GTX 280 vs. 9800 gtx

The G280 will cost 600 to 650 USD. Itll be a card like the 8800GTX, which after 18 months still is one of the top five cards. Or, a good investment. If youre playing at higher resolutions, I wouldnt advise buying the 9800GTX's, as they show they slow down at higher res for various reasons. Id go for the G280, then if you decide youll need another something , buy the second one for sli. Or you can see what the 4870x2 will bring as an option as well, or 2 4870s, as thatll most likely beat the 9800GTX's

Yeah, wait and see the 4870x2 and the GTX 280. If you can avoid SLI/Crossfire it's usually good to avoid them.

I am also planning to get a 9800GTX but now i am confused...GTX 280 is way out of my budget and I am aiming for the $300 mark. So when do you think a $300 or sub $300 version of a GTX200 series card will come out?

I am mainly waiting for STARCRAFT 2 and currently own a XFX 7900GS Xtreme Edition

In your budget, as of now, the best bang for buck would be the sli option of 9600gt/8800gt as 8800gt are now a days selling below 150$ mark after rebate. These in sli perform on par with 9800gx2 or better.

Hmmm...

If you want to get best bang for buck. Sli two 9600gt's they will murder a 9800gtx and 8800gtx and 8800gts 512 and be the equivalant of a 3870x2. U can find them as cheap as $110 w MIR on some sites. ANd this is figuring you have an SLI capable board. try Newegg.com or Ncix.com

your budget was 300.well you can wait for a while and see how the hd4800s perform.as JDJ said,the 4870 will be under 300.you wouldnt want to buy a 300 bucks card now and after 2 weeks see it pawned like a mad dog....

@mihirkuls: the 4870CF maybe possible but 3870CF is definatly nono.the 3Dmark result of the 3870(CF) maybe impressive and beats any Nvidia card currently offer.but a mid range like the 9600GT will beat it in offering real frame rates in game.

@killswitch-core: even though it has die shrink BUT because what inside the core have been almost doubled up.so power consumption per shader may have been drop but overall power consumption maybe increase.

i would get a 750w PSU if i were to get a new one.just to be on the safe side if you know what i mean.

I think that by the time the new cards are released you are going to find out 2 things.
1. They will not be that much faster than what you can buy now. I say they will be comparable to an high end 8800 series card, + maybe 10-15% at best. Don't have any hard facts to prove this, but none to disprove it either. Just a gut feeling.
2. I predict the 4850 will be closer to $300 and the 4870 will be closer to $400. New stuff is always higher than expected. Soon you will see all the usual posts about "price gouging" when the new hardware is released.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Best wait until the cards actually hit the shelves, and see what's what before you plan on buying one.

Theyve already posted for sale at as low as 156 euro for the 4850, so they better go up quick

alright i see.i doubt it will work flawlessly.because they will have to program a driver to make the 2 cards with 2 architectual difference.so it will be hard and AMD is known to develop crap drivers at launch.hope they do it properly this time round.