Radeon -- I've made a huge mistake

[summer_of_alvin]

//whine alert//

I've been assembling my own PCs for the last 15 years or so, and I must say that the Radeon 2900 XT is the biggest mistake I've ever made in that area. I've always been a little jaded to the longevity of high-end graphics cards, but this one really takes the cake.

About a month ago, I came to this forum reading/discussing the 2900XT. And eventually I did buy it for $400 USD. Expensive, sure. And I knew it wasn't going to stay "high-end" for more than a few weeks. But I figured it'll be good enough to serve as at least at or above mid-range status for the next 9 months or so. But how wrong I was!

Some 14 days after my purchase, out comes the 2900 Pro at $299. Basically an graphics card identical to the one I bought, but with a factory underclock. No biggie, I can live with that.

Another 14 days later, the 8800 GT just obliterates my 2900 XT at half the price. The benchmarks I've seen @(1600 x 1200 at max settings) puts the 2900 XT roughtly ~15 fps slower at nearly all games. Bioshock, Oblivion, Crysis, World in Conflict, everything. And since the 8800 GT defines the new level of mid-range graphics solution, that puts my 2900XT below midrange after only 30 days in my computer. I don't think my credit card statement has even arrived yet!

30 days ago, I had expected a new batch of high-end cards in 4th QTR 2007 to supercede the 2900XT / 8800 GTS. What I didn't expect was a new batch of $249 mid-range cards to obliterate the my $400 2900 XT.

Ugh. I hate whining. And I've always been aware that computer & electronics get old fairly quick. But I certainly didn't expect my $400 graphics card to become "below-midrange" after only 30 days. I was hoping my 2900XT would stay at or above midrange status until mid 2008, not 30 days...

 

[nukchebi0]

Return?

 

[matth87]

Welcome to technology

 

[Annisman]

2900XT is sad on so many many levels

 

[pchoi04]

Wow... are you serious right now... I think you've won the bitch fit award.

Just listen to yourself. What do you expect, thats how technology is. In that case why dont you just wait forever until the universe collapses into itself... then there will be nothing to worry about.

If it plays your games and it runs smooth then whats the complaint?

 

[Annisman]

Wow... are you serious right now... I think you've won the bitch fit award.

Just listen to yourself. What do you expect, thats how technology is. In that case why dont you just wait forever until the universe collapses into itself... then there will be nothing to worry about.

If it plays your games and it runs smooth then whats the complaint?

take it easy buddy, I would do alot of complaining if I had JUST bought a ' high-end video card' and it was turned mid-low-end in a matter of days. ATI should be ashamed.

 

[neisonator]

you must be gutted. im glad that i have put a low end gpu in my pc im drooling of the possiblities the 8800 gt has.

 

[mrmez]

Bummer :/

On the flip side... tho i got my gts320 quite some time ago, and although the GT is beating it now, they are still selling the same cards for only $10 cheaper... all this time later.

Lost out on my Q6600 tho, missed a G0 by a few days, what can i say, no one had an ETA and i needed asap.

U know what they say...

You win some,
The rest you smoke.

 

[speedbird]

I like my 2900pro, but I'm rather disappointed that ATI cannot improve Direct X 10 performance to match Nvidia. If Crysis runs well on ATI hardware and UT3 then I will not feel like I have wasted my money any more. If I would known about the 8800GT at the time I would of waited for that.

 

[nukchebi0]

Did I mention return it? You bought it from Newegg, no? You could return an eat the $60 fee for a better card, or test your coercion skills and see if they will wave it.

 

[yipsl]

I'd just keep it for a few months, then get an X3850 or an 8800GT, while selling the card used. The price of the 8800GT is supposed to drop to $200 for the 512 meg version after the holidays. Plus, the X3850 should be a competitor.

I held off buying an 8800GTS 320, staying with a 7600GS far longer than the 3 months it was meant to fill in between February 2007 and May 2007. The drivers just weren't there at launch for the 8800GTS 320 to be viable. Now, both ATI and Nvidia have their DX10 drivers up to speed.

