Big Price Drop on the Sapphire HD2900XT

I think yesterday Sapphire's HD2900XT was selling for $429 on newegg. Tonight I checked the newegg and it is selling for $374.99! Yes, it is the retail verison and not a refurb. That about a $55 price drop! A few other manufactures dropped the prices on their HD2900XT cards too.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102095

That price makes this card way more competitive.

The last few reviews on the site are good too.
Other Thoughts: i dunno what all the other people who say it runs hot or the drivers suck are talking about, just set your fan control to actually spin more than 10% under load, i've never gone over 60c with a slight overclock on it
and
Pros: Extremely fast. Overclocks very well. Stock cooler does a very good job.
Cons: Not as fast as an 8800 GTX, but the 2900 is quite a bit cheaper.
Maybe this card does not run as hot as some people think. It May be worth getting.
 

TonyStark

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The card doesn't run as hot as most people think, and although the power consumption is high, a good 450W power supply with 30Amps on the 12V can run it with ease (assuming a minimal system with core2-duo, 1-HD, 1-DVDRW, etc).

In terms of raw speed, it is almost as good as the GTX.

Once you crank up IQ settings (AA & AF), it is around GTS level (sometimes better, sometimes worse). Possibly due to the lack of ROP and TU compared to the G80 series, or maybe the drivers still suck in that department. I'm assuming it is the former, while ATI fanboys will try and convince you it is the latter.

The new price drop should make it a lot more competitive. I'm tempted to buy one myself, but I can hear the 8800GTS 320MB calling my name. :twisted:
 
It's still $25 more than it should have been when it was released. That along with the excessive power it consumed compared to it's counterpart, imo, really hurt the sales from the beginning. These two reason made me buy the 640 nvidia card instead.

576/1700......... $319.00 good deal.
 

3Ball

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Yea it would be good at 350, but if a new cooler came out for it for around $20 - $25 and the card dropped to $300, I would have one in a heart beat. Maybe AMD will listen to me if they see this post...hint hint! lol

Best,

3Ball
 
Already there is nice performance gains in the 2900 with newer drivers. Will they fix all the probs? Probably not. As it gets better, it nudges the GTX without eyecandy, something the GTS doesnt do, tells me that theres still room for improvement, whichll land it between the GTS and the GTX. hese are just numbers from benches, as I wont apologise for it, but will tell what Ive seen and know. Alot of hype, disappointment and fanboyism on both sides make this card hard to see what it really is, coming from non-owners of the card. Ask the owners and then see what they say, as for the rest of us nonowners, take some salt
 

macer1

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I don't see energy requirements being an issue

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/514/7/

most of the time your system isn't at max load.
 

james_8970

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I'm happy with my card, I personally hav't seen it go over 62oC, that after pretty intense gaming on CoH. There is still room for imporvment but I'm happy with the buy as it came with 5 games, 4 of which I was planning on buying. So really that makes it cheaper then the GTS, for me anyways. I don't find my card loud at all, but then I havn't seen it really hot so I probably havn't heard the fan run at 100%.

All in all I'm happy with my purchase.

James
 
I don't see energy requirements being an issue

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/514/7/

most of the time your system isn't at max load.

There are several posts on the net evaluating the 640 card vs the 2900 as far as energy consumption and heat. The one you posted is for the gtx. If I remember correctly, the 640 eats a lot less energy. Less energy = less heat. And when you have to pay for it.............. $.......... it means a lot. Not to mention the price/performance issue at the time of purchase.
 

r0x0r

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Last time I checked (2 mins ago) the cheapest prices in Australia were pretty much even for the GTS640 and HD2900XT; AU$500+.

The cheapest 8800GTX Ultra was just over AU$950 :lol:
 
There are several posts on the net evaluating the 640 card vs the 2900 as far as energy consumption and heat. The one you posted is for the gtx. If I remember correctly, the 640 eats a lot less energy. Less energy = less heat. And when you have to pay for it.............. $.......... it means a lot. Not to mention the price/performance issue at the time of purchase.

While more power does mean more heat, what concern is that of people other than if you're in a small room with little ventilation?

As for paying for the power difference, the 15% difference would be less than the savings of switching a single light bulb from regular incadecent to compact fluorescent.

For this range of cards, overall performance and price/performance should be the main purchasing considerations, everything else you pretty much expect from this market.
 

rammedstein

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@r0x0r: lol, yeah, i know, but you don't look at average price, you look at the average price for the cheapest 40, the HD2900xt is $550 approx and the 8800gts640 is somewhere around $600, and since there is variance in shipping this also means that you should use the average price, technically the hd2900xt is cheaper by a bit here, i can't remember where i got mine, but it was a 2x HD2900XTs for $999 so i was like, heck yeah!
 

macer1

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TheGreatGrapeApe word to the ape. most of these ppl were amd humping 1 year ago over the x2. heat shouldn't be a problem , same with watts . Yet thats fine, i love watching y'all switch sides it's like watching a monkey ride a bike. AMD had a price point product now, watch out gts.


TheGreatGrapeApe come down to cowboy's tomorrow, just mention frenchy to the back door and see me on the upper level at the bar.
 

turboflame

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A step in the right direction for ATI, keep the current 2900XT somewhat competetive as they improve the drivers and prepare the 65nm version.

a price war is always good 8)
 

Talon

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Wouldn't it be great if this is the beginning of a price war in this category? Maybe the lowering of the 2900XT will trigger the lowering of the GTS cards. I was planning on buying the 320mb version in about 3 weeks if there were no new cards announced by then so this might save me some $ if I'm lucky.

<3 Competition
 

wbirkin

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with he latest drivers (7.6), the fan isnt as loud as a x1950pro. in fact you cant hear the fan even running at 100%, you hear the massive air flow. on idle, its almost inaudible.
 

petevsdrm

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At that price point, combined with the improved performance from the newer drivers, I can say that it is a competitive card at this point. I would expect to see it in Cleeve's graphics card article next month.

It's about time. :D
 

Kronos76

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Thinking price wars, with any luck this may inspire a price drop in the GTX cards, try and make the more attractive to folks, ah, who am I kidding, that isn't going to happen any time soon.... :(
 

Spikke

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As it gets better, it nudges the GTX without eyecandy, something the GTS doesnt do
Why would you buy a card like this and not run eye candy?
Regardless, this price drop is good for competition and makes the 2900XT a more viable alternative to the 8800's, especially with the performance increase of the driver updates.
 

tamalero

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As it gets better, it nudges the GTX without eyecandy, something the GTS doesnt do
Why would you buy a card like this and not run eye candy?
Regardless, this price drop is good for competition and makes the 2900XT a more viable alternative to the 8800's, especially with the performance increase of the driver updates.

details at max is one thing
AF and AA is another o_O

so id say the "eyecandy" is a bit ambiguous..