Curse

Aera · Jun 17, 2008, 05:42 AM // 05:42

Looks awesome, but indeed the pricetag sucks...for now. Like any other videocard, prices will drop like a brick eventually

Serafita Kayin · Jun 17, 2008, 05:51 AM // 05:51

So when can I get teh specs to make a waterblock for it?

Be interesting to see how it all works.

Next project?

Lord Sojar · Jun 17, 2008, 06:05 AM // 06:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serafita Kayin

So when can I get teh specs to make a waterblock for it?

Be interesting to see how it all works.

Next project?

The eVGA waterblocked version is gorgeous. They did a phenomenal job with it. If you really want to make your own (which is admirable), you should be able to retrieve specs from me. I will dig up the dimensional specs for it in a few days. I have a party this evening (tuesday), and doctor business on Wednesday. Thursday I have a ton of web meetings to hold with some of the other teams. Friday is a possibility, so I will check into for you then. My weekend... I am driving my M3 on the backroads because I haven't been able to drive for 10 days from the surgery. I am going to a nightclub on Saturday, and enjoying my weekend. 11am Mass on Sunday, followed by a great family dinner in regards to my full recovery from surgery.

Another source for the specs would be Jacob Freeman at eVGA. [email protected] is his email address. Drop him an email detailing why you need the specs and see what he says about it. If he doesn't respond, try [email protected], which will get you in touch with Mike Klingelberg, the support manager. Hopefully they can get you what you need.

Next project? We are calling it Nail 'Em! Get it? Nehalem baby. Sure is already turning out to be a great project. Fabs are rolled out, we are starting a 3 Phase commission on it July 6th. Of course, I can't go into details, but you can be sure it is going to be quite cool. Nehalem is absolutely amazing.

obsidian ectoplasm · Jun 17, 2008, 06:20 AM // 06:20

I wont one!

Tamuril elansar · Jun 17, 2008, 06:37 AM // 06:37

i've read some bad stuff about this card, mainly that the GTX280 doesn't preform better than the 9800GX2.

Lurid · Jun 17, 2008, 06:56 AM // 06:56

I'm a bit underwhelmed with this card. Especially considering the price tag.

KZaske · Jun 17, 2008, 07:01 AM // 07:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rahja the Thief

Behold, my baby. I worked for the last 14 months on this monster. If your pocketbook can take the hit, you won't be sorry. I am quite proud of my baby, and I hope the rest of you drool at it.

Congrats, I know the feeling with something you have worked on for months finally goes public. This is a very impressive achivement in almost every respect. If I cold afford the price tag, I would already have one on it's way. Alas it will have to wait for the price to drop (alot).

gremlin · Jun 17, 2008, 07:30 AM // 07:30

Nice card, I'm not so much worried about the initial price tag as the running costs.
When I checked out this high end BFG card http://www.compusa.com/applications/...&CMP=OTC-YAHOO

They said it drew 580 watts of power if you got really silly and stacked 2 or 3 of them in a system your running a decent electric heating system for your computer room.
Probably using 800 Watts to 2 KW which would get quite expensive since I usually run my PC for many hours a day.

Of course I would just have the one card but that would still lead to a steep electricity bill after a few months.

Lurid · Jun 17, 2008, 07:44 AM // 07:44

Thats under load, and a 580w usage estimate is silly. CompUSA is not a good store to go to and ask advice, unfortunately. From informal tests conducted preliminarily the GTX 280 paired with a Quad and a 780i board drew about 300w under extreme load. However i'm sure that card is pumping out loads of heat, even enough to rival a tropical rain forest

For reference that same system consumed around 200w when idling. But as always remember, amperage (Namely where that amperage is placed) is more important than total wattage.

Evil Genius · Jun 17, 2008, 07:57 AM // 07:57

Good to see these cards are finally out and reviewed by trustworthy sources.
However, I can't help but be a little disappointed with its performance in comparison to cards such as the 9800GX2 and two 8800GTs. Although these cards are dual chip or dual card solutions, they are cheaper than the GTX280. I expected more significant performance increases considering the 8800GTX and Ultra were released so long ago, and the hype. Shame AnandTech didn't have Ultra benchmarks in their review - I am guessing they would be slightly above the 9800GTX in most cases. Hopefully better drivers will increase the cards' performance, or price wars with ATI will increase the price/performance ratio.

Long live G80!

(at least while i have an Ultra. if i jump ship then my opinion's do too)

Lord Sojar · Jun 17, 2008, 08:36 AM // 08:36

The price, as many of you have pointed out, is quite high (for the GTX 280)

Although I agree, I feel compelled to explain why. The fabrication yields we get on the 280 are very low, and as a result, the price is set at such a steep level to recoup costs for the lost yields. You very well may see the price on the GTX 280 drop significantly in the coming months, but I cannot confirm or deny this officially. Remember, with each fab shrink, you get a price drop. Also, as the fabrication process becomes more efficient with higher yields and fewer errors, price drops. Give us a little time as far as price goes.

