Need help picking out a vcard

[foothead]

No. That is the vaporX. The batmobile one is this cooler type. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127484&cm_re=5770-_-14-127-484-_-Product

 

[wol-va-rine]

I never listen to the reviews on newegg. most of the 'experts' know nothing on what they are reviewing, but yeah I will look.

This is the one you want. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102868&cm_re=5770-_-14-102-868-_-Product

or they'll "review" something they don't even own...



I saw a few Newegg reviews that just cracked me up, one guy claimed his 8600GT "destroyed" Crysis on all high settings and another claimed to be running SLI on an Intel chipset straight out of the box, and no, it wasn't X58, IIRC it was a P35 or P45...

 

[foothead]

You can run SLI on any chipset pretty easily.

 

[Archlvt]

No. That is the vaporX. The batmobile one is this cooler type. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127484&cm_re=5770-_-14-127-484-_-Product

Ohh like a big box. When you said batmobile, I thought you meant the SHAPE of it. The one you linked before kinda looks like a batmobile to me haha

*edit*

Okay, so

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256012

and

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102868&cm_re=5770-_-14-102-868-_-Product

are officially what I should be going with then? Final answer? haha

 

[foothead]

Looks good to me.

 

[wol-va-rine]

You can run SLI on any chipset pretty easily.

um, no you can't right out of the box, you have to get hacked drivers for it...

 

[foothead]

^ Yes, but it takes about 20 minutes and the same driver works for every chipset now.

 

[wol-va-rine]

^ Yes, but it takes about 20 minutes and the same driver works for every chipset now.

I wonder if it scales as well (or better?) with the hacked drivers...?

 

[foothead]

It scales the same.

SLI has pretty poor scaling because it alternates frames.

 

[Grantofhell]

Depending on the type of SLI you run.

Another classic example of an "expert" at Newegg.

Pros: Allows an SLI version for those with mbs that have only one PCI-E slot.
Very easy to overclock to 675 MHz GPU with Precision.
Runs pretty cool if you manually ramp fan speed. Not that noisey.

Cons: Minor improvement over GTX 285, and must be overclocked to see it. All those saying this card will run anything at max are full of it. Crysis still only runs at low 40s to mid 30s FPS. Crysis Warhead not that much faster. Nowhere near the 40% increase in FR predicted by some reviews over the GTX 285.
Also high cost compared to a 285. No way this will compare to 2x285 in SLI.
This card does exhaust hot air into your case. No way it cannot, just look at the heatsinks and how the fan is designed. So if you have a case with fans blowing air from front to back, this card will recycle hot air from the back of the card to its fan. You will need enough airfow to overcome the heat load input by this card. If you run your 295 fan at 70+%, then the temps will average out, but this card will raise the average air temps in the case.
My SuperMicro server case has directed airflow over the dual Xeon heatsinks in an enclosed channel, so they are not affected by the video card.

Other Thoughts: I bought this as an upgrade to a single 285 because I have only one PCIe slot on my SuperMicro MB. Was not impressed by FRs over what I was getting with the 285. That being said, FRs in the last missions in both Crysis (on the carrier) and Warhead (at the airport) although not higher, were smoother and less jerky. This provided smoother gameplay and what appears to be less lag, especially when you move quickly from place to place. Running at the stock GPU rate of 575 MHz I don't think this card surpasses the 285. You need to be OC'd to see an improvment. Good news is you can get to 675 MHz easily, whereas my 285 was unstable at small increases above the stock 648 MHz. In games like COD4, the 285 got 70+ FPS, so no need for the 295. I am getting 80-90 FPS with the 295, but see no real improvement in actual gameplay.