Strange things are afoot in retail circles. The nVidia 6800 in its PCIe variety has all but disappeared. This leaves nVidia with a huge gap in its mid range wide open for the new 7600.
The reason this is strange is how little fuss has been made. The 6800 being quietly killed off doesn't make much sense with the current line-up. It leaves a well-catered low to mid end. There's the 6200 range starting at around $50 moving up to $70. Then there's the 6600 range taking over from about $70 to $180. Then there's a massive jump to the 7800GT starting at around $330.
A gap of $150 is a killer. It leaves that area of the market entirely to ATI which has plenty of products in that price range. So unless there's going to be a new, cheaper version of the 7800 about to hit the market, does this mean there is going to be a 7600 sooner than expected? Or is it late?
nVidia can't leave that gap open for long. The fact that it is there at all is a major surprise. It must mean that the 7600 or whatever was meant to fill that gap has been delayed because the channel just doesn't clear like that by itself. There are obviously no 6800s going in.
nVidia hadn't managed to comment by the time of going to press but you can expect something to happen soon.
Izvor:
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