Expected timeframe 8800GTS price drop? Don't want to waste $

[hackths]

I am building a new system and need a card in there within the next week...

I was thinking about getting one of these cards to use for 6+ months, with the expectation of going SLI eventually (ie after 6 months)
7900 GS (XFX)
7950 GS (unknown)
8800 GTS (unknown)

I don't want to buy the 8800 GTS and then 2-3 weeks later it is pushing near $240 a card. I am coming from a 6600GT card, and beyond normal computer usage have a good time with Rainbow 6 Vegas and Star Trek Legacy.

I guess I just want a card that will holds its value for a while- 6+ months. I plan to go SLI but can only afford one card at the moment, just wondering if I should splurg now and pickup a 2nd 8800 GTS at a later point. Or just get a 7900GT alone, and sell that when the time comes and get 2x 8800 GTSs (after their prices have become more reasonable), or pop in another 7900 GS and keep going for another 6+ months until I do that all over again. Just looking for relative value for something I need to get ASAP- and something I will be really happy with coming from my 6600.

Any advice would be appreciated! (thanks to the advice I have read so far the 8600 GTS is out of the running for my new machine )
Thanks!
Tom

 

[slashzapper]

Well tom :lol:

Its your forum but in all honesty get a 8800 gts you will be happy

I am i have a amd3000+ and i still get great frame rates in m games.

Get the evga 8800 so you can upgrade later on

Sli is not worth it

 

[bigbadjohnnyb]

How exactly does the eVGA trade-up work?

I am in the same situation, and almost settled on the eVGA 8800GTS-320 (825 superclocked one on Newegg).

As I understand it, I have 90 days to upgrade based on eVGA's pricing difference between what I bought it for and what eVGA lists as retail for whatever i want to upgrade to. Is that about right?

So if I have an 8800GTS and by that time a 8800GTX is around $350 because the 8900GTX is out (yeah right), I can just pay eVGA and I get the card. Can I pick any card to upgrade to, or do only some cards qualify to send in OR trade to?

Do I have to ship mine in first? I did some quick browsing on the trade-up program page on eVGA, but these questions I couldn't find answers to easily.

Sorry for all the questions on one post...

 

[scubageek]

Honestly, with the ATI release coming upon us quickly, hopefully!, I wouldn't splurge for an expensive 8800 right now.

Trust me I have been thinking of splurging on one, but I can wait till I see the 2900xt benchies, and of course if they are even decent, and AMD/ATI sells it at a good price, the 8800 will come down in price, and then I just need to see which card fits my budget best.

Of course I currently have a 7950GT, so I am not hurting. I know my nephew is using a 6800GT and is having no problems with CnC3, CS, and WoW, so the 6600 should last you long enough for ATI to release to see what the market does.

It sucks, and I want to pull the trigger on a new card, but then again, I don't want to pay 400 for something that may only be 250 next week.

I can wait.

 

[Mr_Wang]

I doubt there will be a major price drop of the 8800GTS in the next couple of months. ATI's new top of the line card is going to be a direct competitor, but I don't see them slashing prices significantly because Nvidia has the upper hand with multiple cards and a much more mature product. The 640MB model might drop from the current price of about $330 (w/ rebate) to $300 and the 320 MB model might drop from the current price of about $260 (again w/ rebate) to $250.

I paid $430 for the 640 MB model about 4 months ago so the price has all ready dropped quite a bit. Don't worry about getting one card now and going to SLI in 6 months or so. In 6 months you can probably get a card that will out perform a pair of 8800 GTS's for slightly more than the cost of a second card.

 

[zenmaster]

It works, but don't expect much.

The reason is that they will credit you what you paid, but require you to pay their "list" for the new card which is far more than what you paid before.

Example - I just saw that the MSRP for one of their 7600GTs is $209.99.
Of course this is easily $100 more than the true selling price.

So if you were to "Buy" a 7600GT now and trade up in 90 days, it is likely that $100 credit you receive based upon what you really paid would be totally offset by the over-priced MSRP you had to pay to EVGA.

Most note that they are better off selling their old card on E-Bay and buying the better card from NewEgg.

 

[zenmaster]

Get the 8800GTS now.

Prices will always be dropping but I don't expect a firesale anytime soon.
This is a very good card in the price/performance ratio if you plan on doing serious gaming.