[redden137]

hi guys just found this review of a 9600gt
GeForce 9600GT Amp! Edition Review
let us know what you think?

[mrdaveyk]

seems like a waste to me

ive got the 8600gt and will upgrade to the 8800gt before i got into the 9 series to be fair

[redden137]

i agree seems a waste to get the 9600gt at the mo with 8800gt doing as well if not better in the playing of games

[Carbon]

What a surprise, it's exactly the 8800GT with a different name like I expected. Factory overclocked too, so the "base" models will be below-par. I see this fitting in between the 8800GTS 320MB and the 8600GTS. Unfortunately, nobody really cares because the 8800GT is the same price and better.

[redden137]

the only way i can see this card fitting in is to lower the price as i think everyone will be going for the 8800gt just as you said same price but better

[Carbon]

Originally Posted by redden137 the only way i can see this card fitting in is to lower the price as i think everyone will be going for the 8800gt just as you said same price but better

I'm really concerned about nVidia's move here because they're deliberately confusing their entire lineup in a fetishistic attempt to satisfy mid-range consumers. 8800GT? GS? 8600GT? GTS? 8800GTS old? 8800GTS new? And yet most of them have the exact same performance, with the exception of the 8600s. They're not just producing more than one card for each market segment: they've produced 7!

[link590o]

i wouldn't say that about the 9600. the price range for the 9600 is between 170 and 190. that's between 70 and 50 dollars lower than some of the lowest 8800gt prices i've seen. and in many benchmarks, i've seen the 9600 come in very close behind the 8800GT. you get what you pay for. it's not bad, but its not great. the 8800gt wins over it because it has almost twice the stream processors that the 9600 has.

with some driver updates and whatnot, the 9600 can reach close to the 8800gt if not beat it in some areas, and it will do so for a lot less money, and with a lot less voltage. it fits right in between the 8600gt and the 8800gt roughly. it's a nice cheap alternative that will offer similar performance, and it still manages to easily compete with ATI's 3870/3850.

note: once nvidia released the price for the 9600, ATI quickly and quietly lowered the prices of their 3870/3850 to about the same price range ;)

quite frankly, i kind of like the 9600 because of the aforementioned. but i do want the added performance the 8800 offers, so i'll likely still stick with that especially because many say the 8800 will still reign supreme. and i sort of agree.

but it's a milestone for nvidia because they achieved so much with such a tiny little package. yeah there are better cards, but what it offers seriously outweighs what its made of. and that is something to be proud of.

[redden137]

ok understand where your coming from link590o but i still think there is not much future for this card unless they drop the price further as everyone i know wants to get the 8800gt for gaming,
its a pity for a new release like this, to be dissappointing not really even on a par with the 8800 even when its o/c and with a new release you would expect it to be miles better and play all games on high

[link590o]

very true, but you have to bear in mind that there is a ceiling that you can hit when designing something like this.


buying a graphics card costs money. fact. we all know this. we also all know that in order to use said excellent card, you need other excellent parts to avoid bottlenecking and the like. and that costs even more money.

so how do you maintain your appeal by coming out with something that's so powerful no one can use it unless they pay out the ass? it's a bind that you can't easily get through unless you bite the bullet and do it anyway, or say screw it and lower your standards. they obviously have the capability to further improve on their current designs, but they're holding back for a reason.

maybe it isn't my theory at all. maybe they're just using the 9600gt as a pilot to see what other kind of gear they can create.

my point is that as much as we would like to see something that's amazingly powerful, it just isn't practical, and it won't sell as well as other cards.

just look at their current 8800 series. the 8800gtx is the best of the best. so why don't people buy it? because of the hefty pricetag and because they can get other less expensive equipment that will do the job too.

don't get me wrong, i'm not disagreeing with you at all. i'm just sort of giving you the "what did you honestly expect" speech at this point.

i'm simply reminding you all that not every new piece of equipment is necessarily going to raise the bar. especially if it can't be raised any higher on a practical level that maximizes their profit margin.

[Carbon]

Originally Posted by redden137 ok understand where your coming from link590o but i still think there is not much future for this card unless they drop the price further as everyone i know wants to get the 8800gt for gaming, its a pity for a new release like this, to be dissappointing not really even on a par with the 8800 even when its o/c and with a new release you would expect it to be miles better and play all games on high

After research on benchmarks, the 9600GT is now the best card to buy right now. It's got similar performance to the 8800GT and has better AA performance due to the increased VRAM. It's also causing AMD to cut prices on the 3870.

[link590o]

whether it's the best to buy is debatable. but i'll admit that it's a very tempting purchase. HOWEVER! being that it's such a new addition to the repertoire of nvidia, it's going to fly off the shelves faster than the 8800gt did if i can predict the average user's actions correctly. there are more than likely going to be a ton of 8800gt cards sitting on the shelves, and all the 9600s will be gone. but at least that's not necessarily a bad thing considering the 8800 has the edge performance-wise anyhow.

[chrismorris730]

Didn't nVidia do something similar right when they introduced their 8 series?

I remember the 8600 coming out and a friend of mine bought it right up and then a couple months later the 8800's came out.

my question is, would it be worth it to wait until the 9800's come out before buying say a 9600 or using an existing 8800GT sli rig?

[Carbon]

Originally Posted by chrismorris730 my question is, would it be worth it to wait until the 9800's come out before buying say a 9600 or using an existing 8800GT sli rig?

Probably but if you're in the market for a 8800GT right now you might as well go for it. Remember: we're still waiting on the new generation of video cards. This is just a cheaper 8800GT.

[chrismorris730]

the next generation being the 9800 or are you alluding to something else?

[redden137]

im glad this brought a bit of discussion guys and all civilised. but to be honest ive got an asus 8800gts 640mb which was the best at that time so i got it, then another card comes along, then another and before youve finished crysis your card is "out of date " so when anew card comes out i think your going to be a bit skeptical especially as older cards than the 9600 can do the job just as well