Here we go again. A new video card is launched by AMD, giving everyone who just bought themselves a radeon 9800GTX at its original prices a heavy urge to commit suicide. This new card is released at US$199, so instead of hitting the top end, AMD is targeting the much more populated midrange area.
Nvidia responds by dropping their 9800GTX line’s price into a whopping US$199, on par with the 4850. But based on what I read, the 4850 is still much more interesting than Nvidia’s offering.
Of course, we can’t talk about new graphics card without mentioning Nvidia’s newest cards, the Geforce GTX 280 and 260. A Geforce 260 beats 4850 at almost all (4850 owns Call of Duty 4) benchmark, but at the same time costs more than two times the price of a 4850. Okay, the GTX 280 beats 4850 at a noticeable margin, but then again, will you pay three times more money for a not-even-50% improvement? Don’t answer that, really, don’t.
The closest competitor of 4850 is the good ol’ Geforce 8800GT. This card is supposed to be priced at around $160, so it gives you a little better bang for the buck than a 4850. But with only $40 difference, you might be better off buying the 4850. Not to mention 8800GT still cost you $200 as the time of writing.
Dammit, I was thinking to buy a new CPU, and then this happens. Now I really want a 4850.
