Some thoughts on getting a 7800 now or waiting for the R520

[Grimbor]

I recently put together a new system with a PCIe MB and decided to wait for the next gen, so I put in a vanilla 6600 I got from newegg refurbed for $60. Now that the 7800 is out, available and priced much lower then expected, I am pretty tempted to get this thing, but I feel I may hold off a few months and see how ATI's R520 release goes and their pricing. I personally do not care whether my card is ATI or Nvidia, as long as I think it's the best bang for the buck. In fact, I love this cheap 6600 because I got the card to 550/700 right off the bat with no stability problems and it runs quite a bit faster then my previous 9700 pro (both being overclocked).

However, looking at everything coming down the pike, I think ATI will win this round of the high end war in this generation. The specs on a single R520 versus a 7800 show the 520R, at least on paper, as a faster, cooler and less energy using card-

24 "Pipelines"
32 Texture Units
96 Arithmetic Logic Units (ALU)
192 Shader Operations per Cycle
700MHz Core
134.4 Billion Shader Operations per Second (at 700MHz)
256-bit 512MB 1.8GHz GDDR3 Memory
57.6 GB/sec Bandwidth (at 1.8GHz)
300-350 Million Transistors
90nm Manufacturing
Shader Model 3.0
ATI HyperMemory
ATI Multi Rendering Technology (AMR)
Launch: Q4 2005?
Performance: Over 3x Radeon X800 XT !!! (for single R520)
16x stochastic FSAA
FP32 blending, texturing
Programmable Primitive Processor/Tesselator


The kicker is you can slap in any lower end 800 series or above ATI card with this card in a standard SLI board and get a big jump in performance over base specs. Instead of buying 2 identicle 7800s for SLI, ATI users can get a higher end R520 and either use it with an existing ATI card they already use or buy a cheaper X800XL type card which should be under $150 by the R520 release.

A lot remains to be seen as far as what ATI will price their cards at and if the specs being touted for the series are accurate, but even if Nvidia comes out on top, prices on the 7800 will also drop quite a bit when the 520R is competing with it.

 

[JBT]

I would atleast wait till the R520 launch to see what your options are.

 

[ronnn]

I will be pleasantly suprised if the R520 is better. Still is difficult to buy when people close to Nvidia keep hinting that they have a higher clocked ultra version in the wings. This will drive down the price of the castrol gtx.

 

[VIAN]

Yes wait it out, or buy one now and sell it later if you think ATI is better. However you might lose some money on the latter.

 

[Munky]

I'd wait until the r520 is out, then you'll have more choices, and the prices will be competitive, hopefully. Where did you hear those specs for r520, though? I was hoping they would have 32 pipes.

 

[mooncancook]

just ask yourself the question: will you be able to take advantage of its speed right now?

by the time you can take advantage of its speed you might be able to get it for $100-200 less

 

[bunnyfubbles]

if I had money to burn I'd always want to have the best at all times, but given that I'm in no such position I wait until I have choices and for prices to settle down.

 

[canadianpsycho]

You'll constantly end up waiting if you keep waiting for the "next big thing". R520 is on the way, but when? When the 520 comes out, will Nvidia release the rumoured 32 pipe Ultra? Will ATI be able to have stock, or will it be another paper launch? Either card is going to run current games amazing. All depends on how quickly you want it. I think 600 US is sick though. I wouldn't pay that.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: canadianpsycho
You'll constantly end up waiting if you keep waiting for the "next big thing". R520 is on the way, but when? When the 520 comes out, will Nvidia release the rumoured 32 pipe Ultra? Will ATI be able to have stock, or will it be another paper launch? Either card is going to run current games amazing. All depends on how quickly you want it. I think 600 US is sick though. I wouldn't pay that.

Agreed. Whatever card one buys will be obsolete within months. I doubt the 520 is going to rrender the 7800 as useless(in fact I'm sure it won't), so if you Need a card now, just frickin buy one.

However, I know where the OP is coming from, I too have pushed myself to wait for this or that. It usually means I don't really "need", but just "want".

 

[Rudee]

If you buy Nvida this or Ati that now, 6 months from now when rumors of specs on next summers cards come out, you'll be wishing you would of waited. That's just the way it is though. No matter when you buy and how fast the current card is, something better is always less then a year away. Just buy what you can afford now.

 

[jpeyton]

The Inquirer has mentioned the following in the not-to-distant past:

Samples of the R520 are benching 10k in 3DMark05, stock.

ATI is packing 32 pipelines into their GPU because the 90nm process allows them to...however...

ATI might not enable all 32 pipelines, at least not right away. It depends on two things: 1)How their 32 pipeline yields improve (right now it isn't as good as they'd like it), and 2) How the R520 24 pipeline version stacks up to a 7800.

If the R520 with 24 pipelines beats the 7800, they will likely introduce the card with 24 pipelines sooner rather than later. This might be likely, because the 90nm process lets them clock the GPU higher than Nvidia's 110nm G70.

