Price difference between top range cards?

[Xenoxide]

Hey, I've just started thinking about building a new system for myself after being out of the hardware world for a while.

I was looking at the top range graphics cards by ATi and nVidia and was wondering why there's a huge difference in price between the top of the range cards offered by ATi and nVidia? For example the Geforce 8800 Ultra is around the £400 mark but you can get an ATi Radeon HD3870 for around £150.

What's the difference between them? Why is nVidia so much more expensive?

Cheers

 

[paradigm]

Why? Because the ATi card (on its own) is only as fast as the similarly priced 8800GT.

nVidia can get away with the pricing because they hold the current single-card performance crown.

 

[Xenoxide]

Does ATi have a card that matches up to nVidia's top of the range cards then? Or can they simply not keep up?

 

[LoadsaMoney]

No, they cant get anywhere near.

 

[ergonomics]

No, they cant get anywhere near.

lets not forget the countless threads we used to get about how the 2900xt was 'just as fast as a gtx and ultra, if not more so' when no AA was applied

 

[The Asgard]

Anyone paying £400 on a Ultra is mad IMHO.

 

[Magnum_Force]

If your building a new system you've got a couple of options, depending on what you want.

Get a 8800GTX - these at the £240 mark (maybe lower if you can find one second Hand) are probably the best high end card, not ridiculous in price, and can be overclocked to near 8800Ultra speeds.

Get a 8800GTS 512mb (G92)- similar to the 8800GTX in performance, uses similar/ slightly less power (according to reviews, it uses quite abit more than the 8800GT), but personally I'd still get a 8800GTX over this. Good overclockers from early reports.

Get a 8800GT - stick to the 512mb version and you'll be fine with this card, offers near 8800GTX performance at certain rez/AA/AF, but atleast £50 cheaper. A good BFB card.

ATi's HD3850 512mb/ HD3870 - I went this route myself. I bought 2 Gecube HD 3850 512mbs for £230 including vat and del to crossfire them. if your looking for a high end option from the Red corner, it's crossfire only tbh. The good points are that 2 of these cards only use slightly more power than a single 8800GTS 512mb and in certain situations offer 8800Ultra beating performance. They are the only DX10.1 card avaliable (for what it's worth) and offer UVD support. Potentially good overclockers when the BIOS's get sorted out.

 

[steve258]

For example the Geforce 8800 Ultra is around the £400 mark but you can get an ATi Radeon HD3870 for around £150.

What's the difference between them? Why is nVidia so much more expensive?

Cheers

The prices are right relatively to their performance.

Performance wise:
8800Ultra > 8800GTX = 8800GTS 512Mb > 8800GT > 3870XT > 3850pro

I'd personally get the new 512mb GTS since the GTX price has gone back up to £258 + delivery. The new GTS performs just as well as GTX plus great overclocking potential even with stock air cooler.