PC Perspective: Where Have All the 6970s Gone?

[Idontcare]

Saw this over on [H]

I spoke with two manufacturers of video cards about this situation, both of which wish to remain anonymous. They gave the same answer. The reason for the lack of product on shelves is not one of demand. So basically bitcoin miners have not purchased every single card on the market (unlike the HD 5830, which is a favorite of the group). The problem is supply. AMD has not supplied these manufacturers with enough HD 6970 chips to address the actual demand.

Link: http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Editorial/Where-Have-All-6970s-Gone

Given all the talk in the bitcoin mining thread about the lack of 6990's, a lack of 6970's would certainly lead to that.

Wonder why there would be a supply issue. Remnants of the Japan quake hitting the supply chain somewhere?

 

[Kenmitch]

I doubt it's a yield issue this late in the cycle. I'd lean more towards shifting production elsewhere. Not sure if that's more of lesser performing cards or possibly shifting production costs towards 28nm products.

 

[SirPauly]

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1037645083&postcount=9

It would of been neat to see a photo of the coupon or voucher.

 

[Idontcare]

That's a good point...we may well be on the eve of AMD launching 28nm and they are intentionally drying up the 40nm inventory ahead of that to avoid massive write-downs.

Altera Corp. said Wednesday (Aug. 24) it has begun shipping 28-nm Stratix V GT devices, the first FPGA featuring 28-gigabits-per-second (Gbps) transceivers.

http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4219266/Altera-ships-Stratix-V-GT-FPGAs

^ 28nm is coming, Altera is already shipping.

 

[Skurge]

AMD probably doesn't want a repeat of the 5000 series launch. They might want to have a ton of cards ready for launch so they can take advantage of actually launching first.

 

[96Firebird]

AMD probably doesn't want a repeat of the 5000 series launch. They might want to have a ton of cards ready for launch so they can take advantage of actually launching first.

That would be the first time I have seen such a move, but I didn't really pay attention to the HD3xxx or HD4xxx series releases. We'll see how it pans out...

 

[Nintendesert]

Well they'll sell me a 7xxx series unless Nvidia leaks something good for their next cards. This 5870 is getting long in the tooth and I'm thinking a bitcoin miner will like to buy it up when I get ready to sell it.

 

[SirPauly]

AMD probably doesn't want a repeat of the 5000 series launch. They might want to have a ton of cards ready for launch so they can take advantage of actually launching first.

I think AMD would dream of another 5000 series launch when there only competition was to themselves.

 

[tviceman]

That's a good point...we may well be on the eve of AMD launching 28nm and they are intentionally drying up the 40nm inventory ahead of that to avoid massive write-downs.


^ 28nm is coming, Altera is already shipping.

It still doesn't make sense to me, IMO. If they were a 4-6 weeks out from any "exciting" parts, rumors of specs and benchmarks would be trickling out by now - ESPECIALLY if it were high end cards. The hd6950 comes from the exact same wafers as the hd6970, but the 6950 is abundantly available to buy while the hd6970 has only a few models to choose from. That makes no sense at all, unless 6970's were outselling 6950's 3 to 1. However, based on this survey, http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/videocard/ , the 6950 is outselling the 6970 2 to 1.

Still, if instead of new high end parts, they're coming out with new mid-range parts close to or equal in performance of the 6900 series, it still wouldn't change the transition situation of the existing 6900 parts. There would be new parts of near equal performance to both the 6950 and 6970 - every single 6900 card would still have to be discounted. So, in other words, it wouldn't matter to AMD if they had 200,000 6950's in inventory or 100,00 6950's and 100,000 6970's - they would all have to take a hit to sell. And since the hd6970 could still sell for a few dollars more than hd6950 since it's a more capable part, and as I already said it comes from the same exact wafers, it would still be in AMD's best interest to have more hd6970 inventory than hd6950 when they do have to discount their cards.

 

[Red Storm]

I guess they cut down on shipments leading up to their next gen release. That being said, Newegg is now restocked with 6970s (along with many other online shops).

 

[SirPauly]

What are the yields of the 69XX series and how do they breakdown between the sku's?

The next generational replacement of the 5770/6770 would offer nearly double the performance and would be a smaller die with an impressive power per watt ratio. If they're early, they could replace the 6970 sku with a lower cost, higher margin part and still bring value when compared to their competition.

And what if they surprise some with a dual chip offering, competitive performance, lower cost and higher margin, with an impressive power per watt based on the replacement for the 5770/6770.

Then as the process matures, lower the prices of existing sku's and move in more complex designs to replace the price-points.

 

[Will Robinson]

Plenty of 6970s at the Egg...this thread is full of green fail.:thumbsdown:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102918
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150517
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161356

 

[SirPauly]

AMD's Graphics Core Next Gen architecture is scheduled to appear in products due in Q4, 2011, as both Eric Demers and Rick Bergman confirmed for us.

