Are you sure?
1) Normally when a GPU is just a few months away we start to get some rumours and leaks. So far nothing major on HD8000 series.
2) Sea Islands is not on AMD's roadmap for 2012 at all. Not sure where people are getting the idea from that HD8000 for the desktop will launch soon. From what I read it's actually Q1-Q2 2013 at the earliest. Where are you getting the info that HD8000 series will launch before the end of this year?
That card and many other after-market 7950s is exactly why I feel that most hardware tech websites have done a very poor job this round covering consumer options. The excuse given was that NV is doing a "virtual" launch and that's why after-market 660Tis were included. How does that even make any sense? Here is a
reference GTX660Ti and there are plenty of after-market 7950s that aren't going anywhere. Alternatively 950mhz HD7950 Vapor-X has already dipped to
$330 on Newegg.
I can say that GTX660Ti vs. HD7950 coverage was one of the worst in terms of informing consumers about their choices in this price segment.