I think your X2900XT is viable for another 6-9 months, it has enough memory for high textures and you aren't any worse off than someone who bought an 8800GTS 640. Both cards are still good.

Me, I can't afford $300 times two every year, so I waited with a 7600GS and my wife's using the onboard X1250 graphics for her new build. She'll get an X3850 and I'll get an 8800GT, when the price and availability stablize by February.

So, I don't consider you foolish or unlucky. You got a good card at a premium price. The card should last you for 6 months, and even if a new card does 20 fps more then what's the problem? You won't notice it outside of benchmarks. Besides, ATI will optimize drivers again for all the new DX10 games. If I'd had the cash last summer, I would have gone 8800GTS 640, but I wouldn't complain much about the 8800GT or the X3850 arriving a few months later.

 

[vaker5]

Yeah you should retrn it....

 

[spentshells]

meh dx 10 sucked

 

[jaguarskx]

Yeah, that's tech for you. There is always something better coming out. The 8800GT was a known release for mid/late October. However, not may people thought it would offer stellar performance for the price.

I'm glad to say that I not never fallen into a trap just like you did. Sometimes patience is a virtual, even if it's just to see how well new products will compare to older products.

I would return it and get the 8800GT. The restocking fee will probably equal the loss of trying to sell a used GPU that has been knocked down a notch or two. May the restocking fee will actually be less than the loss when trying to sell it.

 

[hok]

I would wait for the 3800 before doing ANYTHING.

but you also bought your card at the worst possible time in the whole year.

 

[caskachan]

RETURN - EVEN if it costs you, defect anythgn to get your money back or a certificate, get a 8800gt and youll be happy

 

[jeremyrailton]

if they won't take it back as a return, just sell it on ebay. you'll make AT LEAST enough to buy an 8800GT. Consider it a free upgrade.

 

[summer_of_alvin]

Yeah, that's tech for you. There is always something better coming out.

True. And like most people, I did expect the 2900XT and 8800GTS to be superceded before Christmas. However, I was anticipating these video cards to be bumped down one notch, from "high end" to "high mid-range". I certainly didn't expect it to be demoted all the way to "below mid range" status within 30 days of my $400 purchase.

I'm glad to say that I not never fallen into a trap just like you did. Sometimes patience is a virtual, even if it's just to see how well new products will compare to older products.

Patience? Heh. My computer overhaul last month was not only my first new PC since 2004, but also my first "high-end" gaming rig since 2001. Unfortunately, after 6+ years of anticipation, my shiny new PC's status as a "high end" gaming rig lasted, oh, about 30 days. It's really, really anticlimactic.

I would return it and get the 8800GT.

I'm suprised so many people suggested returning the card. I could easily do it, but I won't. I'm just not comfortable returning items unless there's a manufacturer defect involved. The product sold to me worked exactly as advertised, and I see no justification for sending it back to the seller.

Someone suggested I sell the graphics card. But honestly, there's no use. It's 2nd hand, it performs poorly compared to the $249 8800GT, it needs much more power, runs much noisier, runs much hotter, doesn't have hardware mpeg4 decode, it's an older model, it has a (cheaper) identical twin brother in the 2900 Pro, and ATI as a brand is far less in demand than NVidia nowadays. When the 8800GT hits the store shelves in November, I'd be lucky if my $400 2900XT fetches $199 on ebay. I'll just keep it and accept my losses; but it's certainly one tough pill to swallow --- hence, all my whining.

 

[firetatoo]

you paid the price of early adoption.
good job.

 

[zero2dash]

I'm suprised so many people suggested returning the card. I could easily do it, but I won't. I'm just not comfortable returning items unless there's a manufacturer defect involved. The product sold to me worked exactly as advertised, and I see no justification for sending it back to the seller.

