I was thinking of upgrading my eVGA 7600GT, so I thought I'd go with another eVGA card to take advantage of their step-up program.

I got my 7600 from Newegg for about $110 after rebate.

eVGA price for a new 7950GT KO is $380. Step-up cost would be 380-110 = $270.

A new 7950GT KO from Newegg is $241 AR.

Am I missing something here?

Yeh, about 29 dollars

How long ago did you buy the 7600gt? I think the step-up program only applies to purchases within 90 days of each other. Meaning, if you bought your card more than 3 months ago, you won't be able to use the program.

Again, I'm not positive, but that's my understanding of it.

I believe your right. Step up program is perfect for people who need a card right now but know they'll be upgrading to DX10 or a similar situation.

lol !

gah why arent prices that cheap in the UK !

I bought the 7600 about 4 weeks ago.

But my point is that the step-up seems to be more expensive than just buying another card. That's why I'm asking if anyone actually uses it, or if there's some detail that I missed. Because it doesn't seem to make sense to step-up. Seems better just to buy a new card, because then you will save money AND have 2 cards instead of 1.

The problem is evga.com doesn't keep up with e-tailers. They don't have special deals. The MSRP is their RP. It's not always this bad, but in your case, look on the bright side, you'll get two cards and a couple lunches for the price of one step-up!

I used it. I had two 7900GT KO superclocked I paid 289.99 for at Newegg. I used the step-up program about 87 days after I bought them. They gave me the 289.99 credit, but the 8800GTSs I wanted were on backorder, so I had to wait. About a month later, they said my step up was ready and that i had 14 days to pay for the new cards. I waited 12 days and paid for both cards, then i followed their instructions for mailing them MY cards, which, over the holidays took FOREVER. My comp was down, so i bought a couple of cheapie 7300GTs (which suck even in SLI) to run. I had those for about 2 weeks, then my cards came in, and i installed my 8800GTSs. Then I took the 7300's back to Best Buy for a refund I wound up paying the difference between two 289.99 cards and two 499.99 cards, so i shelled out 410 for them, but the kicker is that I got 289.99 credit for 4 month old cards that would have gone on eBay for quite a bit less. Newegg had the 8800GTS for 469.99 anyway, so there wasn't much difference. I would say, if you bought a high end card and wanted to trade it for another high end card where one card is over priced (as high end cards are) then do it. Trade your 7600 for something awesome, not something played out. Get a DX10 part.

Perhaps it's time to update your sig.

OK guess I wasn't missing anything. I see how it makes more sense for a high-end card, but honestly an 8800 would be overkill for playing WoW. I guess I'll just O/C my 7600GT for now and wait until I can get a 8800GTS for <$300. Probably won't be too long.

I stepped up a 7600GS to a 7900GTX. The 7900GTX was DOA. It took over 4 months to realize they were not going to resolve it so they gave me a refund and I walked away from nvidia GPUs, possibly for the duration. The eVga people were polite for the most part, but were slow and basically useless blobs on the other end of the phone/email. How much good is a polite blob?

More than a rude one. Perhaps they're good at parties?

I wanted to use the step-up program to get a 8800 GTX superclocked ASC3 but my dumb ass threw out the box and packaging so I can't send it back.

Did you check with evga anyway? I heard they'd still do it, but you'd take a finacial hit to cover the cost of repackaging.

i will probably use it to upgrade to the ACS3 also like Nova46, but so far i have not seen it available in step up. my other choice could be the black pearl 8800gtx that comes with a waterblock and i think life time warranty. i think it would be good for somebody who wants an 8800gtx but cant afford it, so in the mean time can get something lesser till you have the money to upgrade.