[quotemsg=6572142,8,150022]The 9800GX2, a single card by any definition, WILL beat a single HD3870 X2.
So where's your argument?
HD3870 X2 Costs £250+
2 x 9600GT's Cost £240
Which does best in benchmarks? The 9600GT SLI setup.
[/quotemsg]
That 9600gt SLI test was done using two FPS. Big deal. It's irrational anyways, because the markets are different. Only fanboys care about ultimate fps wins between cards that aren't competing. 9600gt in SLI is of interest to SLI board owners who have an older 8xxx series card, like an 8800gts 320.
It's the 9800gx2 that competes against the 3870x2. Will it win? Probably by a small margin. The 4870x2 will be out by this summer, which will beat the 9800gx2. That's the way it goes. I won't care that a dual GPU Nvidia card that's not on a single PCB and has heat issues can beat a 3870x2 by a small margin in a FPS. My 3870x2's a better card. It's overclocked, it runs cooler and new driver releases will improve performance in the CRPGs I play. It already does great in The Witcher and Oblivion. Too bad LOTR Online went with the Nvidia bribery program (i.e. "the way it's meant to be paid").
Nvidia's hurting because they can't buy AMD. They need a CPU and fast. What will Nvidia do when Swift and Larrabee are out? Nvidia will be left out of the notebook market, which is the big moneymaker nowadays, not enthusiast gaming rigs. Nvidia's boards will probably end up supporting only some AMD or Intel processors, and not any desktop processors that provide hybrid Crossfire via Swift.
If they can make enough money in the enthusiast end, more power to them. What I forsee is another Nvidia FX generation. Their fans kept them alive back then, so they'll probably survive as a niche player competing against AMD and Intel at a time when both have GPU cores in CPU's, both have great chipsets and one standard of Crossfire. Plus, Intel will have their own discrete GPU's so it will be a 3 way race.
Competition is good.
[quotemsg=6572221,40,68270]And with the resources that Intel has, do you think theyll just sit by and let nVidia get the first try at new games?[/quotemsg]
Yes, Intel has more money to bribe game developers than Nvidia has. All the "The way it's meant to be played" program comes out to is Nvidia paying developers to provide pre-release code so Nvidia cards can be optimized in time for the first benchies of a new game (usually FPS). ATI eventually catches up, but only after the damage is done.
Maybe it's time for Nvidia to enter the console market by buying a CPU from Sony or IBM, but using their own chipsets and GPU designs? That may be their only route out of a mess. 3dfx had all the cash and great Voodoo cards, but they could not compete and were bought by Nvidia. It's just that no one right now wants to buy Nvidia, but would rather compete.
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