why spend $400+ on a video card?

Every thing is relative. My answer would be why not?. There are people that wonder why others spend 1.60 a pound for lunch meat as apposed to 1.39. The simple answer is that they prefer the taste of the more expensive meat.

The fact of the matter is that many , not all but many who spend over 400 already have the other items on your list ........or at least most. I personally do not have a need for a bear, bear trap or penis enlarger ("not that there is anything wrong with that") lol

Anyway, the question has been brought up a million times and the answer is simple. They spend their money to fulfill a need or a desire.
 
I sold my "good" hardware in anticipation up upgrading to Conroe and a DX10 card but I'm finding i'm having no less fun on a $300 desktop than on a $1000 desktop.

I might get a x1900gt or something similar when it hits $100 (newegg is getting close on open box), but I really can't justify to myself spending $250-$300 on video cards anymore. Like joemamma, i'd probably just get a new console instead.
 
WarriorX said:
I think the higher cost might be related to their more complex design?

You dont need to spend $400+. Your limited by your monitor. I would never buy a 8800gtx because my monitor native resolution is not high enough. But if you dont have a decent card, have fun playing with no AA or AF and low settings.
Click to expand...

768MB of fast DDR3 is expensive, as are the GPU chips themselves! That is why a G80-based card is expensive. Besides, the faster these cards get, the more engineering is required. At this point, Nvidia needs to charge a lot for the G80 cards because their engineering costs are not yet recovered. Another factor is mass production status. If there are relatively few of a product, the price is higher as the product is scarce. Demand is also very high, and why shouldn't Nvidia charge a lot for the cards if they are selling like hot cakes?
(I used the G80 cards as an example because of their rather extreme price. Feel free to insert an ATI card if it makes you happy.)
 
pxc said:
I sold my "good" hardware in anticipation up upgrading to Conroe and a DX10 card but I'm finding i'm having no less fun on a $300 desktop than on a $1000 desktop.

I might get a x1900gt or something similar when it hits $100 (newegg is getting close on open box), but I really can't justify to myself spending $250-$300 on video cards anymore. Like joemamma, i'd probably just get a new console instead.
Click to expand...
Getting a 360 means that my socket 939, X24400+ 7900GT system will last me at least another year if not more. I no longer even feel the burning need for a Conroe, and talk of quad cores and 8800GTX's and such don't even raise my blood pressure above comatose anymore. ;)

edit- it remains to be seen whether or not DX10 and Microsoft's "Games for Windows" campaign will pay off and save pc gaming. I know that the death of pc gaming has been predicted many times and it never comes to pass...but this is the first time in history that we have consoles that can not only give high end pc's a run for the money in the graphics department but also have seamless and robust online capability. If the console makers ever really get behind keyboard/mouse support for fps and strategy games....pc gaming could be in real trouble. This especially rings true if you consider that console games are increasingly getting harder to pirate leaving the pc platform as the biggest vulnerability for developers.
My gaming roots are in consoles (Atari 2600) but I really don't want to see pc gaming fade away more than it has. :(
 
I wish i never paid $500 for my 7900GTX

I don't know why i did it...my 6600gt was doing pretty damn well...i guess live and learn

now it feels gay
 
factory81 said:
MrGuvernment,
Your right.........people bitched a good PC cost $2000-2500 with a CRT monitor back in the day......now you spend the same amount........and you get a good PC. In fact you spend less.....you still get a good PC.
Click to expand...


exactly, and look at the power you get these days for the price.... people just dont understand economics, neither do i really, but this is absolute basic.


i paid $600+ canadian for my ti4600 almost, mmm, 5 years ago ? prices haven't changed that much for high end cards over the years.
 
Simple answer: Because you want to. It is that simple concept. If you have 400$ to dish out on a video card, then you can do whatever you want with it.
 
I buy $600 videocards because it helps me get laid more.


No, seriously, when I need a surefire way to get a chick in bed, I just let it slip that I'm runnin with an 8800GTX under the hood and clothes fly off. You want to get laid, you'll get an 8800GTX, too. Fast rigs are the new hotrods :cool:
 
Because those people want it and can afford it. Thats all the justification it needs.
 
Because those people want it and can afford it
Click to expand...

sometimes, they want it--cant afford it--get it anyway--then pay for it many times over.
 
joemama said:
I know that the death of pc gaming has been predicted many times and it never comes to pass...but this is the first time in history that we have consoles that can not only give high end pc's a run for the money in the graphics department but also have seamless and robust online capability. If the console makers ever really get behind keyboard/mouse support for fps and strategy games....pc gaming could be in real trouble.
Click to expand...

