Or maybe over the next week or so. With the release of the ATI HD 4850 and NVIDIA’s new 55nm-based 9800GTX+, the price/performance ratio is really nice right now. Of course, as with all components, the longer you wait, the better the deal is, but if you’re looking for an upgrade right now, these new releases will drop quite a few prices across the board.
The 4850 is available for less than $200 right now, and the upcoming release of the 9800GTX+ will make the prices for the non-”+” versions of the card drop to around that point as well. Of course, if you’re willing to shell out an extra $30 (and I recommend it), the + version should be faster and coolerbut probably not cooler.
The article you linked to says the 9800GTX+ uses MORE power than the non-plus, so it probably doesn’t run cooler.
Good call – it said in the intro that it they expected lower temperatures, but I forgot that in the end they found Nvidia had clocked it up enough to eliminate those gains. Thanks for keeping me honest.
Although the newer fabrication techniques rely on techs to lower power leakage, so I wouldn’t be surprised if while it took more power in, its efficiency is far better and it runs a little cooler. I could totally be wrong though.