A Crazy Graphics Card World!

[I_Like_Swordchucks]

Geforce 7950 GX2, 7950 GT, 7900 GTX, 7900 GT, 7900 GS, 7800 GTX, 7800 GT, 7800 GS, 7600 GT (which is mine ^^), 7600 GS, 7300 GT, 7300 GS, 7300 LE, 7300 SE, and now a 7100 GS.

This doesn't even count the still valid 6 series (which basically just replaces all the 7s with 6s), or the ATI's Radeon x or x1 series which are basically the competitors.

I have an issue with why manufacturers make so many. As far as I can tell it goes something like "ATI made a Radeon x1300, so Nvidia makes the Geforce 7300 GS to counter it, so then ATI makes the x1300 Pro in response, and then Nvidia is unwilling to be defeated so they follow up with a 7300 GT, so ATI makes the x1600, so then Nvidia makes the 7600 GS, so then ATI makes the x1600 Pro but its still not good enough so they make an x1600 XT as well, so Nvidia makes the 7600 GT (which is mine ^^) in order to bury the Radeons, so ATI makes a mid-range version of the x1800, the GTO, so Nvidia makes the 7800 GS... etc"

Confusing much? There's literally dozens of options when it comes to video cards, and even dozens within the same price point or quality point. I bought the BFG 7600 GT at Staples for $149.99 CAD and then I noticed the 6200 LE, which is a WAY crappier card, for $199.99 CAD. A non-computer smart person may have assumed that the 7600 is obviously a better card because of the number, OR they could have figured the more expensive is obviously the better. But that doesn't always hold true. There could also be a 6800 and a 7300 in the same price point, and the 6800 would destroy a 7300.

It's like that the two big competitors are so into outdoing the latest release by the other competitor, that they makes bazilions of renditions of what could easy be translated into 10 or less cards in a series and confuse the hell out of people.

Take the latest release, the 7100 GS. What POSSIBLE purpose could this card serve? It's no different than a freakin' 6200. And it couldn't run any new stuff to save its life. They say its intended to replace the 6200, but they said the same damn thing when they released the 7300 GS earlier this year.

I think its kind of annoying that when you go to a computer store, you could be completely confused by the inconsistencies in pricing and naming in graphics cards and that these companies should think about the customer more than outdoing the other guy. The company that focuses on the customer more will be the company that wins out in the end.

Or maybe I just take this way too seriously because nobody cares. Thats also a distinct possibility. Or so my psychiatrist says...

[Savage Thinking]

Heh, my brother bought a GeForce 6800 for our computer for around 80 dollars at Best Buy. He says he found a better card for the same 80 dollars at Comp USA. Some companies take advantages of people who are computer illiterate or because of the fact that people do not have the resources to just go to every Best Buy or some other technical store and compare prices. I mean, I live half an hour away from a Best Buy, about 40 minutes away from a Circuit City, and 2 hours away from a Comp USA.

It isn't only with graphics cards. It's fairly common amoungst other things, too. Another thing that's about the same are flash drives. You can find a 1GB flash drive for 30 dollars, but you can find the same exact one for about double the amount somewhere else. You usually find stuff like this out AFTER you buy one (or I do, anyways..). You think it's an okay price, but after seeing a couple of others flash drives (or graphics cards) that are better for half the price, you realize you got screwed over and you're pissed at yourself for being such a dickhead for buying something that's too expensive. In order to prevent this, just look it up on the internet. LOOK IT UP AND DON'T BE LAZY!!!

[Demetrius]

The problem I have with going to a store to buy a gfx card is how hard it is to find the actual pertinent information on the card itself, pipelines, clockspeeds etc aren't always listed and finding benchmarks is impossible, which is why no one should go to a store unless they know what they are looking for in the firstplace and can't find a better deal online.

[steve11]

Most of it is to stay competitive. Even though you listed all those cards not all are widely availible.

Often a new version of a card is an update to fix some flaw that came arround before, or a revision. In the case of nvidia the geforce 7800gtx and 7800gt were plenty fast, they also ran absurdly hot. The 7900 series fixed this issue, and nvidia does not make 7800 parts anymore, it just takes a while for them to leave the market.

Companies tweak a product through it's life.