I agree. I think that ATI will have a refresh ready around the same time that the Fermi cards are out.
wow Stoneburner are you a psychic?
This is just my opinion.
I think nVidia dropped the ball pretty good.
By the time Fermi 480 is available. Dont think that will be any time in march or April, due to limited production. By the time all this happen ATI AMD will introduce their newer 5970 or 5990 board potentially.
ATI Radeon™ HD 5970
ATI Radeon™ HD 5870
ATI Radeon™ HD 5850
ATI Radeon™ HD 5830
ATI Radeon™ HD 5770
ATI Radeon™ HD 5750
ATI Radeon™ HD 5670
ATI Radeon™ HD 5570
ATI Radeon™ HD 5450
Exactly why would they want to add more numbers to that lineup? A 5990 would only be competing with the 5970, and a 5890 would only serve to push down the 5870 and 5850's which are selling for considerably more than MSRP. If you push the 5850 down to launch price, what happens to the 5830?
They would just EOL RV870.
How does it make business sense to spend money to develop an interim product that will only replace your own product rather than putting your effort into the next architecture on the next process and again beating your competition to market by a large margin? The next generation is where any battle will be -- Nvidia has already ceded this one to ATI.
If RV870 leaked current like mad, I could see redoing the chip to give more overhead for clocks and to just make a better chip overall. But it doesn't.
Again, the 5870's and 5850's are selling for over MSRP, so it's not like the RV870 is in a difficult spot. Nvidia looks to be in no position to start a price war, so ATI can just milk this generation.
How does it make business sense to spend money to develop an interim product that will only replace your own product rather than putting your effort into the next architecture on the next process and again beating your competition to market by a large margin? The next generation is where any battle will be -- Nvidia has already ceded this one to ATI.
If RV870 leaked current like mad, I could see redoing the chip to give more overhead for clocks and to just make a better chip overall. But it doesn't.
Again, the 5870's and 5850's are selling for over MSRP, so it's not like the RV870 is in a difficult spot. Nvidia looks to be in no position to start a price war, so ATI can just milk this generation.
That is what I'm hoping ATI is up to as we speak. Developing something super cool in their underground laboratory. Eyefinity 3D holographic virtual reality goggles.
So how much are they going to spend on this crap, which less than 1% of people adopt, much like "Eyefinity" and Nvidia's 3D 120Hz goggle niche?
This is just my opinion.
I think nVidia dropped the ball pretty good.
By the time Fermi 480 is available. Dont think that will be any time in march or April, due to limited production. By the time all this happen ATI AMD will introduce their newer 5970 or 5990 board potentially.
Seems like I read a INQ article stating that ati was planning on a q4 refresh of their current lineup.