Ordered an EVGA superclocked GTX680 - Will i notice much of a difference?

[John Lovell]

My system is getting a bit old and dated and I am in the process of building a new computer with all the very best components.

I thought I's start with the Graphics card as I can put this in my current machine, so I have ordered an EVGA Superclocked GTX680

As I been using a crappy GTX260, will I notice much of a difference with the new card?

Thanks

John

[Ian Routley]

You will be able to run things at higher Nvidia graphics settings, so in that regard, yes.

 

Further improvement would come from a more substantial overclock of your i7-920

[John Lovell]

Thanks Ian

My Alienware is absolutely awful for overclocking and 3.4ghz is as much as I can get out of it with this machine. Back then when I ordered it, I didn't know much about computers, but a few years down the line, I have become more the wiser.

I will be buying a whole new computer in separate parts and eventually the GTX680 I ordered will go in the newly built machine.

I have tried the bufferpools setting; usepools=0 ... although it's a great tweak for performance, it comes at the cost of artefacts and crashes. Could this be a limitation of my GTX260 and will replacing with the GTX680 allow me to use the usepool tweak again?

Thanks very much for your input

John

[Wolf2grey]

I believe I did see a post on a forum about some earlier grafix cards having problems with Bufferpools setting. I have a GTS 450 and I too had artifacts so I removed that tweak. I am thinking of upgrading my grafix card to that same model. Let me know how it does.

[Jack the Swede in Spain]

You will be able to run things at higher Nvidia graphics settings, so in that regard, yes.

 

Further improvement would come from a more substantial overclock of your i7-920

 

I fully agree with Ian, the graphics will probably a little bit better, but for FSX itself  (fps, smoothness) it will be no difference.

[John Lovell]

Thanks very much guys for your comments and input here.

I guess anything is a marked improvement against the old GTX260. Though will take a week or two to be delivered I will update with how I find it.

Though, still a good investment I guess to future proof

[Dibidut]

Congrats with the new Graphiccard John.

I recently purchased  Asus GTX680, DirectCU II, Top, 1201Mhz/2GB. Great card, but i see only a little difference, compared with  my "old" Club GTX580 (OC:890/2270/1780,Volt:1.088 ).

I  also use, the BufferPools=0 tweak (works great).

Here, today i finally (lazy me) , at last overclocked my Intel 3770k (OC 4.56) again after some PC re/build, and i say that is the way forward. (you at least dobbel your FPS (i did).

Best regards

Henrik

[Dave_YVR]

  That's going to be a great jump up. You should see it right away in image quality and smoothness.

[John Lovell]

I was looking at all the options with different cards, though hesitant at first.... A few beers later, credit card, proceed to basket.... done!

A rule I must set myself; Never shop online (or go shopping at all) after a few beers.

Though, I think this one is a good investment

[Orgasmatron]

I was looking at all the options with different cards, though hesitant at first.... A few beers later, credit card, proceed to basket.... done!

A rule I must set myself; Never shop online (or go shopping at all) after a few beers.

Though, I think this one is a good investment

 

 

Two's a better investment.  Think about those cold winter nights flight simming, the heatings on full blast and your nice a toasty warm with your favourite beer in hand.  I purachsed 2 580's because one wouldn't support surround vision tut.  As a result I could afford heating for winter.  But I soon realised taking the side off the case there was about 65 degrees C coming out of the graphics cards and as such didn't need the heating on lol.  Of course in summer its a whole different kettle of fish.  Fortunately here in the UK we are blessed with very short summers

[Smurf]

For me, when I got my latest graphics card (GTX680 balls out something, see sig) it made a huge difference in the whole sim.

Flying around S43 Harvey went from a bit of a slide show to an awesome smooth experience.

Every one always said not to waste your money on a graphics card cause it's all about CPU, so I didn't but I was getting extremely frustrated

at how much money you could spend and still get the same crappy results, I almost gave the game away.

Since getting this monstrous card, I haven't stopped flying to take a crap of late, everything has been awesome!

 

But! That's just my personal experience and opinion, someone that knows the theory behind it might tell you otherwise but it's been great for me.

