X2900XTX Won't be out for a while... Should we Wait?

[enz660hp]

So ever since I knew the 8800 cards were being released, my initial intent was to wait and see what ATI had to offer. Ati's X2900XT will be released soon, but that wasnt the original plan was it? Unlike nvidia who released their two fastest models, ati is forced to make due with the XT, possibly due to the performance issues shown in the recent benchmarks.
This makes me think that Ati knows they are already behind Nvidia for this, and they are hard at work on creating something faster than the 8800gtx (and now the Ultra). I just read on Fuzdilla (yes I know, it could be bs), That ati is working on an r650 chip which should be released during the fall (at the latest). Personally, there is no reason to get these high end cards until dx10 games come out, which will put vista's dx10 support to good use. Im willing to wait some more, What do you guys think? Is at hard at work? This is really a question/comment post.

ready, set, DISCUSS!

PS. Lets be mature here, Im not in anandtech forums that much, mainly due watching the previous x2900xt benchmark forums turn into a flame war. So uhhh, please don't do it here? thanks.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

lets see. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
buy tech when you want to buy it or when you need to.
waiting will have you waiting for ever.

 

[Sniper82]

I don't know when its suppose to come but if its less than a month I would wait so you won't have any regrets. Or if you can wait longer do so. But yeah like what tanisha said if you need it now and don't want to wait then buy Nvidia now. But if you can wait, waiting is good as prices will only get cheaper and will def be cheaper once X2900 hits.

I'd love to have a 8800GTS right now but for what? To play 1-2 year old games that a $150-200 can play fine. I am waiting for Crysis/UT3 to be released then am going from there.
I wish I hadn't bought this C2D because it's almost a waste if one doesn't game on it. I have a crappy video card ATM.

 

[enz660hp]

Originally posted by: Sniper82
I don't know when its suppose to come but if its less than a month I would wait so you won't have any regrets. Or if you can wait longer do so. But yeah like what tanisha said if you need it now and don't want to wait then buy Nvidia now. But if you can wait, waiting is good as prices will only get cheaper and will def be cheaper once X2900 hits.

I'd love to have a 8800GTS right now but for what? To play 1-2 year old games that a $150-200 can play fine. I am waiting for Crysis/UT3 to be released then am going from there.
I wish I hadn't bought this C2D because it's almost a waste if one doesn't game on it. I have a crappy video card ATM.

yeah, im waiting for those games as well, until they are out, no vista for me. Maybe the same goes with the video card..

 

[Keysplayr]

I was waiting for the R600 (any flavor) to come out so it would reduce prices on 8800's. Since that did not happen, I went ahead and bought an 8800GTS anyway. Yeah, I paid more than I wanted to, but at least I finally have the card I wanted. AFAIK, the R600XTX is not going to see the light of day. Just the XT. As for the R650 coming out in fall? I wouldn't hold your breathe as AMD seems to be preoccupied with other things these days.

 

[enz660hp]

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=818&Itemid=1

"If you overclock the Core 2 Duo to 3.5 GHz or more, then you can even score 13,000 in 3Dmark06. So now you know, and these scores where produced using the 8.361 driver."

13000? Looks good What does the 8800gts & gtx get with that cpu? I wonder how far this card can overclock once you slap an hr-03+ on it and some fan.

 

[Zstream]

Originally posted by: enz660hp
So ever since I knew the 8800 cards were being released, my initial intent was to wait and see what ATI had to offer. Ati's X2900XT will be released soon, but that wasnt the original plan was it? Unlike nvidia who released their two fastest models, ati is forced to make due with the XT, possibly due to the performance issues shown in the recent benchmarks.
This makes me think that Ati knows they are already behind Nvidia for this, and they are hard at work on creating something faster than the 8800gtx (and now the Ultra). I just read on Fuzdilla (yes I know, it could be bs), That ati is working on an r650 chip which should be released during the fall (at the latest). Personally, there is no reason to get these high end cards until dx10 games come out, which will put vista's dx10 support to good use. Im willing to wait some more, What do you guys think? Is at hard at work? This is really a question/comment post.

ready, set, DISCUSS!

