The New and Improved "G80 Stuff"

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: Skott
The way I understand it is that once they accept your step up (within 90days) you are locked in to get the card. Granted it may take a while after that before its availble but as long as they officially accept you within that 90days you are going to get a card. Now how they do the pricing I'm not sure about. They should do the pricing once they say 'we got one ready for you'. Not the original selling price which would be alot more. According to the eVGA site once they say, 'okay, we got one set aside' You then mail your card to them (at your cost i believe). Once they receive it they in turn mail you (at their cost I believe) the new card. So you may be without a card as long as two weeks. Depending on which postal method you use. Figure a week each way if you go the long-slow method.

Obviously you'd want to contact eVGA and get the finer details but their website gives you the general terms and conditions of the program.

When I asked earlier about the StepUp program a few people said they had to pay shipping BOTH ways. Since I'm in Canada, I think it might be cheaper to just eBay my 7900GTO then buy the 8800 in stores.

 

[beggerking]

shipping to Canada is only $5-10 more...

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: HgrdGman
Possible Price for the G80

http://www.nvidia.com/object/reality_tour06.html


Under the PRIZES; ODDS OF WINNING

$450 to $599 each

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2742&postcount=24

Based on actual tier 1 disty pricing and not speculation.

 

[Nightmare225]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU

Originally posted by: HgrdGman
Possible Price for the G80

http://www.nvidia.com/object/reality_tour06.html


Under the PRIZES; ODDS OF WINNING

$450 to $599 each

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2742&postcount=24

Based on actual tier 1 disty pricing and not speculation.

I like the ASUS pricing. Although, that may be because they're the ones actually manufacturing the cards...

 

[IndyJaws]

This is how it works:

1) You apply for step-up with in 90 days once the card that you want is made available as a step-up card
2) You wait (possibly months in this case) for them to get one in stock that they can allocate to you
3) You send your card in
4) They send you your new card

The potential problems are:

1) They may not make cards that have low allocation available for step-up, so your 90 days may expire
2) Even though you only pay the difference, the cards are sold at MSRP. So, if they make you wait too long, you get ripped off because the prices at etailers will fall way below MSRP.

That's what I expected. Truth be told...I'd be thrilled if I had to wait 6+ months for a step-up card. That would get me around the G81 refresh time. My only concern is if they don't allow me to get in the queue in the 90 day timeframe.

I suppose I could ebay my 7950GX2 if they didn't allow it, but I still wouldn't be happy...

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
From b3d:

Someone who has a G80 for testing posted some more info on a Dutch forum:

Lumenex engine supports Coverage Sampling AA with 8x, 8xQ, 16x, 16xQ. Q-modes are optimised for best IQ. Performance impact of 16xQ CSAA is comparable to 4xMSAA. AF seems to be much better compared to previous generations.

G80 is very CPU limited. It's 50 - 70% faster than a GF7900GTX at 1920x1200 with HDR + AA + AF, but barely reaches 20-30 fps more on 1280x1024.

AA performance is very good. Turning on HDR + AA in high resolutions results in an average 20fps performance drop. Note: the card reaches 100 fps in most games. Edit: make that tested games, which probably are Prey, Serious Sam, Far Cry, Fear, BF2.

The Quantum Physics engine isn't a seperate thing. Physics are done by the streamprocessors (that's why it has so many of them).

DX10 performance can not be tested yet and in DX9 applications the unified architecture works as a fixed function architecture (dedicated pixelshaders and vertex shaders).

Performance impact of 16xCSAA = 4xMSAA.

Which is exactly what makes me scratch my head after looking at that statement twice...
If this works like partial AA, so parts of the screen get more than 4x AA, then that means some parts also get less than 4x AA, and maybe some parts get no AA at all, since the overall performance impact is the same as 4x AA. I wonder how good that would look in actual games.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Originally posted by: Nightmare225

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU

Originally posted by: HgrdGman
Possible Price for the G80

http://www.nvidia.com/object/reality_tour06.html


Under the PRIZES; ODDS OF WINNING

$450 to $599 each

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2742&postcount=24

Based on actual tier 1 disty pricing and not speculation.

I like the ASUS pricing. Although, that may be because they're the ones actually manufacturing the cards...

