Flight Simulator
Source: Tom's Hardware – Keywords: nvidia, gtx, 280
Flight Simulator
Why test the latest high-end cards with a game that’s known to be limited by the CPU? The reason was simple: Make sure that these new cards do at least as well as the preceding generation, and check the maturity of the driver – since, as we saw in the previous tests, Flight Simulator X can hold some surprises.
Sure enough, the new GeForce GT200 cards weren’t in their glory. None of them went beyond 23 fps, which is not great, even in Flight Simulator X. But the 9800 GX2 and the 8800 Ultra reached close to 30 fps, which is a lot better. We feel sure the next driver versions will improve the situation, because it’s paradoxical for gamers buying the latest generation of Nvidia cards to have to settle for inferior performance, even in a game where the CPU takes on a lot of importance.
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hmm not as big an improvement as i thought. will have to wait and see on the drivers improving the cards , but the 260 gtx seems to be the much better option given the price. still , will have to see what ati bring to the fray first. patience will be reflected in price i have no doubt.
frankly depressing, Me WANTS MRAW POWER!!!!
I am so disappointed. Now if AMD delivers on the dual GPU single memory rumour (2 GPUs on a single card but without the Crossfire problems) NVidia could have a serious problem.
Why have they tested this system with only 2Gb of RAM? If you're testing a GPU with 1Gb of VRAM, surely you'd have more installed?
They also have 2 conflicting prices on page 28.
For the 280GTX- $846 and $650;
For the 260GTX- $450 and $400
Wouldn't it have been more prudent to test against a 8800gtx ultra as this is still the single most powerfull card.
It might just be me but 66.5dBa is unbearable unless you have your PC locked away in a cupboard somewhere. This business of supplying substandard fans on very expensive cards is intolerable. Why don't they strike a deal with Zalman / Thermalright for example, and ship cards that are quiet / silent? I'm sure that people who have the money to buy a £500 GPU could afford £10 more for a better cooling solution that's included.
where is that 20W to 30W idle you are talking about? The least in the graph is 199W!
mi1ez: Probably the reason for just 2GB RAM was that it allowed Tom's to stick with 32-bit OS architecture. If they tried using more RAM they'd be stuck with 64-bit Bindows which would not be pretty - aside from really needing 8GB to give a big difference over 2GB in 32bit Vista, there's the slight issue of stable signed drivers, which these cards probably won't have for a while. Good luck trying to get Vista 64 to even "see" the cards! XD
jhoravi: that idle power would only come up on newer nVidia mobos as the card would be shut down entirely when idle and hand over to the integrated chip.
And was it me or was the Noise text copypasted over the Temperature text on the next page? Oops.
Lets try again Mr THG (uhhhm try getting your fraking website working plz)...
Now lets see this puppy in action:
http://www.evga.com/products/pdf/01G-P3-1289-AR.pdf
!!
Bob