PS. Lets be mature here, Im not in anandtech forums that much, mainly due watching the previous x2900xt benchmark forums turn into a flame war. So uhhh, please don't do it here? thanks.

ATI is trying to get the XTX on 65nm so that could be out by fall, more like Christmas time. If you can, wait till the 14th and see what happens. Maybe a big price drop on the 8800GTX

I wish though we had a dx10 benchmark and not just a patched game.

 

[Bateluer]

When ATI released the X1800s/R520, it's performance was questionable. 3 months later, they followed it up with the stellar R580s, and wore the performance crown until the release of the 8800s.

It wouldn't surprise me if a revised R600 core was released not long after the HD 2900s.

 

[Zstream]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
When ATI released the X1800s/R520, it's performance was questionable. 3 months later, they followed it up with the stellar R580s, and wore the performance crown until the release of the 8800s.

It wouldn't surprise me if a revised R600 core was released not long after the HD 2900s.

Good point, the x1800 series was a decent card but the new one just came out a few months later. I am still betting on the 65nm part.

 

[JPB]

Originally posted by: enz660hp
http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=818&Itemid=1

"If you overclock the Core 2 Duo to 3.5 GHz or more, then you can even score 13,000 in 3Dmark06. So now you know, and these scores where produced using the 8.361 driver."

13000? Looks good What does the 8800gts & gtx get with that cpu? I wonder how far this card can overclock once you slap an hr-03+ on it and some fan.

Someone actually pays $400-$600 for a video card just to run 3DMark ?

Of course R600 may be faster than the GTX and GTS in it. But it cannot touch the GTX so far in games. Maybe future games, but not right now.

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: JPB

Originally posted by: enz660hp
http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=818&Itemid=1

"If you overclock the Core 2 Duo to 3.5 GHz or more, then you can even score 13,000 in 3Dmark06. So now you know, and these scores where produced using the 8.361 driver."

13000? Looks good What does the 8800gts & gtx get with that cpu? I wonder how far this card can overclock once you slap an hr-03+ on it and some fan.

Someone actually pays $400-$600 for a video card just to run 3DMark ?

Of course R600 may be faster than the GTX and GTS in it. But it cannot touch the GTX so far in games. Maybe future games, but not right now.

Considering we haven't seen any legitimate benchmarks of the HD 2900 in real-world games, that's pure speculation.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: JPB

Originally posted by: enz660hp
http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=818&Itemid=1

"If you overclock the Core 2 Duo to 3.5 GHz or more, then you can even score 13,000 in 3Dmark06. So now you know, and these scores where produced using the 8.361 driver."

13000? Looks good What does the 8800gts & gtx get with that cpu? I wonder how far this card can overclock once you slap an hr-03+ on it and some fan.

Someone actually pays $400-$600 for a video card just to run 3DMark ?

Of course R600 may be faster than the GTX and GTS in it. But it cannot touch the GTX so far in games. Maybe future games, but not right now.

I've seen people score 10-11K with a GTS. I would assume that the GTX can hit 13K.

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: tanishalfelven
lets see. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
buy tech when you want to buy it or when you need to.
waiting will have you waiting for ever.

Yeah, people were saying to wait for the R600 when the G80 came out back in November.

You can always wait, because there will always be a faster or cheaper computer part coming. However you will can keep waiting for years and that trend will continue.

When you are ready to buy and the price is right, pull the trigger.

Besides half the fun of having a computer is upgrading it.

 

[nZone]

Ok, let's say you wait for another 6 months. When close to the final retail release; nvidia announce that 8900 series will come out the next 6 months promising 40% increase in performance over AMD/ATI. Are you going to wait again?

The question you should ask yourself is:

Does the current video card play all my games at the performance I desire?
Does this video card give me at least 2 years in term of gaming performance?
Does this video card support the next DX10?

If the price is in your ballpark, there is no reason to wait.

 

[Munky]

Sometimes waiting pays off, sometimes it doesn't. Waiting for the x1800's was a bad idea. For x1900's, it was a good idea. When the 8800gtx came out last November, it featured a surprisingly innovative architecture and features, and a new level of perormance reminiscent of the 9700pro bomb Ati dropped in 2002. So anyone wanting a high end card should have bought it then. The rumor about the 65nm r650 seems plausible, and if Ati can get it out before Nvidia has a 65nm high end part, it would put them at a considerable advantage.