With games like World of Warcraft doing so well, PC gaming is alive and well. Software developers realize that it is a viable market, but they have to find a way to deliver products that people will buy. That's why MMO's are becoming increasingly popular and lucrative. People are buying them and playing the shit out of them. Plus, there is the monthly fees they are collecting. As far as the software companies are concerned MMOs are where its at right now. It seems that MMOs and FPS games are about all that gets made anymore. There are few RTS's and fewer games that fall into other categories too, but they seem rare.

Right now I think we are just experiencing a shift in development strategy and shifts amongst the gaming communities themselves. A long time ago the gaming market pretty much crashed and it may do so again, but it will live on and thrive another day.

The XBox 360 is a great machine, and the graphics will get better as time goes on. To a point. Eventually the PC games will far outstrip what we have now. The XBox 360, and every other console that came out practically rivaled PCs at the time they were released and someone always predicted doom and said PC gaming was dead because of that.

The XBox 360 is not the first console to do this. All of them have practically been in the same position upon release. After a year or so, things end up back in the PCs favor. When it comes to technology, static hardware will always have a hard time killing dynamic hardware. Lets not forget that more and more PCs are making their way into peoples homes that ever before. PC gaming won't die, it will change and eventually, the computer will be integrated into everything. Consoles are becoming more PC like all the time, and the XBox 360 even has features designed to work with PCs. More and more homes are getting multiple computers and PCs are even finding their way into home theatre systems. That's a huge install base, one that is standardized and growing. Software companies won't abandon the PC market so easily.
 
degen said:
god u guys whine about prices, to buy an EVGA 8800 GTX in the UK at the mo would cost me exactly $917.205 which is £470. You really don't realise how cheap your hardware prices are, come live in the UK for a while please. Or wait is that because your oil based dollar is so weak? ;)
Click to expand...

But don't you guys get your full paycheck & then pay VAT on everything?

I think I read that somewhere. I am 1099'd so currently pay just shy of 50% of my taxes to the government. If I buy an 8800GTX locally, I pay another 9.75%

so if It costs $450 or so, I pay $493.875 * 2 = $987.75 before taxes.
 
pillagenburn said:
The possibilities are endless.... remember how much high-end gpu's used to cost back in the day? GeForce 2 and 3.. no more than $300 ... now we're pushing $600+ !!! Smells like price fixing... I seriously doubt the technological advances really warrant the $300 premium over older cards. Nevermind the hit on depreciation that you take once you BUY the card! I mean hell, you buy a Chevy at a reduced price partly because of the hit on depreciation you take once you sign the paperwork and turn the key!

just my $0.02
Click to expand...


Two cents is obviously not enough to keep your memory intact.

RELEASE PRICE FOR GEFORCE2 ULTRA: $399 ($470 in 2006). The GTS was released at $349 ($410 in 2006). For the first year of the GeForce2's life you couldn't even buy the GTS version for less than $300. It's not "price fixing" - the GeForce 2 actually beat everything on the market by almost %100 in terms of performance. It had a %50-70 higher clock speed than the previous GeForce plus double the texture units.

Sound familiar?

The GTX is a bit pricey, but the 8800 GTS is priced the same (taking inflation into account) as the GeForce 2 GTS was.

But the GeForce2 is also known for spawning the GeForce2 MX six months after the initial release, the first value part that took advantage of the current-generation performance enhancements. So, high-end prices increased over the previous generation, but low-end performance increased dramatically...you tell me who lost out here.

Please repeat after me.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUY THE MOST EXPENSIVE CAR IN THE SHOWROOM.

If you did, we'd all be driving a McLaren and all but the richest be up to our eyeballs in debt.

The point is, some people have cash to waste on a McLaren, and can justify it. You can't, or won't. Big deal. Take advantage of the fact that there are great strides in the low-end with every generation. But stop complining: it is the high-end spendthrifts that make your excellent budget cards possible.

Wait a few more months for your GeForce2 MX-equivilant.
 
Predator_CITF said:
Simple answer: Because you want to. It is that simple concept. If you have 400$ to dish out on a video card, then you can do whatever you want with it.
Click to expand...
QFT

I buy $400 sunglasses so I can look through them at all the people who don't have $400 sunglasses, because I can and want to.
 
