*GTX 260/280 Unofficial TPU! Thread*

[Tatty_Two]

Nice thread, this will be very handy, am just about to order a very cheap (for UK) MSI GTX280 OC that stocks at 700mhz on the core, this thread will come in very handy

 

[Cold Storm]

Sweet! Can't wait for ya to get it.
I thought you where going to lay low for a while!?!

 

[Kursah]

Nice thread, this will be very handy, am just about to order a very cheap (for UK) MSI GTX280 OC that stocks at 700mhz on the core, this thread will come in very handy

Thanks man I appreciate it, I put a few hours of research into purchasing my GTX260, and applied that to a thread...I was hoping for a quicker viewer response, but I'm glad there are at least a few out there that are finding it helpful.

I have more to add too, but most of my stuff from here on out is GTX 260 stuff...so anything you guys want added about GTX 280's please feel free to post or provide for the OP...I'll be more then happy to add stuff.

I am still thinking of adding 3DM06/Vantage/PT Boats/DMC4/WiC/Crysis scores...but that's a lotta work, so I dunno yet. But I know I can use some help with it...new links, mods, OC's, cooling, drivers, you name it!

Thanks again for the support, keep us posted, and anyone else that has a GTX 2xx series start posting! This is the beginning of the new NV series, we might as well get a good thread about em'!

 

[Cold Storm]

Well, instead of adding that at the first post.. the scores and so forth... Add links of members and cards... I think that would work better off for ya man..
I'll do more on this over the weekend... Had a lot of work for this week, so no fun time for me... But, it is the weekend thank god!

 

[Tatty_Two]

Sweet! Can't wait for ya to get it.
I thought you where going to lay low for a while!?!

I was, for about 7 weeks but cant get on so much now...this new job is damn busy....early mornings and late nights

 

[Tatty_Two]

Thanks man I appreciate it, I put a few hours of research into purchasing my GTX260, and applied that to a thread...I was hoping for a quicker viewer response, but I'm glad there are at least a few out there that are finding it helpful.

I have more to add too, but most of my stuff from here on out is GTX 260 stuff...so anything you guys want added about GTX 280's please feel free to post or provide for the OP...I'll be more then happy to add stuff.

I am still thinking of adding 3DM06/Vantage/PT Boats/DMC4/WiC/Crysis scores...but that's a lotta work, so I dunno yet. But I know I can use some help with it...new links, mods, OC's, cooling, drivers, you name it!

Thanks again for the support, keep us posted, and anyone else that has a GTX 2xx series start posting! This is the beginning of the new NV series, we might as well get a good thread about em'!

No worries, I will do some playing when mine arrives, apparently these MSI OC babies can do 730-735mhz on the core??? I am assuming thats fairly swift lol

 

[Cold Storm]

Man, I feel ya.. not as young as some of us "New Age" people! ... But, I am all ways glad to see you around!
I can get mine to 730 core... But I am seeing that there is still a lot of files still in my system... Files that should of been removed... So, after this weekend, and going raid, I'll see what it can do on a fresh slate! Trt and Live have gotten theirs up there pretty high... Trt's is a reg one like mine, Live's is a oc version of EVGA

 

[Kursah]

No worries, I will do some playing when mine arrives, apparently these MSI OC babies can do 730-735mhz on the core??? I am assuming thats fairly swift lol

Yep that sounds about right...I can hit about 760 core when I unlink...I usually run no faster than 745, because EVGA precision shows my core speed dropping beyond 745 to around 300-310, GPU-Z won't show it...but if i play a game too long it'll cut to 2D clocks...300/400 GPU (iirc) and 100 DDR lol! It'll still play Combat Arms at 1440x900 8AA, max settings at about 25-35FPS though! That shocked the hell outta me!

Right now the max linked I can hit stable is 710/1530 and 1280 on the memory...that DDR3 is just insane! I can go a little faster, but it artifacts after about 20 minutes of heavy use. Doesn't go over 65C tho at 80% fan speed tho!

