Graphics cards too expensive

MooseJam

I think they are too expensive, with the new releases coming i'd like to upgrade but don't have 500 quid to spare, it's a bit much to be charging really considering it's just one component of a pc, you could buy yourself a ps3 and a couple of games for that price or even a whole cheap pc, 500 yoyos is too much, 300 should buy you the best of the best

TerrorFirmer

What's your current card?

The first review of the GTX seems to suggest it's totally uneconomical....no surprise there. While the first user review of the new Ati 4850 seems to say the exact opposite - killer performance at a killer price.

I've got 8800GS Sli - total cost 170 euro - can run Call of Duty 4 at 1680x1050 max settings 4xAA no problems in 50-man servers.

You don't need anywhere near 500 euro to upgrade to a good setup....rather then doom and gloom it's one of the best times to buy computer hardware lately.

MooseJam

I've got 8800GT's in SLI, going by first reviews of the GTX280 it probably wouldn't be worth my while upgrading though maybe ATI will do better

tramoredude

Graphics cards are incredibly cheap! When is the last time you could buy a card for around 100 euro that can play EVERY game currently out on high at 1680*1050?

9600gt
8800gs
3850

etc etc and it looks like the 4850 that will retail for around €170 is gonna pummel the 9800GTX

MooseJam

yea looking at it that way things aren't so bad, last card I got was for my bro - got him a 8800gs for 90 quid which as you say does the business, it's only bad if you want the best of the best.

AlmightyCushion

tramoredude wrote: »

Graphics cards are incredibly cheap! When is the last time you could buy a card for around 100 euro that can play EVERY game currently out on high at 1680*1050?

9600gt
8800gs
3850

etc etc and it looks like the 4850 that will retail for around €170 is gonna pummel the 9800GTX

That 4850 looks like it's gonna be a beast for the price.

seraphimvc

just a statement that today receive my XFX 8800gs,perfectly smooth on everything:Dcosted me about 80euro

uberpixie

Does anyone honestly remember a better time for value in graphics cards?

Go back through the generations and there usually is one card at one price point that was worth getting that really hit that magic bang for the buck.

Now we have several, especially in the low end of the market which is usually rubbish.

We have 8800GS-> 9600GTs-> 8800 GT/GTS/GTX->9800GTX all great value for money and cheap.

We also the 3780 which I am sure made many an owner happy with it's price performance at the time.

You can get a great card from €80-€260.

There is no need to go higher unless you are playing at extreme resolutions or you are a benchmark whore:D.

Sqaull20

Ti 4200 was magic, but yeah I agree no better time.

alansweeney100

Have to agree with this article, although there is some money to be saved on the slightly older models, the latest and best of the best are outrageously expensive, this EVGA Geforce GTX 280 will cost you the guts of €745 with delivery.:(

christophicus

MooseJam wrote: »

I've got 8800GT's in SLI, going by first reviews of the GTX280 it probably wouldn't be worth my while upgrading though maybe ATI will do better

This kinda thing really annoys me. You have TWO 8800GT's and you are looking to upgrade ??

It makes no sense to me. I am still running a x1800gto, I would kill for a single 8800gt, let alone TWO !!! And you are looking to upgrade ???


I suppose I am just jealous, I wish I had enough money to blow on hardware like that .

Slutmonkey57b

I think the difference nowadays is not value for money, but upper limit cost.
A few years ago, the top, TOP cards were in the €200-250 bracket, with pretty clear steps down in ~€50 increments. Nowadays, the top end is stupidly high at around €500-600, followed by a ~€300 drop down to the "middle" ground, and then a chaotic mess of products rebadged by marketing to the benefit of nobody (nvidia, I'm looking at you with your 8800GTS 640/320, GT 256/512, GTS 512, 9600GT, 8800GS, 9800GTS, 8800GSO, 8600GTS/GT/GS..... need I go on?).

After the reviews of the GTX and the 4850, it appears the 8800GT is STILL the card to beat in terms of bang for your buck.

MooseJam

8800gt is a great card, the price will no doubt be coming down and would be a great buy for someone on a budget

uberpixie

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

I think the difference nowadays is not value for money, but upper limit cost.
A few years ago, the top, TOP cards were in the €200-250 bracket, with pretty clear steps down in ~€50 increments. Nowadays, the top end is stupidly high at around €500-600, followed by a ~€300 drop down to the "middle" ground, and then a chaotic mess of products rebadged by marketing to the benefit of nobody (nvidia, I'm looking at you with your 8800GTS 640/320, GT 256/512, GTS 512, 9600GT, 8800GS, 9800GTS, 8800GSO, 8600GTS/GT/GS..... need I go on?).

