7xxx is just 7800 XXX?

[brightblack]

I'm looking to upgrade my rig completely in the next 2 months, and obviously the gfx card is a core part, and whilst it looks like for my budget (250USD max) I'm looking at a 6600GT, does anyone know if nVidia are going to expand their 7 series cards? I'm still waiting on a few benchmarks for the ATIX1*** series, but they don't seem to give so much bang for the buck. My current rig spec is in the sig for reference.

[Mike]

The current rumor is that a low end version of the 7xxx series from nvidia will be released in the next couple months, perhaps as soon as next week. For $250USD you should be able to do much better than a 6600GT, the 6600GT is down to about $140USD at this point and if you look around you should be able to find a 6800GT or perhaps one of these newer 7xxx series cards for around that price.

I advise you to wait a couple weeks to see if this new 7xxx card materializes, and then shop around...for $250USD you can do much better than a 6600GT...you might also consider an x800gto or gto2 which both give significantly better performance than a 6600gt...

[brightblack]

I think I can wait to see if those 7xxx cards come out. I've got a lot of things on right now, so I'm just checking out the current items with a view to buy 'soon', but that may be January (but that's also in snowboarding season, so that might delay it too :) ). Thanks for the tip - I honestly thought the 7 Series was just going to be that card.

I haven't looked at the gto cards that much, because I was starting to get a bit confused with the different revisions of the ATI 8** series cards.

On the pricing side, it seems that it seems we pay a little more here in Japan, but it has to be said, when you go to Akihabara (or just 'Akiba' as it's known) you get a *huge* selection. For prices, Kakaku.com [kakaku.com video cards (http://www.kakaku.com/sku/pricemenu/videocard.htm)] monitor prices from all over Akiba and beyond into a nice reference site for prices.

And yes, it is cool to live that close (15mins by bike) from that much tech! How about a USB sushi? (http://www.flickr.com/photos/20658954@N00/47384455/)

[Mike]

one of these days I'm going to have to go to Japan, if for no other reason than to walk around Akibahara...

[brightblack]

Do it soon - it's vanishing fast!

OK, maybe that's melodrama, but over the years, a lot of the tech shops closed, some of the big ones, replaced mainly by manga and anime shops (which I suppose is OK if that's your thing!). Recently this year they finished the first part of a convention centre, which has drastically altered the feel of the station area. On the plus side, Yodobashi camera just opened a huge new electrical superstore which nice, but then, it's just a bigger version of what they have elsewhere.

The small shops down the backstreets survive - if you need a bunch of Cobalt servers and a Cisco switch urgent, then this is the place, and generally it's usiness as usual, but the change is on!

For the rest of Japan, everyone should definitely come and have a look - it'll be exactly what you don't expect ;)

[brightblack]

I've lost the link (duh!) but I read yesterday that 7200 and 7600 will be out in March/April 2006. Then means that I'm still fairly safe in buying a 6800GS in December. I also saw a story that AMD will float a new socket type around the same time...