AMD: Southern Islands (7*** series) Speculation/ Rumour Thread

How much of that price is tax? US prices are quoted without tax.

 

yes, so is the case with 40lpg, when i or just about every one say *standard*, i mean when it's actually running at a reasonable clock rate, not just sitting there and looking pretty.

 

20%, though I'm sure most US states don't have sales tax that high.

 

20%.

So 709/1.2 = $591.

 

It's ~9% in California. Point being, you have to blame your government for much of the price difference.

 

This thread is about southern islands not tax code.

 

Looks like someone can buy one now.

 

Whoa, 6 different brands in stock at Newegg.

 

Yeah, and most are priced right at the MSRP, limited to 10 per customer, or not at all (Gigabyte). Newegg isn't really enough to make a clear assessment, but so far, supply seems to be OK.

 

Yup, and there was a seventh factory OC'd XFX model that obviously a LOT of people wanted

 

Well, the UK got the short end of the stick again.

Cheapest Base 7970 : £430
Cheapest Base 580GTX : £350

So, not 10% more money for 20% more performance. We get 20% more performance for 25% more money. I have no doubt these cards will fly off the shelves, but I'm still chalking this one up as a fail for the consumer.

It also looks like AMD may be forcing shops to sell off the 6990. There are a few shops with up to £100 off a 6990 atm, and even more shops that dont have any 6990 in at all.

 

I find it interesting that the 2 most expensive versions sold out first. The XFX (599 USD) and the Asus (589 USD) both sold out before the 549 USD cards. So despite the, IMO, astronomical price, people seem to want them.

And at least in the US, it's almost exactly 10% more than the base GTX 580. 499 USD (1.5 GB GTX 580) versus 549 USD. Although it appears that 2 manufacturer's had a "weekend" sale to try to spoil the sale launch.

Still too much money for me, but not too much for a lot of enthusiasts. I'm still shaking my head at the fact that the more expensive cards sold out before the cheaper cards, for basically the exact same hardware. They are all reference designs at this point. Even the factory OC'd XFX card has the same OC headroom as all the other cards through the stock catalyst driver.

Regards,
SB

 

Not really. The people that will spend £400+ on a GFX card are the kind of people that want performance, at any price. Unfortunately the vanilla version is underpowered really. I would be more likely to pay £500-550 for the 1335mhz core version, than I would £430 for the 925mhz version. The cost isn't the problem, its the perceived cost/perf. Looks like most people agree...

 

The simple matter of the fact is that end-users will "forget" to OC besides the perceived "OC Headroom" and will buy the highest clocked version regardless of price or quality.

 

Well, I'm not buying a 7970 either way; bring on the 7950's!

 

based on what?

 

The higher end parts selling out first...

The Black Edition is another £130 for a fairly pitiful overclock. By most (p)review accounts, the majority of boards can hit 1100mhz just using software so the BE bring zero to the table for an extra £130. Even the cooler doesn't look substantially better; an analogous part to the Arctic Accelero would have been nicer.

 

computerbase.de tested a card from PowerColor (reference design) and it only hit 1074 MHz. And usually you'll want to stay below the maximum to be on the safe side for hotter days and stuff.
And this might not be the worst case yet. I'm sure AMD chose those 925 MHz for a reason.

 

That's still a decent headroom over 1000mhz that pretty much any vanilla card should be able to hit with ease. My point being that a factory OC'd card that costs an EXTRA 25%, should go above and beyond. Special binned parts, uber cooling. The XFX has a moderate overclock and a moderate HSF.

 

Talking about rip-offs, in Poland cheapest 7970 (out of stock) retails for over 40% more than the cheapest GTX 580 (1.5 gig though). Those in stock are 60% more expensive.