Affordable DX10 - GeForce 8600 GTS and 8600 GT 224
mikemuch writes "While ATI still hasn't released a DX-10-capable graphics card, Nvidia today already released its affordable SKUs, in descending price and performance order the GeForce 8600 GTS and GeForce 8600 GT, and 8500 GT. The GTS costs $200-230, the GT from $150-170, and the 8500 reaching down to the $90 range. The architecture for the new GPUs is the same as for the 8800 line, but with lower clocks and fewer stream processors."
Re:too many models and lines (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:DX10? What? (Score:5, Interesting)
Because that's where the money is.
If developers, even a few, thought they could make more money on Linux than Windows, or even turn a hefty enough profit by supporting both, they'd do it.
Thanks for companies like Introversion, Transgaming, and Codeweavers, and of course all the developers of Wine, Linux gaming is more popular than ever. Thanks to people like the folks behind Ogre3D, Newton, ODE, OpenAL, etc Cross-OS gaming is easier than ever.
I think this puts us right on the cusp of seeing a big change in Linux gaming. (And Mac OSX gaming, too.) But until then, Windows is -the- PC gaming OS and that's where hardware and software creators will be making their investments.
Now, I know the usual argument is that OpenGL is already cross-platform and should be supported. And I agree to a point... But ATI's OpenGL support has apparently always sucked, and you don't create a game that will suck for half the market if there's an easy alternative. (DirectX.) (Disclaimer: I have no first-hand experience with ATI cards. I've stuck with nVidia since Voodoo died.)
In Short: Bandwidth-Starved and Overpriced (Score:5, Interesting)
The 8600GT outperforms a 7600GT - but is priced like a 7900GT.
Content? (Score:3, Interesting)
1. You need a Game that supports DirectX 10, how many have been released so far?
2. You need the user to be running Windows Vista to have support for DirectX 10
3. The user needs to have also purchase a DirectX 10 graphics card to complete the loop.
It is the chicken and the egg, and history hasn't been kind to the early adopters of graphics cards that are the FIRST to implement a new API.
Re:Content? (Score:2, Interesting)
1) There's a moderately priced, high performance DX10 video card available ($200-$250)
2) There's a way to address the DRM laden Vista (either a hack/patch/new version)
3) There's a DX10 game that I have to have that doesn't include spyware, adware, or malware.
The only way to convince big corporations that their new direction sucks is to vote with your wallet. Don't buy whatever crap they want to shove in your face. I play bf2 a lot, but didn't buy bf2142. Why? Because they never fixed the bugs in bf2, and they charge full price for a game with ads in it.
Why would I want one? (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't play FPS, which is most likely to be the biggest genre that actually thinks it needs DX-10.
My next logical upgrade will be to dual SLIs, unless I can't use dual monitors with them (I know some people who said they've had trouble with SLI and dual monitors, but I haven't researched it much because I'm not upgrading right now).
Re:So how much did NVidia pay them for this? (Score:5, Interesting)
In context, it's clear the GP was referring to the NVidia cards that were reviewed by the article. And he's mostly right. In only one (of many) actual gaming benchmark did any of the Nvidia cards reviewed outperform the X1950.
Where I believe the GP is mistaken is in his conclusions about the article. The article itself says, in conclusion:
The article notes, correctly I think, that the X1650XT is not a good card for gamers to buy. It notes that the 1950 won't do DirectX10, and the budget NVidia cards may not be fast enough to do it well either.
However, it's also instructive to have a look at this review at Hard OCP [hardocp.com]. There, in two demanding games (Oblivion and STALKER), the 8600 GTS appears to win handily over the 1950XT. If those benchmarks are accurate, it suggests the ExtremeTech article may draw conclusions that are too favorable to the X1950.
Ah well, interesting times for all gfx card consumers!
HolmwoodRe:Let me get this straight. (Score:4, Interesting)
Buying a graphics card today does not mean you will be future-proofed for tomorrow.
In 9 months or so when DX10 games come out, chances are they'll need better-than-8800 graphics to run at max settings.
If there are no games out now that justify a high-end purchase for you, then get a cheaper mid-range card and save the rest of your money for a better card in 9 months.
Re:Who cares? (Score:3, Interesting)
I have to disagree with this. Many, many people's lives and careers are intimately tied to their ability to use a computer. Given that MS is a monopoly, and for all intents and purposes hundreds of millions of people will have no other choice but to spend many hours a day interacting with MS's OS, it is absolutely fair to have it invoke very strong emotions. If you had said the same about a game console, where there are really three good choices, and millions of peoples livelihoods didn't depend on it, I would agree with you. We are not talking about that though. We are talking about something that is as much a part of our infrastructure as telephones, electricity, and gasoline. If the electric company sent out a memo tomorrow that told us they were going to seriously increase the cost of electricity, everyone would have to upgrade their breaker boxes, and a bunch of your existing electric uses will be incompatible with their new system, you can bet that people would be swearing. At this point Windows is a utility and will cause just as much frustration when MS does bad things to the customers.
So how much did ATI pay them for CableCard? (Score:1, Interesting)