Weekly CPU & Video Card Price Guide: May 2001 1st Edition

Video Cards

AnandTech Weekly Video Card Prices
Video Card Model	Price	Change	Vendor	Shipping	Promotion
3dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP	$109	$10	Adamant Computers	$9	OEM
3dfx Voodoo5 5500 PCI	$119	$29	Adamant Computers	$9	OEM
3dfx Voodoo4 4500 AGP	$69	$0	Adamant Computers	$9
3dfx Voodoo4 4500 PCI	$74	$0	Adamant Computers	$9
3dfx Voodoo3 3500TV AGP	$60	$9	Adamant Computers	$9
ATI RADEON 64MB DDR	$172	$7	iBuyPower	$12	OEM
ATI RADEON 32MB DDR (Retail)	$141	$5	MWave	Check Vendor
ATI RADEON 32MB DDR LE (OEM)	$71	$2	Jazz Technology	$11
ATI RADEON 32MB VE	$78	$2	Jazz Technology	$11	OEM
ATI RADEON 32MB SDR	$79	$0	Comp-U-Plus	$15	OEM
ATI RADEON ALL-IN-WONDER	$208	$2	iBuyPower	$12	OEM
NVIDIA GeForce3 64MB	$357	NA	Sunway Graphics	$8	Visiontek
NVIDIA GeForce2 ULTRA 64MB	$251	$48	Newegg.com	Check Vendor	Elsa
NVIDIA GeForce2 PRO 64MB	$183	$11	Newegg.com	Check Vendor	MSI
NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS 64MB	$170	$29	Newegg.com	Check Vendor	LeadTek
NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS 32MB	$132	$0	Newegg.com	Check Vendor	MSI
NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS 32MB VIVO (ASUS V7700 Deluxe)	$175	$0	Atacom	$10
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX400 64MB	$100	$25	CDR Express	$11	Retail
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 32MB	$75	$0	Newegg.com	Check Vendor	MSI
PowerVR KYRO 64MB	$99	$10	Monarch Computers	$5
Matrox G450 32MB (DualHead)	$89	$4	Jazz Technology	$11
Matrox G400 32MB	$109	$0	MWave	NA

The reader should note that 3dfx's acquisition by NVIDIA will result in them not being able to provide support for their cards, so purchase a Voodoo3/4/5 card at your own risk. The Voodoo5 5500 PCI fell $29 putting it at $119; only $10 more expensive than its AGP counterpart. This card is still a great deal for those without AGP cards wanting competent 3D acceleration. Also, the Voodoo3 3500 TV which fell $9 this week continues to be an excellent bargain for those wanting to add TV input and output to their PCs and are not concerned with 3D performance.

This week we see little change in ATI's lineup of cards. The price of the Radeon DDR 64MB rose slightly this week to $172. The Radeon VE also saw a $2 price drop this week. We recommend the VE over the standard SDR Radeon because it the useful dual display feature which has become popular on many low end cards as well as DDR RAM.

We should note that several readers have pointed out that there are a few major differences between the Radeon 32MB DDR (Retail) and the Radeon 32MB DDR LE (OEM) which many online retailers fail to point out. The Radeon LE is actually a crippled version of the Retail card and does not feature ATI's Hyper-Z technology. It is important that readers understand this because Hyper-Z can have a significant effect on performance. The Radeon LE was originally meant to be an OEM product for some of the Asian markets. However the success of the product in those markets was overestimated and ATI was forced to bring the product to the North American market. The Radeon LE chips are generally composed of those chips that fail to work properly as fully functional Radeon solutions, meaning that they are often clocked at lower core frequencies and may not have fully functional HyperZ units. Many readers have been reporting success with overclocking their Radeon LEs as well as by forcing HyperZ to be enabled on the boards however proceed with your own risk as there are no guarantees. For more information consult the AnandTech Forums.

For NVIDIA this week we see the much anticipated GeForce3 finally hitting the streets. The GeForce3 debuts at $357 which around the price of a GF2 Ultra last month. As anticipated, the rest of the GeForce line of cards drop modestly in price. The Ultra fell $29 this week putting it at $251. We'd recommend buying the Ultra over the GeForce3 because it offers similar performance in today's games at a much cheaper price. The GeForce2 Pro and GeForce2 GTS 64MB cards fell $11 and $29, respectively, this week. We'd recommend this card over the standard 64MB GTS because it uses faster 5.5ns DDR memory which alleviates some of the memory bandwidth limitations found in the 6ns cards. In the low-end NVIDIA segment we see the new MX 400 card drop $25.

The PowerVR KYRO 64MB saw a $10 price increase this week. This card is a unique alternative to the 3dfx Voodoo and NVIDIA GeForce cards. What makes this card unique is it's tile based rendering engine. If you are interested in the Kyro, we suggest you wait until the Kyro II kits the shelves later this month. The Kyro II offer's GeForce2 GTS performance half the price.

The Matrox line of cards saw minimal changes in price this week. Those looking for excellent dual display capability may wish to purchase the Matrox G450 card as it has proven itself well in this category. For more information check out our Dual Display Comparison.

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