Saturday, July 12th 2008

GT200b Already hit Stores?

A suspicious new model of the flagship GeForce GTX 280 made by Leadtek going by the name 'GeForce GTX 280 Extreme' is put on pre-order on the popular British computer component online store Overclockers UK (OCUK). It can be found here. There are some hints that point toward this being based on a 55nm core:
  • Extremely high parameters such as 738 MHz core, 1666 MHz shader domain and 2520 MHz memory albeit GDDR3, traditionally Leadtek doesn't offer such high manufacturer overclock for even its premium variants.
  • Such insanely high parameters cannot be reached by a manufacturer on reference cooling, for example, even the EVGA e-GeForce GTX 280 HC (liquid-cooled) comes with 670 MHz core, 1458MHz shader domain and 2430 MHz memory.
  • Although traditionally OCUK isn't very discount-friendly, and that this is a premium GTX 280 variant, that still doesn't warrant a whopping £387.74 (US $771.29) price-tag.
The Leadtek website neither has a product entry for this nor is it part of any of their press-releases leading us to believe it's an upcoming product. With such parameters, it only puzzles us if it indeed is the GT200b making for 'UFO sightings' in the markets.
Sources: Overclockers UK, iXBT
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47 Comments on GT200b Already hit Stores?

#1
From_Nowhere
That was fast. How will it stack up to the upcoming R700? Either way this GPU war is getting very interesting for us customers.
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#2
Megasty
That's indeed a UFO sighting if those speeds are correct. But the price in pounds does seem about right, relatively speaking.
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#4
Gam'ster
Lol still cheaper than the EVGA ssc edition though.
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#7
rampage
that sux ass big time for anyone who has bought a gtx 280 beforehand like i did :(
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#8
newconroer
MegastyI meant if it was a 'gt200b'. If it wasn't, then the price is completely outrageous - but a lot of the prices on that site are...
Those Leadtek's have been the lowest priced 280 for almost a few weeks now, whether it's the vanilla version, or this 'extreme.' It was only after the other vendor prices came down, did the Leadtek 'extreme,' lose that position.

And in the past, OC UK's prices have been competitive but never the cheapest; they hold the mentality that their customer base is strong as well as loyal, so they don't have to run bottom end margins like other E-tailers might.
However with that said, they have the most GT200 product range AND at the cheapest prices.

It's going to be interesting to see if those Leadtek stay at the same price once they come into stock, or it's just a scam to rope people into some sales.

I think you were suggesting that the B cores should be cheaper, and this price needs to come down to reflect that.

Either way, that's the unfortunate cost of the cards in the UK at the moment, and up until the recent Nvidia price lowering, they were all well over 400 GBP. Now, just a little bit lower, and you'll be able to buy one outright, for cheaper than you could do a Step-Up type program.
Posted on Reply
#9
Unregistered
Welcome to my world :( prices in the uk suck bawls.

If you pre order,and they come in stock,you will get it for the pre-order price,it is a contract.Order them quickly peeps.
#10
mab1376
a failed attempt, the 4870x2 is only going to be $500 and still going to have better performance than that.

... i'm sorry nvidia but my next card is going to be a 4870x2
Posted on Reply
#11
Megasty
I might get one in a few years off of ebay for dirt cheap to see WTF they were trying to sell for this much but otherwise, meh...

The 260 that I just got is starting to creep me out even more. That MSI sticker is the fugliest thing I've ever seen.
Posted on Reply
#12
Weer
mab1376a failed attempt, the 4870x2 is only going to be $500 and still going to have better performance than that.

... i'm sorry nvidia but my next card is going to be a 4870x2
Why? You have a 680i SLi board. Buying GTS 260 SLi or a single GTX 280 and upgrading when the price drops would be far better.

Besides, a dual-GPU card is simply ridiculous. nVidia isn't going to let this down. They could release a GTX 280X2 card for 750$ and completely destroy AMD.

And ontop of it all, even the 4870X2 fails in Crysis compared to how well it does in other games, and Crysis is the only game that can't run on today's card. You could get a single 8800 GTS 512 and run all the games except Crysis.

So, no. As much as I can understand the pro-AMD spirit, it's just not justified until they can finally move to the scalar architecture. 1600 ALU's barely beating 240 is pathetic.
Posted on Reply
#13
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
And you dismiss the fact that NV and ATI don't define/design ALU's the same way. :)

Besides, 1600 ''whatever'' do beat the GTX 280.
Posted on Reply
#14
alexp999
Staff
Dont forget about VAT over here, that in US terms is really only about $660 (£330 exc VAT) . Thats why i reckon that the Uk RRP for the 4870X2 will be about £300 ($500 -> £250 exc VAT -> £300 inc VAT)(approx)
Posted on Reply
#15
Megasty
WeerWhy? You have a 680i SLi board. Buying GTS 260 SLi or a single GTX 280 and upgrading when the price drops would be far better.

Besides, a dual-GPU card is simply ridiculous. nVidia isn't going to let this down. They could release a GTX 280X2 card for 750$ and completely destroy AMD.

And ontop of it all, even the 4870X2 fails in Crysis compared to how well it does in other games, and Crysis is the only game that can't run on today's card. You could get a single 8800 GTS 512 and run all the games except Crysis.

