Official Radeon 7970 Review and discussion thread

[Viral]

Originally Posted by K007

hardware usually not that expensive compared to US, but game prices are a different story.

Skyrim 100
MW3 100
Batman AC 100

On steam we also get hit with a overseas transaction fee as well.

So almost double the price for online download, where as store u pay same price and get box version, no download (or little) and proper manual/etc, and collectors edition/etc..

i grab my 5870 i think 1 or two months after release and i paid about 350ish~ for a vapor-x sapphire version

You're exaggerating on the game thing and your video card in the opposite way.

5870's were at that time were least $550 and went up to as high as $620 AUD. There was a lack of supply of them due to the new 40nm process and our dollar went back down to around 80-90USD for a while in late 09. I got my ASUS for $580, there's no way you got a 5870 for $350 until at least mid way through 2010, i'd say only after the 6970 launch were they that cheap!

6970 was a lot cheaper than the 5870 for many reasons - better supply, much stronger competition, and a stronger dollar locally.

As for games, yes they usually charge a lot more, but Skyrim always has been $89. I found a boxed copy online in AUS for $59, although I had to wait for two weeks after launch to get it. Big title games on steam are very steep though.

As for 7970, it will probably cost a little more than 5870's did in their first 6 months of sale here as the situation is very similar. Our dollar is better, but supply is possibly even lower and recommended retail prices are higher. I'm thinking prices will start at $600AUD and go to $700AUD. Some initial listings may be higher.

[Viral]

Originally Posted by Rollo

(shrugs) ATi didn't realize there were "production cost savings" in the last two weeks Shadow. They either decided sales volume would be too low at the proposed MSRP, found orders from retailers/etailers too low at that MSRP, or caught wind of upcoming competition and they wanted to get as much market share as they could.

No, the price cut is for the partners who assemble and package the cards to pocket, so none of what you said above could possibly apply in any way.

[K007]

Originally Posted by Viral

You're exaggerating on the game thing and your video card in the opposite way.

5870's were at that time were least $550 and went up to as high as $620 AUD. There was a lack of supply of them due to the new 40nm process and our dollar went back down to around 80-90USD for a while in late 09. I got my ASUS for $580, there's no way you got a 5870 for $350 until at least mid way through 2010, i'd say only after the 6970 launch were they that cheap!

6970 was a lot cheaper than the 5870 for many reasons - better supply, much stronger competition, and a stronger dollar locally.

As for games, yes they usually charge a lot more, but Skyrim always has been $89. I found a boxed copy online in AUS for $59, although I had to wait for two weeks after launch to get it. Big title games on steam are very steep though.

As for 7970, it will probably cost a little more than 5870's did in their first 6 months of sale here as the situation is very similar. Our dollar is better, but supply is possibly even lower and recommended retail prices are higher. I'm thinking prices will start at $600AUD and go to $700AUD. Some initial listings may be higher.

I was using Steam as the pricing point. Yes if your smart you can look and find better deals, like i did. Skyrim i got for 55USD. I am not exaggerating, this is what the prices are on Steam even right now.

Of course 7970 will be pricey, there is zero competition lol, not to mention the stock is pretty low.

I doubt they would be putting $700AUD, no one will buy it when you can get a GTX580 for a lot cheaper, and nvidia will be putting the prices on that down once 7970 is properly out.

I did get my 5870 for around $350~, i cant remember when i got it though, guessing when ever the sapphire released the vapor x? I needed one as my 4870 was dying. Maybe you got ripped off or something..i always search around for better deal.

[Viral]

Sorry but you didn't get your 5870 for $350 since the RRP in the US was $399 and with poor supply they usually went for over $400 for the first 5-6 months hovering between $410 and $450.

Then the dollar history,
http://www.exchangerates.org.uk/grap...raph-large.png

Didn't get on par again until the very end of 2010, at the beginning it was below 90, so you'd be paying is 11% for the exchange and 10% for GST, that's $500AUD. Plus a bit of price gouging and it's what they were - $520-620. I use staticICE search, that was the price range everywhere in aus, I payed a bit more for the ASUS because of the warranty and bios that allowed for higher core voltage (never used it ). I'm pretty sure none had custom coolers until around march or so? I bought mine in early jan, maybe you bought it in march, I still think they were over $500AUD then though.

Sorry I don't mean to argue, I just hate people relying on their fuzzy memory and in turn spreading misinformation.

Okay I found this, a historical listing of AUS prices from 2009,
http://www.pricespy.com.au/pno_16818.html

Look on the far right to see when they were last changed. Cheapest in OCT2009 was a HIS for $515, most expensive was a Gigabyte for $762, obviously price gouging there, as there was the same card at ITsky for $560, but as you can see on the right it dropped $127... so for some brands in very short supply price gouging was crazy high.

[K007]

Originally Posted by Viral

Sorry but you didn't get your 5870 for $350 since the RRP in the US was $399 and with poor supply they usually went for over $400 for the first 5-6 months hovering between $410 and $450.

Then the dollar history,
http://www.exchangerates.org.uk/grap...raph-large.png

Didn't get on par again until the very end of 2010, at the beginning it was below 90, so you'd be paying is 11% for the exchange and 10% for GST, that's $500AUD. Plus a bit of price gouging and it's what they were - $520-620. I use staticICE search, that was the price range everywhere in aus, I payed a bit more for the ASUS because of the warranty and bios that allowed for higher core voltage (never used it ). I'm pretty sure none had custom coolers until around march or so? I bought mine in early jan, maybe you bought it in march, I still think they were over $500AUD then though.

