GTX 285

[Awqa Puriq]

I'm just wondering how Empire and/or Napoleon would run on the following specs:

-Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz 8MB Cache 4.8GT/s Quick Path
-1GB NVIDIA GTX 285 VideoCard
-6GB High Performance DDR3 1333MHz
-Resolution: 1920x1080

[HansDuet]

Very well.

[Armenum]

I'm just wondering how Empire and/or Napoleon would run on the following specs:

-Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz 8MB Cache 4.8GT/s Quick Path
-1GB NVIDIA GTX 285 VideoCard
-6GB High Performance DDR3 1333MHz
-Resolution: 1920x1080

Price? Brand?

[Freddie]

I'm just wondering how Empire and/or Napoleon would run on the following specs:

-Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz 8MB Cache 4.8GT/s Quick Path
-1GB NVIDIA GTX 285 VideoCard
-6GB High Performance DDR3 1333MHz
-Resolution: 1920x1080

Depending on how many men you have on the field of battle 30fps shouldn't be out reach at max settings but I've always found TW games smooth at 12-15fps but if you like to play huge battles you will find the frame drop by quite a bit and you will need to overclock the CPU to compensate.

[BURNY26]

though your cpu is very good ,the i5 750 would have been better ,since you could have bought it at a low price and you could have overclocked it at ease until 4ghz , that is if you have a decent cooler.
otherwise you have very decent specs, try overclocking till 3ghz and see for yourself

[GasMask]

GTX 285 is more than obsolete now.

[Jaketh]

GTX 285 is more than obsolete now.

but still runs every single game out today on maximum settings (but way overpriced)

[mrcrusty]

The GTX 285 will be fine. Runs pretty much any game on max settings atm.

Sure, the HD 5xxx series and the upcoming GTX 4xx series makes the GTX 285 "obsolete", but the fact is that DX 9 is still the gaming standard and it will take at least a year or so before we'll see any noticeable difference in DX 9/DX 11 gaming, at least, for the mainstream user.

I mean, the 8800 GTX still works quite well for most games. 18 months from now, the GTX 285 will be in a similar position.

[Awqa Puriq]

I'll upgrade in the future to Dx11, I'm waiting to see what goodies NVIDIA and ATi has to offer in the next year or so before buying a $600 or more graphic card. Besides the GTX 285 seems to still be able to handle business, specially from what you guys said it'll be able to hold it's ground for the next months still.

[GasMask]

I would get one but the price is terrible.

So im always buying ATI chips due to nvidia,s costly parts.

[Awqa Puriq]

This is off topic but i am wondering what would be a good liquid cooling system i could use for the i7 920 so i could overclock it to 3.0 or 3.2GHz?

[Freddie]

This is off topic but i am wondering what would be a good liquid cooling system i could use for the i7 920 so i could overclock it to 3.0 or 3.2GHz?

Since you only want to overclock your CPU moderately you could just do it with a £25/$24 HSF like this Sunbeam Core-Contact Freezer 120mm, however if you will want to go the water cooling route the easiest and most straight forward way would be to use Corsair Hydro H20 which is a lot more expensive but gives you what you want. I have to say though a decent HSF like the Sunbeam, Prolimatech Megahalems (needs a fan) or the god like Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme Rev. C have all been used by overclockers to push the Core i7 920 to 4Ghz+ but the Corsair H20 is up there (in terms of performance) with all these HSF's.

[mrcrusty]

This is off topic but i am wondering what would be a good liquid cooling system i could use for the i7 920 so i could overclock it to 3.0 or 3.2GHz?

I'm pretty sure you could get away OC'ing the 920 to 3.2 GHz with a good air cooler. Liquid cooling probably won't become a necessity unless you want to OC to like 3.8-4.0 GHz.

As for the GTX 285, for me it's about price. Personally, I'd just grab the 5850 and be done with it. It's not a matter of "technology", it's simple price. The 5850 is cheaper.