I've done 1300 on the memory w/o issues, and I was using ATI Tool's artifact scanner for OC-ing initially...well that left me at 690/1484 linked...anymore and ATI Tool would detect artifacts...no matter what. Well I've ran Vantage loop, 3DMark 06 loop and Crysis for hours at 710/1530 with absolutely 0 issues...even better I ran FurMark on Stability Test mode for 5 hours and had not an issue at all! 4870's are having issues running FurMark stock, and having VRM's hitting 126+ C!

So I feel safe running the 710/1530...it folds great, I average 6300-7000 est. PPD in FAHMon, so I'm content...it can only improve from there I hope. In games I still run stock because I just don't need the extra power...I may run OC'd when I continue my Crysis SP playthru, but I average around 35FPS stock 1440x900 very hi plus JRob's realism mod with 2X MSAA, so no complaints from me!

I can't wait to see what you get out of that 280! If I could've afforded one, I would have one right now...but the 260 has shown me that many were wrong about it...it's very fast, and with prices dropping further and further, there's no reason NOT to get one if the 280 is too far out of reach...plus I hope to step-up to a 260+/280+ after they're released if they're worth doing so and cost is minimal! Until then, I'm perfectly content, this is the most powerful card I've owned and the closest to the top-end card in a new generation I've ever been.

 

[Kursah]

Added a link to the OP for a Volt Mod thread over at Xtreme Systems forum..if you don't want to go to the OP, here ya go!

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=191850

Still researching the BIOS mods though, looking into my stock bios using NBitor 4.2 it seems my 3D Gaming voltage is 1.12v, and I have an option of 1.18v above it, 1.06 and 1.03v below it...trying that 1.18v could lead to some interesting results maybe? We shall see, probably not till end of this weekend or early next week...I need more research before I make that move.

 

[Cold Storm]

Nice, was going to look for one this weekend... Thinking of doing that... I can get my card to 710 with link as the highest... But, like you after that I have to unlink and go that way.

Well let me know on the volts threw bios... I really am thinking that this is at low volts and it is that that is holding even me back..

 

[Kursah]

Well from what I'm reading, at least in that thread I linked to users found that their 3D Game Mode core voltage on a GTX 280 was at 1.18v already...dunno if the option to go higher or not for you is there, but you could save your BIOS with GPU-z and try out the NBitor and see what you get...I just got done watching a movie...too tired to mess with anything, I may just try the BIOS tomorrow...maybe getting the same voltage a GTX280 does will give me some better OC's?

Not really finding much on GTX Bios mods yet tho...

 

[Cold Storm]

Well, I just want to say first best of all my man. and I never try anything computer if tired... I found doing so f's things up. RIP my 8800.. lol...
But, I really don't know yet on anything.. I need to do the looking and see about it.. And test it all out.. Got that, my Striker board, and raid to play around..

 

[PuMA]

Just installed my 260GTX
doeas the newest nvidia (177.something) drivers include PHYSX or do i need to do sumthing else to get it working???

nevermind I quess i had to DL nvidia PHYSX software...

 

[Cold Storm]

So far, the only drivers that have the PhysX all ready there is the 177.40 drivers... But, any who, liking the card huh PuMA?

 

[PuMA]

yes, I can now crank up all settings to full and play with a smile on my face

I tried some overclocking with 666 on core but noticed some artifacting so its back to stock for now untill i have more time to OC it more.

what kinda temps u guys are getting so far with the card??

 

[Cold Storm]

I get right now 43c on stock with a 63c load when playing for a long period of time...

 

[Tatty_Two]

Nice guys....funny thing is on prices, in the UK, the most expensive 260 versions are as pricey as the cheapest 280 versions......... good if you want a 280, bad if you like the OC editions of the 260.

 

[Kursah]

Yeah it's the same here tatty or close...the OC GTX 260's are close to GTX 280 prices...I usually don't go for the pre-OC'd cards unless it's a helluva deal...but vanilla 260's are quite a bit cheaper and closer to the price range I could afford at the time.