I've even become a "PC gamer" while the old playstation is collecting dust

[John Lovell]

Thanks guys very much for all your comments and advice. It is really appreciated and why this forum is so great!

But again, I think it will be a good investment.

I could understand maybe if my card was a GTX46* and I upgraded from that, maybe wont see a huge difference. But going from my 'no brand' stock GTX260 that was fitted in my Alienware, I should see some improvement

Thank you all very much

[JimmiG]

FSX/P3D is very CPU-bound since the rendering engine is so old. You might be able to use higher AA settings and resolutions, and cloud rendering still depends somewhat on your GPU's performance. Also great for multi-monitor use. But the performance difference won't be that great. If you play any other games at all, the difference will be huge, though, since they're written to take advantage of faster GPUs.

 

I have no problem with the UsePools=0 tweak on my system with a GTX460. It is a matter of balancing your settings to make it work, and it works kind of "backwards" compared to most tweaks. Actually lowering some CPU-dependent settings like autogen can upset the balance, but having an old video card coupled with a very fast CPU can do the same. You also have to limit your FPS to something <30 or it will glitch out in no time. So your new video card might allow you to use this tweak which provides a noticeable improvement in smoothness.

[flyhalf]

Just made this upgrade myself. GTX285 to GTX680. Huge difference. Massive. FPS through the roof. Always staying around the locked 30 mark. Far less texture popping (some still there), no lag on most texture loading. Just a very nice card with the overclocked i7-920. Put the fsx.cfg through the venetubo page and Kostas pdf file and job done.

[John Lovell]

Thanks flyhalf... that's actually reassuring to know!

I think I may have a problem... this makes me seriously regret having bought my alienware all those years ago.

I dont think my PSU will be up to the job. I think its less than 600 watts and is dells own crappy brand. Worse thing is, these so called 'upgradable' alienwares, its not a simple task of swapping the PSU over as everything is connected to it via one connecter. Will have to rewire the motherboard

[Orgasmatron]

John, you're best shot of that Dell PSU, think of it as a blessing in disguise.  Dell are terrible for building down to a very low cost.  Replace it with a nice modular PSU and you will never look back.  For a single GTX680 a 600 watt psu should be fine, I highly recommend the Corsair modular PSU's ebuyer have a very atractive price on their 750 watt modular PSU at the moment http://www.ebuyer.com/429987-corsair-cx-series-cx-750m-atx-power-supply-cp-9020061-uk

[John Lovell]

John, you're best shot of that Dell PSU, think of it as a blessing in disguise.  Dell are terrible for building down to a very low cost.  Replace it with a nice modular PSU and you will never look back.  For a single GTX680 a 600 watt psu should be fine, I highly recommend the Corsair modular PSU's ebuyer have a very atractive price on their 750 watt modular PSU at the moment http://www.ebuyer.com/429987-corsair-cx-series-cx-750m-atx-power-supply-cp-9020061-uk

Hi Matt

I think that's what Im gonna have to do. My only problem is that everything is connected to the dell PSU by one connecter. I will have to change all the connecters... thing is Im not that tech minded. Dont know if its a simple enough task for me to perform

This is the connector on the PSU

[Orgasmatron]

Hi Matt

I think that's what Im gonna have to do. My only problem is that everything is connected to the dell PSU by one connecter. I will have to change all the connecters... thing is Im not that tech minded. Dont know if its a simple enough task for me to perform

This is the connector on the PSU

 

 

Eugh Dell,  John, if you end up changing  the PSU and are concerned about doing it I am more than happy to do it for you/show you how to do it.  The hardest part is routing all the cables once replaced.  The most annoying, the sharp edges on the Alienware cases.

[John Lovell]

Eugh Dell,  John, if you end up changing  the PSU and are concerned about doing it I am more than happy to do it for you/show you how to do it.  The hardest part is routing all the cables once replaced.  The most annoying, the sharp edges on the Alienware cases.

Thanks Matt, I might just summons your help here! I'm gonna order that one you recommended.

