Whats the point.....?

of all these new graphics cards and variants and what not when an 8800GT 512MB will run just about everything maxed out....I used to always follow what was going on in the graphics market and spend a fortune on gfx cards, and now the least expensive card I've bought in the last 5 years eats everything alive so are people really suprised the graphics market is slowing down...?

And...

With the majority of the people having Intel Crossfire chipsets, they will dominate the market.

Bring the good drivers out....

Hmmm....

@ Bynar:

I have to agree... it seems like only a few months ago that the 9800 and 3800 were released and neither one is pushed particularly hard by 95% of gaming applications out there.

I think that the companies need to move to 1.5 year gaps between new generations but increase the average cost of the cards slightly (to balance out the fact that they won't be getting that influx of cash from spitting out so many gens of cards). I have to say that, as a consumer, seeing good quality cards for £100-150 when they would have been £200+ in previous generations has me scared that Nvidia is playing the 'how deep are your money reserves?' game with ATI/AMD.

I'd prefer a better gen upgrade each time and a longer timeframe for the cards to be on the market - but better support for drivers than an incremental increase in power that i pretty much will be unable to use anyway.

there is a point resolution

well, i guess it also depends on the resolution you are gaming at...
at 1900*1200 certains games i played didn't run smoothly on the (x1900xtx) was was the ATI flag ship 1.5 generations ago (like 2years?)

R u SURE?

@ Bynar.

are you sure your 8800GT 512mb can run Crytek's Crysis EVERYTHING MAX?

shadow, physic, AA, AF, EVERYTHING MAX.

R U SURE?

no right? exactly, nothing personal, please don't mislead readers, many people have no clue how better each new generation of cards are, thats why we use benchmark scoring to determine rather it is worth to upgrade and price/performance.

A Question for Bynar

Can you prove that the 8800GT can run Crysis at full resolution and all the settings on Very High?

You'd be suprised to find out that you can't, its impossible, I'm not sure what games you play, but they must be at least 3 - 5 years old, the way your talking.

Max out is not 1280x1024

Anyone saying the Gf8800GT eats everything alive, isn't playing with the sliders all the way to the right, unless they're running @ low res.

It's funny that there's considered a slow-down because of the traditional season slump and the calm before the new launches.
Even analysts at JPR said that while sales were down for quarter-quarter, shipments were up 20% versus last year.

Except this to be a summer of far higher sales than last one where AMD launched is underwhelming HD2900 and nV launched it's posturing GF8800Ultra. Neither were well received, whereas both of these upcoming cards are highly andticipated and likely to move well, and through many price ranges.

Get going game studios

The game companies need to get their butts in gear and start pushing the hardware limits.

Disagree to agree

My 3870 Vistiontek actually plays stalker at max settings with fluid frame looking thingies.

Runs wow at max settings.

I do not play crisis on account being a mature adult.

The only thing I do not run is Vista.

Vista is the problem for graphics cards with its miniscule visual upgrade and horrendous framerate downgrades. In truth, everything is still written for dx9 and will be for a long time.

I can't find Mallowmars in any store near me. I am wondering if they are out of business. Anyone know?

Come on ATI

While the 4000 series is just a rehash of the 3000 cards, GT200 is a new thing altogether.

Thankfully we have one company not resting on their laurels.

bynars right

heheh bynar - finally started reading a decent website eh? ;) I have to agree with him though (as much as we normally disagree :) )

I normally keep up with the gfx card game - but NOTHING on the market warrants the extra cash over my current 8800GT. YES it plays most titles maxed out quite well (1680x1050), crysis - nothing around can play that game at decent framerates - doesnt matter how much you spend at the moment, and does ONE game warrant extra expenditure? especially one that once its run through - you'll probably never play again. my 2900xt did the job back then - never installed it again after completing it!

I think we've got to the point where hardware no longer matters - things are fast enough as they are and minor tweaks are not going to make peeps spend their cash - we need MASSIVE performance gains like the jumps in previous generations of gfx cards to justify spending our hard earned cash. Maybe its cus we aint got no decent titles that do actually push our cards to their limits, or the fact that most sensible gamers are abandoning the PC scene for consoles (less hassle/money expenditure)

@@ Bynar - leave my PS3 outta this ;)

GDDR3...?

What happened to GDDR5? I thought that's what these cards were being loaded with...

really

remember to apply AA and AF before you brag you card plays some game well. Ohh and buy a 24" monitor.

Crysis
Far Cry 2
World in Conflict
Flight Simulator X
Any DirectX 10 game comming out soon. (in DX 10 mode of course)
COD4 (remember in FPS, grazing 30fps isn't really enough)

Also I've been reading Age of Conan has "normal" recommended specs, but you really need a fast setup to go max....... Graphix will only get better and harder on systems. People don't always want to play games that look like cartoons.

crysis

I have to agree a 8800gt can handle almost all games max except crysis.
But so what crysis isnt an amazing game and everything on high and max aa are good enough for me in that game (not that I will ever play it again)

lol

zoomee, did you upgrade from a 2900xt to a 8800gt? Wait, no, you couldn't have; if you had you would surely not be saying this:

[quote zoomee]"we need MASSIVE performance gains like the jumps in previous generations of gfx cards to justify spending our hard earned cash." [/quote]

would you?

