Is now a really bad time to buy Nvidia?

[Jacky60]

Today I realised what the significance of the weirdly 'already obsolete' specifications of the PS4 and XboxOne mean for gaming combined with Mantle. I'm building a second gaming machine and was considering Nvidia's offerings (2/3 way 780 SLI)as well as AMDs (2x7990) but money as always is a factor. Looking at what analysts think about the future suggests we could see very significant performance gains for next generation console games on AMD PC hardware (e.g.BF4). I'm not going to buy anything until late December when we see what Mantle brings with the BF4 patch. Should I pull the trigger on discount 780's if they're available or should I wait?

 

[Revolution 11]

I would wait but not for the reason you would. Nvidia might drop prices this month as the new AMD cards come out so I am willing to wait till November.

Mantle looks promising and I am interested in what it can do but it will not be ready in anything but BF4 by December so there is no point waiting that long just for Mantle.

 

[Klunt Bumskrint]

I wouldn't worry too much. I've been putting off getting a second 780 incase there were price cuts.

I'm getting a bit fed up with waiting though I might just pull the trigger this week. I can get another DCU2OC for £500 and I don't think that price is going to move much.

 

[Grooveriding]

No reason not to wait and see what Mantle brings. 780s will almost certainly be cheaper then, and at the very worst, they'll cost what they do now.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I'm not so sure Mantle is going to be a game changer. There have been so many promised optimizations in the PC industry that usually don't make a noticeable difference.

 

[Demoralized]

I would wait to see if there is a price drop. The new AMD cards are a whatever for me. They can't make a launch happen properly so I'm not really excited about Mantle. Besides it's not like Mantle will make Nv obsolete.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Personally I think amd offers the best value, but nvidia may be better at the extreme high end. It might be worth it to wait because there are rumors of price cuts coming. As for mantle, amd is handling it very cleverly, if a bit disingeniously, by making big promises, but not showing any hard data. So essentially they are saying buy our cards, because they will be great, but we can't tell you how great, or in what games. So I am somewhat skeptical.

 

[Ibra]

I'm not so sure Mantle is going to be a game changer. There have been so many promised optimizations in the PC industry that usually don't make a noticeable difference.

They said HSA will be game changer. :awe:

 

[ShintaiDK]

If you need now, buy now.

 

[Jacky60]

I'm worried that if I buy now in three months the game may have completely changed!

 

[96Firebird]

Even if Mantle becomes a success, it will take more than 3 months. I'm thinking a year, if not more, before it has an effect on anyone.

But we can discuss all that in the Mantle thread, since that seems to be your main concern.

 

[wand3r3r]

The release is less than 2 weeks away (15th iiirc) so just relax and see what's in store. I'd say prices are not going up on the NV side so they can only go down if the 290x is beating them for less.

 

[blackened23]

I would wait but not for the reason you would. Nvidia might drop prices this month as the new AMD cards come out so I am willing to wait till November.

Mantle looks promising and I am interested in what it can do but it will not be ready in anything but BF4 by December so there is no point waiting that long just for Mantle.

This right here. I'd wait a month to see if the nvidia price drops come to fruition - or if the 290X is a good option (assuming that the price isn't stupid, eg 600$ or less..)

 

[monstercameron]

just wait for new skus and price drops...

 

[Teizo]

I'm worried that if I buy now in three months the game may have completely changed!

Welcome to the world of PC Gaming lol...

But no, two 780s will not be obsolete in three months. The only reason to wait would be to allow the price to drop about $50....maybe at very most $75 if this new Titan Ultra does indeed get launched...which for me personally would be good enough reason to hold off just a bit longer.

 

[HurleyBird]

Mantle looks promising and I am interested in what it can do but it will not be ready in anything but BF4 by December so there is no point waiting that long just for Mantle.

There's a good chance there will be some form of performance preview before the actual patch launches.

 

[Kenmitch]

There's a good chance there will be some form of performance preview before the actual patch launches.

AMD developer summit 10th-13th most likely additional info.

OP waiting it out a little longer would be my suggestion.

 

[piesquared]

I'd do the exact opposite of whatever Shintai says.

Infraction issued for callout.
-- stahlhart

 

[el etro]

Smell of provocative thread here....

Anyway, Nvidia still will costs up to 15B, will be hard to someone buy Nvidia now.

 

[sandorski]

It is an odd time right now:

1) AMD on the verge of releasing new product
2) Nvidia will respond with new product and/or Price cuts
3) Mantle and what that may mean

I think the first 2 are the most important factors. Mantle might be a significant game changer or not, but it will likely have very limited affect for a year or so. In which case it shouldn't be an over riding concern, provided that the choice isn't meant to last for the long term.

 

[rgallant]

Smell of provocative thread here....

Anyway, Nvidia still will costs up to 15B, will be hard to someone buy Nvidia now.

how about after R9 ?

 

[Jacky60]

It is an odd time right now:

1) AMD on the verge of releasing new product
2) Nvidia will respond with new product and/or Price cuts
3) Mantle and what that may mean

I think the first 2 are the most important factors. Mantle might be a significant game changer or not, but it will likely have very limited affect for a year or so. In which case it shouldn't be an over riding concern, provided that the choice isn't meant to last for the long term.

With reference to Mantle if AMD have been working on this with developers (or at least DICE) for a while surely it will it probably be used in upcoming console games and there will have to be a few games at launch.

 

[imaheadcase]

Graphics card rules of the road.
1. Upgrade when you NEED to.
2. Don't upgrade if a new card is set to release +- a month from time you want one.

That actually applies to everything electronics.

 

[Borealis7]

christmas will be the time to buy from either company. by then, prices will settle after all the drops and new cards.

 

[raghu78]

With reference to Mantle if AMD have been working on this with developers (or at least DICE) for a while surely it will it probably be used in upcoming console games and there will have to be a few games at launch.

Mantle has been in development by DICE and AMD for 2+ years. Mantle is supported in Frostbite 3 engine which powers all of EA's upcoming games including BF4 which is the first showcase for Mantle.

http://www.slideshare.net/DICEStudio/battlefield-4-frostbite-3-mantle

http://www.hardware.fr/focus/89/amd-mantle-interview-raja-koduri.html

During the presentation of Mantle you said it was developed with several AAA developers in the gaming industry. In addition to DICE, when can we expect the first announcements ? Around the developer summit (APU13) ?

RK - I think you may see more around developer summit. Mantle for us is a very developer driven effort, when they are ready they'll say it. Johan was ready he said it. It is not like we came up with Mantle then we kind of want to push it, it is not AMD's CUDA.

AMD should have more game developers/studios talk about their efforts with integrating Mantle support in their game engines at AMD Developer Summit, called APU13 in Nov.

Anyway the best option is to wait for Oct 15th and see how the R9 290X fares and also if there are price cuts on GTX 780 .