Did NVIDIA shoot themselves in the foot (Part Two)?

NVIDIA through their partners have launched the 8800GT 256meg video card. Despite this action it is nearly impossible to find 8800GT 512meg models of this video card since the time of my last posting about this issue. Will NVIDIA be able to crank out enough of the 8800GT 512meg cards in time for Christmas?

There has been a long gap between release of the 680i chipset based motherboards and a chipset successor while INTEL continues to crank out new chipsets. Will NVIDIA rise to INTEL's challenge and put out a superior chipset?

Did NVIDIA shoot themselves in the foot?

I am a staunch supporter of NVIDIA, and have been for many years. With the arrival of the 8800 GT NVIDIA has presented us with an outstanding product at a price point most people can afford. It's unfortunately that some retailers decided to sell these video cards at way beyond the M.S.R.P (manufacturer's suggested retail price). However that is not what this article is about. This article will simply ask why NVIDIA has not produced enough for these video cards for the sales channels plus OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) for the Christmas season when this is the best time to sell? Some retailers in Europe are not anticipating shipments of these video cards until January. If there are great numbers of these retailers then NVIDIA will certainly see a loss in the fiscal 4th quarter for this year. (NOTE: NVIDIA will make a lot of money this fiscal 4th quarter only they could have made significantly more with ample supply of 8800 GTs) Perhaps it should behoove NVIDIA to hack some prices out of their 8800 GTX and 8800 Ultra lineup to keep sales running briskly. NVIDIA seems like they did not prepare for such an onslaught demand of the 8800 GT video cards. A video card that performs so well and is priced superbly.

Editor's Note: On rare occasions I receive video cards for testing and evaluation but no one has any in stock for me to test. I could not find an 8800 GT EVGA video card anywhere in stock.

EVGA Mods Rigs

Do you have a PC you built or put together you'd like to show off? Well take a look at the EVGA mods rigs and see if you wish to post your system specs for all to see. More information is posted here:

http://www.evga.com/community/ModsRigs/

EVGA introduces SSC 8800GT

EVGA has introduced a Super Super Clocked (SSC) 8800 GT with a clock speed of 700MHZ and 2000 MHZ memory speed. You can find information abou this new video card here:

http://www.evga.com/articles/378.asp

Crysis single player demo

There has been significant hype when it comes to release of the Crysis demo. I have been evaluating the demo over the past 24 hours. The game is absolutely superior as far as graphics is concerned. Of that there is no question. However to really enjoy the game at it's highest setting in MS Vista 64 bit my 8800 GTS 640 meg card doesn't display enough framerates for the game to be enjoyable. I have an E6700 Intel Duo Core processor so that is not the problem. That means I would need an SLI configuration (my motherboard doesn't support it) or a much greater and far more expensive video card. To play the game at 1680 x 1050 I have to choose medium graphics settings. Even at medium settings the graphics are wonderful but I should be able to run the game at the highest settings. Please note that my processor speed is slightly overclocked as well as my video card. The newest beta video card driver from NVIDIA is also installed.

Another thing that didn't work well is that the demo did not install properly. After three uninstalls and three reinstalls the game never displayed in all programs in Vista 64 bit. I had to physically search for the Electronic Arts folder on my PC. That is not a good thing.

FEAR: Perseus Mandate Game Demo

When fear was introduced about two years ago we saw top of the line graphics. The following year fear extraction point was developed with good first person combat action. Unfortunately the after sales service of extraction point was very poor. There never was any updates to allow for larger capacity viewing screens such as 1680 X 1050. (The original FEAR was updated to alllow for this). Here we are with Fear Perseus Mandate and the demo doesn't even support the higher screen resolutions. This is a very poor introduction to the game. In Vista colors are not displayed well in the fear engine because the engine wasn't built for it. You can still see terrible color banding in dark areas and I don't see an improvement in graphics but I suppose we'll have to wait for the 2008 fear sequel before that happens.

Cooler Master Mystique 631 review

I finally said good-bye to my old Chieftec computer case and changed over to a Cooler Master Mystique 631 case. I'll give you my review of the case today:

The all aluminum case makes the case lightweight and keeps the inside cooler than a regular steel or plastic based case. The intake and outtake fans do a terrific job of taking in cool air and pushing hot air out of the case. I found the method to insert the DVD drives a little bit difficult but the locking mechanism works very well. The case handled the insertion of an NVIDIA 8800 GTS videocard with plenty of room to spare. I was able to fit my Cooler Master 850 watt PSU into this case but for large PSU users I recommend a larger Cooler Master case such as the Cosmos 1000. The side cover funnel works well with a stock Intel cooler but doesn't work well with many 3rd party CPU coolers but it is very easy and quick to remove. Overall this is an excellent experience and I'll rate the Cooler Mystique 631 as an excellent buy for your money.