Why haven't the 8800 GT Prices Dropped?

[anishannayya]

On recommendation, from other forum members, I didn't buy the components for my new PC build in case the prices on the video cards dropped because the next gen coming out (came out June 17 as all of you probably know). I haven't seen the $50 drop I was expecting. Instead the price on the card I was interested in is still $179.99, affordable, but a bit rich for my blood. Any ideas about when the prices may drop? On the plus side, other thingshave already dropped a bit from the couple weeks waiting.

Thanks, Anish

 

[taltamir]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2198741&enterthread=y

Check out this thread...

And btw.. I recommend buying now because I see both AMD and nVidia quickly increasing their prices... I guess they figured they were both charging too little with their price wars.

Alternatively... you COULD wait a few weeks because there is an equally good chance that the prices of 38xx and the 8800 and the 9800 will go down in price... It is hard to tell.

 

[ther00kie16]

It's been around $150 for awhile now so a $50 drop would put it around $100, which is completely unreasonable if you start to ponder what prices 8800gt 256mb, 8800gs, 9600gt and 9600gso are going to be. But yea, there was a $125 after rebate deal and $130 seem about the expected price for many 8800GTs in a week or so.

 

[ShockwaveVT]

There really seems to be a lot of overlap between 9600GT 512MB's and 8800GT 512MB's.. 9600's bottoming out at $130ish after MIR, etc and going up to $200ish.
8800GT's are ranging from $150ish after MIR up to $220ish

The fact that the inferior 9600's haven't dropped further is a sign that they are about as cheap as they can get, and 8800 GT's aren't going to drop down to be equal or lower than 9600's, cuz they perform better.

I think the price drops are more in the 8800 GTS 512 / 9800 GTX 512 range, as the GT260's and GT280's fill in the mid/upper segments and push them downmarket

 

[Bateluer]

Because production has ceased on the 8800GTs, so the price is going to rise as supplies dwindle. People were suggesting you wait to buy a new video card in case the new cards delivered more performance for a similar cost.

 

[bryanW1995]

you can get an 8800gt at newegg for $130 AR right now, and an iceq 3870 for $125 AR right now. check out hot deals.

 

[manko]

I don't think the 8800GT will go down much further (maybe you will see the rebate prices without rebates), but the 9800GTX may drop down a bit more. I think all the new cards will drop quickly within a few weeks (or within a month) of release. ATI's target prices for the 4850 and 4870 were lower than their MSRP. I think they have room to drop the price, gain back some market share and still turn a profit. The 4850 has already dropped $10 at one store and it's not even officially out yet. Nvidia seems geared up for a price war and there are whispers of a quick drop on the GTX 260.

We're in a recession and frankly there aren't a lot of great new games pushing the limits of systems at the resolutions most people play. That's why the 8800GT was/is selling like hotcakes, it was/is exactly the kind of price/performance a vast majority of gamers are satisfied with for current games. The 8800GT looks like it should get most people through to next year at least. Last-gen cards are still "good enough." The other thing slowing demand down is the console vs. PC gaming situation we're in. Consoles are behind the cutting edge PC curve now, but so many developers are still designing for the lowest common denominator and big sales of the consoles. So, a lot of the future multi-platform games are still not going to push mid-range to high-end PC gaming systems.

For all these reasons, I think we are going to see an active price war and quick price drops from both companies. Typical pre-release/first couple weeks of release price-gouging by retailers and ebayers isn't really a good indicator of Nvidia and ATI's general market strategy and pricing trends.

 

[Wreckage]

$130 for a card that performs as well or better than anything ATI has to offer in a single GPU is pretty damn good! The new 4850 is coming out at $200 and is looking to perform about the same.

 

[Budarow]

Yah know, I feel pretty good still after my recent RASH of video card purchases cause the prices are still ~the same or higher than I paid I picked up an 8800GT (PNY, 512MBer) for $160; an 8800GT (XFX 256MBer which came with Lost Planet) for $78 and a 9600GT (PNY 512MBer) for $110 (all shipped, retail and after MIRs).

It's pretty rare to not have "buyers remorse" with video cards cause it always seems like they drop even further in price just after my order ships or I receive the card(s).

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: Wreckage
$130 for a card that performs as well or better than anything ATI has to offer in a single GPU is pretty damn good! The new 4850 is coming out at $200 and is looking to perform about the same.

well, it's only one link so far, but the one that bfg posted showed 4850 outperforming 9800gtx AND 8800 ultra at 19x12. they didn't even bother to include 8800gt in that comparison obviously.

just so we're on the same page, I do think that a $130 8800gt 512 is a far better investment for most gamers than a $199 4850. unfortunately, 8800gt is now eol so won't be around for long. 8800gts is almost certain to follow, and 9800gt will probably be much closer to $200.

 

[Munky]

The 8800gt is already a great buy at $150, how much lower you want them to go? Just a year ago a lousy 8600gts would have set you back $200. I don't expect the g92 cards to drop down to $100, that would be almost equivalent to Nvidia giving the cards away.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995

Originally posted by: Wreckage
$130 for a card that performs as well or better than anything ATI has to offer in a single GPU is pretty damn good! The new 4850 is coming out at $200 and is looking to perform about the same.

well, it's only one link so far, but the one that bfg posted showed 4850 outperforming 9800gtx AND 8800 ultra at 19x12. they didn't even bother to include 8800gt in that comparison obviously.

just so we're on the same page, I do think that a $130 8800gt 512 is a far better investment for most gamers than a $199 4850. unfortunately, 8800gt is now eol so won't be around for long. 8800gts is almost certain to follow, and 9800gt will probably be much closer to $200.

it doesn't outperform it... i carefully examined the scores...
It outperforms it with AA.
It USUALLY looses without AA.
But it sometimes wins with AA.

But it tends to loose by a little and win by a lot (but that is not ALWAYS the case). It is supposed to take less power and cost less money. So for "generally a little better" for less money it defintely takes out the 9800GTX.
But I would still buy an 8800GT over it for 130$

 

[Mgz]

http://www.ncix.com/products/i...sku=30789&promoid=1060

$109.99 CAD
after $30.00 with manufacturer's mail-in rebate!

only 10 left.

XFX GeForce 8800GT 512MB 600MHZ 1.8GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDCP DIRECTX10 Video Card

can't wait till 8800GT (which is a great card) drop to under 100$ in a month or so

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995

well, it's only one link so far, but the one that bfg posted showed 4850 outperforming 9800gtx AND 8800 ultra at 19x12. they didn't even bother to include 8800gt in that comparison obviously.

Well I will wait for official benchmarks once the 4850 is actually available. The site that was posted has generally had "funny" results.

Not that the 4850 will be a bad card, but $130 is tough to beat.

I would like to get the MSI card with the heat pipe cooler at that price.

 

[lopri]

Isn't there supposed to be G92b (55nm G92) coming out? Obviously that'd make the current G92 line-up go EOL.

 

[s44]

Originally posted by: manko
We're in a recession

No we're not. We haven't even had a single quarter of negative growth, and it looks like we'll in fact have zero.

Is 8800GT really discontinued? That stinks, since 9600GT doesn't really cut it.

 

[manko]

Here's word of a price drop on the 9800GTX.

NVIDIA surprise with 9800 GTX+ Graphics Card

GeForce 9800 GTX+ is the best single card price/performance at $229; the original GeForce 9800 GTX will transition to $199

Nvidia is not going to give an inch. I hope this is just a sign of things to come. Bring on the price cuts!