NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT Mainstream GPU
Our Summary and Conclusion
Performance Summary: Thanks to extremely consistent performance across our battery of benchmarks, it is very easy to summarize the new GeForce 9500 GT's capabilities. The GeForce 9500 GT is measurably faster than the Radeon HD 3650 NVIDIA is targeting with this release, and it performs about on-par with the GeForce 8600 GTS, which debuted at a much higher price point. The GeForce 9500 GT, however, is no match for the somewhat more expensive GeForce 9600 GT or Radeon HD 3850.
NVIDIA has informed us that the GeForce 9500 GT should be priced below $100, with obvious variances based on clock speeds and frame buffer size. And cards should be available immediately. In the current 3D graphics landscape, $100 can get you a solid product, with new product offerings from both camps. In fact, there are a couple of Radeon HD 3850's available for well below $100 after mail in rebates at the moment, which currently makes them very attractive options as well. Based on 3D performance alone, we suspect the GeForce 9500 GT's price will probably settle in below the Radeon HD 3850--think in the $80 range give or take a few bucks--but the 9500 GT does have some characteristics that may make it more desirable for some users. HTPC users, for example, may be enticed by the GeForce 9500 GT's diminutive size, quiet cooler, and low power consumption.
In the end though, perhaps now more than ever, consumers need to be vigilant of graphics card pricing. In the last few weeks alone, the landscape has changed considerably, so something that is a great buy today, may not be quite as competitive tomorrow. As for the GeForce 9500 GT specifically, if street prices settle at or below the $80 range, it should be a rather compelling product for mainstream consumers.
Update: GeForce 9500 GT cards have hit NewEgg already. An EVGA 512MB DDR2 model is available for $69 and a significantly overclocked Gigabyte 512MB DDR3 model is available for $89.
