Nvidia vs. ATI Price Wars: Isn't it AWESOME!!

[dragoncyber]

I've just read several reviews of the new 4850, and it kicks some major ass ...all for under 200.00...Strange how immediately Nvidia lowered the cost of it's 9800GTX's to 199.99 right away.

Worst part is the 4850 beats the 9800GTX in almost all the benchmarks, and when Xfired even stomps the 9800 GX2 and the GTX280 into the ground. Again for less than 400.00 dollars.

The price wars have begun and Nvidia is going to lose this one badly I'm afraid.. Just think..the 4870 and 4870X2's are not even out yet, and they are both supposed to release cheaper than the GTX280.
Heck the 4850 was nipping at the GTX280's Heels in most of the benchmarks by less then 10 to 15 Frames a second. That means the 4870 should really give it a run for it's money or better...maybe beat it.

Another fun fact is that now Nvidia is releasing a new 9800GTX+ edition with a new 55nm process, for better cooling and faster core clocks. And it too is supposed to retail for 200-220 usd. Amazing, buy three of them..Tri-SLI them, and out perform everything for less than one GTX280...Awesome!! This is such a great time for gamers and graphics enthusiasts!!

I have been looking on all the major etailers and hardly any customer reviews are up yet for the GTX280...I think it's cuz no one is buying them at that ridiculous price!! when the 9800GX2 came out there were tons of customer reviews the next day!!

I love price wars, this is exactly what we needed as gamers..NEW CARDS for everyone!! I am so smiling as I'm typing this, cuz I am imagining (2) 4870X2's dancing in my head in CrossFire...

That is of course after I sell my 790I Ultra board. I have been praying for a decent Nvidia card to show up and got Duped instead. My 8800GT's in Sli will have to hold me Over until the 4870X2 shows it's ugly head then I will decide. But for the first time since the 8800GTX came out, I am actually excited about the new graphics cards coming.

I hope everyone else is enjoying this as much as me!!

 

[cmmcnamara]

Woah...9800GTX's at 199? Where? How? I was considering stepping up to the GTX 280 because it was going to cost me the same to buy another 9800GTX for SLI plus it had the 512 bus on it...but seeing how I have Tri SLI I could buy two more 9800GTX's for TRI SLI!!! Any idea if the 55nm 9800GTX will be SLI compatible with the current ones?

 

[randomizer]

I think you people have this idea that the GTX280 is going to stay at its current price point. The only reason it is there is because it is still the most powerful single card available on the market. Once the competition releases a more powerful card, or one that is very close, the price will drop. Ripping off the consumer while the competition has no card available that can compete is completely logical.

 

[thomasz1]

Well, I have the same think. Thank to share your thought.

 

[Flakes]

just reading a few reviews and the 4850 is as fast as a 9800GTX theres only a few frames(2-3fps) in each benchmark, with the 98 winning some and the 4850 winning some. its not that impressive tbh.

infact GRID is the only game with a big difference the GTX 280 is top then the 4850 then the 9800GTX.. in FEAR the 4850 wins out, but in GHOST2 98 wins out.

Strangely because of the lacklustre performance of these cards its going to push people like myself to go to SLI, if i buy another 8800GTX for SLI i will have something faster than a GTX280 AND a 4850.. whereas in the past the single fastest card was faster than the previous SLI.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Id wait. The reason Im saying to wait is this. There mau be an active bridge for thr R700 (4870x2) + the GDDR5 which may hekp in the cards useage of memory and communication between cores. If they both are true (rumored at this time) the R700 will kill anything out there in quadfire. It scores over 12000 in Vantage x, this we know, now it just comes down to effectiveness. If its seen/used as just two cards, you wont have the diminishing returns seen in other setups higher than a 2 card normal sli/cf setup

 

[makotech222]

well, i have until late july to step up to the gtx260 from my 9800gtx. i hope there are some price drops for it.

 

[Flakes]

makotech, just get another 9800GTX and SLI them.... of course im assuming you have the equipment. it will be cheaper and preform better.

 

[kassler]

Can the FSB on Intel motherboards handle two HD 4870 ?

PCI Express 20. x16 is 8 GB/s and two is 16 GB/s

The FSB can handle 12 GB/s if it is clocked to 400 MHz. Besides sending data to the GPU's the FSB also need to transfer data to memory

 

[EXT64]

This is awesome for everyone, even if you don't want an ATI card. Now we won't have another repeat of the 8800 pricing where it stayed >$500 for years (it seemed, at least). This lowers the price of other great cards like the 9800 so people can SLI those like an earlier poster (and I think this is a great idea, BTW)

 

[Guest]

Heck the 4850 was nipping at the GTX280's Heels in most of the benchmarks by less then 10 to 15 Frames a second. That means the 4870 should really give it a run for it's money or better...maybe beat it.

