Originally posted by: nyker96
I think ig you going to buy 8600gt then buy this, it's much faster and has a better price/performance. This card isn;t competing again 8800GT not even close. So you want something like GT level better buy the GT at $250. This is more mainstream entry level.
After shipping and tax, You need to budget about $300 for 8800GT.
We can kid ourselves all we want and think that 8800GT is a midrange card.
I've made the point before and I'll make it again (I've been hammered by my views). While 8800GT is, without a doubt, the card to get now days, what I cannot accept is how it is a "mid-range card". Many are crazed about how 8800GT delivers 8800GTX performance at half the price. What many don't realize is the fact that 8800GTX has been out one year to date without a price drop. The quarterly price drops we've seen since the GeForce 2 days were no more. I don't blame Nvidia, its is purely economics, AMD (ATI) hasn't been able to deliver something that remotely comes close and therefore they didn't feel the need to drop prices. Having said that, I see the 8800GT as the much deserved price break from a $600 8800GTX. However the funny thing is that while I was expecting to see the 8800 GT from $150 (256MB) to $250 (512MB), everywhere I look, I end up paying about $300. Wait a minute... that's not "mid-range" in my book.
Ever since the Nvidia Ti series days, "mid-range" cards could normally be had for $150, and "high-end" for about $300. Due to the lack of competition from AMD (ATI), us the consumers, have been dishing out $600 for what Nvidia has defined as the "high end" cards and now, $300 is the new mid range. It absolutely does not make sense. While the price of the processors, motherboards, memory, peripherals (optical drive, etc...) have been steadily dropping in price, it seems as if the trend is the exact opposite in the video card market.
Right now, 8800GTX which is $600 is rendered moot by 8800GT which is $300. Soon, they will roll out a new high-end inline with the 8800GT die shrink which will leave 8800GT in the dust (one that will probably allow for us to play Crysis in all its glory), then people will, again, accept the fact that the high ends do cost $600...
I am not dissing Nvidia, 8800GT is a great card. What I am dissing is the fact that we, the consumers, are slowly but surely accepting the price norm of the new "mid-range" and "high-range" sector. If most of the other pc components such as the CPU and RAM are dropping in price, why should we accept price of video cards that are sometimes more expensive then the computer system itself?
Having said all that, the new 3850 retailing at $179 with $20 MIR that should roll along soon is more inline with the "mid range" pricing that we are accustomed to.
I've always owned Nvidia cards. From the TNT, Geforce2, Geforce 4 Ti's and my last Geforce 6600GT. I've always chosen the mid-range card of those days and paid not more than $150 for any of these video cards. Now, the price tag of $179 with $20 rebate for Radeon 3850 is more in line with my definition of mid range. Granted, that 3850 or 3870 is no 8800GT, after looking at the benchmarks it does seem to play most of the games with higher than 30 fps at respectable resolutions. I've been making my last stand with 6600GT SLI but I think I will jump on the AMD 3850 or 3870 as soon as they become available (they guarantee a hard launch so hopefully I can pick one up.
So why don't we do this....?
$50 ~ $100 Card = "Budget Card"
$100 ~ $200 Card = "Mid Range Card"
$200 ~ $300 Card "= "Hi End Card"
$300 and above = "Luxury-End Card"
In summary, AMD 38xx launch is a good launch and