GTX 560 Ti Upgrade- Continued performance expectations

[TheyCallMeGunny]

So I don't know how, but when I built my PC I must've gotten lucky somehow: Because I get drastically higher framerates and stability than anyone says you can get on this hardware. I personally don't understand how the stats don't match up.

 

But I'm planning to upgrade to a GTX 560 Ti very soon, after a few years of abusing my old GTS 250, and I was wondering if I should expect the same exceptional performance boost in my next card.

 

Here's my current rig, if it helps anyone figure out why I get such better performance than I should (Will also reference various performance benchmarks to explain this whole thread):

 

CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 B55, 4.255GHz --Phenom II X2 555 3.2GHz unlocked and overclocked--

RAM: 4GB CORSAIR XMS3 DDR3 1840 @8-9-8-24. --Overclocked--

MOBO: ASUS M4A88T-V EVO/USB3

GPU: XFX GeForce GTS 250 1GB Core Edition (738-1000-1836)

PSU: ORION 585W Continuous PSU

HDD: WD Caviar Blue 320GB, 2x Seagate 320GB for media and game storage.

And a 1080p monitor and 5.1 creative sound card.

 

The performance I see above expected comes in a lot of areas, but really the graphics are all I want to know about:

 

GTS 250 1GB: I'm getting a steady 50+FPS in Skyrim and 35-45 while recording full size with FRAPS at 1920x1080 (60Hz) (minus theives guild, very stuttery) with ALL high settings except low shadows (max distances, 16xAF, 2xMSAA ultra distance object detail, LOD Bias Clamped, multisampling, 2 pre-rendered frame limit, High Quality texture filtering- All set via Nvidia Inspector and matched in game launcher) and the following other changes:

.ini Changes: uGridsToLoad=7, Exterior Cell buffer=64, shadowmapresolution= 2048 (primary and secondary), exteriorshadowdistance= 3000, TreesReceiveShadows=1, Draw Land Shadows=1

Mods: Vurts flora overhaul, STEP, A Quality World Map, Tytanis, Vals Crafting Meltdown, TESV acceleration Layer, SkyUI, Glowing Ore Veins 300, Headbomb's Better Sorting, High-Res NPC Clothing (2048x2048 version), and EBN Cinematic Skyrim.

 

According to every site I have looked at, I shouldn't be getting more than about 25fps at these settings on my GPU. As for the CPU, haven't seen many triple cores overclocked as high so can't really compare. And about a hundred other games playing above what I've been told they should. The only thing about my system that runs as it should is if I put anti-aliasing up at/above 4xMSAA. Typically at 4 it runs horrible, though some games do allow to 8x before the hit.

 

 

So again, the question is: Should I expect my GTX 560 Ti to also give me a boost in performance beyond the "expected"? Is there some way to figure out what causes my system to run as efficiently to determine that?

 

--Note: FPS have been tested with FRAPS, PlayClaw, and a few various benchmarking programs. Even PassMark and 3D mark rank this much closer to a GTX 460 than a GTS 250. I have played about 70 game son this system since I first built it, but Skyrim is my most recent addiction: So it's the only one I'm listing at the moment.

 

I'm not looking to show off, I've been hounded on other sites for posting this. I know my rig is mid-high range, but it runs very well. And I just don't want to buy a GTX 560 Ti if it turns out that my GPU is the "lucky component" in my system and I end up with a smaller performance margin after the purchase.

Edited January 15, 2012 by dragonsdontfly

[El_Capitan]

Skyrim isn't a very FPS intensive game (but still looks really good). Although the GTX 560 Ti is a mighty fine card, I don't think you need to upgrade if all you're worrying about is Skyrim. A friend of mine plays it with a HD 4850 just fine with some lower settings.

 

I'd wait a couple of months to see what else Nvidia and AMD come up with for mid-ranged cards.

 

On a side note, if you're interested, I do have some GTX 560 Ti's I could sell for a good price if you want to save money buying used rather than buying new (warranty is serial based, so you'd still have that).

[TheyCallMeGunny]

Well I do play more than Skyrim, it's just my main addicition right now. There are some games where I just want to be able to jack up the Anti-aliasing and play a prettier game. Not to mention DirectX 11, been tempting me for a while, but only recently got a good enough job to buy a better card haha.

