Email surfaced in a class action lawsuit against NVIDIA and ATI suggesting that the graphics card makers have engaged in illegal price-fixing for the past half-decade. [techPowerUp!]
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So Microsoft AND Intel AND NVidia have ALL been breaking anti-monopolistic law? They've ALL used their power to steal from consumers?
But. But. But, I thought The Invisible Hand was supposed to keep powerful companies in check, negating the need for oversight...
Whatever....I got my money's worth out of all the graphics cards I have bought so far and the prices have not been so outrageous that they were out of my reach even through college years.
But it is sad to see this happen if it is true. I will wait to hear about the settlement offer 5 years from now.
Somehow this surprises me. I've thought the prices have been pretty fair all along. But then again I only buy my video cards used on eBay and let someone else take the loss first.
If they're so good at fixing prices, why don't they direct some of that energy and fix some drivers for Vista-64?
I've been wondering why the price of a good video card hasn't dropped. Every time a new game comes out with the latest and greatest graphics, I must update my video card just to get the game to run. Every 2.5 - 3 years I get to plop $375 down to get a new card.
I would spend about the same if I wanted to upgrade my RAM, motherboard, processor, and maybe case (depends on case, and what kind of power supply it comes with).
Considering I:
a) would NEVER be foolish enough to purchase a video card over $200, and
b) can't fathom why anyone else would be foolish enough to purchase a $500 card,
I feel no pity for those that did. Maybe I'm ignorant on the grandness of GDDR3 RAM, multiple processors, and whatever gluttonous features come embedded on those multi-hundred-dollar cards, but I fail to see the point. The $89.99 ($59.99 after mail-in rebate) card I recently bought should suffice for at least a few years.
@stacye:
It doesn't take the latest and greatest card...or even a $375 card..."just to get the game to run." EVER. It didn't for Crysis, it didn't for Doom 3 (the most demanding of the first round of DX9 games).
You can go ahead and use stuff like that as an excuse to buy a new video card. Sure. But you look like an idiot if you start lamenting your optional (even if you choose the option of playing the game) 375 dollar purchase on that basis.
Of course...the point of this article is that it shouldn't be a 375 dollar purchase.
Yargh. This is part of the reason why I still don't have a gaming PC.