I just spend $200 on a X1900XT 512. Anyway I bought it over a 8800GTS because I felt its the most sensible upgrade for me without spending too much over an upgrade. Its a <$100 upgrade depending on how much I can get for my X1800XT 256. Im not looking for the latest and greatest but what will fullfill my needs. I play games like NFS Carbon, BF2, and Midieval 2 on 1680x1050. My X1800XT's 256 vram wasnt cutting it though I could have lived with it. For a less than $100 upgrade however its worth it to get double the vram IMO.

Anyway I think its not a bad time to buy late generation DX9 cards especially for those who only focuses on a couple games.
 
I'd like to spend around 300 for a new video card upon time for upgrade.
 
pxc said:
I sold my "good" hardware in anticipation up upgrading to Conroe and a DX10 card but I'm finding i'm having no less fun on a $300 desktop than on a $1000 desktop.

I might get a x1900gt or something similar when it hits $100 (newegg is getting close on open box), but I really can't justify to myself spending $250-$300 on video cards anymore. Like joemamma, i'd probably just get a new console instead.
Click to expand...

i went from a 2.2 ghz opty 165 and 2 gigs of ram and 5 sata 7200rpm seagate drives to a laptop with 768 megs of ram and a 5400rpm 80 gig drive and mobile celeron 1.4 gigahertz. i sold my motherboard and x800xt video card cause i upgraded to a dfi mobo for $110 to have extra sata ports (i was maxed out on my asrock board) and to get a better overclock out of my cpu. i also got a new vid card as my x800xt can't be used on the dfi board (agp). i bought the x1950pro sapphire ultimate. the upgrades cost me about $330 and i got $155 back from the old parts so it wasn't too expensive to do it.

i was able to get my opty to 2600mhz on the asrock and it was pretty fluid as compared to 2200mhz (like going from 512 to 1 gig of ram) but i eventually bsod's out of windows after a few minutes.

i'm doing most of the same stuff i did on my desktop on this laptop but i do miss my desktop. i guess being stuck with a 667 mhz p3 compaq for 3 years before going to a athlon xp in 2004 i just can't go back in terms of speed. i really like a nice responsive system. my current system will eventually get server duties when i build a second machine (be it intel or amd, whoever is faster at that point in time, probably still intel, who knows) and do dx10 at that time.

or i may even decide i don't need all that and just do another responsive system like the one i have now to hook up to a 37or 42 inch lcd in the living room. :). eventually i'll get a laptop for portability but for now i love the age we live in! cheap pc parts for bargain prices compared to 5 years ago! you have to look on hard or anandtech forums but they are there if u do ;). like for example i bought ddr2 667 2 gigs on hardforum for $125 shipped for my sis 2 months ago. thats amazing! :D
 
I upgraded from a 7800 to an 8800 mainly because I have the dell 30inch and its nice to be able to play at the native rez, 2560by1600 isn't the smoothest gaming without the latest hardware.

Originally Posted by pxc
I sold my "good" hardware in anticipation up upgrading to Conroe and a DX10 card but I'm finding i'm having no less fun on a $300 desktop than on a $1000 desktop.

I might get a x1900gt or something similar when it hits $100 (newegg is getting close on open box), but I really can't justify to myself spending $250-$300 on video cards anymore. Like joemamma, i'd probably just get a new console instead.
Click to expand...

I gave up my main rig for around a week and was only able to use a laptop.... i went through some major withdrawls lol, but its not that I was just missing gaming but I was doing alot of adobe premiere/photoshop work and its no fun on a slow system, especially a laptop... my future upgrades are probably gonna be more pushed by digital video work than gaming but both really benefit from a top of the line system.
 
Doyan said:
I upgraded from a 7800 to an 8800 mainly because I have the dell 30inch and its nice to be able to play at the native rez, 2560by1600 isn't the smoothest gaming without the latest hardware.



I gave up my main rig for around a week and was only able to use a laptop.... i went through some major withdrawls lol, but its not that I was just missing gaming but I was doing alot of adobe premiere/photoshop work and its no fun on a slow system, especially a laptop... my future upgrades are probably gonna be more pushed by digital video work than gaming but both really benefit from a top of the line system.
Click to expand...
why did u give up ur rig for a week?
 
pillagenburn said:
I dunno about you guys, but I dunno why I was even thinking of spending $400 on a new GPU..... it's just not worth it to me, and I even consider myself a gamer! That's why I'm limiting my video card spending to $200-250 TOPS.

Just think about all of the things you could buy for $400... or with the extra $150-200 if you set a budget.