Only 10-15 fps behind?


HELL THEY'RE PRATICALLY THE SAME CARD!!!!!111!!11111ONE


Newsflash, 10-15fps is a lot. I've seen the benches, the 4850 isn't in the same league as the GTX280. And as stated, once the 4870 is released, the price of the GTX280 will fall to something a little more reasonable.

I agree that it is great now that ATI is almost on par with nVidia the prices are going to plummet. Hell I remember paying $300 for the 8800GTS 320MB because there just wasn't anything good out from ATI and nVidia charged what they wanted.

I think you just got a little carried away with your post. Drunk with emotion it seems.



Also, these cards do not even use all the bandwidth on a PCI-E 16x lane, so don't worry about them maxing out 2x PCI-E 2.0 lanes.

 

[Amiga500]

I think you people have this idea that the GTX280 is going to stay at its current price point.

The big question is, what is the breakeven point for Nvidia?

Big chip, lots of transistors, yields cannot be great.

 

[EXT64]

The rumor (based on some calculations) was that it cost NVidia around $140 to make a single 280 chip. If that is true or even near true, they are in bad shape as ATI is selling the 4850 quite happily at $170. Until they drop it to 55nm like the 9800 line, I doubt they will have much room for drops.

 

[Granite3]

I am STILL waiting for something to make /entice/reward me to move from my SLI'd 8800 GTX's.

Unless you are doing HD playback, there is very little reason to make the jump yet.

I do love the competition, though, and hope the 4870/4870X2 makes me regret buying my current 790i board!

 

[iluvgillgill]

for me i just wouldnt buy ANY card now. the situation being if i buy the old G92 cards now i gonna see a price drop right afterward. if i buy the GT200 cards now i gonna get rip off.

i will wait maybe until mid august because when the HD4870X2 come out next month its gonna cause another stir OR PRICE DROP in the current cards(YUM!!)

so i will wait and see.

 

[kassler]

Also, these cards do not even use all the bandwidth on a PCI-E 16x lane, so don't worry about them maxing out 2x PCI-E 2.0 lanes.

Check this - http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/pci-express-2-0,review-30726-13.html

These new fast GPU's may have trouble to be used 100% on Intel motherboards. There is a lot of data that needs to be moved by the FSB.

 

[jamesgoddard]

Check this - http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/pci-express-2-0,review-30726-13.html

These new fast GPU's may have trouble to be used 100% on Intel motherboards. There is a lot of data that needs to be moved by the FSB.

As long as the gfx card frame buffer has enough memory to hold all the textures required, and is not having to swap out to main system memory all the time, then the link speed between the gfx card and the system will not be that relevant... Even with a PCIE1 4x speed connection (like on many P965 boards) you will get very near full performance, as long as the gfx card has enough memory...

I have a Asus p5w dh, ie 2 x 8x links - I am in no doubt that xfire with 2 x 4870 1GB will be fine....

 

[kassler]

I have a Asus p5w dh, ie 2 x 8x links - I am in no doubt that xfire with 2 x 4870 1GB will be fine....

But why does overclockers notice a performance boost if they overclock Intel? The processor is almost never 100% used.

 

[iluvgillgill]

you are very noob arent you?

 

[iluvgillgill]

does anyone know what the interconnection would be for the HD4870X2? would it use the same PCI-E 1.1 chip its using now?if yes then those people who said about the PCI-E 2.0 is a must will be battered badly!LOL :lol:

 

[kassler]

does anyone know what the interconnection would be for the HD4870X2? would it use the same PCI-E 1.1 chip its using now?if yes then those people who said about the PCI-E 2.0 is a must will be battered badly!LOL :lol:

Have you read this?
The need for an IMC and why the FSB is dead

Just want some answerst that also explain, there is a lot of people that "knows" but they cant explain what they "know".

 

[iluvgillgill]

i read that long time ago. im talking about the interconnection chip on the X2. on the HD3870X2 is the PLX bridge chip which operate at PCI-E 1.0 spec.

 

[kassler]

i read that long time ago. im talking about the interconnection chip on the X2. on the HD3870X2 is the PLX bridge chip which operate at PCI-E 1.0 spec.

Yes but the data that goes through the PCI also travels through the FSB. The FSB is used for all data that travels to and from the CPU. That means that the data will compete with other data and also will slow down the performance even if the PCI-E can handle the load.

 

[iluvgillgill]

yeah i get your point but in games now it shows no differences or very marginal difference in number of lane cut down from 16x to 8x. but anything under it will be limiting hard.

so people!lower your CPU multiplier and wreck the FSB all the way up!!!LOL

 

[cjl]

Except that if you look at tests, the gain from overclocking is roughly the same if you take a Core 2 Extreme chip and up the multiplier as if you take a standard one and up the FSB.