Invisible hand slashes NVIDIA GTX 280 and GTX 260 prices

As expected, NVIDIA just slashed the price of its top-end GTX 280 and GTX 260 graphics processors in recognition of AMD's new RV770 GPU. The GeForce GTX 280 is now $499 ($649 at launch) and the GTX 260 is priced at $299 (down from $399). Once again demonstrating that it's not from the benevolence of the hooker, the thug or the police, that we expect more realistic havoc in Liberty City, but from GPU manufacturers' regard to their own self interest.

[MUTTON @ Jul 14th 2008 4:09AM]

And once again early adopters get bum-raped ....

[XenoX101 @ Jul 14th 2008 4:13AM]

I'm sorry, but since when have early adopters been in it for the money? Obviously the first run/first released of anything will cost more than the next. In fact there aren't many products (I'm not just talking computer parts) that don't go by this principle, just look at clothing as a good example.

[Colin Potter @ Jul 14th 2008 4:16AM]

early adopters of clothing? what?

[d840 @ Jul 14th 2008 1:17PM]

@Colin Potter

Duh, have you ever shopped at Goodwill? :P

[Kurian @ Jul 14th 2008 4:36AM]

Phew, at least my 9800GX2 remains at more or less at the same 450$ as when I bought it.

Plus at my native resolution of 1680x1050 its faster in most games than the GTX280. Not to mention it owns in SLi optimized games like COD4.

[XenoX101 @ Jul 14th 2008 4:37AM]

Different terminology for clothing, basically the sales go on after the clothing has been out for a little bit, so the 'first in' have to pay more.

[sbrown @ Jul 14th 2008 4:57AM]

Yeah I'm glad I wasn't an early adopter of pants. The savings are just kicking in now but the humiliation is eternal.

[OX4 @ Jul 14th 2008 5:47AM]

Let me guess...you're in line for an iPhone right now, aren't you?

[thedesolate1 @ Jul 14th 2008 10:34AM]

Oh and dont forget that early adopters are also beta testers with their products more prone to fucking up. now bend over.

[teej @ Jul 14th 2008 11:50AM]

clothing is a bad example...but Blu-ray/HD-DVD is a perfect example.

[LC @ Jul 14th 2008 4:18AM]

I'm very sure the prices went down a week ago.

Lets not take two weeks to post one of the three previews for the 4870x2 which are already on the net. If you do plan to post them.

[Mr. Fax Sender @ Jul 14th 2008 1:01PM]

Yah, they've been slacking a lot lately.

[Luke @ Jul 14th 2008 4:21AM]

But the question still remains...

Even at these prices, why would you want one over an RV770?

[Vasilis @ Jul 14th 2008 4:38AM]

Didn't even know previews of the 4870X2 were out! Thanks!

So true though the X2 simply has the 280 for lunch and for a similar price... Hope they can release them soon and at quantities that will not drive the prices up instead of down.

[Kamokazi @ Jul 14th 2008 7:27AM]

A) Because the 4870 performs on par with the GTX 260, not the 280.

B) The 4870x2 is a dual-GPU card meaning:
-Issues with compatibility and stability (some games only run on one GPU)
-Only 2 can be used together, where you can use 3x280's, for the insane after the best performance at any price

C) ATI drivers suck (although nVidia's aren't much better anymore)

The 4870 is at the moment the way to go over the 260, but this official price slash may lower it enough. Depending on the games you play the 280 may be better than the 4870x2 because of the single GPU.

[Mobius_1 @ Jul 14th 2008 12:06PM]

Well, the new RV700 series cards are very good performers for the money.

Check out its performance in Race Driver: GRID
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3354&p=7

I think I've found the card for my next system when I come around to building it in two months' time.

[Laughing Man @ Jul 14th 2008 1:55PM]

ATI hasn't had any real driver issues since the merger with AMD. With every new card a driver is released within a week to optimize any issues with previous drivers.

Some games will not register two GPU's which is why it is a good thing that the 4870 X2 will register as only one GPU because all the crossfire communications is done on the board itself seperate from the computer.

P.S. CrossfireX will handle up to 4, thats right 4 GPU's. 8 if you count 4 4870 X2.

Check to facts.

[Andrew @ Jul 14th 2008 4:24AM]

@Mutton, that's why we're called early adopters. You know you're going to pay a premium to be first - and you're happy to do so. Now if only that GTX280 would arrive soon.

[phanbouy @ Jul 14th 2008 4:37AM]

if only people would pay a premium who post "FIRST!"