I think it is inevitable that the PSU will be replaced. Alienware... nasty Dell in a Shell computer

[Iain Emms]

Nice one John you should see a difference with the new card for sure mate.

cheers

Iain

[Orgasmatron]

Thanks Matt, I might just summons your help here! I'm gonna order that one you recommended.

I think it is inevitable that the PSU will be replaced. Alienware... nasty Dell in a Shell computer

 

 

No problems John, I'll drop you a PM when Im home from work.

[bountyhunter]

I swapped my ATI card for an EVGA 4GB GTX680 last year and really didn't look back.  FSX looks a lot better and performed better as well i had a 750 psu and it strained a lot with everything it was trying to power OC etc ... in the end I went for a 1200 psu modular...runs brilliantly and I think to be honest uses less power than the old PSU (well judging by electricity bills it does )

I run 3 * 22 inch screens from it, the only problem I have is that the screen running from the HDMI-DVI connection does flash sometimes when the card produces more graphics than the screen can handle.  but I fiddled with the refresh rate and it works now.

[maxter]

Guys, I have just had a processor and memory upgrade but kept the old gfx card.

 

Just wondering if I will see much of an improvement if I went to a Superclocked GTX680 as mentioned by the OP?

 

Cheers and thanks for any advice.

[Dibidut]

Hey Maxter.

Quote myself:

I recently purchased  Asus GTX680, DirectCU II, Top, 1201Mhz/2GB. Great card, but i see only a little difference, compared with  my "old" Club GTX580 (OC:890/2270/1780,Volt:1.088 ).

I  also use, the BufferPools=0 tweak (works great).

Here, today i finally (lazy me) , at last overclocked my Intel 3770k (OC 4.56) again after some PC re/build, and i say that is the way forward. (you at least dobbel your FPS (i did).

Best regards

Henrik

[kiwi stu]

Hi John

Thought i woud throw in my 5 cents worth.

I have been running at GTX680 for 2 years now and for me..along with my i7 2700k overclocked to 4.2.....it is just the best thing that has happened to me since i started Flight simming.

In my rig it just goes and goes and gives and gives.....even on the ramp or short finals in Brisbane or Melbourne in my iFly 737 the FPS can drop as low as 15 but the card and cpu are great...not one stutter or glitch...it just rocks along

As you can see by my Computer details,i run 4 monitors and TH2GO...and all attached to my mighty GTX680

I use no tweaks at all,and i achieve extremely high FPS on most aircraft.My sliders are all on the high side.

 

hope this helps

cheers stu

[MarkH]

even on the ramp or short finals in Brisbane or Melbourne in my iFly 737 the FPS can drop as low as 15 but the card and cpu are great...not one stutter or glitch...

 

I am trying to get my performance under control at the moment so this interests me.Can you say what resolution you are running and if this performance is with or without weather? Also what are your AA and TAA settings?

 

Ta.

[kiwi stu]

Hi Mark

Resolution wise..My Triplehead2go resolutions on my monitors is 4080 x 768

not sure what you mean by AA and TAA..but am thinking you mean the following..

In settings in FSX I have selected Anistotropic and I have Anti Aliasing selected...is that what you wanted ? 

 

Also in FSX my resolution settings are 1024 x 768 x 32

 

Alot of mucking around with resolutions,TH2GO AND monitors to get the correct look.

 

does all this help

 

cheers stu

 

 

 

 

cheers

stu

[maxter]

Thanks for the heads up Henrik. Might stick with the 580 until the next gen gards appear at a reasonable price.

 

Cheers,

[kiwi stu]

hi john

sorry mate..didnt read your question all the way through

as to your question on if i run weather

run real weather all the time..REX HD with Opus weather engine,along with shader and accu feel v1 and v2

no tweaks

 

cheers stu

[MarkH]

does all this help

 

Yes, a bit. I am relieved to hear you are running a fairly conservative resolution to achieve that performance! I assume you must be running windowed mode if your full-screen resolution is set to 1024 x 768. My question about AA and TAA were your anti-aliasing and transparency anti-aliasing settings in the nVidia CP but it seems you may be using FSX native anti-aliasing. It is encouraging to hear you are able to run with full weather. Gives us all hope

[kiwi stu]

hi mark

yep..right in all your assumptions...running in windowed mode and i am using FSX Native anti aliasing..have not touched settings for this in my cp setup.

i took me months to work out this combination..(and a lot of tears).... for my rig..but i am really happy with it now.

keep a look out for my screenies..i will leave the fps in the top leftt corner for you to look at on some of them.

