After thinking it over i think we got conned

[techguy911]

Just think about it the mainstream video cards and the top enthusiast card only offer less than a 1% improvement in frame rates in current games that a few extra hundred dollars for a lousy 1 or 4 more fps, so where does that leave us?.

Even new video cards in development show a 1% improvement so i won't be buying a new video card anytime soon unless there is a 40% improvement in frame rates even with pci ex 2.0+ the improvement is minimal, i think we hit a brick wall performance wise.

As long as my evga gtx 280 is below 40% framerates of new cards not to mention that ati and nvidia were planning together to keep flagship video cards up in price.

Unless something drastic happens in research i really think both video card mfgs are in trouble.

 

[night_wolf_in]

^who asked you to get the GTX280? u got conned. i bought 4850 im not conned.

 

[evilshuriken]

Sir... please stop smoking what ever it is that you are on.

Seriously man, you're saying there is a 1% improvement between say... an HD4850 and an HD4870x2?

 

[eklipz330]

i bought a 4850 for $150 AR... 2 of them can easily beat a gtx 280, so who got conned? [i also have a x38 mobo fyi]

 

[cynewulf]

1% increase? Have you replaced your processor with a 3Mhz Z80 or something?

 

[Superhal]

there appear to be clear tiers in performance. if you buy cards in similar tiers (e.g. 280 vs 4870) it's not worth it. but, if you upgrade to a higher tier, you'll see 50-100% improvement (4870 vs 4870X2). just because a card is newer doesn't mean it's better.

price/performance i think is the measure you need to consider. just because a card costs X2 as much doesn't mean it's _supposed_ to be X2 better. you need to flip it around: if a card X% more performance, is it going at X% more in price, or less?

 

[mactronix]

While what you are saying can be justified if you look at some of the cards that Nvidia have released between the new 512 8800GT and the 280. There have been some serious performance improvements in the last year. Thats generally the way hardware works you get a jump and then its bit by bit untill the next breakthrough.
As far as the differance between main stream and top enthusiast cards goes then i think we probably all need to readjust how we quantify which cards qualify for which catagory.
The problem, and its a good one really, is that the pricepoint of the 4000 series cards is very good which drags the level up for mainstream cards. Mainstream cards have not so much to do with performance as the cost of the cards, if the card is affordable and performs well in most games then a lot get sold and thats mainstream.
Back when the Ultra was king of the cards it was easy to see where the enthusiast level was. Im thinking that these days you need to be looking at SLI and Crossfire set ups more than we used to.
Some people will happily pay through the nose for the latest and greatest just for the extra 1-2%. Most people yourself included(now) want to see a worthwhile improvement before they are prepared to upgrade and thats the way i see it also.
The only people who got conned are those prepared to beleive the hype and marketing and are not prepared to do a bit of research first.
Mactronix