BFG breaks $1,000 graphics card barrier

MANY OF US were expecting the GeForce 8800 Ultra to be the first consumer graphics card priced at $999.

But, in the end, Nvidia surprised us by bringing the card in at $829, leaving plenty of room for overclocked versions that still come in below the magic four-figure price point.

Since the Radeon HD 2900 XTX now looks like it might be shot in the field before it even gets its day on the track, we have to look elsewhere for our headline-grabbing prices.

Step up Overclockers UK, which has the BFG 8800 Ultra up for pre-order - for a stonking £528. This is the standard retail package, and actually has a slower core clock than the 8800 GTX OC2 card from the same company.

528 English nicker comes out at 1054 US buckaroos (a $200 premium), which makes it more expensive than pretty much anything else you'll put in your system. Of course, the price conversion is helped by the fact that the dollar is short of two squids by a gnat's testicle, but that doesn't change the fact that importing has never looked so fun. µ