Just installed a Gigabyte GTX 670 OC version upgrading from a GTX 280.

 

Had been trying to decide between a 570 or 580, then read the release reviews on the 670 .

 

The Gigabyte 670 OC version was getting high praise,

reportedly beating the stock 680 in some tests

and showing significantly higher results than the last gen 580 cards.

 

It also was mentioned it had a arguably better full board design compared to other 670 models.

Reading it ran cooler and quieter got me heading to the store just before they ran out.

 

Anyhow, the improvement running Flight is incredible!

 

My test case was outside Honolulu flying at 800' in towards the airport over the city,

about an hour after dawn with the sun low in the sky

creating dynamic shadows and beams of light between the buildings.

 

Used the 'among the giants' cloud setting.

 

With the High preset and VSync on using the GTX 280 rate could drop to 12.

Installed the 670 and could not believe when Fraps counter was often pinned at 60.

 

I then upped all the settings to as far as possible (4 Maximum and 2 HIgh)

and the worst I seen was about 35 fps. It just looks breath taking.

 

Maybe the 570 or 580 perform similar, been a while since I upgraded,

so I can't say this 670 OC is the card to buy

but coming from a GTX 280 it is one heck of an improvement.

 

Here's a capture of gpuz while flight was running,

you can see the GPU hits 1188 MHz yet the temperature and fan speed stay low.

 

Yes that is quite a jump, from a 280 to a 670.

Congrats and have fun with the better graphics and framerates!

Read all the reviews on the GTX670,very good card and only marinally behind the 680 for a lot less money.

What res are you running Flight at?Hope you enjoy,as dburne mentioned a really good upgrade from a 280.

Thanks guys, running at 1920x1080.

 

 

Ooo, I have a GTX 275. I hadn't thought of upgrading my graphics card, but your post has put a bee in my bonnet. Darn you.

Whats sad is going from a GT 280 to that monster 670 card wont let you much in the way of framerate in FSX. I went from an ATI 2950 to a 6970 and hardly got 2FPS more out of FSX. Flight was already performing very well on even the 2950, but hardly even stresses the new 6970!

Whats sad is going from a GT 280 to that monster 670 card wont let you much in the way of framerate in FSX...

 

Moving to a 2700K at 4.8 helped FSX :)

 

Looking forward to Alaska for Flight, the poping autogen in FSX seems much more noticeable after being spoiled using Flight on max settings...

 

Whats sad is going from a GT 280 to that monster 670 card wont let you much in the way of framerate in FSX. I went from an ATI 2950 to a 6970 and hardly got 2FPS more out of FSX. Flight was already performing very well on even the 2950, but hardly even stresses the new 6970!

 

Well known that FSX is horribly CPU limited - GPU upgrades don't do much for it after a certain level.

Well known that FSX is horribly CPU limited

 

Indeed - however while Flight does a much better job of using more of the GPU, it still uses the cpu fairly heavily.

Compared to my other flight sims I have, my cpu cores get a good 10c hotter or more whilst running Flight, than the others.

 

I have a feeling more could probably be done to offload more of the load onto the GPU even in Flight.

96% GPU usage... 38% fan speed and just 56ºC... simply awesome

GT 280 to that monster 670 card wont let you much in the way of framerate in FSX

 

That large of a jump certainly will make a difference. Not only in FSX but everything!

Well known that FSX is horribly CPU limited - GPU upgrades don't do much for it after a certain level.

 

jackcnd just posted his example that he got over 300% FPS boost...

how can you say it has no if hardly any effect in FSX?

 

also Myself, I had the GTX295 which was great and FPS was pretty good (with UT2 at 100% AI at rich Aerosoft Scenery I would not drop below 30FPS).

Clouds (REX clouds at 4096) never had any effect on my FPS at all.

 

unfortunately the card past away and I had to replace it.

I replaced it with ATI6790 and since then my FPS are border line between being bad and unplayable.

when it's a cloudy day, my FPS literately die (8-9 FPS at many cases).

that is a proven fact that GPU has a major role on performance in FSX.

CPU is more significant for the Autogen, AI, flight dynamics calc, etc. but when it comes to textures and Graphics drawing in FSX, it is the GPU that matters.

 

whoever tells you that GPU has minimal effect over FSX, don't know what he is talking about...and that's a fact.

jackcnd just posted his example that he got over 300% FPS boost...

how can you say it has no if hardly any effect in FSX?

 

 

Was a 300% boost in Flight

not FSX. Wish it was in FSX too :)

 

In FSX I can have more autogen with the 670,

but in low frame rate places like Orbx PNW with Vancouver+ installed,

frames still can drop to below 15.

 

Wonder how much work it would be for MS to code FSX to use the GPU like Flight does.

 

I'd be more than glad to pay for that!

I take it back then.

I missed that part that it was MSF and not FSX.

for me it was FSX the giant leap (in the negative way).

This card is capable of up to a 4 monitor setup as well? Ala Eyefinity from ATI. I'm curious as to the framerates with a 3 monitor setup with this card.