In terms of technology, if you're upgrading your gfx card in 2 years, then it doesn't matter which one you get because developers will still cater for DX 9 for at least another year or two. We probably won't see significant strides in DX 11 gaming until next year, and it will probably take another year until it replaces DX 9 as the standard. That's just my guess, but I doubt they would throw mainstream gamers under the bus so soon after DX 11.

Here is what I would personally get: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-881-_-Product

Radeon 5850 Sapphire Toxic edition. It makes the GTX 285 it's prison wife in most games and goes for around the same price. Plus it runs much cooler, uses less power and has more OC potential. Not to mention it just looks better.

I would say the whole "and you can crossfire it in future", but that's bull. By the time you'd think CF was necessary, the newer cards will be better. That's what I thought I'd do with my IceQ 4850 when I got it at the start of last year, but not only are IceQ 4850's or ones with a decent cooler hard to find, but the 5850 already beats a CF 4850. Though, I may do it anyway because of the mad OC ability. (625/1986 - 725/1130 ftw)

[GasMask]

I mean why would any plank buy a GTX 285 when its features are now obsolete ? DX11 is in full effect come 2011 so anyone still running a GTX 285 is just a plank i mean i understand its a great card but what about a price drop ? nope no price drops chaps maybe in 2 years but form now it looks like nvidia are just putting thier dirty hands in your pockets.

[Awqa Puriq]

I got it free. Sure it's price is still way up there, why?, cause NVIDIA feels it, not much we can do about it other than go on the next best card that happens to be cheaper as well or wait for Dx11. So like i said, anyone recommend a certain water cooling system for the i7 920?

[GasMask]

Why would you even go to this pointless effect of OCing your CPU ? actually makeing it more or less Obsolete ? and of course shortening its life span ?.

I used to do the same to AMD chips they died after a year or so.

The liquid cooling would break every year also.

Dam i hate liquid cooling.

[Freddie]

Why would you even go to this pointless effect of OCing your CPU ? actually makeing it more or less Obsolete ? and of course shortening its life span ?.

I used to do the same to AMD chips they died after a year or so.

The liquid cooling would break every year also.

Dam i hate liquid cooling.

The Corsair H20 system is self contained setup and will last long time, if your talking about a custom water cooling setup then yes I would agree and say I wouldn't trust it in case one of the rings slipped off.

As for overclocking it depends on how much your overclock it, most modern CPU's have quite a bit of give left in them and a CPU's life span will only really shrink when you start tampering with the voltage. If you can leave the voltage alone and see how far you can get with stock voltage the risk to your CPU is minimal.

As for advantages overclocking can help boost the minium frame rate you get in games thus makeing them less jerky and smooth, it can speed things like video encoding and image rendering.

[mrcrusty]

Why would you even go to this pointless effect of OCing your CPU ? actually makeing it more or less Obsolete ? and of course shortening its life span ?.

I used to do the same to AMD chips they died after a year or so.

The liquid cooling would break every year also.

Dam i hate liquid cooling.

Depends how you overclock, if you have good cooling and don't push your clocks and voltage, then generally it won't affect it's lifespan in any meaningful way. Especially if all you do is increase the multiplier and keep the clock rates the same.

Also, if the CPU bottlenecks the GPU on stock, then you'll see an almost linear increase in performance. If you OC your CPU by 10% then you'll see around a 10% increase in some games, and of course, CPU applications. Of course, this will only go so far, but hey, every advantage, right?

[Awqa Puriq]

Well actually i was gonna go with a GTX 295, until i saw the 5870 then I thought "ATi here come i come", but since i got the GTX 285 for free T thought "I might as well just save this up for the newer cards in the future". I'm new to water cooling so i wanted to try to see just how much "better" it was since now most I see is PCs with 10 liquid cables coming out of it. I'm gonna give that Corsair Hydro H20 a go otherwise i'll just go with the Sunbeam, i just hope it don't spill liquid on my CPU. Thanks for the info