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Affordable DX10 - GeForce 8600 GTS and 8600 GT
mikemuch writes "While ATI still hasn't released a DX-10-capable graphics card, Nvidia today already released its affordable SKUs, in descending price and performance order the GeForce 8600 GTS and GeForce 8600 GT, and 8500 GT. The GTS costs $200-230, the GT from $150-170, and the 8500 reaching down to the $90 range. The architecture for the new GPUs is the same as for the 8800 line, but with lower clocks and fewer stream processors."
Jeez, that's a silly question.
Because that's where the money is.
If developers, even a few, thought they could make more money on Linux than Windows, or even turn a hefty enough profit by supporting both, they'd do it.
Thanks for companies like Introversion, Transgaming, and Codeweavers, and of course all the developers of Wine, Linux gaming is more popular than ever. Thanks to people like the folks behind Ogre3D, Newton, ODE, OpenAL, etc Cross-OS gaming is easier than ever.
I think this puts us right on the cusp of seeing a big change in Linux gaming. (And Mac OSX gaming, too.) But until then, Windows is -the- PC gaming OS and that's where hardware and software creators will be making their investments.
Now, I know the usual argument is that OpenGL is already cross-platform and should be supported. And I agree to a point... But ATI's OpenGL support has apparently always sucked, and you don't create a game that will suck for half the market if there's an easy alternative. (DirectX.) (Disclaimer: I have no first-hand experience with ATI cards. I've stuck with nVidia since Voodoo died.)
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
The 8600GTS delivers 40% of the performance of the 320MB 8800GTS for 70% of the price.
The 8600GT outperforms a 7600GT - but is priced like a 7900GT.
I wouldn't worry about ATI/AMD not having DX10 hardware until their is content and a significant number of users that can use it.
1. You need a Game that supports DirectX 10, how many have been released so far?
2. You need the user to be running Windows Vista to have support for DirectX 10
3. The user needs to have also purchase a DirectX 10 graphics card to complete the loop.
It is the chicken and the egg, and history hasn't been kind to the early adopters of graphics cards that are the FIRST to implement a new API.
EA David Gardner -"... but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun."
In context, it's clear the GP was referring to the NVidia cards that were reviewed by the article. And he's mostly right. In only one (of many) actual gaming benchmark did any of the Nvidia cards reviewed outperform the X1950.
Where I believe the GP is mistaken is in his conclusions about the article. The article itself says, in conclusion:
The article notes, correctly I think, that the X1650XT is not a good card for gamers to buy. It notes that the 1950 won't do DirectX10, and the budget NVidia cards may not be fast enough to do it well either.
However, it's also instructive to have a look at this review at Hard OCP. There, in two demanding games (Oblivion and STALKER), the 8600 GTS appears to win handily over the 1950XT. If those benchmarks are accurate, it suggests the ExtremeTech article may draw conclusions that are too favorable to the X1950.
Ah well, interesting times for all gfx card consumers!
HolmwoodBuying a graphics card today does not mean you will be future-proofed for tomorrow.
In 9 months or so when DX10 games come out, chances are they'll need better-than-8800 graphics to run at max settings.
If there are no games out now that justify a high-end purchase for you, then get a cheaper mid-range card and save the rest of your money for a better card in 9 months.
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