What would happen if the high end went to 999 USD?

Only a handful of people see the big picture. If the value of the dollar continues to steadily drop, then yes, $1000.00 GPUs are possible (I think someone here calculated under a decade at the current rate of inflation). It wont even seem like that much money when or if that happens. Now if we were talking about present day's value of the dollar, that's different. Hypothetically speaking, if the R600 is released next week at $1000.00 and it clearly blows away the competition, then a lot of people simply wont buy it. I know I wont, but I know some will.

And it doesn't hurt to reiterate that people are already spending $1k on graphics solutions. I <3 SLI
 
Some of these posts....

Let's clarify something. We are talking about bleeding edge technology here. Anyone thinking that kids under 25 with no income are even close to the target market for this, and some poor kid is going to break his bank account, really needs to think more logically here.

There is a logical market for bleeding edge tech and low income kid "gamers" do not even come close. They never were part of this market and never will be.

Cutting edge technology targeted at enthusiast "system builders" is a totally different market. People with the patience, maturity and disposable income to build high end watercooled systems filled with expensive bleeding edge technology as a hobby are likely above 25, relatively financially secure, and many are likely not hardcore gamers at all. Yes I know there are some under 25's who fit this profile, but I'm talking about the majority.

So if you're under 25 and spending your cash on $1000 cards rather than your family and mortgage then your priorities are messed up. Stick to the mid-range cards.
 
if the high end cards went to 1k dollars, i'd just buy a console. this whole premium edged hardware is getting ridiculous. especcially when it's being replaced within two years. all you do is wait around for AAA titles every two years or so anyways. it'd be one thing if the bleeding edge hardware last for longer than a year tops.
 
echn111 said:
So if you're under 25 and spending your cash on $1000 cards rather than your family and mortgage then your priorities are messed up. Stick to the mid-range cards.
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I bought a $1000 exhaust for my RSX-S rofl and that was when I was 20, I'm almost 23 now!
 
HRslammR said:
if the high end cards went to 1k dollars, i'd just buy a console. this whole premium edged hardware is getting ridiculous. especcially when it's being replaced within two years. all you do is wait around for AAA titles every two years or so anyways.
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Yes if you're in this for "games" then mid range cards or consoles is the way to go. You can play most games with mid range cards.

But pure gamers are not the target market for bleeding edge technology anyway so it's irrelevant.
 
kent said:
I bought a $1000 exhaust for my RSX-S rofl and that was when I was 20, I'm almost 23 now!
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LoL. I am talking about the majority. And yes I wasted my cash at 20, although certainly not on anything as geeky as $1000 video cards. (ok, got older, priorities change...)
 
HRslammR said:
all you do is wait around for AAA titles every two years or so anyways.
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Unfortunately, that's the reality of it. While it's certainly great having a bitchin' rig that's capable of pushing every title to the absolute limit, it's also not necessary to have a bitchin' rig to achieve maxed (or nearly maxed) settings in many older titles and current MMOs, racing games, flight simulators and so on.

Very high-end cards are a real treat, but they also tend to be excessive in some scenarios until time has an opportunity to catch back up and titles become too demanding to keep users satisfied. They do of course, also tend to "last" many people for quite a long time.

There are definitely good reasons to buy bleeding edge stuff, but there are at least as many reasons to stick with the midrange parts.
 
i hate to make use of a console analogy but... the ps3 has the most amazing bad-ass possible graphics in a console ever right? but it's not exactly succeeding all that well is it? the wii on the otherhand is a gamecube redux, and it's a friggin huge hit and it's half the cost of a ps3.

i mean, don't get me wrong. i bought an 8800gts because it's amazing top of the line, i LOVE cranking up games to their max settings. but what's some of the most popular pc games? prolly counter-strike: source and world of warcraft.

who cares if we've got hardware that'll render real-time visuals of the real world if we're still playing games that are "old" by PC time standards because they're actually fun? not to mention if we'll have the most premium hardware for a few short months before the next most awesome hardware comes out rendering the previous generation near obsolete.
 
HRslammR said:
i hate to make use of a console analogy but... the ps3 has the most amazing bad-ass possible graphics in a console ever right? but it's not exactly succeeding all that well is it? the wii on the otherhand is a gamecube redux, and it's a friggin huge hit and it's half the cost of a ps3.

i mean, don't get me wrong. i bought an 8800gts because it's amazing top of the line, i LOVE cranking up games to their max settings. but what's some of the most popular pc games? prolly counter-strike: source and world of warcraft.

who cares if we've got hardware that'll render real-time visuals of the real world if we're still playing games that are "old" by PC time standards because they're actually fun? not to mention if we'll have the most premium hardware for a few short months before the next most awesome hardware comes out rendering the previous generation near obsolete.
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This is how I feel exactly. The mainstream cards work pretty damn good for even the newest games, and the cards you can pick up for around $200 right now are almost overkill for the most popular PC titles unless you're using a 30in monitor. And if you can afford a 30in monitor, surely you can afford the video cards to drive it. There will always be a market for high-dollar GPUs, CPUs, etc but I don't ever forsee the market for $200-300 video cards disappearing, and really, thus far every generation of GPU that has come out has only increased the speed and feature set of the mainstream cards, so there's no reason to complain.