Sorry I don't mean to argue, I just hate people relying on their fuzzy memory and in turn spreading misinformation.

Okay I found this, a historical listing of AUS prices from 2009,
http://www.pricespy.com.au/pno_16818.html

Look on the far right to see when they were last changed. Cheapest in OCT2009 was a HIS for $515, most expensive was a Gigabyte for $762, obviously price gouging there, as there was the same card at ITsky for $560, but as you can see on the right it dropped $127... so for some brands in very short supply price gouging was crazy high.

Sorry i am not going to get into this anymore. I don't have the receipt anymore, and i dont have time to prove this to you.

End of story.

[Rollo]

Originally Posted by Viral

No, the price cut is for the partners who assemble and package the cards to pocket, so none of what you said above could possibly apply in any way.

The price to OEMs and suggested MSRP is the only thing ATi has control of in the supply chain. All the things I mentioned are possible causes, the only thing I didn't mention is higher than expected supply forcing a need for them to increase demand by lowering price.

They're either adjusting for higher supply, lower demand, or anticipation of either due to information we don't have.

Prices aren't lowered out of good will for customers, all companies have only one concern: to extract as much money from us as possible.

[Viral]

Originally Posted by K007

Sorry i am not going to get into this anymore. I don't have the receipt anymore, and i dont have time to prove this to you.

End of story.

I posted a price list from multiple stores with prices from late 2009. You still want to claim you bought it for below US RRP when our dollar was weaker than US at the time, that's fine, but don't have a whinge when 7970 turns up for sale for over $600.

I only mentioned it in this thread because I have some idea what the price is going to be by looking at: US RRP, dollar conversion, historical local prices for similar products (price gouging, tax and markup). If people like you go posting fuzzy figures from some time they don't know as a reference for how much a future card could cost I can't see it helping anyone. Might as well say you bought a FX 5200 for something like ...$5 back in...uh... 1993 and um... a 8990 should cost the same in 2015.

[Viral]

Originally Posted by Rollo

The price to OEMs and suggested MSRP is the only thing ATi has control of in the supply chain. All the things I mentioned are possible causes, the only thing I didn't mention is higher than expected supply forcing a need for them to increase demand by lowering price.

They're either adjusting for higher supply, lower demand, or anticipation of either due to information we don't have.

Prices aren't lowered out of good will for customers, all companies have only one concern: to extract as much money from us as possible.

The MSRP was never lowered though, so no, it has nothing to do with retail customers in any way what so ever.

I'm glad you did finally mention the positive options however, supply is better so they want to entice the OEMs to order more. No surprise you didn't mention it in the first post though.

[Rollo]

Originally Posted by Viral

The MSRP was never lowered though, so no, it has nothing to do with retail customers in any way what so ever.

I'm glad you did finally mention the positive options however, supply is better so they want to entice the OEMs to order more. No surprise you didn't mention it in the first post though.

I didn't mention it because it's not likely to be the case. Have we ever had over supply on the transition to a new die size with a big chip? Have we not heard rumors of issues with the 28nm process and seen delays of all products on it? Is there no rumor the 7970 has disabled SPs , like the 480, implying low yields of full parts?

If there's oversupply, it's more likely due to low demand based on high price.

[Viral]

Originally Posted by Rollo

I didn't mention it because it's not likely to be the case. Have we ever had over supply on the transition to a new die size with a big chip? Have we not heard rumors of issues with the 28nm process and seen delays of all products on it? Is there no rumor the 7970 has disabled SPs , like the 480, implying low yields of full parts?

If there's oversupply, it's more likely due to low demand based on high price.

They set a price based on predicted supply and performance relative to competition. If the results are already out and there is no new parts from a competitior, then the only thing that has changed is the actual supply vs. predicted supply. Yes, on a new process supply will be low, but 'low' isn't some fixed number, maybe they were conservative because of the 5870 supply issues and set the profit margin for IHV's at a lower percentage than usual to try and limit demand at that end. Or maybe, as you say, in doing this they received backlash from IHV's and orders were lower than supplies. Maybe a bit of both. Either way, it has nothing to do with consumer opinion in any which way.

[shadow001]

Oh my....Look at this performance for a quad HD7970 setup running battlefield 3 in three screens at 5760*1080 in ultra mode, where the minimum frame rate only drops to 70 FPS....The cards were clocked to 1100 GPU/1500Mhz GPU with the stock coolers and using just the AMD control panel.


http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-rade...n/14444-2.html


My previous displays handled 5760*1200 and with the 3 GTX580's overclocked to 950Mhz GPU, in battlefield 3 at ultra mode and the latest Nvidia drivers, could drop to the low 30's for the minimum, so it's a large improvement on the HD7970 front in crossfire and 3 displays, though they do get loud on the air cooling, but i'll water cool mine so it isn't much of an issue.


If Nvidia doesn't make a move soon, i can see 2000$ going for 4 of these HD7970's soon enough...

[Muppet]

It was impressive, but they should have showed some Multiplayer. That is where the FPS will really show up. There's way more going on than in the single player. Still it does perform nicely.