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Introduction Specifications Photos and Pictures The GTX 280 Card and Installation Test Setup and Procedures Benchmarks: F.E.A.R. (DX9) Benchmarks: Lost Planet (DX10) Benchmarks: Call of Juarez (DX10) Benchmarks: Crysis (DX10) Benchmarks: 3DMark 2005 Benchmarks: 3DMark 2006 Verdict and Conclusion

Gigabyte is first off the block with their Geforce GTX 280 ... it's one of the fastest card we've tested in our labs so far.

 

INTRODUCTION 

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It used to be only top graphic cards manufacturers that get to release the lastest GPUs from Nvidia, but times have changed and now motherboard manufacturers are in on it too. Usually, motherboard manufacturers such as Asus, Gigabyte and MSI have to wait several months after the initial release, before being allowed the chance to show case their cards. It seems Nvidia are trying to corner the GPU market ... allowing anyone and everyone a slice of the action. This could be bad news for AMD/ATI, however they do have something in the works ... namely the HD4xxx series, which apparently sports GDDR5 ram and offers newer technologies than the Nvidia's Geforce GTX 280.

Having said that, there's been some reports that the Nvidia's Geforce GTX 280 can already easily outperform ATI's unreleased Radeon HD4xxx cards. Can this be true? Well, our preliminary tests show that the GTX 280 is certainly a excellent performer ... better than the 9800GTX by at least 20-25%.

 

 

So, what's special about Nvidia's Geforce GTX 280? Well, it's their single most powerful GPU they've introduced so far. It's based on their new GTX 200 GPU produced using 65nm technology, and uses a 512-bit memory interface. It features 240 stream processors and CUDA technology ... but what's really exciting about this card, is the fact that it's PhysX ready. This means that games written which PhysX support no longer needs a dedicated PhysX card ... the Geforce GTX 280 can handle it. Nvidia will be releasing two versions of the GTX 2xx GPUs ... here are some of the new features listed below, and a comparison between the two.

 

Geforce GTX 280 GPU (GTX 200)	Geforce GTX 260 GPU (GTX 200)
- 512-Bit memory inferface   - 1Gb GDDR3 ram  - 240 Stream Processors  - PhysX Ready  - CUDA Technology  - PureVideo HD Technology  - Full DirectX 10 Support  - OpenGL 2.1, SLI, PCIe 2.0 Support  - 2nd Generation Unified Architecture	- 448-Bit memory inferface   - 896Mb GDDR3 ram  - 196 Stream Processors  - PhysX Ready  - CUDA Technology  - PureVideo HD Technology  - Full DirectX 10 Support  - OpenGL 2.1, SLI, PCIe 2.0 Support  - 2nd Generation Unified Architecture

 

It all sounds very impressive, but the Geforce GTX 280 doesn't come without its flaws. One concern that a lot of gamers have mentioned, is that the Geforce GTX 280 still uses GDDR3 ram rather than GDDR4 or 5, and the fact that there's still no support for DirectX 10.1. It's not a major issue, as there's no REAL performance gains over GDDR3, and not many games are written specifically for DX10.1 ... as yet. But one can't dismiss the fact that ATI's soon to be released Radeon HD4xxx cards already uses 55nm technology and will feature GDDR5 ram, as well as support for DX10.1 as standard. It seems to me that there's a lot of new technologies on the Geforce GTX 280, only to be let down by some minor issues.

 

 

In this review, we'll be taking a look at the Gigabyte Geforce GTX 280. The grahics card is based on Nvidia's reference design and uses their latest Geforce GTX 280 (GTX200) GPU, with a total of 1Gb of GDDR3 ram. The whole card is encased by a part metal, part plastic unit that features a single powerful fan and heatsink with a copper base for the GPU. The card itself is longer than most graphic cards, so care is needed when it comes to installation. Using GPU-Z, we determined that the GTX 280 GPU runs at a modest 600Mhz, while the 1Gb GDDR3 ram runs at 2.2Ghz (2x1100Mhz). I suspect over the next few months graphic card manufacturers will be releasing super overclocked versions of the the Geforce GTX 280.

One of the first things you'll notice about the card, is that there are two PCIe power connector. You'll need 2 PCIe power cables to power this monster ... one 8-pin PCIe and one 6-pin PCIe. I dread to see the total power consumption. You'll also find an extra SLI bridge connector, which is nicely hidden by a protective rubber cap. This is needed for 3-Way SLI configuration. Just imagine getting hold of 3 of these cards, and then linking them up in a 3-Way SLI.

 

             

 

It all looks very impressive on paper ... what is it really like in real life terms. Well, for our tests, we'll be benchmarking the Gigabyte Geforce GTX 280 with several GPU intensive DX10 games ... with both 4xAA and 16xAF options enabled, as well as your usual 3D Mark 2005 and 2006 tests. Our test rig includes an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ default 2.4Ghz, Gigabyte GA-X48 DQ6 motherboard, OCZ SLI DDR2-1066 2Gb Kit, PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 860W PSU and a 19" Dell Ultrascan P990 monitor. All-in-all, it's a decently spec'd system for DX10 gaming.

OK, lets not waste any more time and see how well the Gigabyte Geforce GTX 280 will perform against other Geforce based cards on the market.

 

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Introduction Specifications Photos and Pictures The GTX 280 Card and Installation Test Setup and Procedures Benchmarks: F.E.A.R. (DX9) Benchmarks: Lost Planet (DX10) Benchmarks: Call of Juarez (DX10) Benchmarks: Crysis (DX10) Benchmarks: 3DMark 2005 Benchmarks: 3DMark 2006 Verdict and Conclusion