[djbass]

Originally Posted by MrL_JaKiri

No, they're not. Here's a way they're different:

ONE COSTS TWICE AS MUCH AS THE OTHER. When you're making an argument based on price, this is somewhat important.

Yes, I'm using bold. It is because you're dramatically wrong, again.

(If you want another example of how they're different, the 8800GT uses the 65nm G92 core, the GTX uses the 90nm G80 core).

You are the only one making an argument based on price, mine is based on value (which is an accumulation of not just price, but performance & longevity as well).

I must be horribly mistaken, I could have sworn NVIDIA considered them in the same product family, with damned near matching specs to boot.

Regional pricing of course varies, but since you bring it up there is on average a $200-300 (AUD) varience in pricing between the two.

You might, noone else sees it as "too little, too late". DX10 is, as you say, for the most part an afterthought in this generation of cards - and in many ways it'll not be center stage for the next year or so. Right now there are two games I'd really consider as "using" (as opposed to things like Company of Heroes, where the difference isn't that great) DX10 - Bioshock and Crysis.

If by your own admission there are only 2 games that would utilise the best features of this card, then what value is there in getting one now when the majority of the other games will run just fine on a lower spec card?

I think you underestimate the push for the new technology that the next gen of cards will bring over the coming months. More so now than ever as tides are turning and gaming consoles which are well known for touting flashy graphics have heavier influences over the games we see coming to PC.

An important thing to note here is that, were he not to buy an 8800GT, the card to buy would be one of the new ATi 3800 series - which is also a DX10.0 card. It's like dismissing one kind of bread because it's not gluten free when the next best alternative is also not gluten free

Why does it have to be a $440 AUD (197.040 GBP) card at all? It would be foolish investing that much in a card that is ultimately going to have a shelf life of maybe another 6 months tops.

You could use the "there's something a bit better coming along in the next six months" argument at pretty much any point in computing in the last decade. Unless there's a release scheduled in the immediate future (see: new C2D's tomorrow) waiting around is utterly pointless because you'll never have a computer at all.

Rumours suggest it could be as early as March, with the first in the budget 9 series cards confimed for a February release. Even if it turned out to be longer those months will fly by quicker than you'll notice.

Launch price for the 4200Ti was ~$200 for the higher end. Launch price for 8800GT? Around $250 (as I have said). There's a bit of a difference there, but when you said "As a previous owner of a Geforce 4200 Ti I can contest that a sub $200 card can't even be compared for value to a $400-500 beast as the 8800GT." you were talking out of your arse yet again.

Heres a pretty picture my arse took earlier of my still in existance 4200 Ti, just incase you doubted that too. Do you even read what I type? I'm allowing you a margin of error because it seems clear to me you haven't taken into account exchange rates and such and not even noticed that all the figures I'm typing are quoted in Aussie dollars.

To date the cheapest 8800GT I can find is $400 AUD (179.127 GBP), going as high as $500 AUD (223.909 GBP). That's a shit load more than the ~$200 AUD (89.5636 GBP) I paid for my 4200 ti back in the day, and I got 2-3 years out of that one.