So last week-end I went out to the depths of the Computer Centre dungeons to buy myself a graphics card for my new rig.
(Shopping for hardware in Hong Kong, where I live, is a unique experience. You must squeeze your way through endless mazes of low-ceilinged, crowded corridors one metre wide, with the average "shop" the size of a toilet cubicle, row upon row of them packed to the last inch with shiny hardware. Fire safety rules clearly do not apply to tech buyers).
Disgusted with the current state of the graphics card market, I had decided to pick up a Geforce 7900GS, which pretty much offers the best value for money (let's be serious, DirectX 10 support is hardly a relevant issue today). I briefly considered the 8800GTS 320MB, but found it to be too expensive (roughly USD 320+) considering that 1) it's getting quite long in the tooth, and 2) we could see a new generation of nVidia cards around the new year. The crap that nVidia released as the 8600 (though it should properly be named 8400 or thereabouts) I did not even consider, owing to the idiotic memory bus and crippled number of stream processors. And ATI was well out of contention, seeing as how they dropped the ball even worse than nVidia. So I figured a cheap 7900GS would tide me over and play my games until either the 8800 drops in price or a new generation of (hopefully not fumbled) mid range hardware comes out.
Having done my research online, and seen several 7900 cards listed for sale in this city, I was quite surprised when I kept being told by every single shopkeeper that there were no 7900 cards to be found. I searched for hours, I even had some shopkeepers I know check with stockhouses, wholesalers, suppliers, etc. Nothing. Not one.
There are no 7900 cards left in this city. Every last one from every last brand was suddenly recalled a few weeks ago. I could still find 7600 cards, and quite a few upper models such as the 7950 (which are much more expensive) but not the ideal price/performance value of the 7900GS.
I ended up buying an XFX 8600GT XXX, which is factory overclocked and which was available for less than regular the 8600GT - a few dollars less than what I would have paid for the 7900GS. But I am mightily peeved. Hong Kongers love a good bargain almost as much as they love games, and from what I understand the 7900GS was (logically) a big seller in this city. It's certainly the card that I determined was right for me, yet I was forced to go with a card that offers consistently lower performance than the previous generation part I wanted.
Does anyone know if this is some kind of strategy to push sales of the 8600 on folks who would normally buy the high value 7900GS? Is this happening elsewhere, other than Hong Kong?
(Shopping for hardware in Hong Kong, where I live, is a unique experience. You must squeeze your way through endless mazes of low-ceilinged, crowded corridors one metre wide, with the average "shop" the size of a toilet cubicle, row upon row of them packed to the last inch with shiny hardware. Fire safety rules clearly do not apply to tech buyers).
Disgusted with the current state of the graphics card market, I had decided to pick up a Geforce 7900GS, which pretty much offers the best value for money (let's be serious, DirectX 10 support is hardly a relevant issue today). I briefly considered the 8800GTS 320MB, but found it to be too expensive (roughly USD 320+) considering that 1) it's getting quite long in the tooth, and 2) we could see a new generation of nVidia cards around the new year. The crap that nVidia released as the 8600 (though it should properly be named 8400 or thereabouts) I did not even consider, owing to the idiotic memory bus and crippled number of stream processors. And ATI was well out of contention, seeing as how they dropped the ball even worse than nVidia. So I figured a cheap 7900GS would tide me over and play my games until either the 8800 drops in price or a new generation of (hopefully not fumbled) mid range hardware comes out.
Having done my research online, and seen several 7900 cards listed for sale in this city, I was quite surprised when I kept being told by every single shopkeeper that there were no 7900 cards to be found. I searched for hours, I even had some shopkeepers I know check with stockhouses, wholesalers, suppliers, etc. Nothing. Not one.
There are no 7900 cards left in this city. Every last one from every last brand was suddenly recalled a few weeks ago. I could still find 7600 cards, and quite a few upper models such as the 7950 (which are much more expensive) but not the ideal price/performance value of the 7900GS.
I ended up buying an XFX 8600GT XXX, which is factory overclocked and which was available for less than regular the 8600GT - a few dollars less than what I would have paid for the 7900GS. But I am mightily peeved. Hong Kongers love a good bargain almost as much as they love games, and from what I understand the 7900GS was (logically) a big seller in this city. It's certainly the card that I determined was right for me, yet I was forced to go with a card that offers consistently lower performance than the previous generation part I wanted.
Does anyone know if this is some kind of strategy to push sales of the 8600 on folks who would normally buy the high value 7900GS? Is this happening elsewhere, other than Hong Kong?
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