newtekie1I think the cost to retool quickly gets outweighed by the cost savings by using the cheaper design. And if they release a totally new card to fill the spot, retooling would be necessary anyway...

And really, I don't think nVidia is forcing anyone to use the new reference design. If the partners were worried about the cost to retool, couldn't they just continue to use their old designs and just rename the card via firmware? Then the only thing they would have to change is marketting material and packaging, and that stuff is cheap to change.

btarunrand reference clock speeds that match that of GeForce 9800 GT OC: 675/1620/1100 (core/shader/memory).

KainXSnope I oc'd it too high and it fried, i was tryin to get to 850mhz

got to 780 and it died in like 1 min

MusselsI beleive they should just name them V2, V3 etc. that way stores have a difference in name, consumer confusion goes down - and everyone can benefit from the lower prices, as the versions go along.

erockerYeah, I agree with you that if they are going with a cheaper design to save manufacturing costs it's a good thing, but rebranding them is an unecessary cost. It's wasteful plain and simple and really I don't see rebranding helping sales.

MusselsI beleive they should just name them V2, V3 etc. that way stores have a difference in name, consumer confusion goes down - and everyone can benefit from the lower prices, as the versions go along.

a_umpwow, $130 price tag? it'll never sell or shouldn't, HD 4850 is $99 and HD 4870 is $126...why would anyone pick this over the HD's? when both perform above it

FreedomEclipseWell, gg Nvidia. theyve just opend up the doors for more 'trolls' such as Gonzalez/Beta34 to come & sing the G92 9800GT/GTX/GTX+ praises.

I wonder how much money they are making out of these rebadges? Obviously the average consumer wont catch on Instantly that a rebaged card was most possibly the same card he had in his last machine but under a different name.

there should be some laws or injunctions put in place to stop them rehashing stuff that really doesnt need to be rehashed.

the mid range market is already saturated with with GTX260's & 275's - I admit that the G92 makes up a sizeable chunk of that market. (I just realised most Nvidia cards below a 260 are rebadged cards....ooops)

but in light of that - ATi's 4770 performs BETTER & its also cheaper then a 9800GT.

newtekie1You know, while the rebrands kind of suck because I'd like to see some new tech hit the market, most poeple reasons for not liking the rebrands suck just as much...

The argument that people are getting tricked into buying the same card over again, and they will disappointed because of it doesn't make any sense, and isn't logical.

If you already have an 8800GT, you already have a high-end card from its generation. If you upgrade to a high-end card to a mid-range card of the next generation, you should know there isn't going to be much difference. This is regardless of if the card is actually a new card or a rebrand.

@FreedomEclipse: The GTX260/275 are not mid-range cards, they are high end, the GTS240 isn't competing with them. And while the HD4770 does perform better, it is almost impossible to find due to ATi's inability to supply stock, so I find it hard to say it is "cheaper" when you can't even find it for sale. I almost wonder if it was just a gimmick launch to get all the hype up for being the first with 40nm parts. And even when it was in stock, it was selling for $109+, I think I saw one selling for $99. Still not close to the $85 price tage of the 9800GT. And remember, part of the rebrand is the move to a new reference PCB that is supposed to low costs and hence lower the price to the consumer. If you want to make an argument for a cheaper card, go with the HD4830. At least it can still be found in stock, performs identically to the 9800GT(though will be behind the GTS240 due to the raised clock speeds), and is available for as low as $80.

Musselsconsidering how CPU limited CSS is, i'm not surprised an i7 can push that kind of FPS... lol


if all you wanted was CSS, you could get 100FPS easy in that game with a $400 USD PC...

Kuthek005CSS is not all I wanted but with 30 fps that was all I was going to get, so in turn it became my benchmark. I about fell out of my chair when I saw my new fps on the stress test. :laugh:

DanishDevilDude, I just upgraded my 9800 GT to a GTS 240! My computer pwns now and my e-penis is huge!