ATI Fires Two Salvos At NVIDIA!

The upcoming Christmas season has the industry going into a launch frenzy. The world was recently set abuzz with the launch of the new Intel 45nm desktop processors, as well as the spectacular NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT graphics card. Their arch-rival AMD-ATI does not intend to be left out of the party. Invited or not, they intend to make a big bang, and what a big bang it was!

Today, AMD-ATI revealed their Radeon HD 3870 and Radeon HD 3850 graphics cards, delivering a major blow to NVIDIA's plans. Not only do they offer competitive performance to NVIDIA's graphics cards, they will be sold at really affordable price points.

Now, NVIDIA can rest assured that their new GeForce 8800 GT is still faster than the ATI Radeon HD 3870 but the new ATI card isn't very far behind in performance. What's worse though is the fact that NVIDIA hasn't been able to deliver the new GeForce 8800 GT cards in sufficient quantities. This led to a massive price inflation which hasn't endeared NVIDIA to their fans.

The new ATI Radeon HD 3870, on the other hand, promises to deliver competitive performance at $219, which is $30 below the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT's official price and $50-80 lower than the actual, inflated street price. That means the ATI Radeon HD 2850 will be cheaper than the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT by 12 % (official) or 22.8 % (street).

What those numbers really mean is that NVIDIA is going to be in hot water for the first time in many years. If they cannot deliver the GeForce 8800 GT in sufficient quantities and keep prices down to the official price range, they will drive frustrated gamers into AMD-ATI's arms.

But those who know NVIDIA know that they do not wait for their competitors to catch up to them. Tech journalists had already been issued invites for a briefing on November 20th, when many are sure NVIDIA will reveal a G92-based upgrade of the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB and possibly a replacement for the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX.

Tech ARP will be there, and you can be sure we will keep you informed of any development. It's going to be a really exciting season with AMD-ATI battling it out with both NVIDIA and Intel. Oh yes, AMD has something up their sleeves for Intel as well. In fact, this is what this editorial is really about - the upcoming AMD Spider!