 

--Edit: Sorry I'm buying a new one. Have a particular card in mind. And about not being fps intensive: You're right about that. But my card shouldn't do this at 1920x1080 anyways. I guess I should've used a more fps intensive game to reference the performance.

Edited January 15, 2012 by dragonsdontfly

[El_Capitan]

You're also playing in DX9 instead of DX11 (I think), that may also help with FPS.

[TheyCallMeGunny]

Edit: Skyrim isn't the topic at hand, judging my system's performance for an upgrade is. How do I tell if I'll receive the extra performance on a new card that I get now?

Edited January 15, 2012 by dragonsdontfly

[El_Capitan]

Edit: Skyrim isn't the topic at hand, judging my system's performance for an upgrade is. How do I tell if I'll receive the extra performance on a new card that I get now?

The best thing to do is to try and check out some older reviews and see how the GTS 250 compares to something like the GTX 460 1GB. Then compare that to how the GTX 560 Ti is to the GTX 460 1GB.

[Tjj226_Angel]

The reality of it is that your whole system is getting old. Because of this, and because of your "lucky component" I would save up money and invest in the new kepler video cards coming out. Then, as you continue to save money, you can upgrade your Mobo and CPU when haswell comes out in 2013 (or if you perfer AMD, I a sure they too will have a 80 core processor by 2013 as well). With that sort of a mind set, you will be building a more future proof system. (for all of you who say future proofing doesn't exist I agree with you......I use the term poorly because there isn't really a word for what I am trying to describe). Basically this will allow you to work into a new computer with more potential that one with an old video card in it (which would be the 560 ti by that time). If your GTS 250 is playing Skyrim to your liking, then wait and invest in something that would REALLY blow your pants off.

[smoka]

The reality of it is that your whole system is getting old. Because of this, and because of your "lucky component" I would save up money and invest in the new kepler video cards coming out. Then, as you continue to save money, you can upgrade your Mobo and CPU when haswell comes out in 2013 (or if you perfer AMD, I a sure they too will have a 80 core processor by 2013 as well). With that sort of a mind set, you will be building a more future proof system. (for all of you who say future proofing doesn't exist I agree with you......I use the term poorly because there isn't really a word for what I am trying to describe). Basically this will allow you to work into a new computer with more potential that one with an old video card in it (which would be the 560 ti by that time). If your GTS 250 is playing Skyrim to your liking, then wait and invest in something that would REALLY blow your pants off.

 

HAHA, true.. I think AMD needs to realize that hitting the market with an octacore that's far inferior to the i7-2600k was a step back instead of forward. They need to catch up with Intel's R&D and step up their game if they want to stay alive.

[Tjj226_Angel]

HAHA, true.. I think AMD needs to realize that hitting the market with an octacore that's far inferior to the i7-2600k was a step back instead of forward. They need to catch up with Intel's R&D and step up their game if they want to stay alive.

 

Quite simply, they can't. That is why they are making RAM, video cards, and soon to be SSDs.

 

However, my point was to go out and start working towards a whole new PC

[Waco]

However, my point was to go out and start working towards a whole new PC

There's nothing wrong with his machine at all. A new GPU is all it needs to be a top of the line machine.

[Tjj226_Angel]

There's nothing wrong with his machine at all. A new GPU is all it needs to be a top of the line machine.

 

Yeah for the moment. Games are already starting to use quad core CPUs, which means it wont be long until it will be a standard? When it does become a standard, I do would not want to be holding onto an X3 CPU.

 

I am not saying to the OP that he should rush out this instance and buy a new PC, I am saying that if he already has a good video card then he should wait until kepler. From there when he upgrades into a new computer, his parts will be similar enough in age where he wont be suffering from a bottle neck due to an again part which would be the 560 ti by that point. You are certainly right in that his machine is fine for the moment, but I can only imagine that with the rate at which technology is expanding, that he will definitely need some more shiny new parts in that build by the end of this year and certainly by the end of 2013. That being the case, he should get the most up to date card possible. Simple really.

[Waco]

You are certainly right in that his machine is fine for the moment, but I can only imagine that with the rate at which technology is expanding, that he will definitely need some more shiny new parts in that build by the end of this year and certainly by the end of 2013.

In this age of console ports? What are you smoking?

 

An X3 and an old 4850 is more than enough to play pretty much everything on the market today.