Graphics GTX260 or GTX275 - most bang for the buck

So my summer vacation has begun and I plan to finally get around to building my "new" system (parts of which have been lying around for quite some time ).

I've been contemplating if I should get a new graphics card or continue to use my old 7950GT. I was dead-set on getting either a Gainward GTX275 or an MSI GTX275 TwinFrozr, but now I've seen a great offer on an MSI GTX260 TwinFrozr (Core216, of course).

The latter card would cost me DKK 1099, while the Gainward GTX275 and the MSI GTX275 TwinFrozr would set me back DKK 1649 and DKK 1719, respectively. That's about 50%-55% more for a GTX275. However, as far as I can tell a GTX275 is only about 25% faster than a GTX260 (if that), so why would I want to "waste" the extra cash?

I was figuring that said GTX260 would be a pretty nice upgrade over my Gainward Bliss 7950GT and should tide me over nicely for about 1.5 years. At that point I'd say that a good DX11 card should be available. We may even be into our 2nd generation of DX11 cards.

I noticed that the same price/performance ratio seems to exist for generic GTX260 and GTX275 models, but I want a custom-cooled card, so that's a moot point.

As always when in doubt I turn to my favourite enthusiast community for advice...

 

I looked at the twin Frozr when I was looking to buy my 275 and I couldn't Justify the extra £40 for it over one with a stock cooler.

Previously I had two overclocked MSI 8800GT's with custom coolers which were (and still are brilliant). They used to idle at 45c and hit mid 60's under load in close proximity to each other. My single XFX 275 XXX idles at 50c and hits around 73c if I crank the fan to 70%.

I still sort of wish I had bought the twin frozr for its added cooling ability but I don't think it would have fitted as the XFX card only has one milimetre to spare before it touches the drive bay bulk head. The other thing that put me off the twin frozr is it doesn't seem to vent all its hot air out of the back.

Sorry to babble on, just airing my decision process.

 

I would go with the 260 for exactly the reason you just listed (DX11 cards coming soon). The 260 should have enough power for you to game with for the next 1-1.5 years like you say.

 

Thank you both for your input! It seems I'm not alone in thinking the extra cost of the GTX275 doesn't necessarily translate into an equally worthwhile performance bump.

By the way, the MSI GTX260 TwinFrozr apparently comes factory-overclocked to 655MHz. Should be a bit faster than a generic one at any rate.

If anyone else has some additional insight/input, please don't hesitate to share...

 

HD4870 1GB.

You can get the Vapor-X version 1GB for $154.99 over in the US. No GTX260 is that cheap.

 

The price of the 4870 has been going down lately, else I would definitely say GTX 260.

Maybe the GTX 260 is cheaper than the 4870 over by you, I dunno. Whichever is cheaper wins.

 

Like I wrote the price for the MSI GTX260 TwinFrozr was DKK 1099, which is about £128 or $208. Emphasis on the "was", by the way, as it turns out that it apparently was a special deal. Now the card's gone up to DKK 1299.

Haven't seen a HD4870 quite as cheap here in Denmark as what Elton states. There's a cheap XFX-branded one with stockcooling at about £100/$166. A Sapphire Toxic with Vapor-X would set me back somewhat more than the aforementioned MSI at the *new* price.

Also, last I checked the HD4870 was quite a bit slower than the GTX260, right?

 

i'd also read this review. sure, there is a stock overclock, but the cooler doesnt perform, to me, to justify the price, and the stock gtx-260's will oc nicely anyway. but, if you have the dough, spend it...

 

The 4870 actually seems to perform equally to or slightly better than the 260+ depending on the game. The only caveat is that all ATI cards are rubbish at folding and it doesnt have PhysX (very few games).

In the UK at least, the 4870 is cheaper by quite a bit and is what I'm going for.

 

actually not quite. the 216 sp 260 spanks the 4870 in most games, with the 4870 keeping it close in 1 or 2, and performing slightly better in race driver grid.

 

The GTX260 outperforms the HD4870 by a slight margin, but it's really down to which one is cheaper since the performance is pretty much 1:1.1119.

 

Ups. You're right! Must have gotten them confuse with the original 260

 

There was a certain driver release from nVidia which turned tables on the two. Which, by the way, makes me slightly annoyed. To think that companies willingly have their hardware underperform via the drivers, just to have an "ace up their sleeves".

 

I always thought it was to do with optimisation or maybe I'm just too optimistic

 

Best bang for buck: GTX 260
HD4870 vs GTX 260 Best Bang for buck: HD4870...