Funny how you "point out" the 21% improvement over the 7770. What about the nearly
50% increase in cost over the 7770 assuming the OP link for $150 is correct.
Let's also ignore the fact the 7850 does start at $10 more after rebate, but let's compare to a card that is $45 less.
According to current pricing on newegg hd 7770's start at $105 (
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161402). Many of them are < $125 after rebate thus they cost considerably less too. Speaking of which, that particular card is a GHz edition but I don't know if they all are or if that changed sometime after the introduction.
The only good to come out of this is that the 7850/7770 will drop in price thus increasing price/performance as this generation has otherwise been dismal.
Maybe Nvidia will still change the price or add rebates but first I'd guess they will milk it out.