On 8/18/2004 3:18 PM Tim brightened our day with:

"NightSky 421" wrote in message
...


The trouble is that the longer you wait, the less useful life the card


will


have left in it. The 9800 Pro has been out for over a year already.




You're absolutely right, but there's also a certain sweet spot for video
cards on the price/performance curve, and the 9800 Pro I'm hoping will get
sweeter. It's more than enough card for most any game out right now, and
while it won't run every upcoming game with every option maxxed out, at $150
you'd certainly get your money's worth.

An X800 is twice as powerful but it's just not worth the current price,
IMHO. Right now you only need one if you want to run the latest games at
maximum res with every feature enabled. By the time you actually need it to
run a game at all it will be a fraction of the cost, consume less power, and
on its fiftth board revision. There's certainly no shortage of $600 gaming
cards right now, but that's mostly because someone out there will buy them.
If history is any indication, I'm betting that virtually no game will need
them until they're a third of that price.

With ATI unveiling its X series I'm sensing another price drop, but if not
the 9800 Pro is still a pretty good buy. I just think with Moore's law you
have to pace your upgrades.




I bought my 9800 Pro 3 months ago for $200, that was about as ripe as I
was wiling to let it get. If I would have waited until right now I'd be
buying a GeForce 6800 (non GT/Ultra) for $300, that's the best bang for
your buck right now.
I'm happy with the 9800 Pro but there's no way I'd recommend waiting
around to save $50.

--
History shows again and again
How nature points up the folly of men

Steve [Inglo]