-new power supply
-more RAM
-bigger hard drive
-sink more money into your monitor
-faster CPU (Core 2 e6400 is only about $200 !!)
-better motherboard
-penis enlarger
-a bear
-bear traps

The possibilities are endless.... remember how much high-end gpu's used to cost back in the day? GeForce 2 and 3.. no more than $300 ... now we're pushing $600+ !!! Smells like price fixing... I seriously doubt the technological advances really warrant the $300 premium over older cards. Nevermind the hit on depreciation that you take once you BUY the card! I mean hell, you buy a Chevy at a reduced price partly because of the hit on depreciation you take once you sign the paperwork and turn the key!

just my $0.02
Click to expand...


You are right. Not only are the prices drastically inflated, but the manufacturers come up with sleazy ways to milk their product by introducing a slightly higher clocked line of the same product (ie. ATi's "Platinum" branded cards) with a 10-15% higher markup of the base product's price. Last card I got was a 850XT AIW for $196 and it runs everything fine but recently started feeling the pinch when games that only support Shadermodel 3.0+ excluded support for the 800X line. Looks like my next gaming purchase will be a Xbox360 as it makes no sense in owning a built-for-gaming PC when it depreciates 2/3 of it;s value in about a year.
 
Robstar said:
But don't you guys get your full paycheck & then pay VAT on everything?

I think I read that somewhere. I am 1099'd so currently pay just shy of 50% of my taxes to the government. If I buy an 8800GTX locally, I pay another 9.75%

so if It costs $450 or so, I pay $493.875 * 2 = $987.75 before taxes.
Click to expand...

Start a business that builds , reverse engineers, networks computers or whatever then the video card is part of your cost of doing buiness
 
BarneyGumble said:
QFT

I buy $400 sunglasses so I can look through them at all the people who don't have $400 sunglasses, because I can and want to.
Click to expand...

I buy $12 sunglasses because I can hang on to them forever, and $400 sunglasses would get lost or sat on in two days.
 
matrix563 said:
why did u give up ur rig for a week?
Click to expand...

Case upgrade, getting all the fans and fan controllers in took longer than I expected to ship in.... I tore things down too quickly :p
 
Dan_D said:
I buy $12 sunglasses because I can hang on to them forever, and $400 sunglasses would get lost or sat on in two days.
Click to expand...

maybe true, but he can just got buy another pair :rolleyes:

haha this is ludicrous. If people have money, they will find interesting ways to spend it. Sure it seems crazy to people who can't afford that stuff, because they don't have the money and can't imagine people that are safe enough economically that they stop thinking in quarters and dimes but only worry about costs in the hundreds and thousands. I live in a practically middle class home, but i have family that are well off. . . more than a couple actually. And yea at first it seemed silly how they can blow money on hobbies and whims of fancy, but that's just it, they can afford to. . so why not?
Very few people in this world are indeed thrifty, most will spend every dollar they can afford to just for more comfort and luxury. Who here can honestly say they never spent a few extra dollars on something they wanted when they knew they should probably save it? In the end it's really just person to person, but personally IMO if you have the money use it however you wish. Personally if i had the money i would live in a huge house with 7 cars and my own personal super computer. But i make due with one expensive (for my budget) hobby that I enjoy and can make due keeping current once every year or so.
If you argue this point, you don't belong here, this forum is catered to those who are dedicated to computers and keeping at the brink of technology within there own means and budgets. For some that means buying every new top of the line card off the factory lines, for others that means modding mid range cards to upper-scale performance, and for the rest it sometimes means just buying last gen cards and saving up for the next jump. Whoever you are just enjoy what you got, do what you do, and to hell with what other people think of your spending habits, it's your money, F*CK it!.
 
Let me first say that the OP may be a gamer, but is obviously not into sims...

(while sim eye candy is nice, it is not a necessity... Driving fast 'n' smooth on any racing sims DEMANDS a consistent, smooth framerate though...)

I mention this as it is mentioned that the $400 towards a monitor upgrade? (that's the only one that made sense to me, anyway...)

But why? A new monitor won't make old eye candy look better... And with an old video card, you can't up the resolution for any new monitor... So, unless you have a dying monitor, I don't understand the upgrade option...

REMEMBER: JUST SAVING $400 WAS NOT AN OPTION...

But, here's something I would suggest that you can do with older hardware you may have sitting around, or buy used hardware off of Ebay with, and put together for around that $400 mark...

