EVGA 01G-P3-1280-AR GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Pros: This was a beast of a card back in 2009 and for my first rig I spent a considerable amount of coin, especially on this card. It handled many games on max settings and I even did a little cuda/opengl development and it handled everything very well. There were some issues when taxing the card heavily.

Cons: First off, whenever the card was under heavy load it made a pretty annoying hissing sound. Serious visual games and any of the cuda/opengl samples would produce this like clockwork. The card would also run real hot, like really hot, whenever it was running hard for a while. Honestly, I'm an electrical engineer and I get that things get hot under heavy load, the issue here is insufficient heat dissapation. The side of my case is off in an open area with the window open in a cold season and it still pushes temperatures that are considered to be very high.

The first symptoms of issues (aside from hissing) started developing when I was playing GTA IV where after several hours of play I began getting artifacts and the rendering would start be pink. Once that happened it wasn't long after the system would crash.

I figured I would reduce game settings to relieve the card of stress that would result in inevitable failure and things went fine after that. This is a pretty big let down since the card (at the time) was considered to be a pretty serious heavy hitter at 350 bucks.

Today the card officially dies whenever under heavy load and a system restart is required. No artifacts first or anything like that, the screen just goes gray.

The fact that this card doesn't handle high loads for the price is a huge let down.

Other Thoughts: I'm going to purchase another EVGA card because I think they build a nice product and have useful software. I will however pay more attention to the reviews this time to look for negatives, as this card had won awards and such. I feel it does not merit the price considering it can't handle intensive loads and becomes the single point of failure in my pretty expensive system.

Hopefully the advances over the past few years have addressed these issues, fingers crossed.

Manufacturer Response:

Hello,

I am very sorry to hear that you are having this issue. Please give us a call at 888-881-3842 so we can work to get this resolved for you.

Thank you,
Brandon B

Pros: it's a good card while it works

Cons: I bought one in 2009 and in 2011 it began freezing and producing a busy pattern on the screen. I began reading and a lot of guys had this problem and ended up "baking" the card in the oven to reflow the solder - yikes! I RMA'd it, which worked for a while, but now it started happening again and they're saying that because I didn't register in the first 30 days the warranty doesn't apply. Lame! I've always kept a very clean computer in a AC cooled room. We have about 30 of these GTX 280s at work and almost half had started doing this after a year. Clearly there is a defect in the solder/heating of this card. In my opinion, EVGA's warranty policy sucks. I won't be buying any EVGA motherboards or graphics cards anymore. Nor will my workplace which spends tens of thousands of dollars on motherboards/graphics cards each year.

Manufacturer Response:

Hello,

I am sorry to hear your having heat issues with the card. Your card would have carried a 1 year warranty with the option to extend the warranty if registered within 30 days. You may consider re-applying thermal paste to the card to see if that resolves the issue.

Regards,
Matthew Hurwitz
Assistant Product Manager
Matth@evga.com

Pros: It was a good, fast card, at a reasonable price when I bought it.

Cons: May. Almost two years later when the warranty runs out. (mine was only 2 years, for some reason.)

I start getting odd graphical errors, freezing in games, lots of problems. As a user describes below. I test my PSU, it's volts are fine, good levels. It's not my RAM, Mem86 that, not my CPU, I used Prime95 on it, HDD's are fine.

Other Thoughts: I've built several computers before and never had any parts fail on me. It was a real shocker and I freaked out. I convened with all my tech friends and we troubleshooted it and determined it was the GPU, by using it in another System which also received the same errors.

I've RMA'ed it to EVGA and they plan to send me a replacement 280...but they've been out of production for quite awhile now...so I'm worried I'm getting a used one or refurb'ed one. I guess I should be glad I'm getting a working replacement at all, but it still bothers me somewhat...I mean they stopped production years ago...so it can only be a used or refurb'ed one and I honestly do not like that idea.

Still, only worth a 1 star deduction, because it's not really EVGA's fault, but I have heard of people getting a newer card of equal or greater value, so...yeah.

Pros: First card managed to run for more than a year before it became unusable via artifacting.

Cons: Problem: when starting the computer and loading the OS the computer freezes and displays very odd pixelated colors which fill the entire display. At this point, the computer will not respond to any input and power has to be removed to restart the system. I am now using the third GTX-280 that I have received from EVGA. All three cards have has the same issue, which I now belive to be a manufacturing problem. I have done extensive troubleshooting with this issue which includes, but is not limited to the following: I have attempted to use two different monitors (samsung synchmaster and LG HDTV), different sets of cables to connect the video card to the monitors, two different power supplies (Thermaltake 850W and Corsair 750W), all combinations of 4 different RAM chips (Mushkin DDR2 800) on four different RAM slots, two different motherboards (DFI LP-LT-X48 and Gigabyte GA-G41M), I have verified all voltages, reloaded Win 7, etc....

