GTX260 Core 216 vs GTX275

I managed to find a good deal on a GTX275, and decided to pick one up. How will it fare against my GTX260 Core 216? Let's find out. First, here are the specs of the test system:

Nvidia didn't include the rubber cover for the SLI connector, or the cover for the digital audio connection on the GTX275. Not a major complaint, but I thought it was a nice touch on the GTX260. I'm not a huge fan of the red side either.

ForceWare 190.62 WHQL was used in these tests. All game tests were run at 1680x1050 at the highest possible settings. Crysis used the "DX10" hack for XP. Crysis was version 1.2.1, Unreal Tournament was version 2.1, and FEAR was version 1.08.

As you can see here, the GTX275 isn't a giant leap forward. However, for Crysis, every frame counts. With an average of 7.5fps faster than the GTX260 Core 216, I can't complain. UT3 obviously didn't yield amazing results. The GTX275 was on average 16fps faster for FEAR... but again, the GTX260 is already over double the 'ideal' framerate as it is (60fps). You do get bragging rights though.

For the 3dMark06 test, I left everything at defaults (1280x1024 res, no AA, etc..)

This graph may look impressive, but if you look at the actual numbers, you'll see the GTX275 only beat the GTX260 by 555 points.

So in the end, is it worth upgrading? Maybe if you want to have bragging rights, but unless you find a really good deal AND have a buyer for your existing GTX260, I probably wouldn't bother at this point.