Someone suggested I sell the graphics card. But honestly, there's no use. It's 2nd hand, it performs poorly compared to the $249 8800GT, it needs much more power, runs much noisier, runs much hotter, doesn't have hardware mpeg4 decode, it's an older model, it has a (cheaper) identical twin brother in the 2900 Pro, and ATI as a brand is far less in demand than NVidia nowadays. When the 8800GT hits the store shelves in November, I'd be lucky if my $400 2900XT fetches $199 on ebay. I'll just keep it and accept my losses; but it's certainly one tough pill to swallow --- hence, all my whining.

Then don't complain about it.

 

[gwolfman]

Return?

Return it under the 30 day return policy (hope the place you bought it from offers one) and then eat the restocking fee. It'll be worth it.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Someone suggested I sell the graphics card. But honestly, there's no use. It's 2nd hand, it performs poorly compared to the $249 8800GT, it needs much more power, runs much noisier, runs much hotter, doesn't have hardware mpeg4 decode, it's an older model, it has a (cheaper) identical twin brother in the 2900 Pro, and ATI as a brand is far less in demand than NVidia nowadays. When the 8800GT hits the store shelves in November, I'd be lucky if my $400 2900XT fetches $199 on ebay.

You should try to sell it. SOMEone will undoubtedly need one to complete their Crossfire setup. At $200/$250, it's a steal for them and you both get what you want.

-Wolf sends

 

[darkstar782]

Having gotten an 8800GTX about a week after release (nov 2006), and had mostly nVidia cards before that (my last ATi had been an Xpert@Play 8MB), I was beginning to feel like a bit of an nVidia fanboy.

Wit this in mind, and the fact that my x38 board supported crossfire but not SLI, I decided to go for a pair of x2900XTs when my 8800GTX died to a coolant leak last month.

My god, these cards are ****. They eat power like you wouldn't believe, to the point that they burned out my Thermaltake 750W psu and made me buy a PC Power and Cooling 1kW model.

They are unstable and I constantly get bluescreens caused by the ATI drivers.

Crossfire is crap and unstable.

I now have a 2nd PC with 8800GTX SLI (the dell one I'm moaning about in the CPU forum ) and its worlds apart.

The ATI based PC is now sat behind my TV and operates as a file server and a HD-DVD/BluRay player.

I will NEVER buy another ATI card after the issues I have had with these x2900s.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the x2900XTs are completely unable to cool themselves adequately, in a Thermaltake Kandalf case with massive airflow. If I want to game on these cards I have to use Riviatuner to up the fan speed to max in order to reduce my number of bluescreens. They sound louder than my Dyson like this.... Oh, and one of them killed itself and needed replacing like two weeks after I got them both meaning a warranty replacement....

 

[rodney_ws]

I think some people are being overly harsh. The OP clearly understood that things do change... and quickly. In his particular case it does appear he bought the wrong product at the absolute worst time by no fault of his own. Just really bad timing. He has my sympathies. Tough break bro.

 

[cpburns]

Dear OP,

Even if half the thread posters are calling you an undue whiner, I do feel your pain. That sucks, man. I suppose you should have paid attention to all the benchmarks before you bought it; but still, even I am attracted to the 2900XT's architecture. It was really promising. Too bad ATI screwed up. You could try watercooling your video card and overclocking it to 900MHz

Most of all though, I appreciate your command of the english language. It's refreshing to not have to turn on my automatic translator unit to try to understand some garbage being thrashed out by an imbecile.

As Wolfshadw says though, I would suggest selling it. There's no shame either in returning a product to the manufacturer or vendor which does not suit your needs. Newegg doesn't care. They just care that you get good service from them. If that means their waiving the restock fee (unlikely, and even I wouldn't try for that. Just doesn't feel right), I'm sure they'll be happy to oblige.

You bought the card. It did not live up to expectations. Return it. Buy something better.

Or offer it up on Ebay. Put it up for $240, $300 Buy-It-Now. That kind of thing. Wolf's right. Someone will want it, and will gladly pay you to complete their Crossfire setup, or their Crossfire X setup.