Originally posted by: Wreckage
The GTX280 which had been out for awhile. Very much so.Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
The 4870 was slower than?
When the 8800 series came out it absolutely demolished any other card on the market regardless of price point.
The 4870 was between second and third place. Hardly "influential" or even mildly impressive.
Had it passed the GTX280 by 30% or more maybe, but it fell behind. In a 2 horse race 2nd place is last place.
Originally posted by: Modular
4850 = for the price champion of all time.
Originally posted by: postmortemIA
three that matter are GeForce 256 (first TnL card), GeForce 3 (first card with shaders) and Radeon 9700 Pro (first powerhouse)
Originally posted by: AVP
This is weird, i was just thinking about this....6600gt and 8800gt on the nvidia side were big leaps in performance that were offered at mainstream prices. I own both but that doesn't make me biased right?
Though, I did go from an ATI rage 128 to a 6600gt to an 8800gt over the span of what? maybe close to 10 years I think and neither time was I really pushed to an upgrade to play something specific, these cards became available and they were perfect purchases.
Anywho, check out the Valve Hardware Survey it can kind of attest to the popularity of later generation cards which is slightly relevant.
Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
Leaving out the GeForce 256 is stupid regardless of what it cost.
Also stupid is no mention of the Voodoo3,4,5 cards which had some impressive FSAA features that changed how we play games. No more jaggies! (the V5 6000 doesn't particularly count because it wasn't released)
Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
This list is a joke.
Those talking about the 4850- why would it be remotely in the league of a 'best ever' list? It was a decent low-mid range part that was competitive with its' counterparts offering. New technology? Nope. New performance? Nope. Middling performance with middling price? Yep. 'Best ever' isn't talking about a 15% performance edge for 10% more money- that is simply the nature of the market. It made the 9800GTX+ drop in price- I'll let you in on a little secret- any new technology that doesn't force a price adjustment from its' competition is an automatic failure. It is simply a given that any new technology should drive down the price of that which it replaces and competes with, if it doesn't, then we aren't progressing.
Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle
STB Powergraph 64.
I disagree. The reason the 4850 belongs on that list is not because it unveiled any groundbreaking new features, but because of what it brought to both consumers and developers.
First off, the sheer price/performance of the 4850 forced Nvidia to drastically slash their price-gouging MSRPs to the point that the average consumer could now afford them.
Previous to the 48X0 series debut, the GTX280 and GTX260 were reserved for either the hardcore gamer or those with disposable income. Now, even budget conscious gamers could afford a card with substantial performance (4850 or GTX260).
Secondly, now that both ATI and Nvidia are producing powerful cards that even the casual gamer can afford, developers are free to increase the minimum specs for their games since so many people now own video cards that would have been considered high-end less than a year ago.
So not only did the 4850 affect gaming in the present, but we will see its effect in the future as developers are now free to increase their games' base graphics levels.
Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Originally posted by: Concillian
Originally posted by: MarcVenice
If the 8800gt fits in, then so do the HD4850/4870.
How so?
When the Ti 4200 came out it soundly beat everything available in the market for close to half the price... except the 4600 which was not worth it.
This is a pretty direct comparison to the 8800GT, which was similar performance to a GTX at half the price.
Kinda the same story with the GF2 / GF256 debate. The GF256 brought the technology to the market (at a price). The GF2 brought it to the masses.
IMO the real winners are not the cards that bring technology that nobody can afford. Evolutionary bigger / pricier --> faster is nothing special. The real gems are the ones that smash the existing price / performance paradigms.
Everyone expects next generations top tier to beat the previous generation's top tier. This is evolutionary performance gains. The real winners are the ones where the next generations midrange price point beats the previous generations top tier.
That happened with the 8800GT, that didn't really happen with the HD4850 / 4870.
I think the HD4850 did roughly the same. It was available for $150, whilst it's DIRECT competitor, the 9800gtx, was selling for 250$ and had to drop faster in price then a mobster with concrete around it's feet, to be able to compete.
So if the 8800gt is mentioned, so should the HD4850. If the 8800gt belongs in there at all, is another discussion. In all honestly, I didn't buy hardware back in the Ti 4200 days. I do remember graphics cards, but my dad bought them, not me...
Originally posted by: Creig
Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
This list is a joke.
Those talking about the 4850- why would it be remotely in the league of a 'best ever' list? It was a decent low-mid range part that was competitive with its' counterparts offering. New technology? Nope. New performance? Nope. Middling performance with middling price? Yep. 'Best ever' isn't talking about a 15% performance edge for 10% more money- that is simply the nature of the market. It made the 9800GTX+ drop in price- I'll let you in on a little secret- any new technology that doesn't force a price adjustment from its' competition is an automatic failure. It is simply a given that any new technology should drive down the price of that which it replaces and competes with, if it doesn't, then we aren't progressing.
I disagree. The reason the 4850 belongs on that list is not because it unveiled any groundbreaking new features, but because of what it brought to both consumers and developers.
First off, the sheer price/performance of the 4850 forced Nvidia to drastically slash their price-gouging MSRPs to the point that the average consumer could now afford them. Previous to the 48X0 series debut, the GTX280 and GTX260 were reserved for either the hardcore gamer or those with disposable income. Now, even budget conscious gamers could afford a card with substantial performance (4850 or GTX260).
Secondly, now that both ATI and Nvidia are producing powerful cards that even the casual gamer can afford, developers are free to increase the minimum specs for their games since so many people now own video cards that would have been considered high-end less than a year ago.
So not only did the 4850 affect gaming in the present, but we will see its effect in the future as developers are now free to increase their games' base graphics levels.
Originally posted by: MarcVenice
If the 8800gt fits in, then so do the HD4850/4870.