Are graphic cards coming out faster than ever before?

[Green Gigs]

I remember my old 9800 Pro lasting me almost 2 years before it felt dated by games and new cards. I just bought my 8800GTS 512 and I figured I'd get more than two months of solid play before some new game or card would rub its glory in my face. I've seen three new cards come out since then, all better performers and all a better value lol. So my question, is more hardware coming out currently than any other time in history? It sure seems like it.

Those of you with an 8800GT, GTS 512, or GTX, are you going to give in to one of the new cards before the next Crysis is released? Or will you keep it and play at the same mediocre framerates that got you through the first one?

Moved from PC Gaming
-PC Gaming Moderator KeithTalent

 

[wart]

I'm actually a bit ticked off too. I bought my GTS 512MB back in Feburary at 300$ after M.I.R. and now its like 180-190$ :/ Even the 9800GTX is 200$ now.

I'm thinking of saving up for the 4870 but I'm going to see how this one pans out before I make a rash judgment.

Hell, after playing on an Nvidia 5200FX and 2.0ghz single core Athlon (my old PC which lasted me roughly 4-5 years) and seeing the difference a good rig can make I don't think I can ever go back to waiting half a decade for a new system.

 

[Piuc2020]

if you are not satisfied with the performance of your 8800GTS 512 then something is wrong with you.

Sure there are better cards out there but your 8800GTS 512 plays every game out there flawlessly and will probably continue to do so for a few more years.

And if you feel ripped off well that's how the industry works, at least you had the chance to enjoy your card for a full 5 months sooner than you could have had you bought the card today.

 

[DaveSimmons]

It's not every day that ATI comes out with cards that are so much improved that nvidia must cut prices in a panicked frenzy, in fact it's been years.

Before that price drops were a slow but steady 2-3 times a year as new nvidia chipsets / models were released, while ATI wandered around downtown in a stupor clutching a 40oz and moldy sandwich from the trash.

ATI's back now, making the GTX 260/280 look like pathetic wastes of silicon. It's the return of competition, and we've already seen the 9800GTX drop $100 thanks to it. Next up should be price drops of $150 and $250 for the GTX cards, at least if nvidia cares about competing.

 

[Elcs]

Ive ordered a 4870 to replace my 8800GT.

I game on a 42" HDTV and the 8800GT is just a shade too weak for the newer games at 1920x1080 or 1280x720 with decent options turned on and if required, a little AA to get rid of the jaggies.

My dad is paying me current brand new retail price for my 8800GT so its a reasonably cheap and "worth it" upgrade. Plus, the card is powerful enough for him to play any game he likes at 1280x1024 on his (my old) LG TFT.

 

[Bateluer]

Funny, I was going to say that video cards have been releasing slower today then they have in the past. Nvidia used to release new chips every 6 months, alternating between new architectures and refreshes of the same design. Its how they out muscled 3Dfx and nearly every other graphics chip maker except for ATI and a few tiny others.

Watching Nvidia's knee jerk reactions to AMD's stealthy 4k series is amusing though.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

My 8800GTS 640 has been performing flawlessly since the day I got it. I too feel that the refreshes are going slow and there really hasn't been anything like the 1900xtx to 8800 series jump yet. All I see are slightly faster rehashes or duo card concoctions.

 

[Green Gigs]

Originally posted by: Piuc2020
if you are not satisfied with the performance of your 8800GTS 512 then something is wrong with you.

Sure there are better cards out there but your 8800GTS 512 plays every game out there flawlessly and will probably continue to do so for a few more years.

No, my GTS does not play everygame flawlessly. Even in COD4 I can get dips down to 25fps when theres smoke and lots of action. Its gonna differ for everyone based on resolution, I use 1680x1050.

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Funny, I was going to say that video cards have been releasing slower today then they have in the past. Nvidia used to release new chips every 6 months, alternating between new architectures and refreshes of the same design.

Slower!? Wow, I must be out of the loop since I hadn't upgraded my old 9800 for 5 years lol. Also, I am talking about just card releases, not new chipsets or architecture...I am just surprised by the volume of cards that have come out since the 8800GT, pushing the price of everything down each time.

 

[lupi]

Blame ATI. They've been such crap the last couple years compared to nvidia that nvidia has been tossing stop gap cards since the 8800ultra was released as they had no need to release a full new technology lineup and just packaged drips and drabs of it to keep raking in the money. Now with compotent challenges from both sides, the next year or so should be interesting.

 

[ViviTheMage]

ummmm, the 8800gts is a great card....I have it and it runs every game, shiet--wow runs at 550~~ fps at times @ 1680x1050....

I can wait for these new next gen cards to pan themselves out.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I sometimes feel that way about my 3850. Bought it for $160 in January, now the same card is like $100 everywhere and there are a lot of faster ones available as well for less than what I paid.

I was almost tempted to get a second one and go SLI, but I don't think that's really worth it. It's still fast enough for the games I play.

 

[Genx87]

I'd say they are coming out at a slow pace. At least the new architecture's.
However dont share your sentiment regarding old cards being junk. I am still using an 8800GTS 640 without issue. Runs all the games I play great!

