I often get asked to look over a set of components that someone is considering for their new gaming rig or am asked to come up a set for the best gaming rig within a certain budget. Occasionally - when I'm very lucky - that limit is really, really high. Unfortunately, that type of budget is almost never for my own system. Still, I find it fun to spec out and build all types of systems. The system specs herein will be just the main box; the monitor(s), keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc. are not included here. The operating system will be.
Over the last several months, I've noticed a trend that concerned me. That is the seeming disappearance of high-end Nvidia graphics cards. I was a bit concerned when I started seeing all of the out-of-stock notices for Nvidia G200-based cards at Newegg. I looked today and out of the 26 models of Nvidia 260, 275, 285 and 295 cards listed, half (13 exactly) were out of stock. I found posts on the Internet indicating that others were wondering what's up as well. The Nvidia GTX 275 line of cards - like the one I currently own - has disappeared completely. The prices on the GTX 260 and 285 have actually been going up due to low supply and high demand. The scarcity and increasing prices make it hard to recommend them in the bang-for-the-buck builds. It didn't make any sense. Nvidia has been making the GPUs for a while, so it shouldn't be production problems at the root. Demand had been strong, but didn't seem to be dramatically increasing. In fact, in the wake of the ATI 5800-series launch, I would expect demand for the last-generation Nvidia cards to go down. It took me a bit of digging, but I think I now understand what's going on.
My first thought was that Nvidia had bet the farm on Fermi being released in January 2010 with cards available soon thereafter. They were just letting the old stock work its way out of the manufacturing channel to make room for the new chips. That made business sense to me. However, when is was clear that Fermi was going to be late, I thought Nvidia either just failed to or was not able to ramp up G200 production to keep it going to cover the gap. What I did not understand is that apparently the manufacturing process of the G200 is so costly even at 55nm (instead of 65nm) that the profit margins don't exist to allow for the price-cutting Nvidia would need fight ATI's 5700 and 5800 offerings at equivalent price/performance levels. They can't - as the joke goes - lose money on every one but make it up in volume. Nvidia made the decision not to compete when they couldn't win. It seems to me that they could pump out some more G200s at the current prices since demand appears to still be pretty strong (as the prices of the Nvidia 260 and 285 cards have risen in the last few months). Ramping up production costs money, too, though and may not cover those costs to make it worthwhile even with decent, but knowingly short-lived, demand.
The new Fermi line has been released (just this week) as the GTX 470 and GTX 480. The GTX 300 line being such a joke as to be embarassing, Nvidia seems to have decided to abandon that number. The new cards aren't in stock anywhere yet, but by late April or May, both should be available. The GTX 470 will be selling for $349 and the GTX 480 for $499, which puts them well above the ATI HD 5850 and 5870 pricewise. (The difference is about $50-70 and $50-80, repectively.) Early benchmarking shows that the 470 and 480 are faster than their 5850 and 5870 counterparts, but it's not such a large difference that the higher prices are clearly justified. In some benchmarks, the GTX 470 only keeps pace with or barely out performs the ATI 5850; in others, it outperforms the 5870. The Nvidia GTX 480 usually outperforms the ATI HD 5870, but often at differences so small as to be negligable. This is especially true as the resolution increases to 2560x1600. In the power and heat area, these two new cards are true Nvidia: they suck power like air though a jet engine and they produce about as much heat as a jet engine. Apparently, they even sound a bit like a jet engine when under load. I was kind of waiting on doing the mainstream and enthusiast recommendations thinking these cards could tip the balance. Unfortunately, they are not clear winners and at the expected initial prices, they probably aren't the best bang for the buck. They are new though, so maybe they are just a driver revision from being worth the cost. Finally, they aren't actually available yet, which makes it rather hard to include them in a build .. this time.
By request, I've written a breakdown of the heat I'm currently packing. That is, the gaming rig I'm using today. If you're interested in what I've chosen for myself, I invite you to check out my current rig page.
A couple caveats/disclaimers before we get into the specifics. First, except where noted, I haven't actually built the systems given in the specifications. I fully believe I could if someone wants to kindly send me the parts so I can test that theory, but I haven't. If you discover something that just doesn't work, I'd love to hear about it. (Email me) The systems will be put together using prices from Newegg. I don't work for Newegg or receive anything for using their prices as the example (with the exception of a hat and trackpad for giving them a good review on some web site). Newegg has earned this themselves. Newegg's prices in general are very low - often the very lowest, but not always. Their service is a rare phenomenon. If they say they have it in stock, it's in stock. The shipping on most items is reasonable. Newegg sends emails tracking everything all along the way. On the 2-3 occasions that I had to return an item, I've had no problem with doing so whether I ordered something wrong or just couldn't make the component work. I'll happily ignore emails stating you could get this from <insert some other e-tailer here> for $5 less. That said, I'm also going to bypass Newegg's "combo" deals and rebates as those are usually for a limited time, but the time is not specified. I may mention I saw one, but I won't include it in the price. Now, on with the show.