[Didou @ Jul 14th 2008 4:40AM]

Still a Radeon 4850 in my near future. :-)

[Luke @ Jul 14th 2008 4:50AM]

I just got one. Best video card I've ever purchased.

It eats Bioshock for lunch with everything maxed at 1680X1050.

So so cheap for the performance. It's nice to do a small part to keep AMD alive without buying an AMD CPU too :)

[Ruben @ Jul 14th 2008 8:43AM]

There are countless cards that eat Bioshock for lunch. Its not a graphically intensive game at all. You could have gotten a 9600GT for 90 bucks and that plows through Bioshock.

Now Crysis and Grid...thats another story. Even this 280 struggles at highest details.

[OfflinePK @ Jul 14th 2008 9:39AM]

Yeah owning Bioshock isn't an impressive feat. My two year old Inspiron e1705 with a 2 GHz Core Duo, 2 Gb of RAM, and a Go 7900 GS owns the game at 1280 x 800 max settings. Unfortunately I can't play crysis above low settings (lack of shaders) T_T

[phanbouy @ Jul 14th 2008 5:01AM]

"but the humiliation is eternal"

shoulda clicked on some of those C1ALIS spammails.

[SirMasterboy @ Jul 14th 2008 5:23AM]

The GTX 280 has been $460 at newegg for 2 weeks already this is old news.

[r3loaded @ Jul 14th 2008 6:24AM]

Great Adam Smith reference!

- an economics student

[Wwhat @ Jul 14th 2008 6:31AM]

Still doesn't have DX10.1 though.
(And please keep your self-respect and don't repeat their nonsensical PR statement that DX10.1 is insignificant and developers don't want it)

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Jul 14th 2008 7:53AM]

I had impression that devels do not need to want it. Something like It was related more to hardware and all DX10 interfaces are backward compatible.

[shimman @ Jul 14th 2008 6:52AM]

still overpriced...

[Timothy Sottek @ Jul 14th 2008 12:19PM]

Not for people who NEED the power.

There are only a few options for those of us who choose to run 30" monitors with uber-high native resolutions. Its by choice, of course, but I'm really happy to hear that the price has gone down on these 280s. I was begrudgingly considering running two 260s in SLI, but now that the price has gone down $300 on a 280 SLI setup, I can afford to run my native resolution in all its glory.

Oh, and by the way, I'm not super-rich. Gaming for me is a lifestyle choice. Instead of buying a $30,000 car, I'd rather spend $3,000 on a top-of-the-line PC every few years. I'm guessing that there are many others who make this choice too, considering how much Americans spend on gadgets and entertainment per capita!

[icepop4who @ Jul 14th 2008 8:07AM]

nice job nvidia, you didn't sit idly by when getting raped by AMD. comparing a dual solution card (4870 x2) to single card is not fair, so unless AMD has a faster single card solution, this is the card to get. Triple SLI FTW.

@SirMasterBoy
Saying this is old news is like saying $460=$399.

[Rishard @ Jul 14th 2008 8:36AM]

I was thinking about picking up a 9800GTX for 199 recently. I'm kind of glad I waited. I might pick up a 260 now instead.

[Flashpoint @ Jul 14th 2008 8:56AM]

Unless Nvidia makes a "380" or "480" by the end of this year, that costs about $300 ~ $400, I will DEFINITELY be buying a 280.

Crysis doesn't run itself ya know.

[kal326 @ Jul 14th 2008 9:11AM]

Now if only somebody could get Intel's CPU pricing to taste the back of the invisible hand all would be good.

[z0phi3l @ Jul 14th 2008 11:26AM]

Intel CPUs aren't THAT much more than AMD CPUs

[jayfyve @ Jul 14th 2008 12:08PM]

Consider it a "stupid tax". My min onsite/inshop service call charge is a lot higher. $10 seems like a bargain.

[d840 @ Jul 14th 2008 1:14PM]

And my friend just bought a 4870!

Not to be an nVidia fanboy, but nVidia has always seemed to have better linux support, better drivers, etc... Now, with their competitive pricing, history of awesome linux support, and top-notch performance, they are poised to win another round of the graphics card wars.

Also, it was nVidia that sponsored the Call of Duty 4 map pack for PC's. They most likely did it to gain more customer loyalty, and let me tell you what: it works on me.

Nvidia FTW!

[ShadowKain @ Jul 14th 2008 4:07PM]

Old story, but great competition prices none-the-less.