The chaps at VR-Zone have received word from an unknown source that a number of GeForce 7 graphics cards will reach end of life status in just a couple of months. Among the soon-to-depart are the GeForce 7950 GT, GeForce 7900 GS, GeForce 7600 GT, and GeForce 7600 GS. VR-Zone says shipments of these cards will stop on April 28, and that Nvidia will replace them with new offerings based on derivatives of its G80 graphics processor. One of those derivatives is the G84, which is expected to appear in GeForce 8600-branded graphics cards. The latest rumors I've heard suggest that the first GeForce 8600 cards will hit stores in May in three different flavors with prices ranging from $159 to $229. If VR-Zone is correct and so many GeForce 7-series offerings hit EOL status in late April, though, perhaps Nvidia plans to introduce its first GeForce 8600 cards sooner.

Well, Nvidia has done this in the past. If they make a new chip that can be made cheaper then the old ones and is better they will replace the old chips en masse.