Where is the Nvidia midrange?

[IntelPatriot]

Outside of the US (I'm currently overseas) it's just about impossible to find anything Nvidia between the 465 and the gts 250 (and even the gts 250s you can find are the lower clocked energy saving variety).

The only real 2xx I could find was a 192 shader gtx 260.

 

[defaultluser]

The Nvidia midrange was EOLed 8 months ago for two reasons:

1. to clear stock in anticipation of the new product line.
2. because it would be hard to compete price-wise with the 5770 and 5850 using their current lineup, and still make money (Charlie is right - this is partially to-blame, but it's not the whole story - chip lines get EOLed all the time in-anticipation of new chipsets).

So, they cut a little too aggressively, as their mid-range parts are taking a bit longer than expected, so the board makers have little to no stock to offer. But from what I have heard, they will be releasing their new chip within the next two months.

If you need a card now - go ATI, or buy used.

 

[DarkStryke]

Supposedly the 460's are supposed to be the mid-range that nVidia needed not to be a turd like the 465 turned out to be. Going by Kyle's hints it should be a nice turnaround.

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

whatever Nvidia brings out is going to end up competiting with the next gen ati stuff

 

[leh18621]

Ya, Nvidia's new midrange cards will come out next month. Just sit tight and wait for the GTX 460 cards as other people have mentioned.

 

[amdturtle]

whatever Nvidia brings out is going to end up competiting with the next gen ati stuff

While I agree with you, right now they're competing with the 5850 and 5830. Wouldn't be surprised if both the 768MB model competes with the 5830 at stock and with overclocking considered (on both) the 1GB model achieves close to parity with the 5850. The later is conceivably not a bad deal at $250...probably proportional to if ATi brought the 5850 back down to the original MSRP of $259 (Which they almost undoubtedly will, if not match it). Wouldn't be surprised if the 768MB model follows pretty close with the 5830 price as well. Expect both of those to be $199 cards pretty quick...

That said, I agree the question to be asking at this juncture is if you want to pay that ~200-$250 now for either product, or wait for the Juniper (5750-5770) replacements that will probably rival them at ~$200/<$200 in a few months; with perhaps the GTX460 prices dropping to compete with them. This is not to mention the possibility of a 'full' GF104 (if it is indeed designed how many think it is) at ~$300 or the inevitable 6850 competing against it in the same time frame/price. I don't think it crazy those parts will both be aiming at their competitions former high-end: 5870 and GTX480, but at a cheaper price.

In short, with GTX460 (GF104) launching in a couple weeks (July 12th?), the $200-300 market will be better, especially if you're an nVIDIA guy. Wait a few months though, and I think there will be a lot more options in that range, not to mention better bargains because of actual competition (finally).

Yes, I know the old tech adage goes "There will always be something new in a few months", but hopefully my rational explains why this time it just might be worth it. The products coming, and how prices on all products settle because of them, will likely remain somewhat constant until the 28nm generation. That's likely almost a year off from when this happens (Q3/4 next year)...Longer than the 3-4 months between now and the aforementioned.

 

[requiem99]

Bumpgate was disappointing but reports are AMD did little to capitalize on it. Speaking personally, if I was replacing my GPU right now, I'd buy a used GTX 260. Best value (and without the driver headaches) for a single display, which is all I use. I've had nothing but problems with every HD5xxx I've touched. Repeated DOAs and driver issue after driver issue. I never recommend them unless the customer wants multiple monitor gaming.

 

[Lorien]

Bumpgate was disappointing but reports are AMD did little to capitalize on it. Speaking personally, if I was replacing my GPU right now, I'd buy a used GTX 260. Best value (and without the driver headaches) for a single display, which is all I use. I've had nothing but problems with every HD5xxx I've touched. Repeated DOAs and driver issue after driver issue. I never recommend them unless the customer wants multiple monitor gaming.

Looks like the problem is your choice of supplier sending you DOA's and your own technical limitations with the software installation rather than problems with the hardware. I stopped using Nvidia cards after more than a dozen customers had their cards fried by the 196.75 driver. All that created for me was a ton of wasted time to get warranties honored.

 

[Lorien]

double post

 

[requiem99]

Looks like the problem is your choice of supplier sending you DOA's and your own technical limitations with the software installation rather than problems with the hardware. I stopped using Nvidia cards after more than a dozen customers had their cards fried by the 196.75 driver. All that created for me was a ton of wasted time to get warranties honored.

True, Newegg isn't a very reputable supplier, and my own technical limitations prevent me from doing anything but the most basic tasks like changing my desktop resolution. I guess I shouldn't be building custom gaming rigs.

 

[Lorien]

True, Newegg isn't a very reputable supplier, and my own technical limitations prevent me from doing anything but the most basic tasks like changing my desktop resolution. I guess I shouldn't be building custom gaming rigs.

Hey I'm just checking you don't recommend your customers hardware from long dead companies and 9 year old OSs per your sig.

 

[requiem99]

Hey I'm just checking you don't recommend your customers hardware from long dead companies and 9 year old OSs per your sig.

That's the best you can do?