why are GTX 280 prices so low?

Hey guys, I've been planning on buying a GTX 280 for a while now, and when I checked Newegg today just to see what versions they had (I don't have money yet, but I will soon), and I noticed that the prices weren't at all the $650+ that all the pre-release stuff mentioned. On this page, it shows some cards going for $500 even!

I'm just wondering, are there any reasons that these cards are so cheap? Well, cheap compared to the original stated prices.

Only in the price/performance area, the GTX 280 is still the best card out.hooded1man

Well according to price/performance ATi is actually the best.

Only in the price/performance area, the GTX 280 is still the best card out.hooded1man

[QUOTE="hooded1man"]Only in the price/performance area, the GTX 280 is still the best card out.tequilasunriser

Well according to price/performance ATi is actually the best.

I think he only ment that they were being kicked in the price-porformance area, but still held the most beastly card.

[QUOTE="tequilasunriser"]

[QUOTE="hooded1man"]Only in the price/performance area, the GTX 280 is still the best card out.m2twkisfun

Well according to price/performance ATi is actually the best.

I think he only ment that they were being kicked in the price-porformance area, but still held the most beastly card.

Oh I know what he meant. I know full and well...

The GTX 280 is better than the new ATI card in the fact that it takes two of the ATI cards in crossfire to be slightly better than the GTX 280.geogo3r

And it only takes one to have 85-90% the performance of the gtx 280, at originally less than half the price. gtx 280 is still overpriced at 500$, it should be 350$ to have the same price/performance ratio as the hd4870.

The GTX 280 is only around 10-15% better than the $300 HD4870. Hell, the $300 HD4870 competes very well with the $400 GTX 260. Nvidia seriously underestimated ATI this round, and is paying the price for it.RayvinAzn

damn straight... im SOOO happy with my visiontek HD 4850 :D

Dude, the price drop was announced a couple of days ago. GTX 280 and 260 are to drop down in price $90 and $30 respectively. Elann2008

Don't we wish.

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]Dude, the price drop was announced a couple of days ago. GTX 280 and 260 are to drop down in price $90 and $30 respectively. superkoolstud

Don't we wish.

Umm the price drop already happened. The EVGA GTX 280 was well over $600. Check the price again... you dont have to wish anymore... because they have to cut down the price to compete with ATi's 4xxx cards.

Umm the price drop already happened. The EVGA GTX 280 was well over $600. Check the price again... you dont have to wish anymore... because they have to cut down the price to compete with ATi's 4xxx cards.

Elann2008

There is no price drop yet, they are still $500-$660, Only difference between the different prices are the Clockspeeds.

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]

Umm the price drop already happened. The EVGA GTX 280 was well over $600. Check the price again... you dont have to wish anymore... because they have to cut down the price to compete with ATi's 4xxx cards.

superkoolstud

There is no price drop yet, they are still $500-$660, Only difference between the different prices are the Clockspeeds.

IMO going with the 280 series from Nvidia would be a mistake unless you don't care about price. Price/Performance ratio is the most important thing, that's why you constantly see 8800GT rated higher than 8800GTX(my card :( ) I certainly learned my lessons, stay in the middle, get 4850 CF if you must, it will keep eating games alive until you need to upgrade again.hamidious

Besides the GTX was worth the price before 8800GT came and there is no way to predict how the GPU market will go so no need to regret on it.See how everybody was laughing at people with 9800GX2's to wait for the GTX 200 series and now see they still have the most powerful card.Waiting is never a good option no matter how you cut it.

and nvidia is far enough rich to allow such dramatic cost low : they are the world ressoruce of game designer they got plenty money lolmarcthpro

Nvidia's stocks have dropped 50% over the last few months. Nvidia has pissed off Intel, isn't getting much support from ATI, and honestly don't have any friends anywhere. SLI support will soon be a thing of the past, since apparently Intel isn't even allowing Nvidia to release an nForce chipset for Nehalem. Nvidia is in a very bad place and has no friends to bail it out.

