Serious Question: Why are people upgrading to G80?

[Sunrise089]

Right now a 8800GTX is $650. The card is awesome. It plays any game at any resolution. It also seems totally unnecessary.

Today, a X1900XT costs $320. There is a $330 difference in price between the cards. So what game are people needing to play that really need $330 more graphical power?

"But Sunrise089, you're being an idiot, G80 will dominate down the road"

Yes it will, it will also drop in price greatly. When R600 launches, which is BEFORE the vast majority of promising upcoming games in the Crysis vein will emerge, the 8800GTX will probably be under $500. For that depreciation to make owning the card worthwile, either a X1900XT will only be worth $170 in 4 months, or there are lots of games available now that the ATI card cannot play. Where are those games? Nothing promanant has launced recently, and plenty of people have been playing Oblivion (the most demanding title available now) extensively with lesser hardware than G80. So what is it really allowing you to do, other than play the same F.E.A.R. and Half Life 2 you've been playing fine already?

I bring this thread up because when 6800 Ultra and X800XT launched we had games coming out like Doom 3 that were NOT playable at desirable resolution on the older hardware, AND were still not fully playable on the new hardware. You were left happy with your 6800GT performance, but not able to destroy the game. I can see no such software lead with G80, infact I see a huge lead in hardware performance. It makes me happy actually, since I have no budget for a new card right now, because I'm not missing out on anything so much as I can tell. Am I missing something here?

 

[Nightmare225]

What, the ability to game at 2560x1600 with 4xAA doesn't count?

 

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by: Nightmare225
What, the ability to game at 2560x1600 with 4xAA doesn't count?

Make that 16xAA with SLi.

 

[Matt2]

Superior image quality + over twice as fast isnt worth it?

I seem to remember people dropping their Nvidia 7-Series cards like hot cakes for R580. The performance difference between G70 and R580 was no where near as large as G80 is offering now.

 

[LouPoir]

Because they can - they have the $$$.

Lou

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

There's a $120 difference between the X1900XT and the 8800GTS (ASUS) - If you had to make a choice right now, which way would you go?

I'm coming from a 6800GT, so that's the position I'm in. I choose the 8800GTS (which I can hopefully overclock to 600/900 at least).

 

[enz660hp]

Im with you Sunrise, Im waiting for dx10 games first...then there will be a reason to upgrade to a dx10 card. Right now, my 7800gt can play everything I want just fine, mainly because I play at 1280x960. Its mainly for the people who have money, and huge monitors.

 

[Sunrise089]

Wow, never had so many replies so fast

Originally posted by: Nightmare225
What, the ability to game at 2560x1600 with 4xAA doesn't count?

Yes, this is fine. It also accounts for 1% of the people who are upgrading. Let me officially say those with 30" displays are a special exception to my criticism.

Originally posted by: Matt2
Superior image quality + over twice as fast isnt worth it?

I seem to remember people dropping their Nvidia 7-Series cards like hot cakes for R580. The performance difference between G70 and R580 was no where near as large as G80 is offering now.

Twice as fast on the exact same games is my point, plus twice as fast as an already playable resolution.

People jumped to R580 because
1) Nothing better was on the horizon
2) There were more games (IMHO) that went from not playable to playable at common resolutions from a 7800GT to a X1900XT than from an X1900XT to a 8800GTX.
3) They didn't pay $650, and they could sell their cards for close to the cost of the R580 part. The total cost to upgrade was quite a bit less.

 

[Munky]

I have an x1900xt, and I would upgrade if I had a high res monitor. But I game on a CRT at 1280x960, and I'm not switching to any LCD. So, I have the luxury of playing at all out settings, like HDR+AA+AAA+HQAF, and I'll most likely only upgrade once DX10 games make it worthwhile. But to run those settings at 1600x1200 or higher with playable fps, you'd need the g80 right now, even for DX9 games. That's why some ppl are upgrading now.

 

[enz660hp]

Originally posted by: munky
I have an x1900xt, and I would upgrade if I had a high res monitor. But I game on a CRT at 1280x960, and I'm not switching to any LCD. So, I have the luxury of playing at all out settings, like HDR+AA+AAA+HQAF, and I'll most likely only upgrade once DX10 games make it worthwhile. But to run those settings at 1600x1200 or higher with playable fps, you'd need the g80 right now, even for DX9 games. That's why some ppl are upgrading now.

happy birthday munky (yes, its munky's bday 2day haha)

 

[Bill Kunert]

Because the 8800 is the most recent version of the electronic pen?s and it's a mine's bigger than your's world.

 

[Kromis]

Originally posted by: enz660hp

Originally posted by: munky
I have an x1900xt, and I would upgrade if I had a high res monitor. But I game on a CRT at 1280x960, and I'm not switching to any LCD. So, I have the luxury of playing at all out settings, like HDR+AA+AAA+HQAF, and I'll most likely only upgrade once DX10 games make it worthwhile. But to run those settings at 1600x1200 or higher with playable fps, you'd need the g80 right now, even for DX9 games. That's why some ppl are upgrading now.

happy birthday munky (yes, its munky's bday 2day haha)

Happy birthday munky! :beer:

Let's get drunk and smoke weed all day!