And if game companies start publishing games that require the fastest, most expensive video card on the market to play, then they're going to find that their games won't sell worth a crap until they're in the bargain bin, because lets face it, most games that come out every year are really just incremental improvements or different takes on games that work well on current hardware. I doubt most mainstream gamers are going to take well to being pressured into spending loads of cash on high dollar hardware when they can just keep what they have and play the games they have been playing while waiting for the costs of the hardware to drop.
 
in retrospect:

Whats wrong with having a $1000 video card? So long as you can appease everyone with every budget, what's the problem? If the 8800GTX was launched at a price of $900, and Nvidia were to perhalps have a few more models inbetween the upcoming 8600 and the 8800GTX, what would be the problem? I mean, if the industry comes up with this revolutionary new architecture, and it increases performance as much as it has, why shouldn't they reap the rewards? Obviosly they want to show that the 8 series has a better price/performance ratio then the nine series, so I guess that might keep prices down.

It seems to me the real drive behind this thread can be boiled down to is mankinds insatiable urge to own the best. If, say, at the launch of the 8 series, there was the 8800 Ultra, which had, I donno, 256 Unified shaders, and cost $900, would you all be complaining? As alot of you will probibly be answering "no" immidiatly to this question, I think the ultimate answer is Yes. In my scenario the 8800GTX is the same exact card as the one we have now, same benchmarks, same performance etc, but the people buying the 8800GTX would be pissed because, while yes I do believe it is true the buy based somewhat on the FPS they have seen in certain games they also buy because of that "I want the best" urge. And they'd be pissed about it. Shelling out $1800 for these cards? Damnnn. I donno, hard to explain.
 
If I had the disposal income and a $1000 card gave me joy, I'd go a head and get it. Personally, I never buy the most expensive CPU as soon as it hits the market so why do I have to get the most expensive video card? Whatever floats one boat.
 
People already bought SLI setups worth over $1000, so in some ways video card companies have already tested the waters for $1000 cards. If anything the market is slightly bigger since the single card solution is more feasible for a larger audience (don't need a specific mobo, power requirements should be a little lower.) I actually think that video card companies are finding the sweet spot closer to $500 for a close to highest end card. The $1000 card may not realistically perform 2x as well as a $500 card.

Another thing to keep in mind is these super high price points (>$500) don't last long, and usually only happen when one manufacturer has a clear and uncontested lead over the other (eg. 7800GTX launch timeframe). Once there are two cards with < ~15% average performance delta, the price drops fast, because of competition and the fact that even stupid consumers think hard about > $500 video card purchases.

The question is, is there a market for $2000 SLI setups consisting of 2x $1000 cards?
 
Sizzy said:
Flagship CPU cost US$ 999, and people still buy them. These same people will probably buy US$ 999 video cards .
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yup, just like the x6800, even though its dual core and at $1000 people still buy them.

Also there are graphic cards now that are $3000, the nvidia quadro fx. Graphic designers buy those and big companies too. Since it fits their need for their job
 
MichaelJB said:
I would consider myself a casual gamer, usually 2-3 hours a day, and in my main rig im sporting an fx5200. The reason is because i have no money to spend on newer kit, hell id love a fancy new machine, with a c2d and 8800 series gpu, but just cant afford it, all my money goes towards putting food on the table and paying course fees, with the rest being made up from bank loans.

All the other people i play games with are computer competent and knowledgable with regards to gaming terminology. I would say "majority of gamers dont understand frame rates" is quite harsh, there again im attending an educational institute, all the people i play with are students, mabey in your line of work you just meet more average joes.

In no way is this post meant to offend anyone, im just making an honest observation.
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I understand your point, but you slightly missed my point. A 5200 will run games, yes, but not with the best performance.

To see this lower performance as "ah, that's the nature of computer games" instead of understanding that the herky-jerky nature of the game you are playing could be improved by some hardware upgrades, is something I encounter more than I admit to understand.

I have worked with people who build systems for a living who believed this. I felt they should understand what upgrading parts of their system could influence in these regards, no?

I think part of this is fed by people buying and playing mostly on consoles, where the equipment and performance of a game will be static, it will never improve. So, if a game is herky-jerky at times, it's because THE GAME is herky-jerky at times, period...

I don't remember suggesting I meet these gamers in my line of work though, so I don't get your point there...

But, remember your comment in about 20 years... Even though you may be educated, no matter what line of work you go into, I guarantee you that you will be amazed by the number of so-called "average Joes" that you will meet...

Mark my words, you will be amazed...

Then again, "mabey" not...
 
Mark_Warner said:
This is the most ridiculous prediction I have ever read...well...as gaming predictions go anyway.
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I don't understand how. Think about it. If the high-end flagship cards goes up to $1,000 what does the mid-range do? Does it stay the same or does it go up as well. Well of course it goes up. The PC gaming market is hurting as it is because of big developers producing so few games. Couple that with 6 month product cycles from ATi and NVIDIA while charging $1,000 for the flagship cards and you will see a MAJOR hit in sales. It is not good business.

