Newegg has 7970s in stock

[blackened23]

dead sold out

 

[djnsmith7]

I could be wrong, but I thought I saw Amazon selling this card for around $689 this morning. Either I was still half asleep & looking at a different card, or they revised the price.

 

[Lonyo]

Looks like 580's are still going for $500 and even more.

3GB GTX580s are $555 and up, more expensive than HD7970s would be if they were in stock.

 

[Don Karnage]

3GB GTX580s are $555 and up, more expensive than HD7970s would be if they were in stock.

3gb is only needed for surround. Standard 1.5gb is fine for 1 monitor. And are around 489.99

 

[blackened23]

You going green or red Don? You really can't go wrong either way

I'm not sure what to do with my MSI lightnings. I broke down and bought some reference 7970s Even though I swore I would wait for a MSI lightning.

I might sell my 580 lightnings, not sure yet!

 

[ddarko]

3gb is only needed for surround. Standard 1.5gb is fine for 1 monitor. And are around 489.99

As much as possible when comparing apples to oranges, we should compare like with like. RAM has long been one of the differentiating features to separate video cards into tiers. Nvidia makes and sells a 3gb card. It's their top single GPU model. AMD makes and sells a 3gb card. It's their top single GPU model. When or if AMD releases a 7870 with 1.5gb, it'll be compared with Nvidia's 1.5gb. That's not to say reviews and comparison of the 7870 3gb should ignore Nvidia's 1.5gb - price/performance is an valuable metric and maybe the price gap isn't justified by the performance gap. But I think it's right that the card that goes into the same category as the 7870 3gb is the Nvidia 580 3gb.

Think of it this way: the comparison for a road test for the BMW 5 series is the Mercedes E class or the Audi A6, it's not the C class or the A4. No one says you should compare the 5 series to the Mercedes C class or Audi A4 because the latter two models are good enough for your daily driving needs. Even if that's true, the proper category comparison for the 5 series is the E class and A6.

 

[blackened23]

1.5gb GTX 580 vs 3gb GTX 580:

3gb only makes a difference with triple monitor/3d vision/eyefinity/etc.

 

[superjim]

Think of it this way: the comparison for a road test for the BMW 5 series is the Mercedes E class or the Audi A6, it's not the C class or the A4. The fact that some folks may opt to go with the C class or A4 over the larger models doesn't mean the 5 series/E class/A6 shouldn't be lumped together in the same category of cars.

The amount of VRAM over 1GB has been shown repeatedly to have little to no effect in the majority of cases. The only time you "need" more than 1GB of VRAM for today's games is if you're running a game across more than one monitor. I use 3 monitors but only game on one @ 1920x1200 where 1GB is plenty for 99% of games.

 

[ddarko]

The amount of VRAM over 1GB has been shown repeatedly to have little to no effect in the majority of cases. The only time you "need" more than 1GB of VRAM for today's games is if you're running a game across more than one monitor. I use 3 monitors but only game on one @ 1920x1200 where 1GB is plenty for 99% of games.

Which may be why you'd want to go with an 580GTX 1.5gb over the 3gb but I don't see why that justifies comparing AMD's 3gb card against the Nvidia's 1.5gb card. AMD doesn't set Nvidia's product line. If Nvidia makes a 3gb version of the 580GTX that offers negligible performance advances over its 1.5gb version at a price premium, well then take it up with Nvidia. But as long as Nvidia makes and sells that 3gb version, I think it's completely appropriate for AMD's 3gb card to be benchmarked against it.

 

[Don Karnage]

Which may be why you'd want to go with an 580GTX 1.5gb over the 3gb but I don't see why that justifies comparing AMD's 3gb card against the Nvidia's 1.5gb card. AMD isn't responsible for Nvidia's product line. If Nvidia makes a 3gb version of the 580GTX that offers negligible performance advances over its 1.5gb version at a price premium, then take it up with Nvidia. But as long as Nvidia makes and sells that 3gb version, I think it's completely appropriate for AMD's 3gb card to be benchmarked against it.

Nvidia doesn't make a 3GB version. Those are custom versions by EVGA and such.

Where are the Diamond and MSI versions? UK has them. Newegg doesnt

 

[ViviTheMage]

Which cards OC better? The XFX DD?

 

[Porter_]

Bummer, well at least they didn't charge you for it and make you wait.

On a side note, has anyone's card shipped yet? Mine is confirmed/charged, but not even packaged yet.

Yeah my order status on newegg for my XFX BEDD changed to 'shipped' about an hour ago.

