Nvidia launches cheap(er) DirectX 10 cards

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Feb 14th 2007 at 7:06PM }

Unless you live the sort of life where you receive money for nothin' and your chicks for free, you'll undoubtedly consider a fancy DirectX 10 card as a straight plunge into financial dire straits. "Not so," says Nvidia, pointing to the launch of the 320MB GeForce 8800 GTS, a mildly nerfed but more reasonably priced entry into their DirectX 10 graphics card lineup. It's up to you to decide just how reasonable the $300 asking price is, but it's certainly a far cry from the Crysis-killing, $600 GTX models.

Besides sporting considerably less RAM when compared to the 768MB found in the GTX, the 320MB 8800's G80 core runs 75MHz slower at 500Mhz. Still, the card's performance should be more than adequate to handle the likes of Crysis and the tight budget of those working in less lucrative industries (microwave oven installers, for instance).

[Via Engadget]

Tags: DirectX 10, Directx10, GeForce, Graphics cards, GraphicsCards, Nvidia

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Norm @ Feb 14th 2007 7:23PM

Geforce FX 5200 for the win!

I got it for 30 bucks new.

Slaziman @ Feb 14th 2007 7:28PM

I'm stuck with a Dell PC without PCI-e or AGP, I HATE DELL

Maylon @ Feb 14th 2007 7:34PM

If you have plan on getting Vista, HOLD OFF. I cant play any games, they take a crash dump every time with a 8800 gts 640, the Nvidia beta drivers are garbage.

O_o @ Feb 14th 2007 7:42PM

This is not the time to upgrade to DX10. Wait a few months (2 or 3) for the Ati/Amd R600 as well as nVidia's low + mid range DX 10 cards to come out @ a price range of $100 - $250.

David @ Feb 14th 2007 7:42PM

Considering that $600 part can be had for $350 at etailers, I wonder how much this $300 part will go for...

Matt @ Feb 14th 2007 7:50PM

Ahaha @ the Far Cry and Crysis puns.

Icelandman @ Feb 14th 2007 8:24PM

Why does joystiq have to hate? Microwave installers could be hella rich, and just do it for fun. :p

Unfortunately Dx10 will have to wait, I operate strictly of a laptop... But then Crysis is supposed to be scalable all the way to pong level graphics.

The1 @ Feb 14th 2007 8:31PM

I will wait until Crysis come out to buy a graphics card.

Hyouko @ Feb 14th 2007 8:52PM

@ 5: Where the hell are you finding an 8800GTX for $350? The absolute lowest I've seen for the 640MB 8800GTS is $385 (plus $30 rebate to bring it to ~$355) - I've never seen a GTX for less than $500.

Shockz @ Feb 14th 2007 9:00PM

The thing they never mention is that there's plenty of pre-Crysis and even pre-DX10 games that are getting DX10 patches...FSX is, obviously, as is Company of Heroes. CoH alone is a reason for me to get a DX10 card ASAP...

Supposedly, though I can't find any reliable sources, even WoW is getting a DX10 patch. Hopefully it'll actually look good after that...

Steve @ Feb 14th 2007 9:13PM

Note it also has less shaders compared to the GTX; 96 vs 128.

Kenny @ Feb 14th 2007 9:50PM

@ #7:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_for_Nothing_(song)

dsub @ Feb 14th 2007 10:29PM

hmm...I'll wait. By the time Crysis comes out something new and great will be on the way in, and ATI's new DX10 unified shader cards will be out. The funny part is, people are paying $600 for these 8800GTX's now, and Crysis will likely run on them and look good, but within months of the Crysis release, something will be out that will make it look much better.

Shibathedog @ Feb 14th 2007 10:52PM

Every time i decide what video card im going to buy, a new one comes out

Now i have to decide on either this, or the X1950XT because they are about the same price. Im going to guess this card performs better so i guess im getting this now. (Although arent there problems with DX9 on DX10 cards? i dont plan on getting vista anytime soon so maybe i should avoid this?)

Anonymous @ Feb 14th 2007 11:39PM

Most of the benchmarking they did with the DX10 cards was on DX9 games because frankly there aren't any DX10 games out yet (I saw some Crysis bench numbers but with the Nvidia drivers the way they are on Vista, who knows how reliable) and the results with DX9 games were awesome. The differance between the DX10 Nvidia card you mentioned and the DX9 ATI card you mentioned is astounding (as far as FPS in Windows XP DX9 games) with the DX10 Nvidia card being the clear winner. I'd definatly go for the DX10 card if I were you. Unfortunatly not that long ago I spent 600 dollars on a pair of 7900GT's to SLI together, only for the 7950GT to come out a week later for the same price (with much greater performance >

uh_oh @ Feb 15th 2007 12:45AM

If you're in the market for a new card, just wait till dx 10 cards are more reasonable, why blow money on a dx9 card when you have the next generation graphics card?

cyanSand @ Feb 15th 2007 1:32AM

How strange that I've had that Money For Nothing song in my head all day and here you go and EXPLOIT IT!

t_m @ Feb 15th 2007 8:56AM

whoa! what a collosal waste of money..
You could get a Wii or a 360 for that.. or just wait a few months and pick one up for $100.

I'm glad someone buys these things, as it at least drives the market forward.. and they are the guys who will sell it to me on ebay in 6 months for a bargainous price when they just have to buy the next big thing.

I picked up a laptop for less than one of these top of the range graphics cards, and so far its played every game i've thrown at it. Even if not in the highest resolution.