Anyone here ever done the eVGA step-up program?

Sqaull20

Nvidia are releasing new 55nm gt 200 cards in september, I need a good card now, thinking gtx 260's and will step up to new cards in september.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-062-EA&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1176&name=EVGA%20GeForce%20GTX%20260%20896MB%20GDDR3%20TV-Out/Dual%20DVI%20(PCI-Express)%20-%20Retail

I have been hearing about eVga's step up program for ages now and would like to get views on it from those that used it or know alot about it.

How does it work?

What did you think of it?

How long is it, 90 days only?

Is it good value?

Any hassle?

Whats the story with postage, who pays, how much etc?

Thanks

conzy

Any intrest in Crossfire?

Its a lot less hassle and cheaper and more performance if you buy a 4870 now and another one in September





I don't think Nvidia can make up a 30-70% performance increase with a die shrink and a small bump in clocks

The GTX280s raw power beats Crossfire 4870s in some games but I think CF 4870s is a little more future proof

PogMoThoin

Wait for the 4870X2, its even faster than the 4870 Xfire

conzy

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Wait for the 4870X2, its even faster than the 4870 Xfire

But that involves waiting! Nobody likes waiting

You could buy a 4870 now and a 4870X2 when they come out, CrossfireX

Sqaull20

I have no interest in going crossfire at the moment, I have went down that path before and didnt like it all, Sli can be pain but crossfire is something else.

I am not even sure if I will go sli again, I got a 680i board cheap the other day and may just get one evga gtx 260.I said 2 x gtx 260's in my original post as I have two pc's, not that I want to go multi gpu.

Plan is to get 2 x gtx 260's and step up to better cards for minimal cost in 3 months.If another company done a step up program with Ati's new cards I would probably go with a 4870, but they dont.

So has anyone has done the eEVGA step up-program?

Sqaull20

conzymaher wrote: »

Any intrest in Crossfire?

Its a lot less hassle and cheaper and more performance if you buy a 4870 now and another one in September

Dont know about that, a good x38/x48 board is €130+, 2 x HD4870 = €420 ( same price as 2 x gtx 260 ).

I have an sli board and from reviews I have seen gtx 260 sli vs 4870 cf is very close, win some, lose some.Wouldnt be worth the hassle of routing up a pefectly good system for minimal performance.Not that I am even thinking multi gpu anyway.

Good review here of gtx 260 vs 4870 cf.

Benches from about 10 -12 games.





http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.computerbase.de%2Fartikel%2Fhardware%2Fgrafikkarten%2F2008%2Ftest_radeon_hd_4870_cf_geforce_gtx_260_sli%2F23%2F&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=de&tl=en

Its a toss up, 4870 cf wins at less resolution, 260 cf wins higher and so on

conzy

But you used to be the resident multi GPU fan!

The cheapest GTX 260 on HWV is 236 euro an no sign of an EVGA model... EVGA cards seem to be consistantly more expensive anyway...

Why not avoid all the hassle of the step up and just buy a 4870 or GTX 260 and sell it if / when you want the 55nm GTX 280?

Overheal

Expect prices on the GTX series to fall a little more. They already got slashed last week after ATi launched its much more affordable GTX-Killer card, and not I think ATi has released specs for yet another killer-card; so I see the price on the 260 and 280 dropping further still. Considering you're wanting to do a step-up, that will save you money over getting the ATi card.