EVGA GTX 280 for $359.99 before rebate

[cmdrdredd]

zipzoomfly.com has good prices on GTX 280 cards right now.

XFX GTX 280 (GX280NZDF9) $365.99 - $50 MIR = $315.99

EVGA GTX 280 $359.99 -$30 MIR = $329.99 (this also qualifies for the free copy of Far Cry 2)

MSI GTX 280 OC (650/1296/1150) $377.99 no rebate

Both the XFX card and the EVGA card have lifetime warranty while MSI is 3 year.

 

[ArchAngel777]

Certainly some good prices for the GTX280's... However, the price performance ratio of the 280 versus of the 260 makes it a terrible buy, IMO. Again, hot deal for the GTX280 range of cards, but IMO, you are far, far better off with a 260, even the 192 core one for sub $200. I believe there is an MSI for $164 after rebate. 1/2 the price, and 5/6th the performance.

 

[The Beast]

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777
Certainly some good prices for the GTX280's... However, the price performance ratio of the 280 versus of the 260 makes it a terrible buy, IMO. Again, hot deal for the GTX280 range of cards, but IMO, you are far, far better off with a 260, even the 192 core one for sub $200. I believe there is an MSI for $164 after rebate. 1/2 the price, and 5/6th the performance.

Isn't that the whole 8800GT vs 8800GTX argument all over again???

Honestly, for those that want a single card best-of-class it is a great deal...

I mean hell, I bought a lab/sales sample GTX280 for $299 that was a hell of a deal. I didn't even consider a GTX260 because in the grand scheme of things I wanted a fast single-card solution that would be on par with my dual-8800GT SLI setup. The GTX260 fell short (and quoting overclocking claims is BS because you never know what kind of card you will ultimately get, which means you have to err on the side of caution that dictates that the card will probably not OC well at all) thus if you can be happy with a non-OC-able GTX260 then by all means buy it, but if you want best-of-class and are willing to spend a little more to get it without concern, then buy the GTX280...

Personally, I plan to run the GTX280 until they come down in price to around the $150-200 level and then pick up another for SLI use... Then about 4-6 months later when they finally drop to $100-150 level I'll pick up another and rock out three in SLI... My total investment will still be around $550-650 or so, and be able to run better than whatever 'new card' is out at that time for less than 2 GTX280s at todays prices...

Point being is that I can scale for newer games at a reasonable price knowing that I can keep up without having to reinvest a ton of cash for the 'latest and greatest' again for at least 3 years...

Hell, if my son wasn't getting into PC gaming I would just run my 2 8800GTs in SLI as they post higher benchmark scores than a single GTX280, but overall the GTX280 is a better long-term card due to the 1GB of ram and overall speed and expandibility... The 8800GT 512mb in SLI are hot now, but at and end of life in regards to expandibility and limit of available RAM, as once newer software comes out, they will be left behind much quicker than the GTX280 will...

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: The Beast

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777
Certainly some good prices for the GTX280's... However, the price performance ratio of the 280 versus of the 260 makes it a terrible buy, IMO. Again, hot deal for the GTX280 range of cards, but IMO, you are far, far better off with a 260, even the 192 core one for sub $200. I believe there is an MSI for $164 after rebate. 1/2 the price, and 5/6th the performance.

Isn't that the whole 8800GT vs 8800GTX argument all over again???

No, it isn't the same because the GTX260 and 280 were released at the same time. The 8800GT was released almost a year after the 8800GTX and was using different fabrication tech. [We just discussed this via PM]

Honestly, for those that want a single card best-of-class it is a great deal...

Absolutely.