DH Reviews: NVIDIA GTX 260 & Zotac GTX 280 AMP!

***craig5320*** · Jun 16, 2008, 07:55 AM

Read The Review Here
___________________

We have two of the hot new Nvidia products in our test labs today ... The first is Zotac's 280 GTX AMP! Edition, a factory overclocked sample of the high end model and the other is a reference design 260 GTX. We will be testing with a selection of the latest games at resolutions up to 2560x1600 as well as delving into some Blu-Ray playback and card overclocking in order to establish how much of an improvement they are, if any, over the last generation of Nvidia hardware.

DivotMaker · Jun 16, 2008, 08:23 AM

Awesome review!

One item I would like to point out that needs correcting from the Tiger Woods 08 benchmark:

Quote:

It will not be long until we see the release of Tiger Woods 09 and it will be interesting to find out if a more advanced golf engine allows the new Geforce cards to increase their advantage over the G92 based model.

Unfortunately, EA will not be releasing TW 09 on the PC. They are re-thinking their entire EA Sports PC strategy and only releasing FIFA and NHL 09 this year.

If you are interested in a PC Golf title to use in future reviews, I can suggest one that does an admirable job. Please send me a PM if you are interested.

Again, thanks for the awesome review...very well done in typical DH fashion!

slickric21 · Jun 16, 2008, 08:47 AM

Great review as always,

One major flaw with it imho and its that the 9800GX2 wasn't included in the main performance graphs, instead being in a seperate graph vs sli gtx280's.

People, myself included who want to compare a 9800GX2 with a GTX280 will have to look elsewhere to directly compare the 2.

***Veridian3*** · Jun 16, 2008, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slickric21

Great review as always,

One major flaw with it imho and its that the 9800GX2 wasn't included in the main performance graphs, instead being in a seperate graph vs sli gtx280's.

People, myself included who want to compare a 9800GX2 with a GTX280 will have to look elsewhere to directly compare the 2.

The settings used for GX2 are generally the same as the higher resolution GTX 260/280 graphs. You should be able to easily compare the two cards using the two graphs.

***Veridian3*** · Jun 16, 2008, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DivotMaker

Unfortunately, EA will not be releasing TW 09 on the PC. They are re-thinking their entire EA Sports PC strategy and only releasing FIFA and NHL 09 this year.

Do you have a link a press release or anything like that, i dont doubt what you are saying i would just like to learn a little more about the situation.

Also, pleas PM me the golf game info.

DivotMaker · Jun 16, 2008, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veridian3

Do you have a link a press release or anything like that, i dont doubt what you are saying i would just like to learn a little more about the situation.

Also, pleas PM me the golf game info.

From Peter Moore's (EA Sports President) blog on PC titles:

Sports on the PC - Peter Moore Blog

Quote:

Let me clearly state our plans: This year, we plan to ship FIFA and NHL on the PC. FIFA Manager will also be available in some territories.

This year, we don’t plan to ship Madden, NCAA Football, NASCAR, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR, or NBA LIVE for the PC platform.

Erroneus · Jun 16, 2008, 09:35 AM

The 260 looks pretty impressive actually, considering the fine performance and good price. 280 is imo to expensive, but that was expected, as it's the top card.

Great review.

blown503 · Jun 16, 2008, 09:59 AM

Can you even purchase this card yet?

LukeK · Jun 16, 2008, 10:05 AM

260 seems great value for the performance. 280 is the same price as the 8800 ultra with about twice the performance.

Nvidia are kicking some serious ass atm

***craig5320*** · Jun 16, 2008, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blown503

Can you even purchase this card yet?

The card's have been made available here in the UK this afternoon. Not sure about the US. cclonline.com and novatech.co.uk have them here.

EDIT: They're now reporting stock in 3-4 days

***Veridian3*** · Jun 16, 2008, 11:03 AM

Thanks for the info DivotMaker.

And regarding stock, as craig pointed out there are a few places selling today but stock is running out fast.

DivotMaker · Jun 16, 2008, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veridian3

Thanks for the info DivotMaker.

Anytime....

blown503 · Jun 16, 2008, 11:37 AM

Nvidia doesnt even have them available in their online store.

brutusmaximus · Jun 16, 2008, 03:12 PM

I can see the 260 becoming a very popular card at that price/performance. the 280 seems marketed at ultra high end much like the ultra before it.

pretty amazing frame rates, have to say. my poor system looks positively archaic....

LukeK · Jun 16, 2008, 03:14 PM

I cant believe how shoddy the coding of crysis must be if the frame rates are so low compared to other leading AAA games.

seems the game will be playable at 2560 res in 2012.

DivotMaker · Jun 17, 2008, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veridian3

Also, pleas PM me the golf game info.

You received my PM, correct?

**ChaosMinionX** · Jun 17, 2008, 12:31 PM

Great review guys!

One of the only reviews that had something of substance to compare the current ATI/Nvidia offerings and not just give GTX260 vs GTX280 or the 9800GTX vs these 2 cards.