Nvidia may combat Vega with offering 980ti owners a step up to 1080ti

[moonbogg]

https://www.overclock3d.net/news/gpu_displays/nvidia_officially_reveals_their_gtx_1080ti/1

Rumors of this all over the place from a job listing Nvidia posted. If Nvidia offered 980ti owners an early preorder spot as well as a price discount in the form of a step up, I'd likely end up biting on that. The only reason I wouldn't is if the stupid card cost $800 and their special step up price was something like $750.
At the end of the day I don't expect a reasonable price from Nvidia anymore. I hope Vega puts the pressure on.
Nvidia might also start some club GeForce thingy.
http://www.pcgamer.com/nvidia-confirms-gtx-1080-ti-and-unveils-club-geforce-elite/

 

[DamZe]

I don't like their move to some service subscription "Elite" program, free games or not. What is next a monthly sub to be first in line to get drivers?

And this step up program seems interesting, but I don't think they will ever give 980Ti owners something like a trade in + 40% off discount deal, I expect it to be very symbolic.

 

[ddogg]

I saw this yesterday on wccftech. Was "happy" to see that a 1080Ti model is imminent as I'm in the market for a high-end GPU but didn't care much for the subscription crap. I'm also not expecting a reasonable price from Nvidia anymore considering the cost of the TitanXP and the 1080. I will bite the bullet though if it's around 700-800 and offers ~Titan XP performance.

 

[DamZe]

I saw this yesterday on wccftech. Was "happy" to see that a 1080Ti model is imminent as I'm in the market for a high-end GPU but didn't care much for the subscription crap. I'm also not expecting a reasonable price from Nvidia anymore considering the cost of the TitanXP and the 1080. I will bite the bullet though if it's around 700-800 and offers ~Titan XP performance.

The chances of it having near TitanXP performance are slim, seeing as the bus width will most likely be 320-bit to accomodate the 10GB framebuffer. This gen nVidia is segmenting their cards very effectively, but it may come 10% close to a TitanXP which would be impressive, but most likely still expensive! XD

 

[moonbogg]

The subscription thing is kind of odd I think too. I have jokingly talked about Nvidia having a subscription service for drivers and hardware after the Kepler performance falloff became a big deal. I said buying GPU hardware was like a paid subscription because after 18 months performance stalls. Funny to see them actually going in a direction kind of like that.
Regarding the price, I won't pay $700 for a 1080ti. I won't play this price creep game anymore. GPU's just aren't worth it. CPU's, monitors, headphones, cooling systems etc I can justify because they tend to last longer and aren't obsoleted like GPU's are.

 

[nathanddrews]

HaaS is a great model to make money.

 

[Yakk]

Kinda reads like a gimmick to get people used to, and on-board with the idea of a monthly fee.

 

[DamZe]

Kinda reads like a gimmick to get people used to, and on-board with the idea of a monthly fee.

If they are so eager to lose a bunch of customers, then let them try.

 

[crisium]

Seems like the x80 Ti's come out about every 2 years. $10 per month is $240. You'd definitely not do this for "priority" for 1080 Ti. If you're willing to spend more for earlier access, just get the Titan series. Though maybe the other subscription features are attractive to some.

I guess you could subscribe for only 1-2 months or so just for earlier Ti access, if possible under the rules. Not sure if worth it.

 

[railven]

Depending on what's in the pot, a subscription can be relatively worth it. Using Humble Bundle as an example, four months in, and so far of the bag full of games just two gems pretty much offset the cost of everything else they "gave" me.

If NV gives a good enough discount I'd throw em my 980 Ti for a 1080 Ti.

my 1080 isn't even 6 months old yet and I'm already itching to upgrade it. I should have gone Titan XP :/

EDIT: If Vega doesn't put some pressure, I might just get Volta Titan and hold on to it, if I can get 2-years out of it, money well spent.

 

[DaveSimmons]

This is an interesting idea, but my 980ti is an MSI Lightning LE so runs very cool and quiet at stock. Moving to a Founder's Edition 1080ti would probably be a downgrade for heat and noise even if it pushes more pixels.

I'm still on a 1900x1200 monitor at 60hz, so even if I decide to upgrade I'd probably wait 6 months for the price to drop and non-reference designs to appear. I'll probably upgrade my CPU to a 6700/7700 or (if the hype pans out) Ryzen in mid-2017 anyway.

Or Vega might surprise me and get me to buy AMD. If they manage to take the performance crown for a change and do it without a hot and noisy monster I'm open to going back to them.

 

[jpiniero]

Regarding the price, I won't pay $700 for a 1080ti. I won't play this price creep game anymore. GPU's just aren't worth it. CPU's, monitors, headphones, cooling systems etc I can justify because they tend to last longer and aren't obsoleted like GPU's are.

$700? Ha! The rumor was $999.

 

[tential]

Why would they offer a discount for 980ti owners? That's definitely false.
They'd offer 980ti owners first shot at purchasing though. I can see that easily.

 

[Mopetar]

Haven't a lot of 980Ti owners already upgraded to the 1080 though? I would imagine that among those that haven't gone for a 1080 or Titan already, most are holding out for Volta.

That aside Vega needs to get here before NV can combat it. No sense in boxing at shadows.