I hope initial pricing is closer to what that guy quoted, i.e. not TOO much gouging. I'd like to be able to get a GTS for under $500, anyway...

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: beggerking
shipping to Canada is only $5-10 more...

Yeah but there is also the possibility of getting charged customs(on a $400-500 card and that's not pretty)...which HAS happened to several people from the eVGA forums. Also, for something like this...it is better to ship with something that gives at least a tracking number so you will pay more. Well, if I am able to StepUp to G80, I may depending on the retail prices available.

 

[lopri]

Another reason I suspect the 8800 to be a short-lived SKU is its abnormal size. It's 27cm/10.3" long! For a comparison, a standard ATX motherboard is 9.6" wide so the card sticks out 0.7" off the motherboard. :shocked: One might want to make sure if any of her/his components could be impaired. All in all, this card is pushing many specs beyond the standard. But it'll still sell well considering the lack of competition and the timing of release. Lucky bastards.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU


http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2742&postcount=24

Based on actual tier 1 disty pricing and not speculation.

Thanks jonny. I hope prices are actually at that level near launch time.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: IndyJaws

This is how it works:

1) You apply for step-up with in 90 days once the card that you want is made available as a step-up card
2) You wait (possibly months in this case) for them to get one in stock that they can allocate to you
3) You send your card in
4) They send you your new card

The potential problems are:

1) They may not make cards that have low allocation available for step-up, so your 90 days may expire
2) Even though you only pay the difference, the cards are sold at MSRP. So, if they make you wait too long, you get ripped off because the prices at etailers will fall way below MSRP.

That's what I expected. Truth be told...I'd be thrilled if I had to wait 6+ months for a step-up card. That would get me around the G81 refresh time. My only concern is if they don't allow me to get in the queue in the 90 day timeframe.

I suppose I could ebay my 7950GX2 if they didn't allow it, but I still wouldn't be happy...

You aren't fully getting it... You have to pick the card you want for the step-up to get into the queue... You can only do this when they make the card you want available for step-up. You can not say apply for a step up on an 8800GTX next week, and then wait six months and get an 8900GTX... You would just end up getting an 8800GTX six months after launch for the difference of your card and the MSRP of the 8800GTX, which will certainly be more than what the card is going for at etailers. Look at what a 7900GTX is going for right now on evga.com, it's way more than what you can get one for at newegg. The sooner you can get your card from eVGA via step up the better...

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: Elfear

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU


http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2742&postcount=24

Based on actual tier 1 disty pricing and not speculation.

Thanks jonny. I hope prices are actually at that level near launch time.

They should be as those are based on the costs already skued up at a particular disty. Many distys actually have many of the cards in stock.

There's an embargo in place that prevents any of these suppliers/vendors from selling these cards to end users until 11/08/06.

 

[IndyJaws]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: IndyJaws

This is how it works:

1) You apply for step-up with in 90 days once the card that you want is made available as a step-up card
2) You wait (possibly months in this case) for them to get one in stock that they can allocate to you
3) You send your card in
4) They send you your new card

The potential problems are:

1) They may not make cards that have low allocation available for step-up, so your 90 days may expire
2) Even though you only pay the difference, the cards are sold at MSRP. So, if they make you wait too long, you get ripped off because the prices at etailers will fall way below MSRP.

That's what I expected. Truth be told...I'd be thrilled if I had to wait 6+ months for a step-up card. That would get me around the G81 refresh time. My only concern is if they don't allow me to get in the queue in the 90 day timeframe.

I suppose I could ebay my 7950GX2 if they didn't allow it, but I still wouldn't be happy...

You aren't fully getting it... You have to pick the card you want for the step-up to get into the queue... You can only do this when they make the card you want available for step-up. You can not say apply for a step up on an 8800GTX next week, and then wait six months and get an 8900GTX... You would just end up getting an 8800GTX six months after launch for the difference of your card and the MSRP of the 8800GTX, which will certainly be more than what the card is going for at etailers. Look at what a 7900GTX is going for right now on evga.com, it's way more than what you can get one for at newegg. The sooner you can get your card from eVGA via step up the better...

Got it. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU

Originally posted by: Elfear

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU


http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2742&postcount=24

Based on actual tier 1 disty pricing and not speculation.

