eVGA step up question.

[de8212]

Just want to make sure I am understanding their step-up program.

Say I buy an 8800GTS for $500. Then sometime within the next 3 months they lower the price of the 8800GTX to 550. I just have to pay $50 to upgrade, that simple?



Now that's out of the way. I would rather buy a less expensive card and then upgrade. I don't do a whole lot of gaming but would like something pretty decent. What's the next step down from the 8800 series of cards that is readily available @newegg/mwave/zzf?

 

[TheRyuu]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130065

Holy Grail of budget gaming cards. (at least it was)
It's also made by evga, not sure if you wanted that but thats what I got out of your post.
Overclock to GTX speeds for not that much $$$.
Problem it's OOS and I think it keeps going in and out of stock.
Very popular.

 

[de8212]

Originally posted by: wizboy11
Problem it's OOS and I think it keeps going in and out of stock.
Very popular.

that's why I put the "readily available" in there. The GTO is difficult to find and knowing my luck, I would get a bad one. Then I'd be in RMA limbo.

 

[Skyguy]

Originally posted by: de8212
Just want to make sure I am understanding their step-up program.

Say I buy an 8800GTS for $500. Then sometime within the next 3 months they lower the price of the 8800GTX to 550. I just have to pay $50 to upgrade, that simple?

No, unfortunately not that simple. I'm stepping up and asked NVidia this same question. The answer is that you get credited the purchase price of the lower card, and then you pay the difference to get the higher card. Here's the thing though:

You pay the MSRP that EVGA has it listed for on their site, NOT a retailer's price. So if Newegg has it in 3 months for $200 and EVGA has it as MSRP for $650, you still pay the difference to $650.

Nvidia (and by extension, board manufacturers) will not, and cannot, compete with their own retailers. So your step-up has absolutely nothing to do with any retailer, etailer, or otherwise. It is strictly between you and EVGA, and their price of their card from them, not from a retailer.

So your best bang for your buck is to step up to something more substantial, and/or wait to see what EVGA's MSRP price is........if you can get it for close to what a retailer is selling it, then you're laughing. If there's a large price difference between the two, then you won't get as good a "deal" on your step-up. The best deal is actually to use your step-up on a brand new card/product, because the retailers' prices will be almost identical to EVGA's own price. So you get to use the step-up credit and get a brand new card. Stepping up to a card that's been out for awhile is a waste, because you're paying FULL price from EVGA, whereas you could get that card cheap from a retailer.

So try to use a step-up to get a brand new card/product when the retailers prices are still high. And since it's only good for 90 days, and Nvidia doesn't do refreshes sooner than that, it's a waste to step up to anything less than the current releases.