Is $149 for a GeForce 8600 GT a good deal?

[Delerious]

I got this at Fry's yesterday. Weird thing is that the one with 512mb was only $149 where the one for 256mb was $199 - $20 rebate. The 512 box was smaller than the 256mb.. The fry's employees could not determine why other than that fry's had paid more at the time for the older (256mb) model... Anyhow I ran 3dmark and it was getting 20fps

 

[Laminator]

Good deal? No, sorry. For $150 you can get an 8600GTS or an X1950 Pro. Video cards are extremely gouged at retail stores so even sale prices will be greater than those at online vendors.

EDIT: You could even get an X1900 XT or X1950 XT if a sale was going on.

 

[Sonikku]

The X1950XT will smoke that 8600gt.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: Delerious
I got this at Fry's yesterday. Weird thing is that the one with 512mb was only $149 where the one for 256mb was $199 - $20 rebate. The 512 box was smaller than the 256mb.. The fry's employees could not determine why other than that fry's had paid more at the time for the older (256mb) model... Anyhow I ran 3dmark and it was getting 20fps

its probably ddr2 instead of gddr3. all the 8600gt 512mb cards I have seen were ddr2.

 

[Delerious]

I returned the 8600 GT and got the GTS today and it's not a huge increase... Maybe it's time for the x1950xt... I would like to stay under $150.

 

[neothe0ne]

You can get much better cards than the 8600GTS for much less than $150 online anywhere, not just Newegg.

If you're looking at my sig and wondering, the only reason I ended up with a $100 8600GT was because of
a) It was the best performing card which didn't have any capacitors anywhere near the edge of the card to the right of the PCI-e connector, which is where my BS nForce 405 MCP61 mobo heatsink intrudes on GFX territory.
b) Trying to be as Vista-ready as possible.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I suggest doing more research next time. Definitely check out the video card comparison charts at Tom's Hardware:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

Oftentimes the "lower number" cards aren't very powerful at all. Best bet in that price range would be to look for a x1950 Pro for around $125-130 or a x1950xt, if you can find one, for around $175. Note that it's a yucky time to buy a video card right now.

 

[woolfe9999]

Video cards are extremely gouged at retail stores so even sale prices will be greater than those at online vendors.

This is generally quite true, but I've been finding some odd exceptions lately.

Last month I bought a BFG 8800 GTS 320 mb OC2 for $274 at Fryes. It was open box and their non-open box was $299, still $10 cheaper than the NewEgg price. The EVGA version was also $299. Oddly, all the previous generation cards were way over-priced (like $100 more than online), and the 8600's were slightly over online prices, but their 8800's were priced very competitively.

- woolfe

 

[Arkaign]

Horrible deal. Find an X1950Pro, 7900GT/GS, or perhaps a used X1950XT/7900GTX for that kind of money. AT FS/FT forum is great for that.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I can't imagine buying a video card at a bricks and mortar store unless it's either a good Black Friday deal or a hot Fry's deal. Even then, their "deals" are often merely comparable to what can be had online. In contrast, the B&M stores are good for buying hard drives after rebates. Go figure.

 

[kmmatney]

Originally posted by: WhipperSnapper

I can't imagine buying a video card at a bricks and mortar store unless it's either a good Black Friday deal or a hot Fry's deal. Even then, their "deals" are often merely comparable to what can be had online. In contrast, the B&M stores are good for buying hard drives after rebates. Go figure.

Microcenter B&M has the 8800 GTS 640 MB for $349, which seems cheaper than most online vendors. They also have a 8800GTS 320 Mb for $299. I happen to live near one, and they do have some great deals now and again. They also have "web pricing" on their cpus, where they match the cheapest prices on the web. For the most part, their cpus are the same price as NewEgg.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I have a Microcenter in my area, albeit about 20-25 miles away but not too bad of a drive on the Interstate. I've never actually been there before, but in light of your post, maybe I'll need to start paying a little more attention to it. That seems like a good price for the 8800 GTS 640.