Quote:
Originally Posted by Cliche
Also right now, time becomes a factor in picking up a video card.
The next generation products will be released in June, so all those who are picking up cards now for their GFX fix will probably feel PO'd that if they'd waited just a little bit longer, they could have picked up something more next gen than what they currently have.
Considering all of that...
the 9600 is the main stream part, and is thusly priced cheaper than an 8800, as the equivalent to the 8800 is the 9800, but nvidia hasn't gotten around to releasing a part that's equivalent yet.
Depending on setup, the 9600 will do anywhere from 66% to equal of the 8800gt.
Anyways, by the end of June, both AMD/ATI and Nvidia will have released their next gen parts, the 4850/4870 and the gtx260/gtx280. And the price points on those cards, may fall within that 200-400$ pricepoint that's usually marked for bang for buck.
However, if you are trapped in WinXP world and do not use vista, the latest and greatest may not perform any better at all, and that you may be missing out on the scant features that dx10 provides.
|
One thing to consider about the new cards is that the nvidia card manufacturers offer trade-up programs. So basically you could buy, say, a 8800GT now. Then next month the new cards come out. Give it a month or two to let the reviews fall into place and see if the general consensus is that it's worth an upgrade. If it is, you simply send your 8800GT back to eVGA, XFX, or BFG and they give you full retail value towards the new card. So essentially you can buy the new card using the 8800GT as a stop gap solution until that point.
From what I can tell, the only real difference between the eVGA, XFX, and BFG cards is the warranties and trade-up programs. If you're going to overclock, only two of them cover that in their warranty (I forget which two, but eVGA is definitely one). The trade-up programs all have different lengths (3-4 months) so look into that if that's an option.