Ummm... Ok, I wanted to upgrade to a GTX 480 around December but I'm scared i'm gonna bottleneck. Here's my current system:

ASUS NVIDIA GTX 260 core 216
Intel Core i5 661 Dual core w/ hyperthreading at 3.33ghz
4GB of RAM
Antec 750W PSU
Windows 7 64-bit

I was going to replace the 260 with the 480. Good idea or not ?

P:S I'm not going to upgrade to a quad due to being a gamer, current games don't usually require more than two cores.

I'm a huge Nvidia fan, and I'll still admit that 5870 wins benchmarks against 480. Although, for that system, I would suggest sticking with the EVGA GTX 460 1GB superclock. Approx 60% of the price, plenty powerful for your rig, handles Crysis 1680x1050 maxed at 35FPS during firefights with lots of particle effects.

For comparison, evga x58 ftw3, i7 930, 6gb OCZ reaper 2000mhz. Runs fine on corsair tx650w, DX11 support, costs roughly $230 USD, instead of $400+ USD for a 480 series.

One note, this card runs pretty warm, if thats an issue for you.

Edit-ish:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/34422-evga-gtx-460-1gb-superclocked-ee-external-exhaust-review-8.html

Link to the start of benchmarks for that card, so you don't have to take my word for it.

I suggest you get the 460 instead of the 480, and maybe burn the extra cash on a Quad Core. The 460 will handle Crysis 2 just fine though, and I think the 480 would be going a little overkill.

However, you might want to wait for the recommended hardware release like I am, so that you don't burn any extra cash if you don't need to, or if you need to actually burn more cash than you originally anticipated.

I don't want the 460, the 480 is what I'm getting. OCed, my 260 goes to 80o so i'm good with heat. Told you guys, I don't need a Quad, the i5 @ 3,33ghz lets me run BC2 maxed with 40-60 FPS constant...

Well, if you're set in the plan, you really shouldn't put it in the form of a question, IMHO. The way you posed it, it sounded like you're a budgeted enthusiast, which is where my suggestion of the 460 came in.

As to whether you would end up bottlenecked, I would say it's possible given the fairly low RAM clocks that CPU can handle. I can't say for sure, myself, just a reasonable guess.

And as for your framerate in BC2, you can't possibly have it maxed with a 260, since the game is DX11 compatible and 260s are DX10 cards.

I'll show you what a bottleneck is -
my specs -
Core 2 Duo 3.0. GHz ,
4 GB RAM
Nvidia GTX 470

The processor is the problem, obviously...

TBH, I'm just a 14-year old with 500$ to spend xD I want a good card for my money, the 460 is slightly stronger than the 260 so I don't want it much... The 480 is the plan I'm going for, nothing weaker.

Why not get the 1GB version of the GTX 460? Or why not get 2 (supposing that you have and SLI enabled mobo)? Both would cost around the same or even less than the 480 and you would get better performance?

u got an sli board? If so than go for a gtx 460 sli.

I'd go for the 460 leave 260 as PPU and "waste" the extra cash left from the 460 and buy an HDD velociraptor or an SSD. The serious bottleneck will and always be the hardrive... Well with the SSDs not some much anymore.

You guys don't get it... I DON'T WANT THE 460!! It's alot weaker than the 480 and performs the same as the 260. In other words, I'm not making a profit.

Dual 460s outperform a 480, 460 gets the same performance in DX11 with AA that a 260 gets in DX10 w/out AA. I don't know what part of your anatomy you happen to be pulling numbers from, but the fact that they stink might be an indication.

The difference in specs from 260 to 460 is 3-4 times the difference in specs from a 460 to 480. And you aren't running what anyone would jokingly call a super high end system, so blowing the value of all your other components combined on a top end video card would be a waste of money.

This is what you asked to hear, if you didn't want to hear this, you shouldn't have asked at all.

Exactly, youll be doing yourself a favor by getting dual GTX 460's. Outperfoms a 480 and still costs less.

