Mid Range Cards Blows

I blew last month’s allowance on this:



Because I was getting tired of this:




The 8500GT was giving me choppy frames while playing MP in UT3 and anything associated with it’s new engine, which are most of the games I’m playing now. Mostly I wanted to be able to play Crysis without feeling like I’m watching a slideshow with a 56k dial up connection. Considering the 8600gt is the spiritual successor of the mid end 7600gt of SM 3 era, I have to say I was disappointed at the performance I get. If it’s not for the ddr3 memory I don’t think the 8600gt would have any very significant head over its low end 8500gt cousin as far’s performance is concerned.

I’m not going to make a point by point specs comparison but let me just say that the reason I’m posting this is that I’m really sad that manufacturers are neglecting the mid range cards in favor of stripped down versions of high end cards, like the 8800GT w/ less VRAM which looks AND performs more like the mid range cards of yore. If this trend continues beggars wannabe-gamers like yours truly are fucked.