I think Nvidia will release a GM200 Titan (though If they release a non-professional 1000+ USD 28nm cut down chip and market as gaming card again that'd be pathetic) first and milk it for a few months and then release a 990/990ti in the summer competing against top-end R300.
That sounds a lot more reasonable than a delay to 2016 and using 980 to compete with a 380X for 6+ months. Also, that article talks about 16nm for Q4 2015. :sneaky: Why would NV even need 16nm in 2015? They could repeat Kepler strategy and launch GM200 variants at $550-800 and move the 980 down to $399-429.
For example:
R9 370X @ $349
980 4GB @ $349
980 8GB @ $399-429
R9 380 @ $499
GM200 780 successor @ $549
R9 380X @ $599-649
GM200 780TI successor @ $699-799
AMD launched their not so big Tahiti and priced it like the 580 which it was only 20-25% faster in. Fast forward with the gm204, it is the exact same tactic. Nvidia launched the gtx980 and priced it right in line with the 290x which it was only 20-25% faster than. Now think a out it for a minute before everyone immediately tries to refuse this or muddy it up...
In 1 post you managed to downplay 7970's advantages, and exaggerate 980's to make your comparison. You also didn't talk about how 99% of 7970's could overclock to 7970Ghz on stock voltage and a lot of them hit 1.15-1.2Ghz overclocks, which means that against an
overclocked 580 the performance grew to
40-80%. Astonishing.
In 2011 there were a lot of 'cakewalk in the park' style games that didn't allow 7970 to show its true potential. For example, as soon as you tested it at 2560x1600, it was 33% faster than a 580.
http://www.computerbase.de/2011-12/test-amd-radeon-hd-7970/10/
Come on now, you know for a fact that a 7970's true potential for enthusiasts was well beyond 20-25% you quoted once taking into account demanding titles and overclocking.
7970Ghz 41% faster than a 580 by June 2012.
Context: 5 months from launch, how does the situation look for a 980 vs. a 290X?
22% faster when comparing a reference 290X against a Gigabyte G1 (!), but stock for stock 980 is just 12% faster (in fact latest review at TPU shows that lead shrinking to just
10% - shockingly bad :thumbsdown

.
You also forgot 3 factors:
1) A lot of people on our forum complained about 7970's pricing. It's not like people thought $549 for a 925mhz 7970 was amazing until you considered point #2:
2) Bitcoin mining ensured that even if 7970 cost $1000-1500, it didn't matter since the card paid for itself and made $. A lot of us who bought 7970's didn't even look at that $550 price as a deterrent since the eventual cost of ownership was $0.
3) 7970 came with 3GB of VRAM. Cards like the $450 580 1.5GB became gimped soon and 3GB versions costs $550. 290X comes with the same VRAM as a 980 and today costs $300.
The situation for a 980 is completely different:
1) Its performance in stock vs. stock or OC vs. OC states against the 290X is
far less impressive than 7970 vs. stock 580 or 7970 OC vs. 580 OC.
2) 980 doesn't come with double the VRAM of a 290X for only $100 more. In fact we can't even buy 8GB 980s today.
3) 5 months from 980's launch you can now buy
2x
290X MSI Lightning for nearly the same price as a single
Gigabyte G1 980. You could not buy dual 580 3GB cards for the price of a single 7970Ghz 5 months from 7970's launch!
4)
Stock 290Xs in CF/295X2 at high resolutions
annihilate a 1329mhz Gigabyte G1 gaming, but look how close 7970Ghz was to a 590. Even if you took 580s max overclocked, I already linked above that a 7970 OC was 40-80% faster than a single 580 OC.
5) Look how long the 7970 OC card was near the top of the GPU pyramid -- more than a year it traded blows with the 680 OC until the Titan. The 980 will be dethroned by this summer. 980 will not have any of the staying power of the 7970 OC, nowhere close. Look at benches of dual 7970s OC today and that setup still flies when CF scales.
The best dual card setups today - 980 SLI/290X CF are 50-60% faster than
3 year old 7970s! Are you willing to go on record that 980 SLI will only be beaten by 50-60% by September 2018 by the fastest dual card setup at that time?
Staying power: look how strong the 7970Ghz is still today despite the card turning 3 years old. There is
no way I would bet that by September 2018, the fastest single GPU from AMD/NV will only outperform the 980 by just 46% (980 = 186% vs. 7970Ghz = 127%). 7970 is one of the most epic cards ever made; and it's not because I happen to own them. It's almost an insult to compare a 980 to a 7970.
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I think that even if NV lowers 980's pricing and introduces 8GB VRAM versions, with the rate that AMD's 2nd best tier card drops in price, the 980 might not be a slam dunk buy at $399-429 from July 2015 to October 2016. I am sure if R9 380 is $499, it will be a 'no brainer' to pay $100 extra for 15-20% more performance considering people today pay DOUBLE over the 290X for 10-15% more performance; or maybe I am putting too much faith in the brand agnostic GPU market. All I know if I purchased a 980 at $550 USD, I would be dumping that card real fast by June 2015, before its value tanks.