GTX285 2GB or GTX295 Single-PCB?

[Cliff Burton]

Which one would you choose? To go with a i7-920 D0, Classified, 2x3GB DDR3-2000, 2xIntel X25-M G02 rig.

If the GTX295 was 2x285 2GB VRM each I would have no doubt which one to choose (and ASUS Mars is at the double price tag it should be).

I was thinking about two options, either grab a GTX285/GTX295 and sell it once GTX300 series arrives (how much could I get for any of them? which one will sell better?) or grabbing a 9800GT as main GPU until GTX300 hits the market and then using it as PhysX dedicated card.

The ideal option would be grabbing a, say, GTX285 2GB card now from EVGA (~350€) and doing the EVGA step-up program for a GTX300, but it only lasts for 90 days, and I guess it will not be available until ~January 2010 (I'm getting it in a week from now).

It will run at 2560x1600, that's why the 896MB VRM of real memory that GTX295 would use, may be too low.

I am not really fan of Tri-SLI or Quad-SLI configurations due to poor scalability and microstuttering.

Many thanks!

[TheCarLessDriven]

GTX 285 2gb. Then upgrade to GT300 later, or get second 285 and you ill have 4gb of video ram.

[Andrea deluxe]

GTX 285 2gb. Then upgrade to GT300 later, or get second 285 and you ill have 4gb of video ram.

sorry, but in sli only 2gb can be used.

@ cliff

take a 285 with 2gb

[ToTTenTranz]

Why does it have to be nVidia?


The GTX285 2GB only makes sense if you use it in SLI/Tri-SLI.
Otherwise the 1GB version is fine.

We're too far away from the next-gen cards for you to consider waiting..

How about 2*GTX275 1792MB SLI? It shouldn't be too expensive, and with a little overclocking, the performance should be a lot better than a GTX295.



This is, of course, assuming you need to have nVidia GPUs, because of a religious cult or something.

[1Kurgan1]

Gotta go with 2x 285's if you aren't going to add any more than 2 GPU's.

[iTravis]

For that resolution, a GTX 285 2GB is enough till GT300. And like ToTTenTranz said, why only Nvidia? A pair of HD4890 is cheaper and should outperform that single GTX 285 easily.