Price Guides, August 2005: Video Cards
by Anand Shimpi & Cara Hamm on August 14, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Mid-Range Graphics
Usually at this point, we speak of a NVIDIA 6600GT recommendation with remorse that ATI has nothing competitive to offer price/performance-wise in this $100-$200 segment. However, this time there's an interesting card showing up in channel from ATI marked "X800". The X800 uses the same ATI R430 graphics core as the High End X800XL, but only has 12 pixel pipelines instead of 16, which doesn't seem to hurt it very much while demolishing NVIDIA's 6600 GT and ATI's very own X700 Pro along the way - the two main cards that used to occupy this price segment.Today, we found an MSI X800 PCIe for $145 [RTPE: MS-8997-01S] after rebate, though the usual price hovers around $175. X800 is without a doubt the best price/performance deal in graphics cards and will play all your games just fine. Unfortunately, this card is only recommended in PCIe, since the AGP version is $80 more expensive.
Our chart below includes all the X800 cards, but you can see just the X800 cards on the Pricing Engine.
Again in response to the launch of the 7800GT, NVIDIA has dropped the price on the regular 6800 to an MSRP of $199. Most cards are still above MSRP for now (with many including mail-in rebates), but they should fall below $199 shortly. The choice between 6800 and 6600GT becomes rather interesting now, with prices and performance being very similar. The 256-bit memory interface of the 6800 usually wins out in our book, although the PCIe cards actually have slower RAM than the AGP models. AGP users will find the XFX 6800 especially interesting, as it is now $155 [RTPE: XFX 6800 AGP].
With tumbling 6800 prices, what happens to the 6600GT? If it remains close to $200, there's no point in getting one over the 6800. Not surprisingly, it has fallen to around $150, continuing to fill the middle ground between the 6600 and the 6800. eVGA has deals for about $130 and $139 after rebate on their PCIe and AGP models, respectively [RTPE: eVGA 6600GT PCIe and eVGA 6600GT AGP].
Filling in the bottom of the Mid-Range sector, we can't really recommend GeForce 6600, Radeon 9800 Pro, or X600 Pro/XT anymore because the price/performance offered isn't very attractive. However, if you're looking to spend $120 or less on a video card, the X700 Pro (PCIe only) has become an an excellent choice. The Connect3D model is the clear winner, having fallen to just $99 [RTPE: Connect3D X700 Pro]!
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
23 Comments
View All Comments
patrick0 - Monday, August 15, 2005 - link
Maybe you want to check out:www.alternate.de
www.alternate.es
They do send internationally (prices in Euro)
at80eighty - Thursday, August 18, 2005 - link
thanks mate!Hacp - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
AGP 6800GTs have always been around the 280 range....neogodless - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
What do you mean by "always"? I bought mine about a year ago, and the cheapest I could find for a Dual DVI 256MB AGP 6800GT was around $375.DrZoidberg - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
With the recent 6800GT AGP price drops cause of 7800GT coming out x800xl is no longer $100 or significantly cheaper than 6800GT. Theres still alot of x800xl at $270 on that pricewatch.ASUS GeForce 6800GT 128MB - $269
Albatron GeForce 6800GT 256MB - @269
kristof007 - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
So where does my Gainword nVidia 5700 FX land?? Yea I need to update. I wish I had the money. I use it for Doom 3 and GTA San Andreas these days and it works. Not INSANE graphics but nice.RMSistight - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
I'm waiting until the end of the year for the 6 series cards to be way cheap. After all, the 6 series card and the ATI X800 series are the last of the powerful AGPs.coomar - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
with expected price drops on cards soon, seems weird to do a price guidebupkus - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
It's funny, but when shopping for a new video card a couple weeks ago so many people swore the 6600GT pwned the X800. I'm convinced now my choice for the X800 was the better of the two.KristopherKubicki - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
(nt)