You must admit thought, the 280 is a work of art isn't it? I am very proud of my first real launch; conceived from idea to public launch. I consider the GTX 260 and 280 my first attempt at graphics card fabrication on the professional and corporate level, and I see it as nothing short of phenomenal. It certainly will cater to the very high end enthusiast market, while the G92 based 9800GTX will fill in the gap for the high range market. The G92 8 series will fill in the mid range area, commonly recommended for their robust performance versus price. Each gamer must make a choice and have a designated budget. Personally, I can't wait to see if I can snag 2-3 of the 280s from a test bin (I may not be able to, who knows)

Dark Kal · Jun 17, 2008, 08:42 AM // 08:42

Overpriced really says it all.

Quote:

It is NVIDIA's fastest single-card, single-GPU solution, but for $150 less than a GTX 280 you get a faster graphics card with NVIDIA's own GeForce 9800 GX2.

Quote:

The GeForce GTX 260 is a bit more reasonable. At $400 it is generally equal to if not faster than the Radeon HD 3870 X2, and with no other NVIDIA cards occupying the $400 pricepoint it is without a competitor within its own family. Unfortunately, 8800 GT SLI is much cheaper and many people already have an 8800 GT they could augment.

QFT

Lord Sojar · Jun 17, 2008, 08:52 AM // 08:52

It is only overpriced if your budget doesn't fit it. 3 GTX 280s in TriSLi will batter anything into the ground. The thing is, you have to be a gaming enthusiast that doesn't even comprehend the word budget. There are many of those type of gamers out there. I happen to be one, under most circumstances. When I shop for PC parts, I don't look at price under normal circumstances (unless it is just pointless overpricing for no real performance gain), I look at performance. There are buyers that make me look like a miser.

Do you think the buyers of VooDoo OMEN systems care about cost? They spend nearly 20 grand on a PC tower. They don't care about price. The GTX 280 fits that criteria. With the ability to put 3 into TriSLi configuration, you can have the world's most powerful gaming computer, albeit with the world's largest dent in your pocketbook. These cards are not made for the budget conscious customer. That is seen as a negative for those concerned about price. For those who are not, this is the BEST card ever created.

The prices may settle as things develop around here. You will just have to wait and see.

Fril Estelin · Jun 17, 2008, 09:16 AM // 09:16

Congrats Rahja, technically I feel obliged to say "Bravo!", but on a more to-the-ground level, the GTX 280 costs half the price of the PC I built 1 month ago so I feel horrified when things go "this" way (money does matter, look at food and humanitarian crisis, sorry for the short thread derailment). How many buyers does nVidia think they can get on this one?

Brianna · Jun 17, 2008, 09:18 AM // 09:18

I agree, these are extreme performance cards and are not for anyone who doesn't want to spend a lot of money (or cares) about spending a lot of money. I am like you Rahja, I don't much pay attention to price at first, until I realize that I am not rich. However I can still buy what I want, I just like to consider things for my own behalf.

And, I'm sure soon we are going to see the capabilities of this card in SLI. Think, It doesn't quite beat a GX2 in some instances, but how much does a GX2 beat it by? not a lot. Put two GTX 280's together.. and I think you have a stomped, trashed, and strung out GX2. Remember, GX2's are two GPU's slapped together into a one card solution, so I think the GTX 280 comes along damn well for a single GPU solution.

Dark Kal · Jun 17, 2008, 09:35 AM // 09:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rahja the Thief

unless it is just pointless overpricing for no real performance gain

It is just pointless overpricing for no real performance gain.

Quote:

Even looking to the comparison of four and two card SLI, the GTX 280 doesn't deliver $300 more in value today. NVIDIA's position is that in the future games will have higher compute and bandwidth requirements and that the GTX 280 will have more logevity. While that may or may not be true depending on what actually happens in the industry, we can't recommend something based on possible future performance. It just doesn't make sense to buy something today that won't give you better performance on the software that's currently available. Especially when it costs so much more than a faster solution.

I'm not saying it's a bad card, it's just overpriced at the moment for what it does. Right now, it's only for people who have money to burn. And a TriSli setup would consume huge amounts of energy and create a huge amount of heat and noise, most definetely for the uber rich only so those people probably wouldn't care if it's overpriced or not. Nvidia is a company after all and all companies want to make money so I do understand the desire to overprice their new card atm.

P.S. The quotes without names are from the AnandTech review posted in Rahja's first post.

Brianna · Jun 17, 2008, 09:37 AM // 09:37

Well, think of it this way, you can let drivers mature in the mean time, while the price drops; over time, it should get more realistic and reasonable. The GX2 was intense when it came out too, about the exact same price. I understand all points of view here though.

Dark Kal · Jun 17, 2008, 09:41 AM // 09:41

Yup, just wait for the price drop.

Tamuril elansar · Jun 17, 2008, 11:28 AM // 11:28

price might be dropping when ATI brings out their card.

Cyb3r · Jun 17, 2008, 04:15 PM // 16:15

Yep nice work on the card rahja but for the new card to really shine the price has to drop cause atm a 9800x2 beats the 280 (i know the X2 has dual GPU's) but the fact is that the 9800x2 is atm cheaper than the 280 so i guess time will tell