More price cuts by ATI on 3800 Radeon line very soon.

[dennilfloss]

?Two weeks after the launch, the ATI RV670 drops the price,? a source familiar with the matter told X-bit labs.

According to this.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/v...n_HD_3000_Pricing.html


Yay for healthy competition!:thumbsup:

 

[lyssword]

Yay, I see a 3850 in my future

 

[bryanW1995]

yeah, that's awesome!


8800 gt is supposed to be down to $200 by next thursday, too, but, um, yeah...

I think what's happened is that nvidia and amd have both come out with the best thing since sliced bread, and a LOT of gamers want some of the good stuff. In fact, way more gamers than nvidia and amd COMBINED can supply. This situation should only be exacerbated during the xmas shopping season, too, since neither company originally intended to launch this early. I remember reading posts from Gary Key a few short months where he claimed that there wouldn't be any new gpu's released until january. Was he lying? not likely, in fact I think that it's highly likely that he has solid contacts with both nvidia AND daamit who all told him the january date. What happened is amd finally had something go right and didn't have to do a ton of respins to get their silicon ready for market, so they caught everybody napping. Nvidia had the ability for a soft launch but not the ridiculous volumes that 8800gts/x provided, but they weren't going to let amd rain on their year-long parade of dominance so they came to battle with the weapons that they had.

Unfortunately, both teams ran out of ammo, and the arms dealers started raising the price of tanks...and howitzers...

Demand will start to slake in the midrange in january just as supply starts to really get into high gear, at which time we should actually see a $220 8800gt 512 selling in volume and a $149 3850 256. then the r680 and its g92 equivalent will re-draw the high-end landscape and we'll all find out just how great a deal our midrange cards really are...I hope I'm tempted to upgrade again...

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: lyssword
Yay, I see a 3850 in my future

If you can hold out I would recommend the 512 mb version. it should OC to 3870 levels and be $20 + cheaper.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Yay. Bigger profit margin for retailers.

 

[Sylvanas]

Yay maybe a Crossfire future for me.

 

[bryanW1995]

naw, newegg etc would make a lot more $$ and piss off fewer people with say 100k 8800's and 100k 38x0's at msrp than 20k/20k at $50+ over msrp. Anybody who saw what happened with 8800gt has no excuse for not buying something soon if he/she is an early adopter. The only reason I could see would be waiting for VT, gecube, etc if they are your preferred vendor, or MAYBE if somebody wanted one of the OC versions. Now, based upon what I've read from others and seen with my card the OC versions seem like a waste of money, but a guaranteed oc is a nice feature especially for people who don't like to manually oc. Everything was available off and on for the past week at msrp with a decent amount of dogged determination at newegg/ncix/outpost/best buy depending on what you wanted and what free game offers you wanted. Now, WHAM black friday hits and guess what? People who had no idea about these new offerings decided to get something cool and new for their sig other or buddy for xmas and were told "8800gt or 38x0 are the ONLY cards to buy" for the enthusiast. Amazingly, everybody is oos or at least very low on these items right now.

Based on pricing I find it hard to recommend anything other than 3850 256mb right now, and even that I would only buy if you run 19" or lower resolutions. Obviously if you can find an 8800gt for $250 or a 3870 for 220 available RIGHT NOW you should jump on it...just don't wait...and don't cry "price gouging" if your finger hesitates too long on the buy button and the price goes up $10.


edit: newegg is STILL not coming up. They must be getting hammered still.

 

[vailr]

Once I saw the better quality cooling fan on the 512 Mb Powercolor 3850, the other models dropped from consideration.
Hopefully, other vendors will provide some competition for the Powercolor 512 Mb model, as well. Gigabyte, Asus, etc.

 

[bryanW1995]

do you mean the 3850 oc that runs at 720/900? if that one is really $20 cheaper than 3870 then it would be hard to pass up imho for anybody who cares about saving money and isn't afraid to oc a little bit That card should easily do over 800 core and will probably be a tad bit faster than a stock 3870 even with the lower mem clocks. I probably would have waited for it if I wasn't just sick and tired of the low res and low framerates in the 1950xt 256. Now my system doesn't work worth a damn and I have to stab test all over again... good thing this is my favorite part about being an enthusiast

 

[taltamir]

gecube already made card:
http://www.gecube.com/products...id=213&prod_cat_id=214

But where would you buy those?

