Nvidia slashes price of GTX 280, 260: Now on par with ATi’s prices

Hope you didn’t buy an Nvidia GTX 260 or 280 in the past month, since their prices were just slashed overnight. The GTX 280, once retailing for $649, will now set you back only $499. Meanwhile, the GTX 260, once $399, is now $299. Or, in scary percentages, that’s a 30 percent and 25 percent drop, respectively.

As Devin mentioned in last week’s podcast (and previous posts), Nvidia is under pressure, price-wise, from ATi this generation. For a while there we were all like, “ATi, what gives? Your cards stink.” Its upcoming 4870 X2, which is rumored for an August release, is essentially as powerful as the GTX 280. How was Nvidia supposed to sell a GPU for $150 more than the 4870 X2 if they were essentially the same thing?

Seeing these prices, the thought of serious PC gaming seems so absurd to me. I’m fine with a 360 and my MacBook for the occasional hour of WoW