If the R520 with 24 pipelines does not perform as well as the 7800, ATI will probably wait and introduce their 32 pipeline card first, with 24 pipeline SKUs for the mid-end market.

There is a lot of speculation right now about all of this, but one thing is sure...competition means lower prices, and waiting for the R520 might net you a 7800 for cheaper than you can buy one now.

 

[Byte]

How is $600 much lower than expected, thats just a gross price, and the 7800 is quite a disappointment. What kind of monitor do you have.

 

[Grimbor]

Originally posted by: Byte
How is $600 much lower than expected, thats just a gross price, and the 7800 is quite a disappointment. What kind of monitor do you have.

I think many people were expecting a typical paper release followed by a very limited trickle of 7800's to a few vendors for the first few months leading to MSRPs of $600 and cheapest buy prices around $850. The fact that before the NDA was removed, some vendors were already listing 7800s under the $600 MSRP is a BIG credit to Nvidia being on the ball.

This further translates into more good news for the consumer, because now there will be intense pressure on ATI to follow suit and also release their next gen card soon and in adequate numbers to keep the price close enough to compete with the 7800.

The gist of my speculations were not so much the R520 will be a huge improvement over the 7800, they should be pretty close in real world frame rates. However, because of the way ATI is configuring their SLI system, you'd be able to use a much cheaper video card as a second GPU or your current card if you already have an 800 series. And for future value, if you got a R520, if you get the next gen or 2 gen down the road ATI card, your current card will be very useful as the second vid card in a dual card configuration.

The Nvidia system for SLI is unattainable for most because of the cost of having to use 2 identicle cards, brand and specs, and upgrading the Nvidia system for SLI means 2 new next gen cards.

What really excites me about ATI's trend is you'd be using every previous vid card and only scrapping them 2 generations in each cycle, saving a good $500 yearly for someone who wants to stay at the top of the FPS heap in the latest games.

 

[Kogan]

Is there a set launch date for the next ati video card?

I'm a mid range sort of guy and have never really had the chance to get an ati card since nvidia is usually better priced in that area. But the ati video on the xbox looks better than anything I've ever seen, so if they get any of that into their upcomming part, they'll get my money (well, maybe in a year when I can get one for $150 )

 

[rise]

i think its july 26th but i forget if its the crossfire or r520.

whatever it is on whichever, date a miss will be catastrophic.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Those stats list in the original post are ridiculous. I will GARAUNTEE that the card will perform no where near 3x the performance 99% of the time.

Those specs are just some fanboys dream. Seriously 1.8Ghz GDDR3....not gonna happen.

How are we supposed to accurately advise on this decision. We dont even have an OFFICIAL word from ATI on the specs, or the release date (Might have word on release). At least wait until we get some official specs or something, hell ANYTHING concrete.

-Kevin

 

[WA261]

GTX now. Selliing it and going R520 when it is released.

 

[IamTHEsnake]

What do you know, I was thinking the same thing.

BTW, WA261,
Thanks for showing me what ViperJohn can do. I am amazed at his air-cooled card mods and may soon get a mod of my own. How much do these run on average? (air-cooled)

 

[WA261]

You know..I am not really sure. He ha alwasy done odd things for me. Like a EC, custom blocks and things of the sort. So I am always a bit over what reg costing would be. YOucan email him @ johnhillig@earthlink.net and find out whats up. Let him know Mike (wa261) sent you.

He will be modding my GTX for me. Should be to him Saturday..wOOt!!!!

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: JBT
I would atleast wait till the R520 launch to see what your options are.

/Thread

 

[Beiruty]

At AMD Tech tour in Dallas, I asked the ATI lady when the R520 will be released, she said in the summer, I said the summer starts today!, she smilled, and whispered ..." End of July"... The wait is not long .... 5-6 weeks at most.

 

[rise]

well, if she smiled and whispered it must be true

j/k but i think the consensus seems to be october.

 

[apoppin]

IF you have the monitor capable of running 16x12 or higher and a Superfast CPU and intend to play at the very highest settings, a single 7800GTX will suffice for ANY current game . . . at some point you can add a second for SLI [and it looks like SLI-2 will NOT require identical cards] that will certainly play ANY new game for the next 18 months at highest resolutions.

ATI's r530 is "unknown" . . . if it turns out to be faster, that extra speed will be for "bragging rights" only . . . . ONLY Unreal3 games MIGHT be able to push a single 7800GTX to it's max and sli'd 7800's will certainly work even better . . . so you're probably "good" for the next 18 months.

IF i had the cash, the hi-res monitor and a superfast A64, i would NOT wait.

 

[hans030390]

There was a thread here earlier that had the leadtek 7800gtx for 340 euros or something...thats like...$415 here...i'd get that if you are able to convert your currency!

if you need the link, tell me...or just find it on your own...

 

[imported_X]

Actually, the consensus seems to be end of July. Whether or not it will be a paper launch though is a different question.