Previews - BFG (NVIDIA) GeForce 9800 GT: what's in a name?

[HEXUS]

NVIDIA quietly rolls out the GeForce 9800 GT. An incremental upgrade or something really new? We tell you

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[shadowmaster]

Retail pricing of the Radeon HD 4870, starting off at £110, is such that it makes little sense for NVIDIA's partners and etailers to charge more than £100 for any model: AMD's is a faster, better-featured card, after all.

You mean the 4850?

[Tarinder]

Indeed I do, although I wish I could get a 4870 for that little!

[jonh17]

Hmm looks basically like a 55nm version of the 8800 GT, i think the 4850 still looks like a better option even if it does have driver issues.

[WoLFe]

^

Drivers are crucial. I would personally think with Nvidia for a long time, I've already had a very bad experience with ATI cards, but maybe that is just me..

[neoboy]

Just you, never had problems with ATI in the last 4 years. I really can't see where this card will fit, just seems pointless to release anything now that 4850 is so low in price unless they'll sell it for under £100.

[Crevan]

@Tarinder
I hope "TSMC 65nm" in the 9800GTX+ column is also a typo?

My question would be - will these parts be as late as 9800GTX+ is? It's nearing 2 week overdue mark now >.<

[Tarinder]

Yup, it is.

This is what happens when you find out about a new SKU an hour before 'launch'. :|

We can but wait and see. GeForce 9800 GTX+ bundles are slowly making their way into the channel now, but it's almost August, and we reckon that 9800 GTs will probably show by August 10th.

Pricing is crucial, it really, really is. 9800 GT has to be cheaper than present 8800 GT, otherwise what's the point?

[AdamAnubis]

Yup, it is.
and we reckon that 9800 GTs will probably show by August 10th.

Pricing is crucial, it really, really is. 9800 GT has to be cheaper than present 8800 GT, otherwise what's the point?

Thats my birthday!

Sorry, couldnt resist

To be honest, with the price of 9800GTX at £120, i can't see the point of the GT unless it is >£90

[sawyen]

Thats my birthday!

Sorry, couldnt resist

To be honest, with the price of 9800GTX at £120, i can't see the point of the GT unless it is >£90

you really mean <£90 no?

if its >£90 then THAT is really no point..

[AdamAnubis]

you really mean <£90 no?

if its >£90 then THAT is really no point..

I ALWAYS get that symbol the wrong way round, Yeah i meant <£90.

Sorry

[Brewster0101]

£90 is pointless when you can pick up the 4850 for £100 - £115 and gain something upto 50% performance increase in some cases.

Because of AMD's pricing and sheer power of the 4850, the 9600gt needs to come in around £70 - £80 and be classed as bottom mid range, its not in the same league as the 4850

[20girls]

i am waiting for the HD4870 with 1GB RAM hahh... should worth the money if < 250

[DeSean]

i am waiting for the HD4870 with 1GB RAM hahh... should worth the money if < 250

Yep that sounds jolly nice. I think I only need 512, but a high clocked 4870 with that much memory and a nice cooler was around, I would get one in a second. If it had a black PCB, i would probably want to have with it.

[AdamAnubis]

Am I correct in thinking that higher RAM on a gcard only really comes into play at higher resolutions? I'm sure i read this somewhere, may be wrong though. Certainly if it had higher clocks to take advantage of the extra RAM, then that would be nice.

[TooNice]

Games that uses more detailed/larger textures will also benefit more memory, as would cranking up AA. That's why some (older) games will run at @1900x1200 or higher without being noticeably handicapped compared to the same card with 512MB, but others games may caused the 256MB card to severely choke even at 1680x1050. But I would say that resolution is one of the most important factor when determining graphic memory requirement. At the same resolution, it takes a pretty long time for games catch up with the memory available. That's probably why a good 512MB cards still cope so well. Personally, I suspect that most people would still get more for their money with the 512MB version of the 4870 than the 1GB for the useful life of the card.