NVIDIA has been the 'hare taking a nap' for the past 18 months or so, just that when it woke up (or rather woken up), it realized that it's another hare that just blew by it. In other words, the Radeon HD 4800 series has not only proven to be a 'challenger' to NVIDIA but also a winner. There are (only) two winners here, ATI and you. The 55nm RV770 is very economical for ATI to make, sell and use in a variety of products. The same RV770 goes into making the HD 4850 that brought the GeForce 9800 GTX to its knees and forced NVIDIA to bring in a GTX+. And then you have the HD4870 which made spending $449 on the GeForce GTX 260 a joke. Yes it overclocks well and what not, but still didn't warrant that $150 price difference. Hence, over a period of three weeks or so, the GTX 260 is pushed down, 'way down' in NVIDIA's terms (explained later) to $329, which e-tailers such as Newegg.com can give you for as low as $299.

This means great news for you, like I said, there are only two winners, ATI and you. ATI gets its share of the $300 graphics card shoppers, while you get to choose between HD 4870 and GTX 260. What does NVIDIA get? Trouble. Sure the GTX 260 is selling, but selling at a loss. It takes around $100 to make the GPU alone. Selling the whole card for $299 inclusive of all taxes hurts NVIDIA, and hurts partners and retailers even more. TG Daily spoke with several retailers, some of which while maintaining anonymity, are quoted saying about the GeForce GTX 200 series as: "the worst product launch in the history of NVIDIA", also revealed is that NVIDIA could be selling "less than 3000 GTX 260/280 cards per month" in the North American markets.

In other words, retailers are not happy with NVIDIA and their stranglehold over pricing their products at both the retailer and board-partner level. Here's a chart tracking the fall of price for GTX 260:And that of a certain GeForce GTX 280 model:Speaking of the GeForce GTX 280, I admit, it's a brilliant piece of machinery. It is the one true successor to the 8800 GTX. But with products worth $300 getting close its level of performance, a 120% price margin doesn't warrant it. And also that the R700 promises significantly higher performance at a region-specific $500~$550 price-band, adds to its woes. There is a change in marketing strategy for NVIDIA and its vendors. They are cutting down on advertising GTX 200 series cards. Reason being that while sure, you have those cards selling at low prices, they can't afford to spend more in popularizing the product. Hence several e-tailers have started advertising those products NV can afford to sell at low prices. It's a great opportunity for NVIDIA to flush their current products off the market, cards such as 8800 GT, 8800 GTS 512M, 9600 series, are now selling at great prices, with discounts you can get them in the $90 ~ $150 band. It adds value since "Whatever your favorite game, an Nvidia GeForce 8800GT in SLI mode (that's 2) provides the best bang-for-the-buck performance for less than $299," says a promo.

Also with these cards facing slashes, if you happen to own a 9800 GTX, 8800 GT, GTS, etc., you can ramp up to SLI at great prices. That also applies to ATI products, with HD 3870 already below the $130 mark and MSI bringing in HD3870 X2 for $ 299 which isn't recommended for first-time buyers since HD4870 equals its performance.

Will GeForce GTX 200 series be remembered as a repeat of "Radeon 9000 > GeForce FX" episode? The answer is no, since NVIDIA does have a whole fleet of 55nm parts that increase yields ( = cheaper), making it to competitive, higher performing products. Unless that happens, and the next round of competition takes place we can't sync with what vendors are ranting about. As for now, celebrate this opportunity, gear up for summer with the latest video hardware, upgrade your rigs. God bless competition.