I'd see no reason on getting an OC 260 if it's the same price as a 280 and you can afford it though...from what I've seen they OC pretty well and are very powerful!

 

[PuMA]

should i OC shaders linked with core or not??

 

[Cold Storm]

Mine was just a step up at no cost.. I loved my 9800gx2, but I really wanted to try something else.. If I didn't like the GTX, then I'll sell it for another 9800gx2... But, so far, I really do like the card. Not as powerful in benches as the Gx2, but is on par with gaming. I get the same frame rate at stock on this card, as I did with my Gx2. Just need to work more on this so I can bench it a little bit more!

Puma, you can get a good nice oc with it linked, but you can get higher GPU clocks if you unlink it and say go about 20 more then what the double of your GPU is.. Like if it's 700 do 1420... that sort of deal man..

 

[Kursah]

You can unlink your shaders, there is a rule you have to follow or the GPU will throttle to 2D clocks...but if you use EVGA Precision, I don't believe it'll allow going above this point.

The GPU speed can be no faster tha 1/2 the speed of the shaders or 50%...linked runs about 46%. Currently I'm running linked at 710/1530 GPU/Shader, but I have a max unlink of 765 (50% of 1530) for the GPU, which does increase performance, but at that point stability becomes an issue so far. The memory on these cards is just insane...you should be able to hit 1250 on the gDDR3 with minimal issues from what I've seen, I've taken my memory as hi as 1300 and I have yet to have an issue!

One thing you should do is ramp of the fan to at least 70-80%, that was the best mix of noise and cooling effectiveness I could find. But since I have all sorts of box fans going, I crank my fan to 100% for best results...moves a lot of air, and is only spinning at 1500RPM at 100%, you hear more air than you do the actual fan or motor.

To answer your question, should you OC linked, what I did was find a brick wall I hit using ATI Tool's artifact scanner...at 670(iirc)/1487 I would get instant artifacts...I unlinked from there and moved both the core up to above 700 and the shaders up above 1500 and no longer had artifacts untill I found the end of the line which would cause a lockup or freeze. You can OC unlinked, that's how I figured out how to get as far as my GPU could go, but like I said, I later found max linked is now stable and at 710/1530 1280 the performance is more than I need, I still game on stock clocks for now...

 

[Tatty_Two]

Yeah it's the same here tatty or close...the OC GTX 260's are close to GTX 280 prices...I usually don't go for the pre-OC'd cards unless it's a helluva deal...but vanilla 260's are quite a bit cheaper and closer to the price range I could afford at the time.

I'd see no reason on getting an OC 260 if it's the same price as a 280 and you can afford it though...from what I've seen they OC pretty well and are very powerful!

Yup, I only ever go for an OC card if reviews/forums show that the manufacturer actually overvolts them (saves me doing it meself and those are rare now) or if they are MSI (purely cause my last 3 MSI cards have OC'd like demons).

 

[EnergyFX]

I'm in. Dual 280GTXs running SLI. I wanted a third but... one has to set limits, right?

 

[EnergyFX]

There is still a lot of tuning to be done. This was without even breaking a sweat. These GTX 280s are incredible!

 

[=THS= THEDDLE]

Hello.

Hello guys. I was just researching the 260 and stumbled across your thread. Great thread. I will bookmark it. I am currently getting ready to build my new CPU. I am going with 2 of the 260 FTW. Zipzoomfly has a heck of deal on them. $349.99 minus $30 MIR for $319.99 plus another $30 off coupon with them. So it is $289.99 plus ship. I paid Less then $650 for both shipped. I will also get the $60 rebates back when ever they come.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008835&prodlist=celebros

They also have the 280 GTX Evga for $419.99 plus ship after all is said and done.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008730

Just thought I would pass it on. Keep up the good work. I will be interested and seeing everyones scores and clocks. I would love to see someone do the FTW 260 in SLI for scores. This is my first build from scratch so I am learning as I go. I am done moding prebuilt cpu's. I have learned alot from my clan in the last few years.

=THS= THEDDLE