AMD raises 5870 price by $10

[kmmatney]

Glad I bought my 4890 for $180 a couple weeks after launch.

Same here

I also placed an Accelero on my HD4890 so its virtually silent, even when overclocked. Was a pain to isntall the Accelero, and I had to get a cheap cooler for the VRMs, but was well worth it.

 

[Idontcare]

I certainly don't know for sure, but I don't believe, that AIBs are doing any board manufacturing for the 58xx series at this time.

Economy of scale doesn't make it sensible. It's cheaper for one factory to purchase a million RAM chips and have it all shipped to said factory, than for 10 factories to order 100,000 each and have them shipped to 10 different facilities around China. Same goes for PCBs, capacitors, all the components.

My MSI 5850 has the AMD corp. logo silkscreened onto its PCB. So does every 58xx card I've seen pictured across the web. I strongly believe that reference design parts are all coming from one place fully dressed with components, and AIBs are receiving these finished cards, then dressing and installing the coolers at their own facilities. Every AIB has their own junk that they plaster onto the coolers, and some are offering their own cooling solutions. But every PCB I've seen has the AMD logo, and at the very least, the same brand and style of chokes on them.

Sounds like the AIBs operate more like car dealerships than as add-in-board assembly/manufacturing/distribution supply chain.

I don't state that observation in a negative or positive manner, it is just that I was under a completely different impression of what AIB's did as part of their "adding value" to the end product.

 

[Ryan Smith]

Sounds like the AIBs operate more like car dealerships than as add-in-board assembly/manufacturing/distribution supply chain.

I don't state that observation in a negative or positive manner, it is just that I was under a completely different impression of what AIB's did as part of their "adding value" to the end product.

Yeah, it's pretty much as Painman describes it right now. AIBs definitely do custom cards (I have a number of GT 240s, none are alike), but with tight supplies I have yet to see any custom 5800 series boards, only custom coolers like Sapphire's Vapor-X. The added value right now is basically just included games (is the vendor participating in the Dirt2 promotion?), software packages for overclocking (e.g. MSI's Afterburner), and warranty terms.

I'd imagine we'll see custom boards once the supply loosens up next year.

 

[jvroig]

Imagine that, AIBs that don't actually make any boards and instead just add coolers.

People have been discriminating between brands because they are supposed to manufacture the boards themselves, hence a difference in product quality despite every chip in the board coming from AMD/TSMC. So what you are saying right now is that everything is done by AMD themselves, and all AIBs do is slap their cooler and stickers and done.

Then there's absolutely no reason to discriminate between brands right now. I have no idea if this is good or bad. I guess that depends if you believe AMD manufactures cards better than Sapphire or PowerColor or [favorite brand here].

 

[Idontcare]

@ Ryan, thanks again for injecting insight and info into a thread otherwise filled with speculation.

@ jvroig, don't forget that the caveat here is this situation only applies to the currently low-volume HD58xx SKU's. It would appear that at this stage "reference design" is more than just a reference, it is the only design since there is not enough volume to justify the expense of creating different designs.

It is presumably only a temporary necessity, existing at the early stages of any new GPU chip release (judging by the implications of what Ryan has now said in this thread).

Presumably AIB selection would still be based on overclocking utilities and cooling capabilities (as well as warranties) since that will still lead to a differentiation in the performance of the products under non-stock conditions.

 

[Agnostos Insania]

Wow I am so glad I got my 5870 when they first came out. I paided $349

Seriously? Wow.
Who would think in the computer business that a price would go up over time?
Dirty businessmen, I loathe you.

 

[Friendo]

worried about $10 raise? $649 Gtx280 *cough*cough*

if the demand is there, prices will go up.

Got screenshot?

 

[jvroig]

@ jvroig, don't forget that the caveat here is this situation only applies to the currently low-volume HD58xx SKU's.

Ah, yes, I may not have been clear about it. Acknowledging that this scenario of AIBs not manufacturing anything but just putting a cooler and their stickers, I said there's no use in discriminating between brands "right now", not "from now on".

Presumably AIB selection would still be based on overclocking utilities and cooling capabilities (as well as warranties) since that will still lead to a differentiation in the performance of the products under non-stock conditions.

Only for a far fewer % of buyers, I would imagine. A bigger percentage probably buys the best money can buy (or at least, their money can buy) and then stick it in the PC and forget about it. So until AIBs actually do start manufacturing boards themselves, right now it's just about getting the cheapest 5xxx card you can get of the same model (i.e, cheapest 5870 or 5850 available), as there will be insignificant differences in quality, unless one company decides to stick an absolutely terrible cooler on a card. The fact that they all use the shroud (AMD requirement?) points that this won't be the case at all.

Since we are talking about it, does this also apply to the 57xx cards as well, or no?

 

[Wreckage]

http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=22377

Last month 5850's sold for around $300, so prices have increased another $10 from 30 days ago. Keep in mind that the card originally launched with a $259 price tag

5970 prices have also gone up, although no one seems to have cards in stock.

Unfortunately, the GPU shortage is expected to last into next year.

 

[lopri]

I bought two 7800 GTX 512 for $650 each and sold them for $800 each. The cards came with games (think it was COD2 but not sure) and I sold one copy for extra profit as well.

Years ago. Good times.

 

[T2k]

Got screenshot?

 

[MrK6]

Why are people surprised? You have products with very high demand and limited supply in a market with little competition. What part of this does not make sense? When they stop selling out the minute they are in stock, the prices will adjust accordingly.