The upgrade argument is dead for nvidia SLI, and here is why...

[hardwarephreak]

I

dont remember seeing anywhere that nvidia was going to stop making 6800 cards,thats just an asumption on you part.

Not only did I post a link in the original post, I have said throughout this thread that the are reports/speculation in the industry. Here is another one here:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23497

Here is a note of interest, remember this is the inq, but the following words are directly from nvidia...

Nvidia told us at E3 that there is a too high demand for Geforce 6800 Ultra because of SLI but in the next months those cards will get even more difficult to find. We checked a few online shops and you can still buy these cards but according to our sources this may not be for long.

If you read a bit further you find this:

AN NVIDIA rep said: "I want to state clearly that NVIDIA will continue to supply GeForce 6800s for a long time to come. Next generation product will sit above the 6800 GT."

So the debate is while originally they said supplies will dwindle (which is what the original ed said), now they say they will be available for a long time to come...which is it. (note they also said it will sit above the 6800GT, so what about all the 6800U owners...) And since we have established that nvidia is seeking the almighty dollar , would it be wise at this point in the game to tell everyone to blow it out their @$$, we won't be making cards. Very bad PR move, even if they don't use my choice of words. My guess is the supply will dwindle, and by that time the new cards will be out, and people will be so caught up by the new tech that they will just say fcuk it and buy a new card (or two).

I would love for 6800GT (more specifically an MSI NX6800GT T2D256E) to be available in the next 6 mos, but who knows...that's why I started this thread...to discuss that possibility, and if consensus says otherwise, then the "upgrade" option means nothing to me.

 

[CMAN]

I


Not only did I post a link in the original post, I have said throughout this thread that the are reports/speculation in the industry. Here is another one here:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23497

Here is a note of interest, remember this is the inq, but the following words are directly from nvidia...



If you read a bit further you find this:



So the debate is while originally they said supplies will dwindle (which is what the original ed said), now they say they will be available for a long time to come...which is it. (note they also said it will sit above the 6800GT, so what about all the 6800U owners...) And since we have established that nvidia is seeking the almighty dollar , would it be wise at this point in the game to tell everyone to blow it out their @$$, we won't be making cards. Very bad PR move, even if they don't use my choice of words. My guess is the supply will dwindle, and by that time the new cards will be out, and people will be so caught up by the new tech that they will just say fcuk it and buy a new card (or two).

I would love for 6800GT (more specifically an MSI NX6800GT T2D256E) to be available in the next 6 mos, but who knows...that's why I started this thread...to discuss that possibility, and if consensus says otherwise, then the "upgrade" option means nothing to me.

It's all speculation and they even admit it their article. There are no true specs on the G70.
Everything stated here in this thread is speculation. Nvidia didnt spend all that time and money on SLI to not support it,the 6600 and 6800 cards will be here for a while.
I dont believe anything the inquirer has to say,they are just like the news,they give headlines to grab attention even if it's a load of crap. When the G70 cards become available the price on the 6800 cards should drop a little,making the upgrade to SLI even more attractive. SLI can only get better. Used 6800 cards should be available when people upgrade to th G70,so SLI is going to be a reasonable upgrade for people. SLI is only a small percentage of the Video card market,enthuasits tend to spend the money to have the fastest. $1200 to $1400 for 2 video cards? people will do it. SLI will only get better and more affordable.

 

[R1ckCa1n]

Nvidia, and all the companies that use their GPU's, would be plain stupid to stop production of the NV4x cards. Hell, you can still buy a 5950FX so I don't see the 6600/6800 going away in the next twelve months.

 

[hardwarephreak]

Hell, you can still buy a 5950FX

maybe on ebay...

Not at newegg, not at zipzoom, not even listed on pricewatch....

Sorry but the real 5900Ultra and 5950's disappeared from the channel a LONG time ago...a seriously long time ago...they were still floating around for a month or three after the 6800U and 6800GT were anounced but, then they slowly disappeared. And when the cards coexisted...you weren't getting any kind of discount, resellers had to get out what they had put in...

Nvidia, and all the companies that use their GPU's, would be plain stupid to stop production of the NV4x cards

Think about this for a minute...sounds like a valid statement, but then again when nvidias new cards hit in just over a week...lets see just how fast everyone's attention goes to the 7800GTX and its little brother. If you think of production/manufacturing as a pie, how do you think that "nvidia, and all the companies that use their GPU's" will divide it up. You can't just make a bigger pie, something has to go, and the 6800x series seems like a prime candidate. Especially when taking the below quote into account.

A massive move to 90 nm would give NVIDIA a pretty solid segmentation of products, and allow them to stop their 130 nm production of large parts. The only real question here is what will happen to the 110 nm NV42? Would NVIDIA be better off keeping that part and moving it down to the $200 price point and keep the 6200 and 6600 parts at sub-$175? Or will the 6600 GT still be the best part at just under $200 and phase out the NV42? My gut feeling is that NVIDIA will stop production on the NV42, as it honestly gives about the same overall performance as the cheaper 6600 GT. So, by the end of this summer, NVIDIA will only be producing 110 nm NV43/44/44a and the 90 nm G7x parts.

I don't know...the above seems pretty dead on...we'll see I guess.

 

[madcow235]

Why would Nvidia sink money into producing N4x Chips when they cost more to produce, will get less profit, and are lower performance. I really don't see any reason for them to produce them once they get the g7x series out the door. You can probably get the reserves, just like there are ti4xxx series reserves and 9800pro reserves, but I highly doubt you will see them dedicating fab space to them.