With New video cards.. will there be affordable options

[Zarick]

That are better than the 9800pro.. or do you think it will rule the mid range market.

 

[Matthias99]

Usually the pattern is (giving examples from the last generation of ATI releases):

First they put out super-high-end cards that blow today's hardware out of the water but cost a fortune. (ex: R9700Pro)

Then they put out low- and mid-range parts later, which basically match up with the performance of today's high and mid-range parts. (ex: R9500Pro/R9600Pro, R9000Pro/R9100)

Finally, they issue 'refresh' parts for the high-end cards, which are even faster. (ex: R9800XT, R9600XT)

Then the next generation of cards gets developed and put out. (ex: R420/423)

That's how it's gone the last few times around, and I doubt it will be much different this time. The whole PCI-Express thing might change the scheduling a bit, though...

 

[cm123]

Originally posted by: Zarick
That are better than the 9800pro.. or do you think it will rule the mid range market.

At least a few (ATI), when I get around to selling my Retail ATI R9800 pro & 9800XT used for about 10 mins., someone will get some good ebay deals then.

I was going all to ATI for my systems, now only keeping 2, selling rest, went Leadtek FX5950 Ultra, still prefer Nvidia drivers for me.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

am i right in thinking that new generation mid range cards perform on average about the same as last generation high spec cards? (in the same API of course like DX8 or sumthing)

 

[Matthias99]

VERY generally speaking, yes. It's not a guarantee, but that seems to be the pattern.

For example, The RADEON 9600Pro and GeForceFX 5700Ultra (which are "midrange" in the current market) are slightly faster than the GeForce4 Ti4600 (the "high-end" of the previous generation of cards). And the Ti4200 (a "midrange" card compared with the 4600) is comparable to the RADEON 8500 (which was ATI's "high-end" part from the previous generation).