At the same time, it'd dumb to buy HW for a game before the game is even released, because games get delayed very often, and by the time it's out there's already newer and better cards available.

 

[MadBoris]

In reality if you waited since November (that is 7 months) for the r600 and it's abysmal performance leap over the 8800 then you you really might as well wait for next gen, when perfomance is sure to make a large leap again like the 8800 did. Fortunately or unfortunately that will be Nvidia again.
8800 when released was a large leap over all other current cards, especially on high res. where nothing touches it. R600 will not have that leap over an 8800, so was it really worth waiting???

If you need a card now in the next two weeks, yeah go for it, pick your poison. ATI will have to keep prices high to recoup costs for MFR'g but Nvidia has alot of lattitude to undercut ATI prices (not that they will need to by much for the comparable performance parts) now since the mfr'g process has matured and costs less.
DX10 features should not even be in the decision making, devs won't utilize the potential for years, when they do these first gen cards will likely be lacking.

I couldn't be happier in the leap of perfomance I gained from the 6800 ultra I had to an 8800, really is amazing. Now I have my 24" Dell shipping and I am one happy boy for a couple years.

 

[ronnn]

Having waited this long, may as well wait a few days to see how good the 2900xt is and how it effects prices. :beer:

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: ronnn
Having waited this long, may as well wait a few days to see how good the 2900xt is and how it effects prices. :beer:

Yeah, two weeks won't kill anyone...I'm not buying anything video card related before May the 14th.

 

[Farmer]

Originally posted by: MadBoris
In reality if you waited since November (that is 7 months) for the r600 and it's abysmal performance leap over the 8800 then you you really might as well wait for next gen, when perfomance is sure to make a large leap again like the 8800 did. Fortunately or unfortunately that will be Nvidia again.
8800 when released was a large leap over all other current cards, especially on high res. where nothing touches it. R600 will not have that leap over an 8800, so was it really worth waiting???

The R600 is designed to be better than the 8800, not some "quantum leap" over the 8800; they are the same generation card.

Top end 8800s are great, but the midrange offerings are on par with 7xxx nVidias, so, who knows, ATI might be able to improve on the mid-range segment.

Of course, I'm tired of all of these delays from AMD. Don't release information unless you are sure you can put it out the door, which you never are.

 

[n7]

I'll be waiting till we see some HD 2900 results/prices.

Then i'll be buying either an 8800 GTX or the HD 2900 XT, pending availability & pricing.

 

[GEOrifle]

WAIT! Because whatever card ATI will release nVidia must drop prices down w/o question, so was with AMDx2 CPU's, i was hoping get x4400 for $500 before C2D, after
it became just $100. Same thing will be with nVidia.
Only thing i need to question: Will be ATI real competitor to nVidia?
We don't need final winer, we need them:ATI and nVidia to fight each other all the time
to keep prices low like it's INTEL vs AMD.
PRICE WAR is our ONLY FRIEND....

 

[Nightmare225]

Originally posted by: GEOrifle
WAIT! Because whatever card ATI will release nVidia must drop prices down w/o question, so was with AMDx2 CPU's, i was hoping get x4400 for $500 before C2D, after
it became just $100. Same thing will be with nVidia.
Only thing i need to question: Will be ATI real competitor to nVidia?
We don't need final winer, we need them:ATI and nVidia to fight each other all the time
to keep prices low like it's INTEL vs AMD.
PRICE WAR is our ONLY FRIEND....

Agreed, we gotta have both sides pumping out GPUs constantly for the consumer to win...

 

[Pocatello]

I'm willing to wait for DX 10 games to come out before I invest my money in a DX10 videocards.

 

[Nnyan]

seeing this discussion I think I'll take off the 8800GTS from my shopping cart and wait a few weeks for the R600 to be released. I really don't care if its 20% faster the thing is huge (over a foot I've read) and it eats up power. Besides Nvidia supports Linux better. Only thing I'm waiting for is the price drop.

 

[ronnn]

Only one huge thing around here and its not the 2900xt. Seems it is actually a bit shorter than the 8800gts.