Nice

Its called progress...

DX10.1 anyone? (except Nvidia of course - LOL)

GAME CARDS Are Fluid.

After I nearly choked on my grizzle, i laughed, it was good 10 months ago that x1950xtx fell to $149, NOW? O.S, Long Gone,Even Santa Cann't Get ONE & Ultie don't like their Big Stuff.
YET it did Crossfire internally, Giving You Run at HDTV by interspacing lines from each.
Wow, it has been FAST to Find Ultiizer, That Wheeber Geeber of Card that Vista Ultimate can Sport.S.F.S.G.Probably Nvidias PhysX units will Jump Hurdle to Parity.?
With CrossfireX or even onboard SliHybrid that Kicks 24X for oddity of Slotmo.?Well at least industry isn't up an canoue without any River.hahaha

Any Word on 4870X2 2 gb assuming its gddr5 & plenty Wide is OverLoad setting, POW...So Much it Eats Ultie for Appitizier.(Probably Crab).
drashek

High res

The curse of having a 30'' monitor is that you need a lot of horsepower to run games at 2560x1600 and high detail. So hopefully these cards will improve the high res performance.

Nvidia not required

Most people need an Nvidia graphics card in the same way a long distance runner needs a nasty bout of diarrhea

finally

"I think we've got to the point where hardware no longer matters - things are fast enough as they are "

lol people where saying this when the pentium 120 Mhz was launched.. *now we don't need faster computers* yada yada =)

"I think that the companies need to move to 1.5 year gaps between new generations but increase the average cost of the cards slightly "

I guess your aware that its 1.5 years or somesuch since Nvidia launched this current generation cards.. (8800 & 9800 do both have the same generation of chips). Nvidias naming policy seems very strange these days since it looks like the new generation of cards will be called 9900. Unless they go Geforce10 or ditch geforce altogether, wich I doubt.

These new cards are the first interessting release in a long time! 8800 to 9800 was a total nonevent, performance wise.

still not getting RDR

Can you remember the article TheInquirer wrote maybe 3 years ago when they said that DDR had its limits and that graphics cards would be using RDR memory in the next few generations. What happened, now we are getting DDR5 why oh why are they not using RDR like the PS3. Regardless I for one am looking foreward to the next gen cards. We might get a real jump in performance and we do need a jump over the offering we have now which was a fall backwards.

@Bynar h8erz...

..fellas, fellas...Bynar did say most games, not all and since I am a mind-reader(phht!!) I know he meant Cwysis is the exception....however, I like new h/ware, I also h8 that the A$250 8800gt/g92 is in most ways as fast as 1 of my 'old' A$1000 8800gtxz/g80..it is time for something new gwaphically for the lifeless masses to whom PC is sanity trustee(takes 1 to know 1)..MB some us may even fire up Cwysis and actually play it through TWIWMTBP:):)???? Personally, I actually hope the DAMMIT crew have a winner like 9700/9800 was? NV to blunder? NV to find humility?? onez can hope...

8000GT can play anything?

So you say that the 8800GT can play anything mazed out? What are you, a child?
I guess you've never tried playing Crysis maxed out at 1600x1050 at Very High setting?

We need faster cards.....

Radeon 4800

This card has an awfully low number on it. I wonder if I could pawn off my Radeon 7500 on some sucker somewhere. I mean 7500 sounds better than 4800, right?

Weird Release

I would have thought ATi would release the low end cards with GDDR3 RAM, mid-range cards with 512mb GDDR4 memory and high range with GDDR5 memory.

It don't make sense to release the 3750 has a GDDR4 varient as well as GDDR3. Could you imagine if they did release it like above a lower end card with GDDR3 memory an decent shaders.

Plenty of people would buy 1 if the numbers where decent it wasn't been restricted.

New or Not

[While the 4000 series is just a rehash of the 3000 cards, GT200 is a new thing altogether. ]

the GT200 is just a g92b evolution noting all new just take the specs of a g92b gpu and double the specs.. whalla you got an GT200

Cards

Listen. With a 8800GTX I can run crysis in 1900x1080 (40" tv) everything very high. (at this point AA and AF isnt required). With a 'decent' 20 fps. These cards will just set the point and be able to run smotthly that game. Beceause in reality. The only engine that needs more video card is Cryengine... These cards are released ONLY for CRYSIS... heh...

NOT TOO FAST

go ati go

hmmm

I have to agree with bynar and at the same time disagree as well. They are launching to quickly, one card is barely out and the next is on it's way and both Nvidia and ATI ( especialy Nvidia !!! ) are not delivering much on the driver side. on the plus side tho these quick releases has dropped the price of the cards which does put a smile on my face as a potential buyer :)

O and btw. only the 4870 will have GDDR 5, not the 4850 which this post is based apon. the 4870 is being delayed to july only because the gddr 5 is being specialy designed for the 4870 and that is what is delaying its launch, or so i read somewhere ...

