How long until the midrange of the next gen arrives?

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SenorBeef

Weaksauce
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Some people are recommending that people wait a month to buy a graphics card because ATI and Nvidia will be releasing their next gen stuff.

I'm building a system now... and I might be able to wait a month, but here's my question. Generally whenever new technology is released, only the $600ish flagship product is around for a while, right? I'm looking in the $200-300 midrange segment. Might it takes a few more weeks after the initial release of the new cards for me to get the new cards in my price range?

I'm fairly sold on getting an 8800 GTS 512. Will I regret that decision?
 
Well the 4870 will be in your price range, as will the 4850. I don't think anyone has any idea as to when Nvidia will release a new midrange card with the new technology built in, probably when they release the 55nm cards, hopefully sometime this fall or so.
 
I would expect we would start seeing benchmarks and early previews of the new AMD 4850 and 4870 cards in the first week of June. You might want to wait a week or two and see what the early results are before making your final purchase.

EVGA also has a very generous Trade Up program. I have not used it (yet) but its a very good way of ensuring you stay current for 3 months.
 
Eldragon said:
EVGA also has a very generous Trade Up program. I have not used it (yet) but its a very good way of ensuring you stay current for 3 months.
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That does sound very cool. I actually bought an XFX 8800 GTS 512... and I'm not sure if I should return it. I got the card because it was similarly priced to other high end cards of that type but it came with a free CoD 4 which is a great bundle. I hear good things about XFX too.

I'm probably overthinking this. I'll probably be happy with the performance I get from this card for the next year at least, and then if I want to upgrade the next gen tech will be cheaper.
 
SenorBeef said:
Some people are recommending that people wait a month to buy a graphics card because ATI and Nvidia will be releasing their next gen stuff.

I'm building a system now... and I might be able to wait a month, but here's my question. Generally whenever new technology is released, only the $600ish flagship product is around for a while, right? I'm looking in the $200-300 midrange segment. Might it takes a few more weeks after the initial release of the new cards for me to get the new cards in my price range?

I'm fairly sold on getting an 8800 GTS 512. Will I regret that decision?
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Maybe .. i think you might. For the price it is still a little expensive. i have an 8800-GTX and 2900xt crossfire. Unless you game on a 30" LCD, the GTS is unnecessary imo. i game DX10 at 16x10 satisfactorily with maxed out settings and filtering [except Crysis] and imo 19x12 is a little bit marginal for a GT but not for a GTS; so depends on your LCD and if you mind turning down details a little. =P


i would think of a "place holder" instead - if you are buying this week - a cheap 'GT' for ~$130 and a 2nd [used] one later to experiment with SLi when everyone else upgrades to GT200 [so you will be spending $200 for SLi'd GT's, total]. Or, you can then sell it for $70-80 in a few months, when the midrange of next gen GT200 excites you - AMD or Nvidia.

oh, this is just me .. but if i were building a system now, i'd get a beefy PS and a SLi capable MB for maximum flexibility. Everyone told me i was nuts to get a Xfire MB and a 850w OCZ - last year [both on sale, for cheap] .. and now i have the last laugh while they are upgrading twice .. i did once. ;)
 
WiLLiSTER said:
Snag an EVGA for now and trade up :]
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How many people really like this?

i find that some hate it and some love it as you are paying MSRP for the new card and are also without a card for over a week, right?

some of us just prefer luck and timing to sell our old stuff; me, i always buy cheap and sometimes sell high, so my upgrades have been cheap. I got my 8800GTX from a friend who "upgraded" [against my advice to a Gx2] for $50 !!!

But that was wild luck and timing; i will never lose on this card! And i got my 2900xt over a year ago on sale from Best Buy for $330 including Orange box[!]; adding a 2900p/512M at 2900xt speeds for $130 [$460 for 2900xt crossfire] last Winter, got me faster than Ultra speeds and great Crossfire Filtering for 16x12.

so even though i am looking to buy GT280 as soon as it is possible for me to do so, it would not necessarily be EVGA unless there was something other than the 'step up' - it seems to suit them more then their customers [to me]
 
SenorBeef said:
Some people are recommending that people wait a month to buy a graphics card because ATI and Nvidia will be releasing their next gen stuff.

I'm building a system now... and I might be able to wait a month, but here's my question. Generally whenever new technology is released, only the $600ish flagship product is around for a while, right? I'm looking in the $200-300 midrange segment. Might it takes a few more weeks after the initial release of the new cards for me to get the new cards in my price range?

I'm fairly sold on getting an 8800 GTS 512. Will I regret that decision?
Click to expand...
I feel your pain. This is a great time to buy a CPU, a great time to buy RAM, but a crappy time to buy a GPU.
 
The only mid range next gen gpu comin out is the 4850. Nvidia is supporting the 9600gt for at least 4th Qtr 2008. The 8800gts 512 should still be a good buy though
 
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