So, no. As much as I can understand the pro-AMD spirit, it's just not justified until they can finally move to the scalar architecture. 1600 ALU's barely beating 240 is pathetic.
Its sad really, the super expensive GTX280 can't touch the overpowered 4870x2. The GTX260 can hardly keep up with the 4870 as well. The architecture differences are written in stone. You can max out Crysis at 30~fps @ 1920x1200 on a 4870 :rolleyes: Even with the OC of this supposed gt200b, NV's is just going to sell it at the regular gt200 price, which is stupid as hell - but overly predictable. This new rendition of the gpu war might have priorities on P/P as it should, but this thing is still a slap in the face to folks who bought a GTX280.
Posted on Reply
#16
rampage
even with this OC on the card i dont see it making any difference, i have a gtx280 and a Q6600 @3.2 and i can OC my 280 to 670 core 2600 ram and see no gain <5% in benchmarks and games
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#17
trt740
rampagethat sux ass big time for anyone who has bought a gtx 280 beforehand like i did :(
not if you bought evga step up time. :)
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#18
trt740
rampageeven with this OC on the card i dont see it making any difference, i have a gtx280 and a Q6600 @3.2 and i can OC my 280 to 670 core 2600 ram and see no gain <5% in benchmarks and games
thats because at 3.6ghz you would see a difference. The lower clocked quads do hold these cards back.
Posted on Reply
#19
trt740
MegastyIts sad really, the super expensive GTX280 can't touch the overpowered 4870x2. The GTX260 can hardly keep up with the 4870 as well. The architecture differences are written in stone. You can max out Crysis at 30~fps @ 1920x1200 on a 4870 :rolleyes: Even with the OC of this supposed gt200b, NV's is just going to sell it at the regular gt200 price, which is stupid as hell - but overly predictable. This new rendition of the gpu war might have priorities on P/P as it should, but this thing is still a slap in the face to folks who bought a GTX280.
your wrong bro a 260 when overclocked can match a 280 and no 4870 can do that even overclocked (artleast for now). Here is a small portion of the review wizzard did. The 4870 and 260 are very close if anything the 260 is capable of faster speeds. To be fair overall neither card has a advantage really over the other. Also my 280 is a total beast and at 469.00 beats the crap out of every card I ever owned. Add cuda to that to speed up my cpu and physx. Even at that price range and it's gonna go lower, a regular 280 is a very good card. It will cost about 100 less than a 4870x2 when it's released I bet. Not every one has a power supply to handle crossfire / sli or even a 4870x2 (3870x2 pull more wattage than a 280) and some only have one slot motherboards, so for them it's a good card at a lesser price than a 4870x2. The new 200b series will just make a faster version and push everyones prices down more. Plus if it comes out in three month i'm gonna get one for free. The 200b are supposed to break 800 on the core when oced but thats just rumor.


Our GTX 260 sample showed amazing overclocking potential, easily reaching GeForce GTX 280 levels, and this is something most ATI HD 4870 cards won't achieve, at least not with stock voltage and cooling. Also the overclocking software support on ATI side is rather limited while on NVIDIA everything just works.
Posted on Reply
#20
[I.R.A]_FBi
trt740

your wrong bro a 260 when overclocked can match a 280 and not 4870 can do that. Here is a small portion of the review wizzard did. the 4870 and 260 are very close if anything the 260 is capable of faster speeds.


Our GTX 260 sample showed amazing overclocking potential, easily reaching GeForce GTX 280 levels, and this is something most ATI HD 4870 cards won't achieve, at least not with stock voltage and cooling. Also the overclocking software support on ATI side is rather limited while on NVIDIA everything just works.
but your reasoning has no bearing on his argument.
Posted on Reply
#21
trt740
[I.R.A]_FBibut your reasoning has no bearing on his argument.
I was correcting his statement. Also I was typing more as you posted.
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#22
Selene
From most of the benches at normal screan rez, that many ppl use 19"-24" the 260 beats or holds it on with the 4870.
Yea i think ultra high rez with large amounts of AA the 4870 has its way with the 260, but for most ppl the 260 is the better card.
www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/evga_gtx260/
"In 6 out of 32, the HD4870 beat the GTX260, Not bad performance with all things considered."


If this is true and the GTX260b is around the conrner it will smash the GTX280(65nm) for alot less, might even get 2 for the price of one.
Posted on Reply
#23
Jansku07
Let's stop the flame war, and wait for the results to come in. HD4870X2 previews are around the corner..
Posted on Reply
#24
Megasty
trt740

your wrong bro a 260 when overclocked can match a 280 and no 4870 can do that even overclocked (artleast for now). Here is a small portion of the review wizzard did. The 4870 and 260 are very close if anything the 260 is capable of faster speeds. To be fair overall neither card has a advantage really over the other. Also my 280 is a total beast and at 469.00 beats the crap out of every card I ever owned. Add cuda to that to speed up my cpu and physx. Even at that price range and it's gonna go lower, a regular 280 is a very good card. It will cost about 100 less than a 4870x2 when it's released I bet. Not every one has a power supply to handle crossfire / sli or even a 4870x2 (3870x2 pull more wattage than a 280) and some only have one slot motherboards, so for them it's a good card at a lesser price than a 4870x2. The new 200b series will just make a faster version and push everyones prices down more. Plus if it comes out in three month i'm gonna get one for free. The 200b are supposed to break 800 on the core when oced but thats just rumor.


Our GTX 260 sample showed amazing overclocking potential, easily reaching GeForce GTX 280 levels, and this is something most ATI HD 4870 cards won't achieve, at least not with stock voltage and cooling. Also the overclocking software support on ATI side is rather limited while on NVIDIA everything just works.
I actually OC'd the hell out of my poor-looking GTX260 (700/1580/2350), but it doesn't match the specs of a GTX280 at all (memory bandwidth & memory itself). I've also OC'd a 4870 to 850/1120. The results were still too similar to tell each other apart. I don't care about power usage one bit, I only care about the results my system can pull out. I can't BS myself, visual results rule over all others. Sure the OCing NV software works flawlessly & you have to give ample cooling to the 4870 to clock it on a similar lvl, but it is possible.
Posted on Reply
#25
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
If this does manage to dethrone R700, there still is a R700+ in the pipeline. wooops...
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