First sign of nVidia 7600 spotted

[Unknown Soldier]

STRANGE THINGS are afoot in retail circles. The nVidia 6800 in its PCIe variety has all but disappeared. This leaves nVidia with a huge gap in its mid range wide open for the new 7600.

News Source: TheInq

 

[BrynS]

AT suggest that there won't be enough 6800 chips to supply the 6800GS SKU, which could mean that nVIDIA were expecting to fill that gap with a 7600 part in this timeframe, however the seeming gap would suggest that the 7600 is probably either delayed or nVIDIA lowered/misjudged 6800 production.

...Although GeForce 6800GS seemed like a sure thing for the near future, with the Q3/Q4 NVIDIA chip allocations, there might not be enough surplus chips to really justify re-releasing another 6800 part. We’ve seen the definition in the NVIDIA driver set, but manufacturers don’t seem eager enough to really embrace the new card anyway. The only chips not in allocation, GeForce 6200 and family, constitute the only market that ATI is really outselling NVIDIA on anyway...

 

[CMAN]

Everything must end.

 

[Sobek]

STRANGE THINGS are afoot in retail circles. The nVidia 6800 in its PCIe variety has all but disappeared. This leaves nVidia with a huge gap in its mid range wide open for the new 7600.

News Source: TheInq

I thought something was up. I tried everywhere I could possibly find to buy a vanilla 6800 (with the hopes of modding it) for my brother...but alas, not a single store in all of QLD had one..NOT ONE.

 

[Arun]

G71 definitively has been delayed, was supposed to be in stores by now according to earlier roadmaps. G72 has also been delayed. By how much for both parts, I don't know, though...
Guess the earlier "NVIDIA Christmas Parts" post I made won't be too accurate with all these delays. Heh. Although I'd still expect the G71 before Christmas no matter what.

Uttar

 

[Jawed]

G71 and G72 being 90nm parts?

Jawed

 

[Arty]

G71 definitively has been delayed, was supposed to be in stores by now according to earlier roadmaps. G72 has also been delayed. By how much for both parts, I don't know, though...
Guess the earlier "NVIDIA Christmas Parts" post I made won't be too accurate with all these delays. Heh. Although I'd still expect the G71 before Christmas no matter what.

Uttar

Isnt G71 the 7800GS?

 

[Hellbinder]

At least they will have the performance crown for Christmas

 

[Subtlesnake]

Isn't the disappearance of the 6800 Ultra a bit of a slap in the face for those that bought a single card and planned to add another in SLI when the prices dropped?

 

[trinibwoy]

Wow, didn't realize that the Ultras had all but disappeared already. Yeah it is kinda contrary to what Nvidia claimed about keeping SKU's around for a while for SLI minded folks who wanted to upgrade. But I don't think people cared too much since selling off the Ultra and going with G70 tech was the best bet in nearly all scenarios.

 

[ANova]

At least they will have the performance crown for Christmas

Well, these are still only rumors at this point. Personally, I would rather get an X1800 XT for the features. It can go up to around 700 MHz on air cooling as well.

But I don't think people cared too much since selling off the Ultra and going with G70 tech was the best bet in nearly all scenarios.

Which is the exact argument I use against SLi/xfire.

 

[trinibwoy]

Well, these are still only rumors at this point. Personally, I would rather get an X1800 XT for the features. It can go up to around 700 MHz on air cooling as well.

Right now the XT only has HQ AF over the GTX - and 700Mhz isn't going to help much in the performance stakes if these GTX numbers are true. There's always the dynamic branching argument but that's down to how flexible your finances are - some people can't afford to buy two $600 cards in the same year - so the XT is a good buy in that regard.

 

[trinibwoy]

Which is the exact argument I use against SLi/xfire.

You can't use the specific case of the Ultra to justify such a general argument. Buying a second 6800GT now would be a cheap and significant upgrade.

 

[ANova]

You can't use the specific case of the Ultra to justify such a general argument. Buying a second 6800GT now would be a cheap and significant upgrade.

No it wouldn't. Think about it, one 6800 GT cost most people around $400 initially. Getting another one now would mean an additional $300 or so (a little under) and would require alot more power then a single GTX with comparible performance (in the games that even support SLi mind you) and less features.

Getting a single top end card and then waiting for the next gen still beats out dual card solutions in all scenerios except having the ultimate performance all at once, ie. getting two 6800 GTs when they first came out.

Right now the XT only has HQ AF over the GTX - and 700Mhz isn't going to help much in the performance stakes if these GTX numbers are true. There's always the dynamic branching argument but that's down to how flexible your finances are - some people can't afford to buy two $600 cards in the same year - so the XT is a good buy in that regard.

HQ AA, angle independant AF, h.264 acceleration, HDR + AA, much faster dynamic branching and two dual link DVI outputs. I'm probably missing some. An XT at 700, 1600-1700 would probably be comparible or close.

 

[trinibwoy]

No it wouldn't. Think about it, one 6800 GT cost most people around $400 initially. Getting another one now would mean an additional $300 or so (a little under) and would require alot more power then a single GTX with comparible performance (in the games that even support SLi mind you) and less features.

How much the first GT cost is irrelevant. It's a sunk cost. What's the alternative? Sell the GT for ~$185 and buy a $350 GT? That could work as well but the dual-GT's will be faster at the expense of TSAA. So in this case it's not as cut an dry as it is with the Ultra.

HQ AA, angle independant AF, h.264 acceleration, HDR + AA, much faster dynamic branching and two dual link DVI outputs. I'm probably missing some. An XT at 700, 1600-1700 would probably be comparible or close.

What is HQ AA? I already mentioned HQ AF. Nvidia has promised h.264 acceleration as well. Like I said, the XT's attractiveness hinges on future titles implementing dynamic branching and HDR+AA. Fact is, there are enthusiasts in both camps who will buy based on preference. But unfortunately for ATi - most reviewers and consumers only care about speed in the end.

Not saying that ATi is dead in the water - but I don't see how they could work an r580 or higher clocked r520 into the market right now.

 

[Jawed]

Isn't the disappearance of the 6800 Ultra a bit of a slap in the face for those that bought a single card and planned to add another in SLI when the prices dropped?

This was easy to predict back in the day - I know I did. Not surprising, either. And the 6800GT has all but gone. I can imagine the 6600GT will be gone shortly after Christmas, too.

Jawed