 

[Elfear]

Try Oblivion or FEAR at 1920x1200 4AA/16AF and eye-candy maxed. My Crossfire setup dips into the low 20s in some spots and it's really annoying to tell you the truth. FEAR doesn't want to work while overclocking through ATI Tool so I have to run my cards at stock. The cards would probably do just fine at stock speeds but I'm a little tired of the multi-gpu issues I've had with both SLI and Crossfire and it just gives me another reason to switch. A single G80 sounds like it has the horsepower I need for high-res gaming.

 

[XNice]

i'm maybe buying because i still have a evga step option...

 

[XJustMeX21]

have to agree there's nothing i can't play now, i'll buy when crysis comes out.

 

[Midwayman]

'cause I have a crappy x800xl and dont want to bother upgrading twice?

 

[Ricochet]

<insert a fool and his money comment here>

Some people just want the latest and greatest right now. That works out well for hardware manufacturers. In that sense I'm not going to complain or tell these people to be sensible. If people were practical and sensible, a lot of industries wouldn't be as big or even fold. I do love the atmosphere of excitement these people create whenever something new come along.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Originally posted by: Midwayman
'cause I have a crappy x800xl and dont want to bother upgrading twice?

Same thing, although I'm making the jump from a 9800 Pro.

 

[the Chase]

Originally posted by: munky
I have an x1900xt, and I would upgrade if I had a high res monitor. But I game on a CRT at 1280x960, and I'm not switching to any LCD. So, I have the luxury of playing at all out settings, like HDR+AA+AAA+HQAF, and I'll most likely only upgrade once DX10 games make it worthwhile. But to run those settings at 1600x1200 or higher with playable fps, you'd need the g80 right now, even for DX9 games. That's why some ppl are upgrading now.

Hey happy birthday munky!

Same thing here with my 1800XT. Going to 1600x1200 really limits the eye candy I can use and I'm getting tired of the slowdowns in Bf2 esp. at that resolution.

Haven't gone for the G80 quite yet though. Can't make myself spend $650 for a video card and the GTS is a great card but far off from the GTX. Hoping prices will drop and an in between GT model will come in at below $500 with closer specs. to the GTX. (And keeping the ear to the ground on the R600).

 

[Lord Banshee]

Once the GTX drops to about $450 I'll buy

gaming at 1920x1200 hurts but when i need to 1600x1200 isn't bad pixel for pixel

 

[Ronin]

Performance at the res I play at was the primary reason for me. I'm all about visual quality. I want to be able to play games the way they were intended to be seen. The 8800 allows me to do that (and 2 will be mind boggling).

 

[flexy]

uhm...i dont even understand the OPs question.

Make it sound like a G80 is a waste of money.

The point is that people wanting/gettiong a G80 also MAINLY get it in terms of upcoming games, VISTA, Crysis, DX10, Alan Wake, UT2k7, you name it.

I dont say a X1900XT is a bad card, indeed it is "sufficient" for all of the current games and a GOOD deal. I remember when this card came out and it was frickin expensive.

But sooner or later there WILL be games which run only w/ DX10, AFAIk Crysis will be one of them, POSSIBLE ut2k7 and other high-end titles.

Look more a few months more down the road, pls

 

[flexy]

Originally posted by: Sunrise089
because I'm not missing out on anything so much as I can tell. Am I missing something here?

maybe you sayt that now.

Until you see Gothic III, Oblivion etc.etc..with EVERYTHING they have at MAX with 8xAA, HDR...and its frickin' playable !!!

This alone would be "worth" those cards...RIGHT NOW already, i can name at least three titles right now (again G3, NWN2, Oblivion) where a GTS/GTX certainly would come in handy

 

[MadMax]

I bought an XFX 7800GTX when they first came out. It came bundled with a free game pad and an XFX logo T-shirt. The card cost $600. Was it worth it? Hell No! I could have waited 3 months and paid $500 for it.

Then I had to watch the 7900GT come out, which about matched the 7800GTX in speed, but was much cheaper, even with 512MB DDR3 (the 7800GTX only has 256MB).

BUT, I needed a card for my new build. It had to be PCIe to fit into the new motherboard I wanted. The only choices were: buy a 6800 GT or Ultra (out-dated), buy the best card available ($$$), or postpone the build for a few months.

I chose the "$$$" option, but I regretted it later.

MadMax

 

[Waylay00]

I think it's stupid to buy right now just for the fact that it is inevitable that the prices will drop. Remember when the 7800GTX came out? It was going for $650. Within a week it dropped to $599 and then the next month, to $550.