Good news for poor ppl....not me....ok me

[ThePope]

Nvidia goes mainstream with GeForce 6600 and 6600 GT

Graphics manufacturer takes GeForce 6 series from top to middle. New GeForce 6600 and GeForce 6600 GT cards to storm sub-$200 video card market.

Today at QuakeCon, graphics manufacturer Nvidia announced the new GeForce 6600 and GeForce 6600 GT graphics processors. The introduction of the GeForce 6600 series is a major step toward fulfilling the company's promise to offer consumers an entire "top-to-bottom" product line that features Microsoft DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 support.

Video cards based on the previously released GeForce 6800, 6800 GT, and 6800 Ultra graphics processors carry MSRPs of $299, $399, and $499, respectively, but cards based on the GeForce 6600 and GeForce 6600 GT processors will retail for $149 and $199, respectively.

The new processors maintain the same GeForce 6 series feature set, but Nvidia has adjusted performance levels to slot the GeForce 6600 video cards into the sub-$200 market. The GeForce 6600 and GeForce 6600 GT will both have eight-pixel pipelines, which is half the number found on the more expensive GeForce 6800 and GeForce 6800 GT cards. The memory interface for both the GeForce 6600 and the GeForce 6600 GT has also been halved, dropping from 256-bit to 128-bit. The GeForce 6600 will have a core clock speed of 300MHz, while the GeForce 6600 GT will have a 500MHz clock speed. The GT version will also offer support for Nvidia's new SLI technology, allowing users to combine two GeForce 6600 GT cards in a single SLI-capable system. Initial cards will be PCI Express compatible, but Nvidia has stated that AGP versions will be available shortly afterwards.

The GeForce 6600 series cards compare well to ATI's PCI Express video cards, even after the pixel pipeline and memory interface reductions. ATI's Radeon X600 Pro and X600 XT cards also feature the 128-bit memory interface, but they only have four-pixel pipelines.

The first GeForce 6600 and 6600 GT cards will be available in late September, and Nvidia will demonstrate the cards starting today at QuakeCon in Grapevine, Texas.

[Chris]

Oh man, that's really encouraging.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Yay!

This is great because there are so many people out there who really do want to play the latest games but have the grounded sense not to spend a whole month's rent on a stupid card that, when you really think about it, gives you half the value for your money because the current and near future crop of games don't yet take advantage of all of the card's features.

The most expensive, bleeding edge cards are usually for tech sluts who use them as surrogate penises for pissing matches with other tech sluts.

[Erkki]

I love your new avatar

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Awwww!! Kewpie love you too!!

[Wormsie]

I can get a bass guitar for $200. No thanks.

[Guest]

I wonder how ATI will respond to this?

I've noticed nVidia have really stepped it up of late, and are getting a great deal more support from games with their "Way it's meant to be played" campaign.

You never know...the next ATI could end up retailing for a $100!

Honestly, I think the overpricing of Graphx cards is what turns a lot of people off, when they want to make an investment in a PC or a console.

[Chris]

It's certainly what turns me off... Speaking as someone who built his own PCs back in the 486 days (and hasn't built too many since), it still blows my mind that the graphics card is often the most expensive part of a decent PC, and usually significantly so.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

You never know...the next ATI could end up retailing for a $100!

I seriously hope so! I love it when companies get into intense competitions and price wars, because guess who wins in the end?

WE, THE CONSUMERS, DO!

[Salka]

There are two PCs at work (there are a lot of PC's, it's a PC store...), two PCs in particularly that sit side-by-side on the display. Both are Compaqs of pretty respectable specs (3.0Ghz, 512mb RAM, blah blah blah), with 17'' Compaq TFTs. They're exactly the same, part for part, color for color, except that one has an ATI Radeon 9600. The other has some 64mb intel on board deal.

One is $1099. The other is $1899. Guess which is which?

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Um, the one with 64MB card costs $1899, because it features a keyboard hotkey that, when pressed, automatically takes you to Tim Schafer's personal webcam.

[Chris]

There are two PCs at work (there are a lot of PC's, it's a PC store...), two PCs in particularly that sit side-by-side on the display. Both are Compaqs of pretty respectable specs (3.0Ghz, 512mb RAM, blah blah blah), with 17'' Compaq TFTs. They're exactly the same, part for part, color for color, except that one has an ATI Radeon 9600. The other has some 64mb intel on board deal.