Get it right

"Come on ATI
While the 4000 series is just a rehash of the 3000 cards, GT200 is a new thing altogether.

Thankfully we have one company not resting on their laurels."

It's the other way round knucklehead. GT200 is NOT a new thing altogether. RV770 is the new cookie.

Try to pull your head out of your arse before you open your mouth, that way you won't end up with a mouthful of shit.

Good Cards, No Games

I agree with Phenix, the only game that requires something better than a 8800GT is Crysis. I have Crysis, only played it once and hat's it, beautiful graphics and that's it. I wont' upgrade my video card just to play Crysis at 60FPS. The 8800GT is more than enough for the other '48548654' games out there. Game Industry need to make more and more demanding games. I remember when Oblivion was at the top, the 8800GT can run it excellent now without a hitch but why was Oblivion the only demanding game out there? Why is Crysis the only demanding game right now? Game Industry needs to move & stop making free mmorpgs, make good games, not ones you need to devote your life to it cause that ain't attractive.

2560x

Personally I can't wait for these new cards to pop up. I'm running a 30" screen, and altho games do look fabulous even at 1920x, I'm still waiting for that sweet price/performance point in GPU's, to be able to move into the native resolution, once and for all.

Right now I'm counting on two 4870's to do the trick (since I'm on x38 chipset atm) but even one GT200 could pull it off.

Rest assured I'm really hoping ATI will make it big with this generation of cards. It'd be my first ATI since X850XT AGP

X280 Has Built IN Creative Sound 7.1

Andrew asked AJ & others replied X200. NOT Much is known, except specs for X280 TOPPER is out. Amoung usual stepping up here & there,(Plus PhysX 2- seperate processors onboard) this beut has HDMI With Built in Sound. So One additional hedge aginst enivettiabled Temporary Audio loss of Integrated or sound Card routing, theres fianl HDMI 7.1 Out Sound possibility, too with its own personal on game card chipper.
drashek

good thing for us

aint it a good thing as new batches comes out? it just means lower prices for those 88s/98s...

What are you smokin?

What are you people smokin? "Runs most games at max" WTF?? IM running 1920 X 1080 TV 37LG50 thats a 37" HD LCD TV and my games are dropping frames like a US dollar dropping value! I will buy ATI's next high end card as soon as the reviews come out..Positive that is

Easy tigers...

Just to requote myself given all the comments aimed at me!
"an 8800GT 512MB will run just about everything maxed out"

Yes I said "just about" so calm down! I know it won't run crysis topped out, but almost every other game I've got e.g. Dirt, Assassins Creed, Company of Heroes, CSS, HL2, Stalker, even the new GRID demo (stunning game btw if you've not tried it yet) will run at at 1920 x 1200 with everything on high. Anyway crysis still looks amazing at both 1280 x 1024 high, or 1680 x 1050 medium detail so I'm hardly clamboring to upgrade for a few extra leaves on trees.....

Noone can hand on heart seriously recommend I upgrade beyond this card at this point in time.....can they?!? The new high end cards just don't make the impact they used to....I think that was the point I was trying to make in the first place...

crysis

to all people talking about crysis - crysis isn't that good game and to be honest their engine sux. i'd say that assassin's creed and ut3 engine do the same job which much better frame rates. personally i have 8800gts and 27" display and I play everything maxed out apart from crysis which bored me after 4 hours (far cry forever) and COD4 never drops below 60fps. there is no gfx card out there which can run crysis on decent frame rate with everything maxed out and it isn't problem with gfx cards but their engine

Soy un pinwino con calor

Oh, i can´t run Crysis on very high with my 1000w gaming system, i will need a 2000w one ¬¬

8800 can run anything??

Tell that to my 24" lcd and 1920x1200 res, with a 3870 most games can take it but not all. And I am not talking about only crysis, i even have a free racer that can drop the card to 20 frames TM Nations (cool game). Most games are fine but most games don't have destructible environments and are older engines. Oblivion, Half-life looks great but they are oder engines and starting to look dated (Half-life textures). And Call of Duty is awesome but i cant blow up a building can I? When Fall Out comes out i need to be playing it at 1920x1200! And pls don't mention crappy Xbox ports pls Assins Creed or anyother Ubi game!!!!!!!

I guess someone already has a 9900GTX

Hey guys,
I was reading this
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/hdmi-dvi-usb,5425.html
when I noticed last screenshot, look at it!
See 9900GTX now look at the date of posting in the article, 20th of MAY ... DAMMIT hurry up..

Blame Consoles

As long as games continue to target console spec, to make sure the game can be ported to pretty much every platform, we are not going to see much of a point in upgrading.

Crysis is an exception, one that is unlikely to happen again any time soon considering Crytek's announcements on dumping PC exclusives. If you game at 1680x1050 and don't care too much about AA a 512mb 8800GT is fine for pretty much everything.

It is going to take the odd rare title like GOW or MassEffect that improves visuals for the PC version to really justify new hardware.

Don't forget about folding@home

Having one of the fastest graphics cards will make it really impressive when it comes to the folding@home project.

It seems that nearly everyone in this thread talks about gaming, don't forget about the science projects too..