8800GT launch

I've been keeping an eye on the launch of Nvidia's new mid-range 8800GT. I've been interested in getting a new card for some time, but the pricing of the other 8800's has put me off.

Apparently this card performs better than both current 8800GTS cards (320mb and 640mb), ATI's HD2900XT, and is only a few FPS less than a 8800GTX.

It's retailing in the US for around $199 to $249 - I'm assuming $249 for the 512mb version of the card.

I believe there are passively cooled versions of the card coming soon - which is a must for someone like me who uses their PC for music - and it seems worth waiting until around mid-November for price drops (pricing in the UK is ridiculously high at the moment).

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6181908/index.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=multimodule&tag=multimodule;picks;story;1

That's pretty $&@*ing good for a budget video card......even if it didn't score the highest on the benchmarks.
(didn't know people benchmarked above 1600x1200 already, that'd be a good card for me actually since my monitor caps out at 1280x1024 anyway)

I am holding off till after crysis is released, after all thats the "killer app" you'd buy one for.

Im thinking of getting me one of these as well, although i read about ATI having something new in the same price range right around the corner.
so il probably wait a month or two, hopefully the price will drop or the ATI one will blow the socks of the NVIDIA one (i doubt it though)

Has anyone taken a look at that monsterous external `visual computing` box from NVidia? Like... $18-24,000, up to 80 billion pixels/second fill rate, etc. Can link up to 4 top of the line QuadroFX's together. Niiiiiiiiiice!

Pricey though.

sounds like it will be the new 7800GS equivalent. My GS is passively cooled so long as your not doing 3D. Was hoping something new would come out that would be similar, maybe this is it :)

I have been mortally wounded by graphics cards.

I stood up to be counted when Microsoft flaunted DX10 and I rushed to buy a DX10 card - I also bought the most expensive.

I was left in dismay as the DX10 titles failed to appear.

Next, I was stabbed in the face. DX10 hardware was made obsolete to be replaced by DX10.1 before we had any DX10 specific games.

I paid top wack for a DX10 system that I could SLI another 8800 GTX, thus making it last a few years.

I may now have to replace the 8800GTX if DX10.1 proves to be a big improvement.

Who's to say there won't be a DX10.2 in six months?

I think I'll get one when the buzz settles down, and they bring out passively cooled models. I know Sparkle has one in the pipeline, so others must follow too.

not even m$ knows it puki .

DX 10.1 offers better realtime global illumination.

The time global illumination appears in games will be about a year off -- just in time for an upgrade anyway. As an artist, I love GI, its the single most impressive change in how the scene overall is lit.

Imagine harsh lighting and angles replaced by hues and moods? thats what it does, its fantastically realistic.

I'm guessing they store the GI information in the vert colours and use some form of shader to extract it and blend with the lighting calculation.

I'd wait and see.
The 8800GT was just launched and appears to be a very good video card.
However, November 15, ATI will launch the Radeon HD 3850 and 3870, which should be around 200$ and 250$, respectively. From the rumors, the 3870 will be an awesome card. Based on the RV670 chipset with a 55nm process (the 8800GT is 65nm), higher clock, DDR4 ram (512MB), DX10.1, SM4.1.
I'm no ATI fan, but if the 3870 lives up to the promises, I'll buy 2 ;) If not, heck, I'll buy an 8800GT :D

I don't really like ATI cards, I've tried 3 on various systems and they were all unreliable, with less than stellar drivers, horrid control panel etc.

I never have probs with Nvidia.

If ATI lives up to the promisses, then it will take the maximum power from PCIe 2.0 standard, even worse than with current generation.

Its a joke that GPU creators move in the opposite direction of what the industry in general does ... lets see how long they can continue like that without beeing punished for it.

I think you'll find the cards don't do realtime GI, never mind better realtime. It's all faked.
As to power usage the industry should publish max. usage limits for each component that makers have to work within.

If it looks like it, then it is.

8800GT 512MB is Faster than GEFORCE 8800GTS 320MB :)

Yeah, the 8800GT is just shy of GTX performance, but I'm hoping that the eVGA SSC Edition performs better than even the Ultra, chances are, it'll at least outperform the GTX without too much hesitation. I'll wait until Crysis is released myself, then I'll probably grab the SSC from eVGA's website, unless Amazon carries that. The best I saw from Amazon's website was the KO Edition, tho.

I will be getting ASUS P5N-E 650i SLI skt775 MOTHERBOARD with GEFORCE 8800 GT :)