs though so you don't accidentally flash the wrong card and make a bigger mess.

I suppose this is rather technical in reality. It's not a big deal for a "veteran" BIOS flasher though...

It sounds like the geniuses at Sapphire sent the wrong BIOS. Also nice of them to release a card to retail with such horrible fan speeds in the first place.

That means it still has 240 gizzywhatchits and 512 hoozydoers or whatever, just like the old version. I dunno, man, go read my GeForce GTX 280 review if you want info on the GPU chiclets and stuff.

i, for one, hope TR maintains this high level of technical detail in all their hardware descriptions.

what's the ambient sound level for the Damage Labs?

I have dual Asus 3850's running in crossfire on an Asus P5Q-Pro motherboard. They have the same coolers as the ones here, but I have never had a single overheat problem, even though I overclocked them from 668/800 mhz to 758/1103 mhz (gpu/memory). The board does place an extra space between the two cards, although, I do have a sound card right next to the second 3850, which should restrict air flow. Interestingly enough, this card never overheats and is usually within 1C of the first 3850.

Interesting huh???

First!

I love all the crazy custom video cards - triple wide?

seems like the Asus cards are the way to go for those of us who never plan on having dual card configs.

It's hard to believe that only a year ago the 8800GT was the talk of the town. The video card world sure has changed a lot.

$379 is definitely expensive for a video card, but I'd say it's a step in the right direction when 2 years ago a card in the same tier cost $599 - $649 at launch.

I think the 55nm GT200b is just practice for using 55nm in GT212 which is due out in Q2 which means it could be as soon as 3 months. The power savings are moderate, of course it was rather good to start, and they basically used it up with higher clock speeds. Unless one hasn't gotten a new card for ages or can snag a really hot deal I'd wait until GT212 at this point. I'd be interested to see an equal clock power draw comparison between a 65 and 55nm GTX280 though.

who cares? really? just another over priced innefficient pos.........

Last sentence of first paragraph:

The primary subjects of our attention today are the GeForce GTX 285 and 295, two cards that are both based on the new 55nm version of Nvidia's GT200 graphics processor, the 1.4 trillion-transistor monster behind the GeForce GTX lineup.

The 55nm shrink must've gone better than expected :p

First I would like to say great review. Another good one. Don't get mad at me for this, but Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World at War are two different games. I'm pointing it out because some may become confused while reading. I know it shows a picture of World at War and that should be enough, just wanted to point it out.

Thanks for this review.
Now I can skip 9800GTX+ without regret
and go to GTX 260 (reloaded) instead.

*cues fight over using overclocked video cards*

Can the comments go...over 9000?>!

Glad to see the 4850 X2 get some love.....nice going TR.They clearly rule the field at that price point.
The new NVidia cards look pretty good,especially the power and temps...grr wish ATI would just copy their damn coolers and be done with it.
Still every price bracket now it seems has a very good card from either maker...good times indeed.

The Dead Space results seem fishy to me. And I don't mean you guys messed with them--either AMD's driver...uhh, whatever it is, for Dead Space is downright terrible, or EA/Redwood sabotaged it. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but those kind of results just seem unreasonable. Illogical.