 

[nitromullet]

Which cards OC better? The XFX DD?

For XFX cards the DD Black is probably going to be a cherry picked gpu, which assures you that a vanilla XFX 7970 is more likely to be a dud. For other brands that only have a single model at this point it will probably be more luck of the draw.

 

[ddarko]

Nvidia doesn't make a 3GB version. Those are custom versions by EVGA and such.

Really, I did not know that, I thought they were Nvidia reference designs. That changes things for me, I don't think AMD's reference card should be matched up against a custom job by an Nvidia vendor.

And Diamond and Sapphire 7970 in stock at Newegg right now at $559 and $549, respectively, both in quantities of 20+:

Diamond
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814103201

Sapphire
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102961

 

[Lonyo]

Really, I did not know that, I thought they were Nvidia reference designs. That changes things for me, I don't think AMD's reference card should be matched up against a custom job by an Nvidia vendor.

What about AMD reference designs vs GTX560s? You know, the card that had no reference designs.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4344/nvidias-geforce-gtx-560-top-to-bottom-overclock

The point is more than NV (and/or partners), have no shifted the price points for their cards, despite being woeful in terms of comparative value, hence looking at a 3GB GTX580 which costs the same as a 3GB HD7970. It's overpriced.

 

[Joseph F]

The reference cards have different box content. Sapphire throws in the most cables and adapters of all the vendors:

CrossFire™ Bridge Interconnect Cable
8 PIN to 4 PIN Power Cable
Mini Display Port to HDMI dongle
Mini DP to SL-DVI Passive dongle
6 PIN to 4 PIN Power Cable
HDMI to SL-DVI Adapter
HDMI 1.4a high speed 1.8 meter cable(Full Retail SKU only)
Mini Display Port to SL-DVI Active dongle

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1157&pid=1461&psn=&lid=1&leg=0

The Asus card, which at $589 is $40 more than the Sapphire, includes:

1 DVI to HDMI adapter cable
1 DVI to mini Display Port adapter cable
1 6-pin to 8-pin converter cable
1 Crossfire Bridge

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...9+&cd=18&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

I guess you're paying for the Asus reputation and warranty. Gigabyte's content is similar to Asus.

LOL @ the bolded section.

 

[ddarko]

What about AMD reference designs vs GTX560s? You know, the card that had no reference designs.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4344/nvidias-geforce-gtx-560-top-to-bottom-overclock

It's an odd beast so I tend to think of it as an exception that proves the rule. It's an aberration, I don't think it changes the general way card comparisons are done. It's not an exact science obviously and I'm not dogmatic about it but it seems like typically, custom versus reference is usually reserved for intra lineup comparison, like testing all 7970 cards, not inter matchup like an AMD card against an Nvidia card unless it's a no-hold-bars fastest AMD available vs fastest Nvidia available. I think the impulse behind that is fair.

And I just copied that description from Sapphire's site, I have no responsibility for it lol.

 

[jackstar7]

LOL @ the bolded section.

MOLEX 4EVA, Son!

 

[jackstar7]

Just adding that TD has a single listing for Visiontek card. Shipping in 1-3 weeks.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...062&CatId=7387

 

[SlowSpyder]

I just checked Newegg, Sapphire and Diamond were in stock. I put two Sapphire 7970's in my cart, checked out, and by the time I got to submit they were sold out. Went and did the same with two Diamond, got them. $1130...

I will sell my 5870's, I hope to get $150-$175 each, I think that's doable for Sapphire Vapor-X cards. I know I'll catch some flak for this, but I then plan on putting the second 7970 up for sale as well, I'll put it up for what I paid with no reserve and see if I can make a little bit on it.

Anyway, their appear to be a few in stock for those interested.

 

[Elfear]

Picked up a Diamond at Newegg and an XFX DD at NCIX. Hopefully both will be here by Wednesday and I'll post up some overclocking results.

 

[dakU7]

ARGH. You guys make me want to snag one.

 

[96Firebird]

After paying off my $1000 Christmas credit card bill, I must resist upgrading the last component in my new build.

 

[djnsmith7]

Just adding that TD has a single listing for Visiontek card. Shipping in 1-3 weeks.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...062&CatId=7387

They also have an XFX Card as well.

 

[jackstar7]

According to Egg-business, less than 10 Sapphires in stock, and over 20 Diamond cards with the slight price premium.

http://www.neweggbusiness.com/Produc...CE&PageSize=20


Also a "homepage" exists at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.ht..._t=301&pf_rd_p=1343061622&pf_rd_i=radeon 7970