Let's - for a moment in time - pretend there is no such an animal as an "NVIDIA fan-boy" and try to move beyond that "blinder" to see what's really going on here. While I'm the first to admit that NVIDIA's graphic chips have really ruled the market for quite a while now, it's for very good reasons why I (and you should too), thank AMD/ATI for its release of the 4000-series graphic cards.

I'm a huge fan of high-end graphic GPUS - so don't hear me wrong; however, this market and any other market need an occasional product that helps reposition the industry's take on how its products are priced. $600+ for a video card when you can get an ENTIRE game console for well under $400?

Something is SERIOUSLY messed up with that - don't you think? ATI told us that its position on its 4000-series launch was to put the power in the hands of the mainstream for prices below that of today's top game consoles and we applaud that. We also applaud NVIDIA for doing the right thing by lowering its prices. There's another way consumers (gamers) win in this scenario and that will ultimately play out in the form of future games. The more consumers who own very capable graphic cards, the more likelihood are that game developers will push their graphic engines and that's a good thing as well.

I've talked to top game developers (Epic, Gas Powered Games, and Valve etc) several times over the years and they all tell me that they develop games with the bulk of consumers in mind and toss in a few "extras" for the elite few who can afford high-end graphics. ATI's 4000 release not only changed the landscape for price-to-performance but also sets the stage wide open for developers to make more engaging content thanks to the lowered prices on ALL of today's great-performing GPUS.

Digg this story to share it

Shop for the lowest price on today's graphic cards: 

---