After the reviews of the GTX and the 4850, it appears the 8800GT is STILL the card to beat in terms of bang for your buck.

all true, but the mid range cards offer huge performance for a very cheap price.

Crysis is the only game that does not run well, everything else pretty much runs a treat on a 8800GT.

So why bother with the high end now, when you can get something much cheaper that pretty much does what the high end does?

Sod the "high end". We all want something new to put in our pcs, but really the base line performance you have now for so cheap is amazing.

I am still on a 8800GTS 320mb, I am not budging for a while yet. I want to see a huge price cut before I will bother replacing my card or an obscene jump in performance.

Also I read today Nvidia may be releasing a 9800GTX+, a 55nm version of the 9800GTX.

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/06/19/gtx9800-tips
(granted it is the inq.....:rolleyes:)

Further dilution of the market eh?

EDIT:

From Toms

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/Nvidia-9800GTX-GeForce,news-28540.html

"The new GPU comes with a core clock of 1836 MHz and a memory clock of 738 MHz. Nvidia highlighted that physics support (based on Ageia’s original PhysX engine that has been integrated into CUDA) is supported by both the 9800 GTX and GTX+ through the driver version 177.39. With PhysX enabled, Nvidia claims that the physics simulation in the 3D Mark Vantage benchmark gains about 7.5x in performance and provides more than six times the performance of AMD’s Radeon 4850.

The company also claims to have an advantage in overall gaming performance in Crysis, Call of Duty 4, world in Conflict, ET: Quake Wars, Oblivion, Lost Planet, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and Stalker."

Hhhhhmmmmm I smell a price war coming. Good for all of us.

There looks to be a huge fight on over the €200 mark, but really the new 4850 performance seems to be inline with the 8800GT-9800GTX range, at least it is single slot and should be easy to fit 2 of them in any case for crossfire.

Soooo really it seems to be a step sideways for ATI more than anything else.

Atm is there much incentive for anyone on a 8 series to upgrade? Not really. Unless you have an intel chipset and plan to go crossfire.

Chances are the 9800GTX+ won't be a huge jump over a 9800GTX, unless native physx turns out to be magical.
(standard 9800GTX should support physx as well natively)

That said prices on the GTX 260 should come down more towards the €300 mark overtime, which would be well worth picking up for that price.

Now we wait and see how the 4780 turns out.

TerrorFirmer

christophicus wrote: »

This kinda thing really annoys me. You have TWO 8800GT's and you are looking to upgrade ??

It makes no sense to me. I am still running a x1800gto, I would kill for a single 8800gt, let alone TWO !!! And you are looking to upgrade ???


I suppose I am just jealous, I wish I had enough money to blow on hardware like that .

I sold 2x8800GTS 512mb a while back, now using 2x8800GS, planning on GTX260 Sli in september....and I had dual Hd3870's before that.

It actually gets on my nerves not being able to play anything at 1680x1050 max settings with AA/AF. When I can't do that, it's time for an upgrade.

MooseJam

christophicus wrote: »

I suppose I am just jealous, I wish I had enough money to blow on hardware like that .

well you know what they say - a fool and his money are easily parted

conceited

well you know what they say - a fool and his money are easily parted

You just seemed to sum up nvidias whole market right there, good job.

Rsaeire

I agree with the aformentioned statements that the present gaming climate is one of the best for years. Not only is there a slew of new cards just arriving from both Nvidia and AMD, but most of the other cards on the market are obtainable for a fraction of the price cards in their class were available for 2 or even 4 years ago.

Not only that, but we now have cards that can fully decode both HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats and still handle games with aplomb. In my opinion, it is great time to be into PC gaming.

TomCo

Sqaull20 wrote: »

Ti 4200 was magic, but yeah I agree no better time.

I had (still have) the Ti4600. Now that was a monster.

Overheal

You have 2 options when buying cards:

spend €500 and get a bitchin' card that will run your games pretty good for the next three years, but will at that point crap out. A good example of this: you bought a €500 that blew the shhit out of HL2 but now 3 years on struggles to meet the bare minimum requirements for Crysis - and your FPS isnt much better than 15 either.

or you can spend €250 on a decent mid range card today (HL2 days for this case) that runs your game above reccomended specs, you still get your 60FPS or more out of it, but it'll give out in about 18 months depending on your gaming habit: so you upgrade to another mid-range card later for €250. Interestingly enough, this 2nd card can take a punch from Crysis, run at the lower end but still not so bad.

Mid-range card prices are dropping like stones anyway. Like others seem to be saying the rate at which new models are coming out is impressive, and that just slashes the price on the ones before them.