Video Cards Price Guide: Demystifying December Edition
by Kristopher Kubicki on December 5, 2004 10:43 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Video Cards GeForceFX
As expected, those fifth generation GeForce continue to dry up and as a result prices are slowly back on the climb. NVIDIA's GeForce 5900 and 5900 Ultra remain the only really worthwhile cards left in the series. Anand's recent Half Life 2 analysis showed the GeForceFX 5900XT - which is clocked slower than the 5900 and 5900 Ultra counterparts - performing very capably in the "midrange" ~$200 arena (I remember when we used to call midrange $60!).
However, just because a video card is capable does not mean you should go out and buy it. Of course, that's assuming you can still find a reasonably priced GeForce 5900. The Ultra versions now run over $400 and that is a ridiculous price to pay for yesterday's 'just capable' hardware. The 5900 non-Ultra versions still pack a punch for $200, but stock is mostly limited to PCI-Express versions. GeForce 6600GT's go for $200 on the PCI-Express bus and will be available for about the same price on the AGP bus shortly. Since the PCIe GeForce 6600GT's swiftly outperform every 5xxx model on the block (as we saw back in September) any reason to buy the 5xxx midrange cards over the 6xxx midrange cards seem ridiculous - and thus putting the nail in the 5900's coffin.
Prices continue to rise on the older GeForce cards while more capable cards eat the 5xxx lineup for breakfast. Don't put yourself in a difficult position by ever buying a GeForceFX.
Video Cards GeForce 6xxx
As we mentioned on the previous page, you would have to be insane to buy a 5xxx GeForce over a 6xxx right now. Derek's recent X850 analysis gave a pretty clean breakdown of the high end Radeon and NVIDIA cards earlier this week and the results were pretty interesting.
Only the XFX GeForce 6600GT can be readily had for the AGP bus right now, and it still carries a premium at this point. However, within the next couple weeks we project the price of this card to flatten out just over $200. With the X700XT just starting to hit shelves, it's a little too close to call whether or not NVIDIA has the better buy on the AGP bus right now, and performance is so close in most instances that buying the cheaper one of the two won't be a huge deal.
On the PCIe platform, however, the choice is clearly the GeForce 6600GT. With the added incentive of future SLI upgrades, the 6600GT produces some awesome performance with a very nice price tag. To briefly paraphrase Anand concerning SLI - performance of SLI on two of today's $200 cards today is great, but performance on today's $200 card now combined with performance of tomorrow's $50 card tomorrow is better. In fact, the thought of not getting stuck in the perpetual upgrade cycle appeals to even the most conservative buyers out there - but unfortunately right now we have to pay a large premium on PCIe capable motherboards just to get there. If you're buying a new rig or you have a newer Intel machine right now, run, don't walk, to the nearest establishment of NVIDIA video cards and get a 6600GT PCIe. If you wait much longer, the X800 non-pro, non-xt, non-percolator scheduled for release in the next few weeks might begin to edge out the 6600GT's advantage.
Not surprisingly, the 6600 Non-GT does pretty well for itself also. A more traditional "mid range" card, the 6600 non-GT goes for about $150 right now, but doesn't have an AGP counterpart yet. As the tests show, you pay about 25% less for the non-GT version, but you get about 25% less performance as well. The vanilla 6600 doesn't have any SLI support, which is disappointing. Although a great card for the price, you won't get that small future-resistant buffer like with the 6600GT.
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KristopherKubicki - Monday, December 6, 2004 - link
Questar: The lowest I have sen it for is $310, did you use coupons?Kristopher
Rand - Monday, December 6, 2004 - link
A pity the regular X700 is no where to be seen, it would make an admirable mid-range offering for PCI-E, or AGP for the matter when ATi gets the Rialto bridge ready.Quite a bit faster then the regular GF6600, and competes pretty decently with last generations high end in the likes of the R9800.
It's interesting how slowly the low end has come along since early 2002. Even the now anicent GF4 MX can in many respects hold up quite respectably compared to current generation products marketed towards the entry level consumer graphics market.
Questar - Monday, December 6, 2004 - link
Kristopher,Dell. I just checked before posting this and they appear to be out of them.
JustAnAverageGuy - Sunday, December 5, 2004 - link
#6" Remember, not everyone uses Firefox, nor wishes to."
A good point.
Opera is still a great alternative to IE. :) Better than FF too.
XT2k - Sunday, December 5, 2004 - link
i agree with you Cygni, i see that low end is moving cheaper VERY slowly, which is bad.i would prefer an R9550 (not SE) then OC it to 400/250DDR at least so you get some good performance.
XT2k - Sunday, December 5, 2004 - link
I think the best one for the buck is X800 XL 110nm R430, MSRP $350!Cygni - Sunday, December 5, 2004 - link
Price points are still way too high to justify it. The low ends price/performance is BARELY creeping forward. I bought a Radeon 8500 for $80 YEARS ago... and after a very mild overclock, it holds its own perfectly well, often BEATING, the cards at that point now... 5700LE's, 9550's, low end 9600's... its ridiculous! They just ADD new price points when they add cards. The high end gets higher and higher... the "middle" moves to $150-200... and the low doesnt move at all. Old cards dont get cheaper, they just vanish.KristopherKubicki - Sunday, December 5, 2004 - link
Questar: A X800SE for $155? Where??? I recommended the 6600 Non-GT for the midrange PCIe, 9600XT for midrange AGP.Degrador - Sunday, December 5, 2004 - link
I'm with Questar. It seems it's not just me that thinks the guides were better beforehand when you listed everything. Remember, not everyone uses Firefox, nor wishes to.Questar - Sunday, December 5, 2004 - link
Crappy guide, where's the midrange?I snagged a X800se for $155 that overclocks to 500/800. That's faster that a 9800XT for $60 less.