[QUOTE="marcthpro"]and nvidia is far enough rich to allow such dramatic cost low : they are the world ressoruce of game designer they got plenty money lolRayvinAzn

Nvidia's stocks have dropped 50% over the last few months. Nvidia has pissed off Intel, isn't getting much support from ATI, and honestly don't have any friends anywhere. SLI support will soon be a thing of the past, since apparently Intel isn't even allowing Nvidia to release an nForce chipset for Nehalem. Nvidia is in a very bad place and has no friends to bail it out.

[QUOTE="RayvinAzn"]

[QUOTE="marcthpro"]and nvidia is far enough rich to allow such dramatic cost low : they are the world ressoruce of game designer they got plenty money lolyoyo462001

Nvidia's stocks have dropped 50% over the last few months. Nvidia has pissed off Intel, isn't getting much support from ATI, and honestly don't have any friends anywhere. SLI support will soon be a thing of the past, since apparently Intel isn't even allowing Nvidia to release an nForce chipset for Nehalem. Nvidia is in a very bad place and has no friends to bail it out.

You most likely wont be able to run SLI alongside Nehalem as RaybinAzn stated before me.

[QUOTE="marcthpro"]and nvidia is far enough rich to allow such dramatic cost low : they are the world ressoruce of game designer they got plenty money lolRayvinAzn

Nvidia's stocks have dropped 50% over the last few months. Nvidia has pissed off Intel, isn't getting much support from ATI, and honestly don't have any friends anywhere. SLI support will soon be a thing of the past, since apparently Intel isn't even allowing Nvidia to release an nForce chipset for Nehalem. Nvidia is in a very bad place and has no friends to bail it out.

Didn't know that.

That is some bad news right thurr. Say goodbye to healthy competition and hello to gouged prices if non-nForce chipsets end up being the case for Nehalem.

nVidia is what Intel could have been. They have market dominance and have become bloated. As a result ATI is swooping in with innovative, new cards to regain a market foothold. I'm not interested as much in the raw performance of a card, I like to see cards that bring new tech to the table (DX10.1, GDDR5), which is why I'm a) buying a HD4870 (or waiting for the XOC edition) and b) only buying intel chipsets from this point forward (650i has given me nothing but trouble).

Back to my comparison. Intel is dominating the market at every performance point (and the business market - much larger than the consumer market) but yet they continue to innovate and bring new technologies that revolutionize computing (Quads, 45nm, Nehalem, etc). They realize that the only way to retain their dominance is to maintain their continual cycle of innovation. IMO nVidia forgot that along the way. Their 8800 series was an amazingly epic win, but since then most of their products have been cash-grabs. I'm particularly annoyed by their 9000/GTX series naming fraud. We should just be getting to the 9 series with the GTXs imo. As much as I dislike AMD, I've always liked ATI and the competition they bring to the tables keeps card prices honest and may give nVidia the swift kick they needed :) All they can do at the moment is drop prices, which is super costly because of their cards' high manufacturing cost. So hopefully they'll move to smaller dies soon ;)

On a side note, it's a BAD idea to piss off Intel. Don't bite off more than you can chew, nVidia.

nVidia is what Intel could have been. They have market dominance and have become bloated. As a result ATI is swooping in with innovative, new cards to regain a market foothold. I'm not interested as much in the raw performance of a card, I like to see cards that bring new tech to the table (DX10.1, GDDR5), which is why I'm a) buying a HD4870 (or waiting for the XOC edition) and b) only buying intel chipsets from this point forward (650i has given me nothing but trouble).

Back to my comparison. Intel is dominating the market at every performance point (and the business market - much larger than the consumer market) but yet they continue to innovate and bring new technologies that revolutionize computing (Quads, 45nm, Nehalem, etc). They realize that the only way to retain their dominance is to maintain their continual cycle of innovation. IMO nVidia forgot that along the way. Their 8800 series was an amazingly epic win, but since then most of their products have been cash-grabs. I'm particularly annoyed by their 9000/GTX series naming fraud. We should just be getting to the 9 series with the GTXs imo. As much as I dislike AMD, I've always liked ATI and the competition they bring to the tables keeps card prices honest and may give nVidia the swift kick they needed :) All they can do at the moment is drop prices, which is super costly because of their cards' high manufacturing cost. So hopefully they'll move to smaller dies soon ;)

On a side note, it's a BAD idea to piss off Intel. Don't bite off more than you can chew, nVidia.