One is $1099. The other is $1899. Guess which is which?

Those overall prices don't seem as gougy as I'd expect from a pre-made setup by one of the big companies such as Compaq. Crazy. Although computer technology is increasing so fast these days that I never know what's considered the best...

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Crazy. Although computer technology is increasing so fast these days that I never know what's considered the best...

That's easy, Chris. The best system available is the one that came out ....... [checks watch] ....... just about ...... NOW!!

[Chris]

Oh, wait a second. For some reason I read the second price as $1299 or something. $800 for a video card?! My subconscious must have been blocking it out to avoid trauma!

[Intrepid Homoludens]

What are you on, Chris?! Can I have some?!!

[Chris]

Go ahead, the street names are "incredulity" and "consternation"

[Salka]

Yeah, $800 for a video card. Well, obviously the card itself didn't cost that much, but that's how much they marked up the price because of it. And I swear that was the only difference.

The thing is, they make money off rich Farmers in Ireland (not joking) that have a lot of money to spend and no knowledge of computers.

Also people with no knowledge of computers or prices in general.

But, if you are ever building your own PC, check out the Bargain Zone areas of stores. If you have that kind of thing in America. I found lots of respectable graphics cards and such being thrown out for $50 a piece, just because some guy had bought it and returned it because it wouldn't work in his PC, or because the packaging is a little damaged. When I say respectable, I mean top of the range, pretty much.

EDIT: I cannot count the number of times people have come in and bought a top of the range Graphics card for near enough $300 or even more, and returned it a few days later after realized they have an on board graphics card. Then we have to mark down the price as a 'return product' which means you can walk in the next day and buy it for $70. It would be a really cool scam, huh?

Or maybe they're a little smarter than that in America. I don't know.

Oh, wait a second. For some reason I read the second price as $1299 or something

Yes, the prices are deliberately designed by psychologists to trick people.

They actually are.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Yes, the prices are deliberately designed by psychologists to trick people.

They actually are.

And Chris fell for it.

[MrHoatzin]

Now this is vaguely on topic: my father bouht a new, top of the line vacuum cleaner for 70 dollars a few weeks ago over ebay. Apparently it wasn't working. It wasn't working because a simple pipe in an important place was missing and whoever initially purchased it lacked the sense to realize that a simple five dollar trip to Sears would solve the problem. The missing piece simply slid into place without any tools at all. Under normal circumstances that kind of vacuum cleaner runs around 250 bucks or something.

The moral of this story is that people are stupid in the US as well.

[Salka]

Including Chris, by the looks of things...

But seriously, crazy prices! TFT screens also put the price up by a further $200 to $300 over the cost of a CRT, which is crazy because TFTs are shit.

Back on topic. That's great news!

[Chris]

What's a TFT? Some kind of flat screen hyper plasma moon display?

[AGA]

Thin film transistor. It's a flat-screen monitor basically, with the same wibbly fluidy surface laptop monitors have.

[Chris]

Do they still have that stupid laptop screen characteristic of only being properly viewable from one specific angle?

[Salka]

Yes, if I recall correctly, they do. They're also hell on eyes. If you scroll down the Double Fine Action News, for instance, while using a TFT... it looks EXACTLY like the screen has burst in to flames. The colors merge and then explode, and it actually hurts. It hurts your eyes and your brain.

Speaking of Laptop Screens, Sony have the absolute worst ones, and Packard Bell have recently been copying them because stupid people fall for it. Basically, they're ordinary TFT monitors, but they have a reflective... yes, reflective covering over them. True, it makes the colors seem more vibrant, but you can't SEE the colors because the monitor is REFLECTIVE. All you can see is yourself and everything directly behind you.

Besides which, you can buy plastic strips for 50c each that do the same thing, but if a laptop has this 'built-in' you're paying an extra $300 for it... an extra $300 for the privilege of not being able to see your screen.

You know those things girls use to powder their nose? They're called Compacts, I think. They have a little mirror in them. Well, these Sony Laptops, they're like Electronic Compacts. Except they don't even make good Compacts, because they're shit and have shit graphics cards and also you can't see yourself properly in them.

[Wormsie]

I buy all my equipment really cheap and old too. However, when the store claims that they have this and this product or that they will get it delivered by then and then, it never happens...

So eventually I don't have to pay any money, but I don't get the product either...