Slashdot Mirror
Why Do Graphics Cards Cost So Much?
Tamor writes "As an avid PC games player I'm locked into the perpetual hardware upgrade cycle like everyone else, but one thing really irks me. While other hardware has come down in price, graphics card pricing has spiralled beyond belief. Not only are graphics cards usually the single most expensive item in a gaming PC, they don't seem to be subject to the usual market forces. Instead of new generation cards forcing down the price of old cards, the old cards are simply phased out, and the likes of nVidia have a range wide enough to keep the high-end cards at the same prices for the forseeable future.
Why is this? Why does a top of the range graphics card cost so much more than an entire PS2 or X-Box system? Is it the lack of competition in the market following the demise of 3DFX or are there other forces at work. What do slashdotters thing about this pricing?"
Why is this? Why does a top of the range graphics card cost so much more than an entire PS2 or X-Box system? Is it the lack of competition in the market following the demise of 3DFX or are there other forces at work. What do slashdotters thing about this pricing?"
See, the reason the Xbox is so awesome at fill rates and AA is that it's running at way below standard useable resolutions. I'm talking 480x320, and that's not exactly a lot of pixels. Hell, you can get by on a cheap card at friggin low resolution, but you lose a lot. I find myself shooting at elevators and such in Unreal Tournament on my four-year-old iMac because I can't tell the difference between them and people. You must realize that there is a resolution cap on the XBox, and the video card in it is acceptable at that resolution. Those of us running UT 2003 at 1600x1200 with 4x AA and high detail, on the other hand, aren't using the XBox.
I will now redundantly add my name to the end of my post. You know, in case you forgot me or something.
$299 up until 3 weeks ago. It's $229 now that the 9000 is out.
An ATI Radeon 8500 OEM card for wintel cost $99. Non-OEMs cost about $129.
The difference?
Zilch. Zero. Fuck all.
A sticker, a box, and just a few k on the flash rom.
Not to plead the case of the poor-trod-upon-mac-nazi, but...
nVidia Geforce 4 Ti dual-head for PC: $199
nVidia Geforce 4 Ti dual-head for the Mac: $399 (as of today)
I guess my point is that some of us have it worse than you might imagine.