[quote]You guys don't get it... I DON'T WANT THE 460!! It's alot weaker than the 480 and performs the same as the 260. In other words, I'm not making a profit.[/quote]

a GTX 460 is better than a 260 GTX
And dual GTX460s will undoubtledly be faster than a GTX 480, as said above
Don't you get it ? - a GTX 480 is really not that much more powerful. Its just a bit more powerful than the 470GTX which is a little more powerful than a GTX460.
Getting dual SLI GTX 460s, especially the overclocked ones, will be more than a single GTX 480
Oh well, a 480 still may be a good choice, if you can upgrade again later - you could get another one of those.

Dual 480s in a system that won't be able to bring a single one to full potential. Sounds like a colossal waste of money, but since he's already insistent on that, whatever floats his boat.

But, I'm starting to get the impression he basically buys whatever sounds most impressive at the time based on numbers that make as much sense to him as mandarin chinese does to a chimp, and then vehemently defends his buying decisions with whatever you call the utterly made up version of anecdotal evidence.

My mobo isn't SLi compatible so dual 460s is out of question. I read online that to use the full potential of a 480, a CPU w/ 3.2GHZ was needed. I'm planning to get an i7 950 next year so I don't want the 460. The poster above should calm down, that was uncalled for.

[quote]You guys don't get it... I DON'T WANT THE 460!! It's alot weaker than the 480 and performs the same as the 260. In other words, I'm not making a profit.[/quote]

[quote]I don't want the 460, the 480 is what I'm getting. OCed, my 260 goes to 80o so i'm good with heat. Told you guys, I don't need a Quad, the i5 @ 3,33ghz lets me run BC2 maxed with 40-60 FPS constant...[/quote]

These posts were also uncalled for, given you asked for opinions, which you then received. If you already made a decision, you should say that, instead of asking a question you don't want answers to.

And I still want to know what gives you the notion that a 260 is on par with a 460. That's like saying a 1990 honda civic can go as fast as a porsche, when we all know the only way that will happen is if you drop them both off a cliff together.

Oh, and read this:
http://forum.ncixus.com/forums/?mode=showthread&forum=116&threadid=2167620&pagenumber=0&msgcount=0&subpage=1

I can't guarantee validity, since I am none of those posters, but it seems to discuss the situation.

[quote]But, I'm starting to get the impression he basically buys whatever sounds most impressive at the time based on numbers that make as much sense to him as mandarin chinese does to a chimp, and then vehemently defends his buying decisions with whatever you call the utterly made up version of anecdotal evidence.[/quote]

^LOL

[quote]My mobo isn't SLi compatible so dual 460s is out of question. I read online that to use the full potential of a 480, a CPU w/ 3.2GHZ was needed. I'm planning to get an i7 950 next year so I don't want the 460.[quote]

Then you better hold on to those 500$ cus that i5's socket is different from the i7 950 you want to buy, which means, you'll have to buy another motherboard.
I suggest you do some research on that first.

Lol Where are my quotes!?

I think your chimp stole my quotes, JingleHell!

Just kiding. =P

It probably did. Rather dastardly chimp, to be honest. Terribly impressionable, too, he's trying to OC a Pentium 2 to 3.33 with a 480, to play BC2 maxed. Poor chimp's language tutor will have a TERRIBLE day when it doesn't work.

[quote]It probably did. Rather dastardly chimp, to be honest. Terribly impressionable, too, he's trying to OC a Pentium 2 to 3.33 with a 480, to play BC2 maxed. Poor chimp's language tutor will have a TERRIBLE day when it doesn't work.[/quote]Where the hell did the P2 come from??? It seems like Mr. Tutor needs tutoring from the monkey himself

I believe the word parody applies in this case. Funny that out of ALL the commentary, all you can do is reject the valid points out of hand, cry about the very predictable response to that, and try to insult the joke made to someone else.

[quote][quote]It probably did. Rather dastardly chimp, to be honest. Terribly impressionable, too, he's trying to OC a Pentium 2 to 3.33 with a 480, to play BC2 maxed. Poor chimp's language tutor will have a TERRIBLE day when it doesn't work.[/quote]

[/quote]

LOL. Im pretty sure he knew you didnt have a P2.