 

i for one do not understand most peoples obsession to have all sliders on full...in my opinion,all orbx addons and most aircraft have more than enough detail to warrant settings somewhere between  normal and very dense or 50 to 70 percent....so i never have strived for the all sliders on max...just dont think its necessary.

 

feel free to ask me anything else.

 

cheers stu

[John Lovell]

Just to update:

 

Card arrived a few days ago and only managed to install it yesterday.

 

I see a massive improvement and terms of visuals and performance. I have now turned up my AA settings and everything looks much sharper and crisp. Even some hdden details have sprung to life.

 

I can now run Usepools=0 and get no flashing or artefacts. Performance is much better

[mjrhealth]

went from 560ti to 680, wouldnt say huge difference but certainly helped, gettin CPU to 4.58 gig really improved things.Cant run bufferpools 0 get flashing.

[John Lovell]

I suppose in my case where I had a GTX260 before. When I took it out my Alienware, it didnt even have a brand or logo on it. No doubt Dell had fitted the cheapest nastiest one they could find.

[Orgasmatron]

I suppose in my case where I had a GTX260 before. When I took it out my Alienware, it didnt even have a brand or logo on it. No doubt Dell had fitted the cheapest nastiest one they could find.

 

Those Nvidia adaptors Dell provide are horrible.  We recently threw 20 GTX 620'a in the bin at work out of brand new Dell Inspiron 470 desktops.  They aren't cheap machines either!  On testing 6 of them cause blue screens right out the box from dell.  The rest well it was cheaper to just replace them with Gainward GTX 620's

[moonman]

Just to update:

 

Card arrived a few days ago and only managed to install it yesterday.

 

I see a massive improvement and terms of visuals and performance. I have now turned up my AA settings and everything looks much sharper and crisp. Even some hdden details have sprung to life.

 

I can now run Usepools=0 and get no flashing or artefacts. Performance is much better

 

Hello John!

Great to read that Your new card works smoothlyt for You now!

Enjoy flying with it and - and maybe also try out some of the Nvidia Inspector settings ... some of them will certainly enhance Your simming experience now even further with this superb card on board!

Cheers, Christoph

[Dibidut]

Im also glad, on your behalf, its not just CPU OverClock, thats does it all.  

Best regards

Henrik

[John Lovell]

Hello John!

Great to read that Your new card works smoothlyt for You now!

Enjoy flying with it and - and maybe also try out some of the Nvidia Inspector settings ... some of them will certainly enhance Your simming experience now even further with this superb card on board!

Cheers, Christoph

Thanks Christoph... I do certainly notice a difference and one of the first things I did was crank up the settings in n-inspector.. huge difference to what I saw before. Textures really do come to life now

 

Im also glad, on your behalf, its not just CPU OverClock, thats does it all.  

Best regards

Henrik

Yeah, I think because my all no brand GTX260 really was the bottle neck here. The i7920 was throwing the ball but the GTX260 just couldnt keep up catching them. Really glad I made the investment

 

Those Nvidia adaptors Dell provide are horrible.  We recently threw 20 GTX 620'a in the bin at work out of brand new Dell Inspiron 470 desktops.  They aren't cheap machines either!  On testing 6 of them cause blue screens right out the box from dell.  The rest well it was cheaper to just replace them with Gainward GTX 620's

Seriously dont know how Dell get away with it. Especially as they brand their Alienware range the ultimate 'upgradable' gaming machine

[Orgasmatron]

Seriously dont know how Dell get away with it. Especially as they brand their Alienware range the ultimate 'upgradable' gaming machine

 

I don't know either?  The crazy thing is some of their machines are really good and their top end screens are among the best money can buy.  Alienware had a great reputation before the were taken over by Dell, it's really a shame when these large multi-national corporations buy at out the smaller businesses then systematically destroy their reputations.