7800 gt OC discontinued?

[bu11et]

I have been spending the last couple of months building a new rig. I started with the mobo, of course, and when I bought it I had to buy a graphics card that had pci express since I was using agp at the time. So I got the 7800gt OC card from Best Buy for $350. My whole plan was to later on down the road purchase another 7800gt OC so I could go SLI. After I got my proper power supply going, and had my system stable with only the one card (let me tell you that the nvidia firewall kicked my ass for a time and made me want to drop kick my pc out my second floor window) I proceded to save my money for my next card. Low and behold when I had the scratch to invest in it, the card was unavaliable! I was pissed. I called several different Best Buys even one that was an hour and a half away from me, with no luck. The general response I got from Best Buy and from Comp USA and from any other store in my area I contacted was that NVIDIA has stopped manufacturing these cards so they wouldn't be available in the future. Now this to me was like the world coming to an end. All I wanted was a SLI rig and after investing all my hard earned cash it looked like I would have a hard time finding my second card. Luckily I was able to get one online through NewEgg. In fact the day I purchased the card from them I went back to their website a couple of hours later and they showed em out of stock. It seems I got one of the last ones on the shelf. My question is this, how can a company like Nvidia, who boasts great things like SLI, discontinue a product that people would need to enable their SLI? It seems like a dumb move to me, it's not like everyone can afford to buy both cards at once. Am I missing something here? Is there another card that mimics a 7800gt OC'd exactly so that people can purchase it as a subsitute for the original? Or are people who held out on the second card just screwed now? Currently I do not see any availible on any of my favorite sites.

 

[RichPLS]

You should be able to find one, but they are fading fast.
That is something that has been said over and over here, If you want SLI, buy it at once or shortly there after, because there is no guarantee the card will still be produced in 6 months... Best, just buy the latest single card for most bang fro the buck.

 

[bu11et]

It would have been safer going for the 7900GT for a few more bucks.

And of course, when I bought my first card, there were no 7900 models available, so I guess that is besides the point.

 

[bu11et]

Luckily I was able to get one online through NewEgg. In fact the day I purchased the card from them I went back to their website a couple of hours later and they showed em out of stock. It seems I got one of the last ones on the shelf. .

Well if you read my post then you would know I already have both my cards, I was just ranting about Nvidia discontinueing a product that people like me would want for an upgrade from the future of the first cards purchase. When I purchased my first card I had never even heard about 7900 series, that was in Early November 2005 or late october I can't remember exactly. Then I saved my money until I could afford my second card, which of course has to match exact model of my first no matter what new avaliable technoligy there was. That was when I started experiencing the difficulty of even finding my second card, hence the topic. I am sure I am not the only person who has gotten burned like this, I think they still manufacture and produce the 6800 series so why not the 7800? Just cause 7900 cost less to make therefore lines the pockets of some executive in some office somewhere? Screw that, I have lost alot of faith in Nvidia over this experience.

 

[Mach5Motorsport]

Do you expect some people to actually READ a post ?!?! You should see some of my students. :lol:

 

[bu11et]

Lol, yeah sometimes I wonder if anybody ever listens to anything I say, online or off. I guess I am the only one who is so annoyed by this marketing trick of Nvidia'sm, as I have not seen a major response here to my ranting and raving. Either that or it is an old subject and I am the one beating a dead horse. In any case, I think Nvidia may have lost a customer for the next time I decide to upgrade my graphics.

 

[parlee]

the thing is, nvidia saw it like everyone else who doesnt have a 7800gt and wants to sli it. they can produce a more power, while consuming less power, and even costing less (for both consumer and factory). im not 100% sure but i think u can put a 7900gt and a 7800gt in sli, since the 7900gt is just an overclocked 7800 there shouldnt be a problem. nvidia produces 6 series because they have to have a lower end line of cards. kinda like how ati still produces 9600 series, and even lower. notice how the 6800ultra isnt made anymore... because the 7800gt came out and it was cheaper to make, so nvidia cut the 6800ultra, same goes for the 6800gt. and just think, out of the people that bought a 7800gt, how many were planning on going sli 6 months later? 2% at most? it isnt worth it to produce 7800's when the 7900 is a better version of it. in order to keep it working right the 7800 would have to be priced at about 225, which would be an incredable price, but nvidia cant do that, they would probably end up losing a profit.

the bigger issue IMO is that agp is dead and only one company supports it (gainward, with there 7800 release a few days ago) sure agp is slower than pci express, but newest cards would be able to run on it with NO difference from pciexpress for at least another 8 months.. and all thats required to do so is a bridge, which could jack prices up for agp by at most 20 bux. its a joke how quickly they switched over and dropped agp, it was like 4 months... lets hope amd doesnt do that with 939 or where all gonna be boned. and probably pissed.

 

[Mach5Motorsport]

the bigger issue IMO is that agp is dead and only one company supports it (gainward, with there 7800 release a few days ago) sure agp is slower than pci express, but newest cards would be able to run on it with NO difference from pciexpress for at least another 8 months.. and all thats required to do so is a bridge, which could jack prices up for agp by at most 20 bux. its a joke how quickly they switched over and dropped agp, it was like 4 months... lets hope amd doesnt do that with 939 or where all gonna be boned. and probably pissed.

Again, the AGP format despite some fandoys hopes out there is not dead. Everytime a new card comes out for the AGP format, All I see are these hissy-fit posts calling for AGP to die. (HAH-HAH) :lol: The market is still over 50% AGP. I can name six companies offering a 7800GS AGP card. Albatron, BFG, eVGA, Gainward, MSI, and XFX.

 

[parlee]

yea the problem is the only company supporting an actual 7800gt setup is the gainward, and it retails for somewhere about 500 i think. which is just rediculous, sure it has 512 memory, but noone who knows anything will buy a card that overpriced. it pisses me off to no end when companys do that. take advantage of an older graphics slot and either forcing people to upgrade motherboards or buy there redicously overpriced graphics cards, that offer poorer perforamnce than the pci-express cards retailed at similar prices. for example, 7800gs 16 pipelines 450/1300 299. 7900gt 20 pipeline (duno clocks, but i know its higher than 7800gs) for 300 bux, the 7900gt is what close to 30% faster than a 7800gs? just rediculous. it makes me want to switch to apple... but then again the same card makers design cards for apple... maybe ill just go outside? i hate ranting about this shit but this is like the dumbest marketing ever. overprice like crazy and ditch half of the computer users... no wonder profits are down, people are waiting for "vista and new sockets" before upgrading graphics.

 

[Mach5Motorsport]

Hey, any card (regardless of format) that exceeds $400 is obscene. I can't see any good reason. Do they cure cancer? Grade papers (I wish).

 

[parlee]

id spend 400 on a card if it gave constant 100fps on fear at max... thatd be worth it to me... i swear i can tell framelag at 60fps on fear 🙁 makes me not wanna play it... same with oblivion but... cant... put... it... down... speaking of which, why am i still ehre