A Matrox TH2G setup... I'd argue it's a great upgrade for gaming... And it's cheaper than my 37" 1080p monitor... at 3840x1024, it's damn close to twice the res of this $1,200 monitor...

All other thoughts and arguments aside on this thought, here's my question though...

If that's the closest upgrade a gamer can do for $400 that might actually BE an upgrade for gaming...

Just how the hell does a $200 video card tackle that res?


My point is: the closest thing that was mentioned that made sense is a monitor upgrade, but IMHO even that practically demands a video card upgrade anyway...


But, considering the other posts on here, how about considering an additional option of using the $400 on a prostitute that might make you feel like a man for a few moments?

But then afterwards, you might now want that $600 video, but now can't afford it... :(

Man law: if money's an issue, buy the $600 card, grab free porn off the 'net... :D
 
I can remember when ATI branded 9500PRO's came out. They were $500CDN, then the 9700's came out and they were $550CDN. Things arent all that much different. I think your average $150-200 mobo is great value. Look at all the things going on in a mobo, great value.

Ram, WTF is ram? Fast silicon, thats all. Why does 1GB of DDR2 range from $120-$400? That my friends, is the real scam of our time.

I spent $450 on a 7900GT this year, so I geuss that makes me on of those $400 sunglasses people. I'm getting more use out of my VC that a pair of D&G's though.
 
LanPirate1 said:
I can remember when ATI branded 9500PRO's came out. They were $500CDN, then the 9700's came out and they were $550CDN. Things arent all that much different. I think your average $150-200 mobo is great value. Look at all the things going on in a mobo, great value.

Ram, WTF is ram? Fast silicon, thats all. Why does 1GB of DDR2 range from $120-$400? That my friends, is the real scam of our time.
Click to expand...

I agree as a fellow ripped off Canadian. 14% tax.. pfft. Then again we do get FREE healthcare.
 
pillagenburn said:
The possibilities are endless.... remember how much high-end gpu's used to cost back in the day? GeForce 2 and 3.. no more than $300 ... now we're pushing $600+ !!! Smells like price fixing... I seriously doubt the technological advances really warrant the $300 premium over older cards. Nevermind the hit on depreciation that you take once you BUY the card! I mean hell, you buy a Chevy at a reduced price partly because of the hit on depreciation you take once you sign the paperwork and turn the key!

just my $0.02
Click to expand...

My Geforce 2 was 130 CAD. ASUS V1700.
 
Night Black said:
My Geforce 2 was 130 CAD. ASUS V1700.
Click to expand...

My Geforce 2 GTS was $130 USD .. but that was because I bought it almost 2 years after it came out. ;)
 
you know whats fun to do

you get say 400 dollars say to spend on whatever

you have numerous things you wanna get

what do you do?

you buy the 400 dollar gpu and save the receipt..
you have fun with it ..
you bring it back theirs your 400 back
now you can get your ram
and harddrives
and bring them back too
then you can get a nintendo wii with a couple games
play it and master the damn thing and bring it back

now didnt you do 400 dollars worth
and at the end you get 400 bucks back:)
hehe yeah

hehe its what i do
 
thats nothing ($400 video cards), did you know... Paris Hilton spends $5000 on one pair of shoes!!!!!!
 
pillagenburn said:
-a bear
-bear traps
Click to expand...


can you REALLY get a bear for $200 ? I sure could use one to chase off some house guests that have overstayed their welcome!!!!
 
Night Black said:
I agree as a fellow ripped off Canadian. 14% tax.. pfft. Then again we do get FREE healthcare.
Click to expand...

Congrats, I'm sure your substandard healthcare is something you guys are so ever proud of.. And don't think that you're getting your monies worth in health care by having it govt. subsidized as we all know when the governement gets involved it costs 10X as much and is 2X as bad.
 
imzjustplayin said:
Congrats, I'm sure your substandard healthcare is something you guys are so ever proud of.. And don't think that you're getting your monies worth in health care by having it govt. subsidized as we all know when the governement gets involved it costs 10X as much and is 2X as bad.
Click to expand...

Touche.
 
Motley said:
thats nothing ($400 video cards), did you know... Paris Hilton spends $5000 on one pair of shoes!!!!!!
Click to expand...

that is not a credible source.

paris hilton does not count as a person. :p

id still do her, though.

and why spend 400 on a vid card? why spend any at all? you can just wait and wait for the prices to drop but i saw this quote somewhere(probly on hardforums)

"you gotta pull the tigger some time"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top