 

[jpiniero]

Why would they offer a discount for 980ti owners? That's definitely false.
They'd offer 980ti owners first shot at purchasing though. I can see that easily.

It sounds more like a trade in program.

 

[ddogg]

$700? Ha! The rumor was $999.

Highly doubt it will be $999. That would alienate 95% of their high end base.

 

[jpiniero]

Highly doubt it will be $999. That would alienate 95% of their high end base.

In case you haven't noticed, prices are going up. Don't expect AMD to help much.

 

[sandorski]

Interesting Marketing gimmick. Makes me wonder if they know something about Vega we don't.

 

[Valantar]

Highly doubt it will be $999. That would alienate 95% of their high end base.

1080 FE is $699. Titan XP is $1200. There's not a chance in hell they'll be cutting 1080 prices simply because the Ti is out. Nor will they price it close enough to hurt 1080 sales. As such, $999 is the logical minimum.

Are these prices messed up? Absolutely. Unfortunately, without competition from AMD or some sort of monopoly-busting on a rather unheard of scale (not to mention that Nvidia doesn't have a monopoly, whether factual or practical, in any field) this isn't going to change. Corporations will keep squeezing money out of consumers - as much as they can. It's what they live off of, after all.

 

[Mopetar]

They might come out closer to $800 and cut prices across the line if AMD has some compelling cards. However if it's Maxwell vs. Fiji round 2, don't expect price cuts. Hell, even if AMD has a more capable card in Vega if it's a smaller die NV won't drop prices at the high end because the people who want the extra 10% (or whatever it may be) performance premium will always pay premium prices.

 

[FFFF]

I bet on the 1080ti having a $899 MSRP. If it gets around within 10% of Titan XP at stock, I say it will be worth it.

 

[littleg]

$900 would be worth it??? A 33% rise over the 980ti in just two years?

Seems insane to me.

 

[moonbogg]

It won't cost $900 and I doubt even $800. Think about it. Anyone in the market for a card that expensive already has a TitanX. They are going after the market that they haven't hit yet, and that's the 980ti people. 1070/1080 weren't upgrades and TitanX is floating around by itself in LaLa land where people will actually pay $1,200 for it. The Titan doesn't even enter the equation for 99% of people. The Titan is just a Ti card for people who want it early and will pay about DOUBLE the price for it. So, last gen's only legit high end card was the 980ti, and the only legit high end card this gen is the 1080ti. What do you think they will charge? My bet is between $650 and $700. If they go over that, then they are asking too much.

 

[ddogg]

In case you haven't noticed, prices are going up. Don't expect AMD to help much.

I'm well aware but pricing the 1080Ti at $999 would mean that most 980Ti owners would hold onto their cards until Volta or look at Vega as an alternative. I know Nvidia is out to make as much money as possible but it wouldn't make sense to me if they did this. My prediction is they will drop the prices of their existing line and price the 1080Ti around 700-750.

It won't cost $900 and I doubt even $800. Think about it. Anyone in the market for a card that expensive already has a TitanX. They are going after the market that they haven't hit yet, and that's the 980ti people. 1070/1080 weren't upgrades and TitanX is floating around by itself in LaLa land where people will actually pay $1,200 for it. The Titan doesn't even enter the equation for 99% of people. The Titan is just a Ti card for people who want it early and will pay about DOUBLE the price for it. So, last gen's only legit high end card was the 980ti, and the only legit high end card this gen is the 1080ti. What do you think they will charge? My bet is between $650 and $700. If they go over that, then they are asking too much.

100% agree. I think somewhere around 700-750 (max 799).

 

[Ghost of Cyrix]

It won't cost $900 and I doubt even $800. Think about it. Anyone in the market for a card that expensive already has a TitanX. They are going after the market that they haven't hit yet, and that's the 980ti people. 1070/1080 weren't upgrades and TitanX is floating around by itself in LaLa land where people will actually pay $1,200 for it. The Titan doesn't even enter the equation for 99% of people. The Titan is just a Ti card for people who want it early and will pay about DOUBLE the price for it. So, last gen's only legit high end card was the 980ti, and the only legit high end card this gen is the 1080ti. What do you think they will charge? My bet is between $650 and $700. If they go over that, then they are asking too much.

I'm well aware but pricing the 1080Ti at $999 would mean that most 980Ti owners would hold onto their cards until Volta or look at Vega as an alternative. I know Nvidia is out to make as much money as possible but it wouldn't make sense to me if they did this. My prediction is they will drop the prices of their existing line and price the 1080Ti around 700-750.



100% agree. I think somewhere around 700-750 (max 799).

Agreed. There's a portion of the market that blithely buys into $600-$700 mid-range chips, a portion that indiscriminately pays quadruple-digit figures for the best on the market, and then there's a portion of high-spending and informed enthusiasts who want only the high-end chip/an actual upgrade without spending utterly ridiculous amounts of cash on them. And that portion have the patience to wait for such a relatively reasonably-priced product.

Nvidia's sales on their current products at their current prices have pretty much hit rock-bottom as it is: http://www.barrons.com/articles/BL-TB-53573


Introducing the 1080 Ti this late into this generation at a higher price than the 1080 (proportionally equal to the performance increase or worse) while keeping prices stagnant elsewhere isn't going to go well imo.

I think we've finally reached the limits of what the market will bear. It's time for a real performance boost at semi-sane prices.