 

[ArchAngel777]

The 3850 needs a dual slot cooler (I prefer dual slot) and needs to drop about $30 bucks. Then I will take one. The 3870 Needs to be be $199. I woke up this morning to check pricing on the 3870 on NewEgg only to find they jacked up their prices $50. Ok, I can take a 5 or 10 dollar gouge, but an increase of $50 bucks overnight? Who are they kidding? Yet someone will buy it. That is the problem. You can vote with your wallet but it doesn't help the situation unless everyone does it. We know that it will NEVER happen. There is always some sucker out there willing to pay above MSRP. Just like those damn gold buyers in WoW... Sure, most people probably don't buy it, but SOMEONE out there is buying it because those famers are flourishing.

 

[dennilfloss]

I too prefer dual-slot cooling. I want the videocard heat vented outside of my case in the most direct way.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: taltamir
gecube already made card:
http://www.gecube.com/products...id=213&prod_cat_id=214

But where would you buy those?

that gecube looks to be the best deal. I think I saw a powercolor unit like that, too. 3850 + dual slot + 512mb = nice

 

[ronnn]

I can see the 3850 being reduced. Has been, according to ncix, available for $179 in Canada since launch and only a couple of reviews have popped up on their site. They don't seem to be selling any. But according to them the 3750 has been going in and out of stock with large backorders and only 1 or 2 reviews. Am beginning to wonder about these launches.

 

[taltamir]

doesn't the 3850 and 3870 have the EXACT same chip? with the only difference being the default speed and the amount of ram?

If they OC the 3850 to 3870 speeds and add more ram then it IS a 3870 but with a confusing name... the only reason they will be doing that is if they are tricking AMD due to AMD selling the 3850 at lower margin then the 3870 chips... Which they probably do for an MSRP 50$ lower for 256MB of ram less... The 256MB of ram costs board makers less then 50$... so they can save money doing things that way.

 

[AzN]

Originally posted by: taltamir
doesn't the 3850 and 3870 have the EXACT same chip? with the only difference being the default speed and the amount of ram?

If they OC the 3850 to 3870 speeds and add more ram then it IS a 3870 but with a confusing name... the only reason they will be doing that is if they are tricking AMD due to AMD selling the 3850 at lower margin then the 3870 chips... Which they probably do for an MSRP 50$ lower for 256MB of ram less... The 256MB of ram costs board makers less then 50$... so they can save money doing things that way.

3850 is probably chips that didn't make it to 3870 speed standards (or voltage regulated) and using ddr3 instead of ddr4. Even if 3850 overclocked it will not overclock as high as a regular 3870.

 

[taltamir]

i didn't see the ddr difference.

And yea, the 3850 extreme can probably not overclock anymore... but if you run at stock...

The 3870 are getting hefty OC by people... the 3850 can OC up to the 3870 stock speed... but it is still a pretty good deal for average customer.

 

[spittledip]

So si there any info on how much the price will drop? And it is in 2 weeks? or 1?

 

[taltamir]

i just ordered an MSI 8800GT 512MB OC from dell and payed 225$ including shipping and TAX.

 

[AzN]

Originally posted by: taltamir
i just ordered an MSI 8800GT 512MB OC from dell and payed 225$ including shipping and TAX.

What does this have to do with the thread?

 

[bryanW1995]

I don't remember where I saw it, but one of the review sites got 825-835 core on the powercolor 3850 512 that comes stock at 720/900. with that high of a core you should be able to meet or even beat a stock 3870 even with the lower-clocked ram.

 

[ronnn]

This?

 

[bamacre]

If they have price cuts, there better be some availability. I can't even find a decent 3870 at the moment.

Damn, what's up with the new video cards and availability?

 

[ronnn]

Likely all us budget conscious types, have finally found some mid range cards worth buying.

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: bamacre
If they have price cuts, there better be some availability. I can't even find a decent 3870 at the moment.

Damn, what's up with the new video cards and availability?

Everybody has been waiting for a good upgrade for their 7900GS/X1950 Pro, or even 7600GT and X1650XT. The 8600GTS and HD 2600XT did not provide enough of an upgrade, so users of those cards held out. Now, all of those people are going crazy over the new $200-250~ DX10 cards that provide what a month ago was $350-400 performance.