Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Nifty on December 27, 2001, 02:05:00 PM
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If that's true, anyone thinking about getting a new video card should wait a couple of months if they can. Top of the line cards will become 2nd line cards, and prices should drop on them. I have no idea if this is just a rumor or if it's legitimate.
The article at digitimes.com (http://digitimes.com/NewsShow/Article.asp?datePublish=2001/12/26&pages=04&seq=25)
I was gonna upgrade, but I guess I'm waiting now. ;)
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Both nVidia and ATI are on the industry standard 6 month product release cycle. The GF 3 Ti 500 was the last release from nVidia, and the "classic" Gf 3 was the release before that. Given the Ti release date, nVidia should introduce a newer graphics chip at the end of February and shipments should begin in early to mid March if they hold to their 6 month cycle.
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I am in dire need of a new vid card. How much improvement can we expect to see over the current GeForce3's? Some of the GF3 capabilities arent even used by software developers. I'm guessing the next release will just affect cost of previous chips and will not be THAT much different than the current. Is it smart to wait a few months or just buy now?
[ 01-01-2002: Message edited by: Octavius ]
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The current release cycle seems more of a evolutionary than revolutionary one. Current cards will become slightly cheaper, but there does not appear to be a GF2-GF3 type of preformance jump in the near future.
For the most part, any of the current cards are more than enough to keep you in gaming bliss for the next year or two. I tend to keep very current with video cards, and I typically buy about one new card every 12-18 months. There is always something better on the horizon, always a price cut in the next 6 month, and always a reason to wait. Ive got a GF2-MX (piece of crap if you ask me, must be the lowest of the low end cards because Geforce cards are usually very good), Radon 64DDR VIVO(nice card for what its good at, but has some real limitations and drawbacks) and a new Radeon 8500 (newest drivers make it clearly better than GF3 in FSAA, and its just as fast).
Im hoping not to have to buy a new video card until at least 2003 ;)
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Video cards are just like anything else in a computer - 6 months down the road and they seem hopelessly outdated. Fortuantely game development is generally a year behind video card development (i.e. most games in a year finally support the features of today's video cards).
Considering the huge price premium on the top of the line video cards, I personally never buy the latest and greatest. You also have to consider the speed of the computer you are putting the video card in. If it's a sub 1 Ghz Athlon or P3 or any Celeron you aren't going to see any FPS increase of a GF 3 over a GF 2 Ultra. (In reality the GF2 Ultra is slightly faster than the GF 3 on older systems.) If I were buying a video card right now, I'd probably go for a GF 2 Titanium (or Ultra) for systems that are not top of the line anymore, and a Gf 3 Titanium 200 or the original GF 3 Classic for new systems. The Titanium 500 carries a $100 premium for a minor increase in clockspeed that would only be slightly noticable at high resolutions and on absolutely the fastest systems available. Considering that that Ti 500 card will probably be $150 less in 6 months (and by then some games may be out that make use of the GF 3's new features) it would be an excellent buy then.