Take it with the usual grain of salt, but Fudzilla is saying that the new rev of the 8800GTS (512MB) is going to retail in the middle of next month for $299-$349. These new GTS cards will use the same G92 core as the 8800GT, so this story makes the issue even more interesting.

Why pay $270 now (if you can find it in stock) when you'll be able to get an even faster card in ~3wks for ~$325? Is nVidia intentionally withholding stock so that the enthusiasts will pony up the extra cash in the end? If that were the case, it'd certainly make it plain that they could easily push the 8800GT as the "mainstream" card, & they could even lower the price to match it in the process.