Thanks jonny. I hope prices are actually at that level near launch time.

They should be as those are based on the costs already skued up at a particular disty. Many distys actually have many of the cards in stock.

There's an embargo in place that prevents any of these suppliers/vendors from selling these cards to end users until 11/08/06.

Nice score on the GTX... I know your thing is power supplies, so what can you tell us about the power consumption of these cards now that you have your hands on one?

 

[DeathReborn]

Originally posted by: Frackal
LOL, how can they say that the 8800GTX is xxx % faster than the 7900GTX in and HDR+AA situation

Yea becasue xxx% faster than 0 is still 0. Perhaps they mean it's still xxx% faster than a 7900GTX when they add HDR to the AA.

Kinda like:

7900GTX 4xAA: 100 fps
8800GTX HDR+4xAA: 130 fps

Still, only 5 days until we find out exactly what performance it has with release drivers.

 

[gramboh]

OP: you should update to include DailyTech benchmarks.

 

[lopri]

Final Update (11/04/06): Official launch of the much anticipated NV's next generation GPU, G80, is only a few days ahead. For the past few days we had DailyTech's sneak performance preview as well as end-users' pictures/benchmarks leaked. Lots of stuff have been leaked since the day I started this thread and I consider this has been a very successful thread with lots of information! Perhaps NV had the hardest time in recent years to keep the secret about G80 off the various leakers. Thank you for everyone who participated and exchanged the information!

This thread was meant to be a 'speculation' thread from the beginning so today's update is the last one as far as this initial post is concerned. Not only that we all know most of the facts regarding G80 by now (at least from consumers' point of view), but also it's time for our professional reviewers to do their jobs.

DailyTech sneak preview: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4812

--------- Radeon X1950XTX--GeForce 8800GTX
3DMark06: 7026 ----------------------------- 11200
Half-Life 2: 60.74 ------------------------ 116.93
Quake 4: 34.23 --------------------------- 65.93
Prey: 55.53 -------------------------------- 88.87

*All games 1600x1200/4AA/8AF (Except 3DMark06)

• Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700
  NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI based motherboard
  2x1GB PC2-6400
  NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX
  PowerColor ATI Radeon X1950 XTX
  Western Digital Raptor 150

Lots of pictures and benchmarks from a user who acquired a Leadtek PX8800 GTX. Again, I can't believe how *long* this card is!

http://www.coolpc.com.tw/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6379

 

[BFG10K]

Performance impact of 16xCSAA = 4xMSAA.

But this doesn't appear to be real 16xAA so depending on the game you may actually get less AA in the scene than you do with regular 4xAA.

 

[josh6079]

That comparison of the X1950XTX seemed off. No way will an X1950XTX with a quad-core Kentsfield and 2x1GB's of DDR2 800 or greater only push out an avgerage frame rate of 34 w/4xAA@1600x1200.

 

[Gstanfor]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

Performance impact of 16xCSAA = 4xMSAA.

But this doesn't appear to be real 16xAA so depending on the game you may actually get less AA in the scene than you do with regular 4xAA.

This is why I've been keen to know more about the ROP's. Traditionally they can process 2 samples per cycle so 4x AA takes a traditional ROP 2 cycles. Hopefully G80's ROP's can perform 4 samples per cycle, but it seems we'll have to wait for a review to confirm this.

 

[BFG10K]

Hopefully G80's ROP's can perform 4 samples per cycle

Yes, that would be nice because it'd mean we'd get 4xAA for a similar performance hit that we get 2xAA now. :thumbsup:

 

[lopri]

8800 GTX has 18 spring-loaded screws on the back of PCB. :Q Another annoyance: How the hell NV can get away without conforming to industray standards? They surely have the gut. I belive they were the first to come out with dual-slot HSF for their GPUs, and now they're totally ignoring the ATX form factor. When I first saw the leaked pictures when this thread began, I was certain that the card was a prototype. But apparently that's not the case - at least when it comes to its length. I doubt ATI would have dared to pull such a design without a precedent case. So how NV can? It's not just about video card, either. I haven't seen any other company that can ignore the standards so freely.

DailyTech bench is very promising, however. I assume they chose very graphically demanding demos to stress the cards, and on that assumption the results are more than I expected.