Staryoshi87

[QUOTE="superkoolstud"]

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]Dude, the price drop was announced a couple of days ago. GTX 280 and 260 are to drop down in price $90 and $30 respectively. Elann2008

Don't we wish.

Umm the price drop already happened. The EVGA GTX 280 was well over $600. Check the price again... you dont have to wish anymore... because they have to cut down the price to compete with ATi's 4xxx cards.

And yet it is still to expensive to compete with the 48** cards.

nVidia is what Intel could have been. They have market dominance and have become bloated. As a result ATI is swooping in with innovative, new cards to regain a market foothold. I'm not interested as much in the raw performance of a card, I like to see cards that bring new tech to the table (DX10.1, GDDR5), which is why I'm a) buying a HD4870 (or waiting for the XOC edition) and b) only buying intel chipsets from this point forward (650i has given me nothing but trouble).

Back to my comparison. Intel is dominating the market at every performance point (and the business market - much larger than the consumer market) but yet they continue to innovate and bring new technologies that revolutionize computing (Quads, 45nm, Nehalem, etc). They realize that the only way to retain their dominance is to maintain their continual cycle of innovation. IMO nVidia forgot that along the way. Their 8800 series was an amazingly epic win, but since then most of their products have been cash-grabs. I'm particularly annoyed by their 9000/GTX series naming fraud. We should just be getting to the 9 series with the GTXs imo. As much as I dislike AMD, I've always liked ATI and the competition they bring to the tables keeps card prices honest and may give nVidia the swift kick they needed :) All they can do at the moment is drop prices, which is super costly because of their cards' high manufacturing cost. So hopefully they'll move to smaller dies soon ;)

On a side note, it's a BAD idea to piss off Intel. Don't bite off more than you can chew, nVidia.

Staryoshi87

DX10 looks fantastic.

Check LOTRO or Crysis if you think it is meaningless.

If you don't want to pay for it, that is another thing all together.

As an owner of a 9800gx2 I would like to state the following:

HaHa

I told you so.

More like what AMD did, sat on the Athlon 64 and did nothing then Intel whooped them. I'd say Intel is more evolutionary than revolutionary as well. X360PS3AMD05

Good point. Their products have been revolutionary imo, but the road they took to produce them has been evolutionary :) 2 cheers for tick tock.

DX10 looks fantastic.

Check LOTRO or Crysis if you think it is meaningless.

If you don't want to pay for it, that is another thing all together.

dayday6

IMO DX10 IS fantastic. Its implementation has not been though.It's a shame nVidia hasn't taken up DX10.1 yet, either, as its benefits are great. Damn turtes.Staryoshi87

nvidia knows if they want to compete they need to lower the prices...its a good start but another 100 dollars drop would be nice to match the 4870 to price to performance.LibertySaint

[QUOTE="Staryoshi87"]IMO DX10 IS fantastic. Its implementation has not been though.It's a shame nVidia hasn't taken up DX10.1 yet, either, as its benefits are great. Damn turtes.yoyo462001

Not that I don't believe you, but I want a source, cause that's good news :) They should have done it back in March, though, when it debuted. IMO at least.

[QUOTE="yoyo462001"][QUOTE="Staryoshi87"]IMO DX10 IS fantastic. Its implementation has not been though.It's a shame nVidia hasn't taken up DX10.1 yet, either, as its benefits are great. Damn turtes.Staryoshi87

Not that I don't believe you, but I want a source, cause that's good news :) They should have done it back in March, though, when it debuted. IMO at least.

[QUOTE="Staryoshi87"]

[QUOTE="yoyo462001"][QUOTE="Staryoshi87"]IMO DX10 IS fantastic. Its implementation has not been though.It's a shame nVidia hasn't taken up DX10.1 yet, either, as its benefits are great. Damn turtes.yoyo462001

Not that I don't believe you, but I want a source, cause that's good news :) They should have done it back in March, though, when it debuted. IMO at least.