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

My 8800GT runs everything great, but I know how you feel. It's just the feel of getting a new thing. Having the latest and greatest is fun.

 

[rivan]

Nothing really new here, except perhaps the slightly wonky timeline.

New stuff becomes outdated. Blame whoever you want - ATI for not forcing NV to release their best, or NV doing the 'good business decision' of selling only what they have to at whatever they can get for it, to keep slightly ahead of ATI.

The bottom line here is that if you want to play the newest games at the highest resolutions with the top AA on the largest screens, there's a price to pay for owning the top-o-the-line.

 

[lupi]

I'm just hoping they keep improving at least to the point where those of us with 24"ers can run at native rez and high settings with a medium range vid card.

 

[funboy6942]

Only time to get a new card is if your playing a game at the res you like to play at, and it dips the fps under 30, then its time to get a new one, IMO. You dont really need the game to run at 400fps for it to be good, running a game smooth at 30, is all you need. Once it starts to dip under that, its when I go get me the newest, and do it all over again.

But right now as it sits though, the 4850 kills a 8800gt/gts/ and even the 3970, buy a huge margin, so with any luck, the 4970 or 4970x2, should do good for a few years before having to buy another one, for ATI has a huge game in performance between their last cards, the 38xx series, and now the 48xx series. So thats what I am holding out for myself, so that I will be good to go for a bit, just will ahve to swap out my cpu from a E6600 to a quad something, then I may be good for 4 years before it slows down bad enough on games to have to update again.

I just try not to get too caught up in the hype, and needing a card to run my games at 400 miles an hour to feel I got the best, and anything under 400 means my pc is a pile of shit. The 4850 right now runs crysis at a very good clip with everything turned out, so the 4870x2 should playing it at max with all turned on, and if it can do that for crysis, I have nothing to worry about for a long time with any other games to come out, I will then turn in my cf 1900gt's for it.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
My 8800GT runs everything great, but I know how you feel. It's just the feel of getting a new thing. Having the latest and greatest is fun.

Me too but I'm probably going to drop another $130 (after mir) for another and go SLI. The tests I've seen have 8800gt sli beating gtx280 in most situations. So another $130 for $600 performance, yes please

 

[Jax Omen]

Originally posted by: Green Gigs
No, my GTS does not play everygame flawlessly. Even in COD4 I can get dips down to 25fps when theres smoke and lots of action. Its gonna differ for everyone based on resolution, I use 1680x1050.

Something is wrong with your 8800GTS, then (or possibly a bottleneck elsewhere in your system), mine runs CoD4 quite smoothly at 1920x1200.

 

[surfsatwerk]

I picked up a 9800GTX on it's release date, I picked up a 2nd one for less than $200 and now I can put them in SLI for better performance than any single card.

I can't ever see myself buying another motherboard if it isn't CF or SLI capable.

 

[pmv]

Hey, I only got a 8800GT a month ago. I'm trying to ignore the existence of the 4850.

But surely the obvious solution is to fix your internet connection so you read all the tech sites on a 6 month delay. Then when you read about a 'new' card it will probably already be much cheaper than the launch price, games will be out on budget by the time you decide to buy them, they'll be patched sufficiently to actually work, AND you'll be able to afford a card that can play them at decent settings. Though you'll also have to persuade all your friends to join you in you 6 month time warp.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: Jax Omen

Originally posted by: Green Gigs
No, my GTS does not play everygame flawlessly. Even in COD4 I can get dips down to 25fps when theres smoke and lots of action. Its gonna differ for everyone based on resolution, I use 1680x1050.

Something is wrong with your 8800GTS, then (or possibly a bottleneck elsewhere in your system), mine runs CoD4 quite smoothly at 1920x1200.

yep
http://www.anandtech.com/GalleryImage.aspx?id=3191

though it's possible at some intensely stressing point there could be a dip into the 20s but it should be very brief and very rare

 

[abaez]

I bought my 8800GTS almost a year ago and I can still play everything great. Only the newest stuff like grid I can start to see slowdown.

 

[Baked]

Bought 3870 shortly after it was released, now 4870 is out for cheaper. That's a revision every quarter. WTF is wrong w/ these video card companies!?

 

[Munky]

Yes, my 8800gt stopped working right after the 4870 and the gtx280 came out, and now it's worthless junk...

No, the real story is I played Crysis on medium settings, deleted it after the first run through, and will probably never touch it again with a 10ft pole. There were numerous recent games I've enjoyed way more than Crysis, and the 8800gt ran them without a hick-up, so I'm sure it will serve me well for another 6 months at least.

 

[Green Gigs]

Originally posted by: jonks
yep
http://www.anandtech.com/GalleryImage.aspx?id=3191

though it's possible at some intensely stressing point there could be a dip into the 20s but it should be very brief and very rare

Theres nothing wrong with my card, my game does run normally around 60fps just like that chart shows. When theres tons of smoke, and gunfire it can dip quickly into the 20s, and that quick stutter I find annoying. Its annoying because its a title I play right here and now immediately after buying the card, and obviously its only going to get worse with future titles.

This isn't supposed to be a thread about bashing the GTS 512, heck I have one. I just wanted to hear from people who have been around a long time how this period in time relates to whats been seen typically in the past. :beer: