Radeon 9800XT and Half-Life 2 bundle confirmed for release

[Axyon]

The Inquirer informs us that ATi's latest graphics card; the 9800XT, will definitely be bundled with Half-Life 2 for release on September 30th. Even more interesting is the fact that the launch will take place at the disused Alcatraz prison, near San Francisco.

ATI'S long awaited card that is expected to take the performance lead in the increasingly bitter graphics battle, is to be launched in Alcatraz, the former prison just a wave away from freedom-loving city San Francisco.

The cards are close to being finalised, with ATI boffins hoping the clock speeds will be a little less than 415MHz for the core, and 730MHz for the memory.

The card is expected to release with a price tag of around $399/£249, and should be fully stocked in stores around two to three weeks after its announcement at Alcatraz.

UPDATE: The Inquirer once again informs us that the two leading graphics card manufacturers; nVidia and ATi, just ended a bid to gain the rights to bundle their new cards with Half-Life 2.

According to informed sources, both ATI and Nvidia came to a position where each was offering a cool $6 million for the bundling rights to the game.

According to our ATI contacts, Valve then made a conscious decision to choose it, rather than the opposition. This is an interesting spin on the negotiations, and neatly allows the blast last Wednesday about Nvidia performance to stay disconnected from the cash.

Be warned that this information comes from ATi "sources", so it may not be entirely true and of course could also be biased. We shall see...

 

[hunter-killer25]

no shizzle

 

[Zerox]

ma dizzle.

 

[jhero]

nizzle gizzle, mean this fizzle gonna be releazzle on 30th>?

 

[Dr.Funk]

Fo Rizzle

 

[Phlek]

FO SHIZZLE!

 

[Axyon]

Keep on topic.

 

[crumbles]

Back on topicizzle:

Is the public invited to the unveiling? (Chances are: no) I live in SF and >might< decide to take the day off work if I could go.

How does one get there, by invitation only? (Chances are: yes)

Will the package/card be available to attendees of the unveiling? (Chances are: no).

Anyone? Buel...ah....anyone?

crumbles

 

[Feath]

This isn't really confirmed. The article actually says the dates aren't totally confirmed but this seems to fit in with what we know about the event, anyway.

 

[Tee Kyoo Em]

.

 

[notroublehere]

I seriously doubt that price - one of the best prices in the UK for the Radeon 9800 pro 128mb is £277.29 (crucial.com - any better out there?), the 256mb version is obviously more expensive. Can you really see the next 'top of the range' card coming in at below the current 'best found' price of the 9800?

 

[addy]

wud this mean other ATI Cards will have a slight price drop if so when.. im planning on buying a gfx card :S :cheers:

 

[BloodyMario]

Check this out.

But sources close to Nvidia suggest that the bidding could have reached as much as $8 million before it withdrew from the auction.

According to our sources, who stand by the auction story, Nvidia felt, that as graphics market leader, it would find itself compromised with other games companies and with its graphics card partners.

If the reports of this auction and these allegations are true, this would certainly put a different colour on Valve's statements about Nvidia's benchmarks.

Looks like Nvidia hit new bottom by reverting to character assasination tactics. Now they are spreading rumors trying to discredit Valve and ATI. Not only they are suggesting that the supposed auction actually took place , but also that Nvidia withdrew from it unwilling to compromise their integrity (which is funny as hell in itself). They are also implying that Valve purposely degraded performance of their graphic cards. Congratulation Nvidia, you truly deserve "the most pathetic PR action in video gaming industry" award. What’s also interesting is that several news sites have became unwilling (or willing?) participants in this ridiculous charade.:x

 

[Immacolata]

£249 sounds cheaper than usual. I wonder where the catch is. We could be lucky and see an allround price drop by ATi. First they throw holy water at Nvidias to make it hiss and falter by their Benchmarking stunt . Then they ram a stake throug it's blackened heart by doing the Bundle Limbo with Valve. And finally they nail the coffin with an allround price-drop right after!

If they do that, then they are the van Helsing of GFX cards

 

[malloc]

"confirmed" and the Inquirer don't belong in the same sentence.

 

[Aknot]

Originally posted by addy
wud this mean other ATI Cards will have a slight price drop if so when.. im planning on buying a gfx card :S :cheers:

errrr have you been reading the hoopla surrounding Nvidia? I would not buy a GFX card. You may want to do a little more research.

 

[-Yo-]

hey !
lol i was just to buy a radeon 9800 pro online ! in less than 10h, for around 400 € (~270£)
And now it said that the XT will be just as 400 $ ?????
omg, dunno what to do

 

[Stalk3r]

Originally posted by Aknot
errrr have you been reading the hoopla surrounding Nvidia? I would not buy a GFX card. You may want to do a little more research.

I think he means a Graphix card :afro:

 

[Apos]

We still don't know that it's going to be a 9800Pro killer do we? It's built off an improved 9600 core: it's basically an overclocked 9600. If it has less pipage, it could be as or even a little less powerful than a 9800, and that would explain the low price. This is what they did with the 9500 series: replaced it with a faster card on a different die size that didn't really bring much in the way of performance improvements.

 

[Plopfish]

yeh is it true that theres a software (along with optional permanent hardware) mod you can do to a 9500 (pro i think) to unlock 4 pipes to get 8 total and bring it to 9700 pro ability?

Also, I used to be a nVIDIA fanboy, but know I look at either one evenly, even leaning towards ATI more and more everyday , and they also rock cus you get $50 bucks off a card, if you order it from then and send in any other 3d accelerator card (i got an old Creative something 16mb one lying around...hehehe...) the downside is that thier prices form thier webiste are jacked up 20-50$ more than an avg resller...but its still nice

 

[notroublehere]

Originally posted by Apos
We still don't know that it's going to be a 9800Pro killer do we? It's built off an improved 9600 core: it's basically an overclocked 9600. If it has less pipage, it could be as or even a little less powerful than a 9800, and that would explain the low price. This is what they did with the 9500 series: replaced it with a faster card on a different die size that didn't really bring much in the way of performance improvements.

Where did you get that information from Apos? I thought this card was the R360, which certainly sounds like a pumped up 9800 rather than 9600?

Now I'm confused!

 

[Immacolata]

All things here should be considered conjecture and half-baked lies (whether intentional or not) untill we see something that is solidly marked as "ATI said". Like, not to someone in a dark corner of some con, but on paper to the media

 

[addy]

errrr have you been reading the hoopla surrounding Nvidia? I would not buy a GFX card. You may want to do a little more research.

.... i didnt say anything about nvidia.. and yes i do about nvidia and its problems. You may want to learn to read.

 

[Tee Kyoo Em]

.

 

[Axyon]

Originally posted by nietzsche
News from the trenches of the graphics card war: In an attempt to take the wind out of NVIDIA's sails, sources close to ATI confirmed that the bidding went up to only $6 million dollars. Valve then made a "conscious decision"...

Read more about it in this article.

Expect nothing but the naked truth of course.

Check the first post, I'm one step ahead of you

 

[Tee Kyoo Em]

.

 

[Shakermaker]

Nietzsche has a point though: if nVidia won the bidding, maybe there would have been slightly other benchmarks. It is very speculative and all, but Radeon is on the bandwagon now and judging by the posts above, they'll have a nice Christmas bonus later this year.

 

[kilword]

hey!

ATI radeon 9800pro 128mb $350 out the door onsale now at compusa thats instore price....its not bad at all

 

[kilword]

not 350 anymore

 

[No Limit]

I wouldn't trust this source if my life depended on it but I do think that something like this will happen.