Don't get me wrong, I love capitalism and everything associated with it, but I also know that there is an extra factor involved when making decisions on product pricing...its called logical deduction. If you ask anyone about PC gaming right now and the problems associated with it they will tell you that the prices of the high-end flagship cards are too high. Well logical deduction will tell you that in order to sell more product you either need to keep prices the same or reduce them. You have to infer that by raising prices you are hurting your sales.

Just my 2 cents...
 
I think that if there was a $1000 card it would be a single slot SLI/Crossfire solution. That's the ONLY card that makes sense at 1K because that's how much a high end SLI / CF would cost, and it will probably be more practical and compatible, and possibly a lower power draw.
 
trudude said:
I don't understand how. Think about it. If the high-end flagship cards goes up to $1,000 what does the mid-range do? Does it stay the same or does it go up as well. Well of course it goes up. ... It is not good business.

....If you ask anyone about PC gaming right now and the problems associated with it they will tell you that the prices of the high-end flagship cards are too high. Well logical deduction will tell you that in order to sell more product you either need to keep prices the same or reduce them. You have to infer that by raising prices you are hurting your sales. ...
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You've made some potentially incorrect jumps in logic here, by assuming hig-end price increases will automatically lead to increases in the mid-range. Prices of luxury good in the high end range often have little or no impact on their mid range equivalents because they are different markets catering for different demographic groups.

For example, let's say that the price of the Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina goes up 10% to around $2,200,000. You really think that increase is going to affect you or me? Logical deduction says that the price increase of high end cars like this will have ZERO impact on the price of midrange cars that Ford or GM make. Different people, different markets.
 
Tutelary said:
I'll keep buying the sub $200 cards, thats what will happen :D
$600 plus for video cards are completely outrageous in the grand scheme of things. Your life doesn't revolve around running a game on a 30inch lcd. Its not what you'll think about on your deathbed.
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i do admit while being rushed into surgery and being told I would more than likely die (I didn't, obviously) I was pissed off that I was busy dying and didn't even get a chance to bench the X850XTPE i'd just installed 2 days prior (my colon ruptured)......... then I woke up in recovery and was like "Woot!!!!.... i'm alive...... I will live to bench another day!"
 
if Nvidia were to right now release a $10,000 card and it were 18 (10,000 devided by current market price of the 8800GTX [IE make performance porportional to the price]) times the performance of the 8800GTX would you peeps be complaining?

of course, lets say a game thats 18 times more graphic intensive then crysis was also release
-- or just a game that everyone wants to play thats poorly written (ahem CS 1.6), but both those topics are for another time...
 
Some will buy them, some will not. SLI/CrossFire show that some will in fact spend over $1000 on GPUs. However, if $1000 cards come about today with only a marginal bump (R600), then people will go "WTF? You're crazy, DAAMIT!" However, if R600 is so revolutionary it is the GeForce 6800 to the FX line, or the Radeon 9700 Pro to the GeForce 4 MX, then people will take it.

Point: If companies jack up prices, people have to feel that the product is worth spending $1000 on. And whether it is worth it is purely a personal decision. Some will agree, some will not that the card is "worth it." What makes it worth it to you?
 
MrWizard6600 said:
if Nvidia were to right now release a $10,000 card and it were 18 (10,000 devided by current market price of the 8800GTX [IE make performance porportional to the price]) times the performance of the 8800GTX would you peeps be complaining?

of course, lets say a game thats 18 times more graphic intensive then crysis was also release
-- or just a game that everyone wants to play thats poorly written (ahem CS 1.6), but both those topics are for another time...
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Already here actually (although doubt named nVidia) and the "games" are not sold in shops. Thousand dollar cards for PC enthusiasts may be the cutting edge for the general public, but custom graphic setups costing far far more than this already exist. The ultra high end is great because the technological improvements trickle down and lead to new technical innovations.

Think defense industry simulations - they'll make a 'custom' million+ dollar warfighting simulator (or shuttle simulator), with 'customized' graphic cards costing $100000+, and we, the customers, get a number of mass produced 3D combat games for $65 a few years later running on our cheaper but more powerful $1000 cards. And I wonder where 'physics' simulators come from as it's hard to make a profit catering to just PC gamers? They'll sell their $100000+ cards to us a few years later as more powerful, but much cheaper mass produced cards (that everyone complains about even with the 90%+ price reduction). We benefit immensely by the ultra-high end.

Outside of defense, a few years ago silicon graphic workstations cost thousands... Think about the graphics used by modern animation companies of today.

I welcome the ultra-high end because it means we're innovating, even if I'll just be an observer waiting for my chance to pick up a much cheaper $1000 mass produced card. Imagine if everyone said, let's all make cheap cards and cater to the general public. Let's forget innovation. Let's forget the high end. We'd be using 320x200 16 colour graphics still.
 
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