As X-bit labs predicted just one day less than four months ago, the first appearance of the GeForce FX 5800-based graphics cards in retail happened this weekend, four months after the announcement of the graphics processors. As reported at this Japanese-web-site reports, V9900 Ultra graphics cards from ASUSTeK Computer are available in numerous retail stores in Tokyo.

The prices on the novelty that boasts with 500/1000MHz speed for GPU and memory, 128MB of DDR-II SDRAM and features above and beyond DirectX 9.0 are a bit disappointing: from $498 to $542. It is not like you pay for extra performance or even the more advanced capabilities the GeForce FX 5800 Ultra can provide over the RADEON 9700 PRO, but you pay this enormous sum for getting a rare graphics card among the first. Even though BFG Technologies started to supply the first batch of the GeForce FX powered products some time ago to the US customers (see this news-story), there are still no such graphics cards in retail, as far as I know.

Well, the GeForce FX 5800 Ultra has at last made its appearance. I believe that the GeForce FX 5800 Ultra (aka NV30) will make its more or less massive appearance in Europe and the USA in the coming weeks. It is not really on time, but behind the schedule because NVIDIA promised in November to start selling the actual graphics cards in February, but, at least, the product is finally available. Will it be a good buy? Definitely, but it will not be a better buy than the code-named NV35 that is just around the corner and that is going to be considerably more powerful compared to the predecessor (see this and this stories).