Between a Rock and a Hard Launch

In the wake of the recent, very successful hard launch of the X1900 series by ATI, NVIDIA has had quite a bit of pressure placed on them to make up for the stumbles that they have had with 7800 GTX 512 availability and the limited regional availability of the 7300 series at launch. We have certainly been putting a lot of pressure on these companies to deliver tangible product on the day of a launch. Doing so helps reviewers and consumers alike. We are able to report on a product that we know exists, and we are better able to make a solid recommendation about what to buy. Those interested in the cards don't have to wait for some far off date in the future to get their hands on hardware. Hard launches are a good thing and we want to keep seeing them happen.

And, as is usually the case, we would love to see even more: more parts, more stores with parts, and more countries included at launch. But these kinds of things tend to get a little complicated, and sometimes we end up in situations like what we see today.

We have full retail boxes from both BFG and EVGA. NVIDIA is calling this a hard launch, and we know that they have product out there. Only, no one can buy it until Sunday and Monday. The reason for this is that Best Buy is working with NVIDIA on this launch, and they will start selling their stock on Sunday. NVIDIA has informed us that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are poor days to launch new products, and in order to get the word out before Best Buy started selling cards, the most logical choice is to launch today. Right?

So, we are left with an odd situation where NVIDIA is launching a product that will be available in a brick and mortar store before it is available online, but without immediate availability at launch. This time, we're asking what you think. Is this a good thing? Certainly, getting parts out to physical locations anywhere near a launch is a great thing, but what do we need to see from a company in order to call something a hard launch?

This time around, we will adopt a wait-and-see attitude. We will base future reaction to and analysis of launches like this on what actually happens with this launch (when we go to Best Buy Sunday, there had better be some parts on the shelf) and the feedback that we get from our readers. The power is in your hands; let us know what you think in the comments.

UPDATE: We stand corrected. It has been brought to our attention that CompUSA has 7800 GS boards and is selling them. With that, we are quite impressed with the level of hardness that NVIDIA has brought forth: it's right off the end of the Mohs' scale.

Index The Card and The Test
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  • Ezza - Saturday, February 4, 2006 - link

    This article needs to be taken with a grain of salt since the 7800GS in the article is a PCI-E engineering sample. In this article the 7800GS scales very well when overclocked, hopefully the AGP version will show similar gains when overclocked.
  • Stas - Thursday, February 2, 2006 - link

    I have x800 Pro o/c. I really want to upgrade but buying a new mobo + video card is a bit too expansive. If only I could get a better video on the level with 7800GT and x1800XL, I would be happy. Unfortunatelly, 7800GS just doesn't cut it (you've seen the tests). I wish they come out with AGP versions of 1800XL and 7800GT, I would have gotten one. But then again, ATi and nVidia both make chipset with PIC-E, thus it is profitable for them to have people buy new mobos with PCI-E. :(
  • NullSubroutine - Thursday, February 2, 2006 - link

    it seems rediculous to me that with an agp part, you compared...not other AGP parts, but high end pci-express cards. i have an agp system, i want to know how much better it is than other AGP cards out there, not a top of the line card, that would require me to upgrade my processor and mainboard.

    again, you have done so in the past, so i request it once again. many people buying this product run either 10x7 or 12x10 with and without 4x 8x. these were left out in the line graphs, i request them once again. otherwise without both these things, i think it leaves us people who would considering to buy this product, needing to go elsewhere to find out how it compares, and what is a good buy.
  • mindless1 - Thursday, February 2, 2006 - link

    Agreed. Not everyone is as interested in how a card does at all kinds of maxxed out settings and features as we are at what measures would be needed to use the card for modern games, playable rates. If a feature entails a significant performance penalty, but one has an AGP board, of course they'd disable the feature when necessary.

    I also fail to see the logic in lowering card clock speeds when (all) 2 samples were shipped at a higher rate. While one may not want to manually raise the speeds for the tests, the out-of-box speed a card uses should be considered stock no matter what nVidia spec'd. IOW, I don't see a lot of people underclocking their cards, it would be a scenario never seen in gaming use, IMO.

  • coldpower27 - Thursday, February 2, 2006 - link


    X850 XT non PE
    6800 GS (AGP)
    6800 GS (PCI-E)
    EVGA 7800 GS at it's factory OC Settings.
    6800 Ultra
    6800 GT
  • coldpower27 - Thursday, February 2, 2006 - link

    In addition to the aboe now that I think of it I would like these 2 to be included as well.

    6800 AGP
    6600 GT AGP
  • DerekWilson - Thursday, February 2, 2006 - link

    Thanks for the suggestions, we will certainly consider including these cards in future AGP performance comparisons.

    Thanks,
    Derek Wilson
  • Boushh - Thursday, February 2, 2006 - link

    I agree with others that you should have picked other cards for a comparison. Specialy considering your introduction words in the article.

    The point is that it's about users who still use up-to-date AGP systems (like me) that would like to know if this card is worth the money and wait a little longer to upgrade to PCIe.

    Therefore the comparison should have been between this card and other AGP cards at the same price point, or more expensive ones. Now you only tested the X850. A card that most people reading the test will probaly not even consider as an upgrade. And comparing it to the X1900XTX and 7800 GTX 512 Mb ? Come on ! Like these cards would be viable upgrades considered by the people who are intrested in this card..

    Besides, if I want PCIe numbers I can read any of your other tests.

    There are also no noise, power consumption, and OC results (I bet the eVGA would beat the X850 hands down). And the test was done on a medicore ULi based board instead of a high-end S939 board.

    Sorry for the harsch comment, but I simply had to say this ;-)
  • MrKaz - Friday, February 3, 2006 - link

    80% agree.

    You only failed on one post.
    "And the test was done on a medicore ULi based board instead of a high-end S939 board."

    You forget that there arent no longer high eng AGP systems.
    The existing ones are "outdated".
  • bob661 - Thursday, February 2, 2006 - link

    quote:

    The point is that it's about users who still use up-to-date AGP systems
    Isn't this an oxymoron?

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