Other Thoughts: The only thing that has managed to correct this issue has been the use of a different video card. I temporarily used a 460 and the system worked just fine...this is dissapointing and frustrating. I guess I need to take by business elsewhere.

Manufacturer Response:

Hello,

I am sorry to hear of the issues you've experienced with your graphics cards. My name is Matthew and I am one of the assistant product managers at EVGA. Can you please contact me directly so I can work with you on this matter, matth@evga.com

Pros: Absolutely brutal performance in SLI on the right setup, just make sure you're either close to 4Ghz with dual-core or use a quad to avoid bottle-necking these. I got them primarily to use in widescreen apps as that is the only REAL justification for SLI and after I got my OC dialed in they really started to shine. I actually was not expecting these to make as much of a difference as they did from my 8800GTS's, at least 40% improvement in FPS accross the board after I got my E8500 up to 3.8 to help with the load.
This is the second set of eVga cards that I've bought from the egg and apparently someone at eVga messed up because although my invoice, boxes and registration at eVga show THESE particular cards I actually got the 1282AR superclocked versions as they show 621 core in Precision! Thanks VERY much eVga and Newegg!!!

Cons: I don't have three and it would take an even larger case than I have to attempt to keep three of 'em cool anyhow!

Other Thoughts: Coolermaster Cosmos Case, Toughpower850
780i SLI w/P08 BIOS
4gb OCZ SLI EPP PC6400,C2D 8500@ 3.8
Windows XP Pro32 SP3,Vista Ult.64SP2,Win7-64RC1
2X eVga GTX280 in SLI, Standard Realtek HD Audio
24" Samsung monitor

Pros: A great card. It is quite fast. I bought ove when they first came out and loved it. I just bought this second one sice the price dropped for SLI. Now SLI'ed and running very fast. Running a 22 inch 120hz Monitor for Nvidia 3d, and it runs all my gaves at crazy framerates at the highest detail.

Cons: The stock cooler is huge and covers the next slot below it. It also runs a bit hot with the stock cooler (in the 50c range under load). I have water cooled my system so the water block does not take up the slot below it, also cuts the card length down a few inches.

Other Thoughts: The first card was DOA, could be anyones fault, EVGA, Newegg, shipper, w/e . It took about 4 weeks to go thru the whole RMA proccess. SO if you have to deal with EVGA, there support was quick to answer, but usually dealing with a different person every time. SO make sure that each time you re-explain the WHOLE scenario or you will waiste time writing the same thing over and over in additional messages.

I.Ee they told me to try the card in Slot 1, so i did. I wrote back and said, "I tried the card in slot one and it still did not work." A different guy would write back and say, "what was the problem you were having?" I'd say" the card was not working." Then a different guy would say, "Please try installing the card in Slot one to see if it works there".... Get where Im going? I spent about a week doing that.

Pros: Very good card, runs fast and operates on a very low temperature.

Cons: none so far

Other Thoughts: I wanted to buy another one for SLI, but I am not able to find a second card anywhere. Maybe the card is no longer manufactured.

Pros: Plays everything I've thrown at it flawlessly

Cons: Runs a tad hot with default settings, but cranking up the fan a bit with the Precision Utility (available from EVGA's website) addresses this issue.

Pros: Very reliable and stable out of the box, and a great platform for overclocking. From my experience with these cards liquid cooled using EK blocks, they are some of the most stable and best overclocking GPUs I've ever run. One of these on a decently high end system will play everything out there quite well, including Crysis. For those who already own a GTX 280, adding another for SLI or even Tri-SLI will remain a tempting option versus a GTX 295 as prices continue to fall.

Cons: The prices could drop a bit faster on the 280s...

Other Thoughts: I've owned EVGA products for years, and the company just keeps getting better and better. The direction they are headed looks just as promising, with EVGA releasing more products aimed squarely at the high end enthusiast market, while at the same time broadening that demographic with excellent utilities like the EVGA GPU Voltage Tuner and Precision OC software. Never has overclocking been easier or more available to the average gamer. Add to that a stellar lifetime warranty and RMA program, and finding a better option than EVGA is very difficult.

Pros: Runs everything smooth and easy to overclock.

Cons: Runs a little hot but only because of my case.

Other Thoughts: Great card. Runs like a champ!