 

[lopri]

So far I'm more inclined to skip this one and wait for the refresh or R600. Though the final decision will be made on Oblivion @1920x1200 (max everything/HDR). If it does minimum 30FPS+ on outdoor vegetation, I'm definitely buying it. (X1950 does 15~20FPS minimum currently)

 

[Gstanfor]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Gstanfor

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Gstanfor

Originally posted by: apoppin
BFG and PNY jump the guns on 8800 GTX ...Only $800

Nvidia's G80's I/O chip has implications for GPU futures

i does look like it will be 50% faster than the 1950xtx . . . better than that +30% nonsense.

Try $623

http://www.atacom.com/program/atacom.cg...RDS=8800&Disp_item2.x=0&Disp_item2.y=0

link is still active at atacom for $799-$809

yours is dead

i just added five to my cart:
BFG GEFORCE 8800GTX 768MB PCI-E 2DVI HDTV TV-OUT(BFGR88768GTXE) VIDR_BFGX_80_2G $799.95 5 $3999.75



oops . . . i don't even have pcie
:Q

And they'll be on your doorstep tommorow, won't they? :disgust:

You can either quit the pricing nonsense now, or have the favor returned when R600 is about to launch - your choice...

Nov 8th ... i cancelled . . . no pcie slot

you mean IF i quit the "pricing nonsense" now, we WON'T have the favour returned at R600's launch.
:Q

i think . . . not

so . . .

you are not giving me a 'choice'...
it's called an ultimatium

and i am calling your bluff

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Creig
Come on, you two. Initial price gouging has nothing to do with either manufacturer, it has to do with retailers. How the price goes from there will depend on MSRP, supply, performance and popularity.

actually initial pricing has to do with initial supply

and we expect gouging with both g80 and r600

just don't tell me to stfu ... it is 'news' ... it is 'real' ...
... and yes, it will be brought up again at r600's launch ... even IF i were an 'angel' and 100% faultless.

Well, given that quite a few people now have GeForce 8800 GTX/GTS in their possession WELL BEFORE the actual launch I'd say that apoppins predictions of shortages and price gouging have not only been blown out of the water, but are currently approaching the outer fringes of the solar system at close to the speed of light...

 

[Nelsieus]

Originally posted by: Gstanfor

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Gstanfor

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Gstanfor

Originally posted by: apoppin
BFG and PNY jump the guns on 8800 GTX ...Only $800

Nvidia's G80's I/O chip has implications for GPU futures

i does look like it will be 50% faster than the 1950xtx . . . better than that +30% nonsense.

Try $623

http://www.atacom.com/program/atacom.cg...RDS=8800&Disp_item2.x=0&Disp_item2.y=0

link is still active at atacom for $799-$809

yours is dead

i just added five to my cart:
BFG GEFORCE 8800GTX 768MB PCI-E 2DVI HDTV TV-OUT(BFGR88768GTXE) VIDR_BFGX_80_2G $799.95 5 $3999.75



oops . . . i don't even have pcie
:Q

And they'll be on your doorstep tommorow, won't they? :disgust:

You can either quit the pricing nonsense now, or have the favor returned when R600 is about to launch - your choice...

Nov 8th ... i cancelled . . . no pcie slot

you mean IF i quit the "pricing nonsense" now, we WON'T have the favour returned at R600's launch.
:Q

i think . . . not

so . . .

you are not giving me a 'choice'...
it's called an ultimatium

and i am calling your bluff

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Creig
Come on, you two. Initial price gouging has nothing to do with either manufacturer, it has to do with retailers. How the price goes from there will depend on MSRP, supply, performance and popularity.

actually initial pricing has to do with initial supply

and we expect gouging with both g80 and r600

just don't tell me to stfu ... it is 'news' ... it is 'real' ...
... and yes, it will be brought up again at r600's launch ... even IF i were an 'angel' and 100% faultless.

Well, given that quite a few people now have GeForce 8800 GTX/GTS in their possession WELL BEFORE the actual launch I'd say that apoppins predictions of shortages and price gouging have not only been blown out of the water, but are currently approaching the outer fringes of the solar system at close to the speed of light...

In fact, both of the members from HardOCP who managed to get some early 8800GTXs said they got them for only $639, which is less than the predicted $649 MSRP.

Nelsieus