[fudzilla] Jan. 9th I'd paper launch only for hd7950

[Idontcare]

Paper launch a few weeks before real availability is a good thing.
This helps Anand and other sites to do their job properly.

When the cards are siting at partner's warehouses that's the time when leaks happen and unofficial reviews pop up on the internet. That does not make any sense.

I have not seen any 7950 review yet only 7970.
If we see reviews of 7950 around Jan 9th then I would expect 3-4 weeks availability after that.

Hard launch is a hard thing to do without screwing up review sites.

I agree.

The only downside I can envision to this approach is that it is conceivable that enough time will pass between the 7970 reviews date and the date for volume availability in the channel such that the drivers themselves stand a chance at maturing and invalidating the early paper-launch review results.

I don't see this as a downside for the consumer, but I do see it potentially creating more work for review sites as they might need to go back and basically re-review the cards with the matured drivers.

 

[nitromullet]

Interesting that they would stagger the launch. Personally, I think it's going to hurt sales of the 7970.

I imagine that some people will want to see how the 7950 stacks up compared to the 7970 before they take the plunge. A month later also drives us ever closer to Kepler, which could play a factor into some decision making.

...of course, it's all moot if AMD doesn't have 7970 or 7950 in any quantities.

I don't see how a paper launch is EVER better... Having benchmarks and available product takes nothing away from just having benchmarks. You can do just as much research before you buy when there is available product as you can during a paper launch, but you can also price shop.

 

[Panopticon]

Good point would be nice to actually weight price vs performance at launch but I guess that is mostly moot if all we get are ref designs I imagine they all fall in a very similar price point if not identical.