3dguru.com 280 GTX tri sli =) it the best setup of all 50 fps 1920x1200 all very high of the ten detail specification of Crisis
without lag but it 1500+tax Build and realy heat so finding a solution to run it with psu as well can climb up to a total of 2000$
marcthpro

Meh, I'd take Quad HD4870's (or dual HD4870 X2's) over three GTX 280's any day.

3 x GTX 280 = $1500
4 x HD4870 = $1200
2 x HD4870 X2 = $1000 (speculated)

Should perform better too...

[QUOTE="marcthpro"]3dguru.com 280 GTX tri sli =) it the best setup of all 50 fps 1920x1200 all very high of the ten detail specification of Crisis
without lag but it 1500+tax Build and realy heat so finding a solution to run it with psu as well can climb up to a total of 2000$
Wesker776

Meh, I'd take Quad HD4870's (or dual HD4870 X2's) over three GTX 280's any day.

3 x GTX 280 = $1500
4 x HD4870 = $1200
2 x HD4870 X2 = $1000 (speculated)

Should perform better too...

In order to run 4 cards you will have to go with AMD spider platform which automatically means lower performance as the difference between the AMD high-end and intel high-end is quite big now.

Secondly the performance from a fourth card is pretty much non-existant so I am pretty sure the GTX's will perform better regardless of the CPU.Heck the performance from the 3rd GPU is also mostly so insignificant that 2 GTX 280's will beat 3x4870 most of the time.

[QUOTE="Staryoshi87"]

[QUOTE="yoyo462001"][QUOTE="Staryoshi87"]IMO DX10 IS fantastic. Its implementation has not been though.It's a shame nVidia hasn't taken up DX10.1 yet, either, as its benefits are great. Damn turtes.yoyo462001

Not that I don't believe you, but I want a source, cause that's good news :) They should have done it back in March, though, when it debuted. IMO at least.

Ugh, tweaktown... I don't really trust their stuff. That's the same website whose reviewer thought thatt 2 x 640mb GTS in SLI was equivalent to 1280mb of graphics memory :( Thanks though. (At least they cite another site, so i'm sure it's legit :D)

[QUOTE="Wesker776"]

[QUOTE="marcthpro"]3dguru.com 280 GTX tri sli =) it the best setup of all 50 fps 1920x1200 all very high of the ten detail specification of Crisis
without lag but it 1500+tax Build and realy heat so finding a solution to run it with psu as well can climb up to a total of 2000$
Spybot_9

Meh, I'd take Quad HD4870's (or dual HD4870 X2's) over three GTX 280's any day.

3 x GTX 280 = $1500
4 x HD4870 = $1200
2 x HD4870 X2 = $1000 (speculated)

Should perform better too...

In order to run 4 cards you will have to go with AMD spider platform which automatically means lower performance as the difference between the AMD high-end and intel high-end is quite big now.

Secondly the performance from a fourth card is pretty much non-existant so I am pretty sure the GTX's will perform better regardless of the CPU.Heck the performance from the 3rd GPU is also mostly so insignificant that 2 GTX 280's will beat 3x4870 most of the time.

Quad and Triple SLI aren't any faster.

Its all about the drivers. Crossfire scales better then SLI which is why in games that have optimized drivers like Bioshock, ATI kills Nvidia.

As far as the Intel vs Nvidia Squabble their is zero chance Nivida will be able to make a CPU fast enough to compete. Although same goes for Intel being able to make a GPU.

If Nvidia doesn't suck it up and kiss Intel's ass then they are going to go down in flames. Because Intel can keep them from making Chipsets for their CPU.

Ati just got back into their Stride so Nvida can't afford to screw around anymore.

It would be better if Nvida or Intel could just buy the other outright. Then they could have the 1 Motherboard to rule them all.

Intel Processor and an Intel Chipset that can do SLI with a Nvida GPU. That would be pretty sweet.

[QUOTE="hooded1man"]Only in the price/performance area, the GTX 280 is still the best card out.tequilasunriser

Well according to price/performance ATi is actually the best.

I still think the 8800GT has a better price/performance than the 4850/4870. I don't think you can beat a card that can max a good 90% of games @ 1600x1200 for $110... I remember when I bought the card for $250 and I still thought it was a deal.