I can't see how an extra $1 in memory chip versions translates to $50 on the street price.

There should be an open letter to ATI that is signed by TR, [H], Tom's, Hexus, and anyone else who cares and sincerely ask them to stop this B.S. Apparently, the comments made in the reviews regarding their terrible behavior hasn't really resonated with the company yet.

I'm waiting on the Radeon VR6 before I purchase!

yo, ATI needs to cool it, when less than 50% of their announced cards are actually purchasable, they think, well let's invent some more!

just waiting for x750s and some x825s

#16 Sargent Duck - Agreed, hurts my head too.

My head hurts. Remember when Nvidia had the Geforce 4? Their were only 3 cards released (excluding the geforce 4mx). ATI was still ok with the early 9xxx series, as it was only the 9100, 9500 and 9700 with their pro's and vanilla's respectivaly. It was only at the end when they started all this hippity hoo-hah-mumble jumble.
Did I mention my head hurts?

I want an X850XTLESEOC Pro Ultra Platinum for my birthday.

between the Radeon X700 Pro, which runs at 400MHz core and 600MHz memory, and the Radeon X700 Pro

Am I jsut mis-reading that?

The more you're willing to spend, the less confusing it becomes. Get to $300 and below, and you've got more abbreviations than the 50 states. Go higher and then it seems to thin out some. It was easy for me. $400 = 6800GT. Had I spent less, I would've gotten stuck in the quagmire.

So, is this X700 LE a slower version of an uncompetitive high-end mid-range part or a more expensive low-end mid-range offering? And looking at the price tag (~US-$200), what's the whole point?

Damn, there're probably more different card version out there than people who can remember their specs correctly off the top of their heads. :-?

There are also some errors in the second paragraph. The last sentence, for example.

Yeah, I noticed the typo...Maybe it's a joke. :D

They used the LE label three times before, none of which were well known to be the best value.

Radeon LE, which I don't recall ever seeing getting very popular, as the GF2MX/Pro filled that slot well. The 8500LE, which started off as shipping 8500's with a lower clock unannounced then, then later gained the LE logo. Then there's the 7500LE, which no one cares about because it's just a fricken Radeon DDR with a bit more clock, perhaps a Radeon DDR "Pro", but that wasn't released until DX8 was in full swing.

I don't mind more value cards, but they have enough already. The whole "SE" concept in the 9xxx was nearly what I would call a scam. Take the most popularly priced one, the 9600SE. Slower than a GeForceFX 5200 in many games (SLOW), and signifigantly slower than a 9600/Pro/XT and much slower than a 9500 Pro (Dead).

I wouldn't end without railing on NV for the, which turns out to be signifigantly slower in many games than all of the GF4ti series. Bleh, and the GF4MX's, not even GF4's.

Bleh, stupid rant over. I'm sure it all turns out ok in the end, but there are obviously some mislead people out there. Likely both companies feel real good about that, *Eyeroll*

ATi have used the LE label before
they are known to be bang-for-buck cards

For the love of god nVidia, ATi. NO MORE PLEASE.