Price Guides, August 2005: Video Cards
by Anand Shimpi & Cara Hamm on August 14, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
High End Graphics
While ATI pretty much concedes the Ultra High End to NVIDIA, ATI does come back a bit in this segment. ATI's X800XL has been the High End darling since it was released. Trading performance punches with NVIDIA's more expensive 6800GT at $100 cheaper, everyone would agree that the X800XL is a deal. Unfortunately, that deal didn't get any better this month with prices remaining relatively static around $268 shipped [RTPE: 100105]. We've always liked the X800XL PCIe and continue to make it our High End recommendation for those willing to shell out $270 for a video card, but price cuts on PCIe 6800GT are closing the gap rapidly.Update: Prices on the X800XT AGP models have taken a massive drop in response to other changes. There are some great deals available if you really want to spend $225+ on an AGP card. This may simply be intended to clear out old X800XT inventory, so we don't know how long the prices will last. With the higher clock speeds on RAM and core relative to X800XL, for AGP owners at least it's a great card.
We mentioned last month that the 6800GT cards really only make sense if you're stuck in the AGP market. That still holds true for the most part, since their price has fallen about $40 to $269 with the Albatron GeForce 6800GT 256MB [RTPE: Albatron 6800GT]. NVIDIA's 6800GT supports SM3 unlike ATI's offering and is roughly the same price as the X800XL AGP.
With the launch of the 7800GT, the 6800GT prices are scheduled to drop to $299 MSRP. The eVGA PCIe card has already dropped significantly to $278 at one store after rebates [RTPE: 256-P2-N376-AX], although for the most part the 6800GT PCIe cards are still hovering slightly above the new MSRP. Trying to SLI two 6800GT's is a waste, since a single and more technologically advanced 7800GTX can usually do the job better with much less power, noise and cost.
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patrick0 - Monday, August 15, 2005 - link
Maybe you want to check out:www.alternate.de
www.alternate.es
They do send internationally (prices in Euro)
at80eighty - Thursday, August 18, 2005 - link
thanks mate!Hacp - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
AGP 6800GTs have always been around the 280 range....neogodless - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
What do you mean by "always"? I bought mine about a year ago, and the cheapest I could find for a Dual DVI 256MB AGP 6800GT was around $375.DrZoidberg - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
With the recent 6800GT AGP price drops cause of 7800GT coming out x800xl is no longer $100 or significantly cheaper than 6800GT. Theres still alot of x800xl at $270 on that pricewatch.ASUS GeForce 6800GT 128MB - $269
Albatron GeForce 6800GT 256MB - @269
kristof007 - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
So where does my Gainword nVidia 5700 FX land?? Yea I need to update. I wish I had the money. I use it for Doom 3 and GTA San Andreas these days and it works. Not INSANE graphics but nice.RMSistight - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
I'm waiting until the end of the year for the 6 series cards to be way cheap. After all, the 6 series card and the ATI X800 series are the last of the powerful AGPs.coomar - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
with expected price drops on cards soon, seems weird to do a price guidebupkus - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
It's funny, but when shopping for a new video card a couple weeks ago so many people swore the 6600GT pwned the X800. I'm convinced now my choice for the X800 was the better of the two.KristopherKubicki - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
(nt)