Quote: "That X850 looks pretty sweet, but I am not sure why ATI doesn't just stick 512mb of memory in the darn thing! I mean my radeon 9800pro has that much memory, and it is over a year old now."
o_0 ... when did ATI produce a 512MB Radeon 9800 PRO?
I'm pretty sure that the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB is the first and only gaming card to have that much on-board memory.
To have that much is just ridiculous, especially in terms of cost. Ram is what makes Graphics cards so damn expensive even after the cost of the GPU R&D is covered.
This is why NVIDIA has come up with 'TurboCache', that allows you to use your system memory for storing. Your graphics memory is then used purely as a frame buffer. ATi also have 'HyperMemory' but no one knows what the hell that is capable yet, other than ATi have claimed it's better than whatever NVIDIA are developing. (this might explain why it isn't out yet heh)
With PCI-Express, and the new 64-bit AMD Processor designs. PCs are very quickly becoming much more optimised like consoles. I'm really getting quite excited about the direction IBM-Compatible Systems are taking
As for the X850, you can only get it as a Plantinum Edition. They cost WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much, and still can't outperform the 6800 Extreme. (nice try ATi but no Cigar)
R520 has finally been shipped, the 'development' version that is. Quite impressive, something I have to work with for the next 5years (joy).. but not going to break any records like the Gigabyte 3DI.
Dual 6600GT GPU with 256MB GDDR3 on PCI-X.
Outperforms everything, including the new X850 Plantinum according to preliminary tests. As it isn't a Dual Cards, but Dual GPU Card.. it is capable of using SLi natively. If anyone remembers this is what 3DFX did with the Voodoo3.. as the current reports indicate, NVIDIA's product lines are going to look very very cushy for this comming generation.
just after christmas going to be putting together identical systems, for engine testing. So looks like i'm going to be spending more time with both cards now rather than one at home and one at work
As far as what you should ask for, for Christmas goes. Personally I'd recommend getting something to help you develop your games.
I dunno really, I mean I dunno what you like; and christmas itself amps me up about as much as a gopher over using a firearm.
Computer games are probably the best route.