Two heavy weights in AMD!

Eric Demers is a Corporate Vice President and CTO of the Graphics Division at AMD

Rick Bergman is a senior vice president and general manager of AMD’s products group.

The key is what product sku's and what time-line with-in the quarter.

http://www.rage3d.com/interviews/amdchats/eric_demers_july_2011/index.php?p=4

I do believe AMD is trying to move inventory and getting ready to replace the 6970.

 

[happy medium]

Plenty of 6970s at the Egg...this thread is full of green fail.:thumbsdown:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102918
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150517
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161356

I dont think call our favorite moderator a green fanboy is fair.

Did you check the sku's on the new cards listed? Mabe they came out with cheaper dumbed down versions, like they did with the 5850's.

 

[Firestorm007]

I dont think call our favorite moderator a green fanboy is fair.

Did you check the sku's on the new cards listed? Mabe they came out with cheaper dumbed down versions, like they did with the 5850's.

Cheaper dumbed down versions? Where do I begin. I guess if you call an MSI 6970 Lightning dumbed down; then yes....:\ And, you are well aware that at this stage in the life cycle of the 6970, that most of them available are non-reference designs.

 

[Firestorm007]

Plenty of 6970s at the Egg...this thread is full of green fail.:thumbsdown:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102918
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150517
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161356

Be nice, Will. I don't see any bias in this thread. In fact, quite the opposite. On topic: I was like WHOA when I looked on the Egg yesterday and saw them all pop up at once. I'm in agreement that this could be once last push before the 28nm stuff....I'm ready, that's for sure.

 

[StrangerGuy]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/292?vs=293

Looking at that paying extra $100 for a 6970 doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[gorobei]

seems like possible confirmation of the 28nm HK LP option.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2179230

if apple, altera, and xilinx are yielding just fine, it may be worth it in amd's view to have the market to themselves for ~6 months just as BF3 comes out around christmas shopping season. It may not be as big an upgrade cycle as the release of win7 but crysis drove a significant number of sales around vista time.

 

[tviceman]

Plenty of 6970s at the Egg...this thread is full of green fail.:thumbsdown:

You seriously need to take a breath, take your anti-anxiety medication, and chill out. This thread was started by a forum moderator and not one person has said anything negative about AMD or their GPU lineup. The discussion is centered around why there are vastly more 6950's than 6970's in stock, and why the 6970's keep going out of stock even though empirical evidence shows the 6970 isn't out selling the 6950 in terms of units. The discussion is 6970's are commonly going out of stock and are not currently nearly as abundant as 6950's. In comparison, there are as many or more gtx580 models in stock as there gtx570's at newegg.

No one was getting defensive, throwing out accusations, or lynching puppies until you decided to chime in. Not every thread has to be why AMD or Nvidia is better than the other. GET OVER IT.

 

[Will Robinson]

"Did you check the sku's on the new cards listed? Mabe they came out with cheaper dumbed down versions, like they did with the 5850's"-Happy Medium

You're right..hardly a negative word at all....oh...wait a sec...

 

[Madcatatlas]

Good point Will, but that still doesnt make IDC green


Lets not sway offtopic with retaliatory strikes here. The reasons could be many, as pointed out already. Personally, my money is on AMD bringing out a product that will rival the 6970 in performance at 570 like prices, it will perform better than the 6950 and ofcourse cost more, thus the 6950 is not going away anytime soon. This card could be the 7870 or 7850.

When it will launch.. no idea.

 

[Grooveriding]

seems like possible confirmation of the 28nm HK LP option.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2179230

if apple, altera, and xilinx are yielding just fine, it may be worth it in amd's view to have the market to themselves for ~6 months just as BF3 comes out around christmas shopping season. It may not be as big an upgrade cycle as the release of win7 but crysis drove a significant number of sales around vista time.

Sounds good to me :thumbsup:

I am in the market for some 7970s but even if it is the 28nm mid-range stuff rather than top-end they are releasing in the next couple months it still means the top-end is getting that much closer.

Mid-range is feasible as AMD is pulling 28nm GPUs from TSMC and Global Foundries. Perhaps one or both are ready to deliver chips that perform at 6970 level on 28nm. Wonder what the pricing would be like on a 7850.

Would be an odd ball of a situation. Sell them for $350 then drop the price drastically when the 7970/7950 is ready ?

September and October should be interesting. Haven't had a big performance jump release since September/09. Getting boring.

 

[-Slacker-]

If they need to can one of the cayman models, then why not make it the 6950, and make the 6970 much cheaper, since the 6950 is a 6970 with forcefully locked shaders?

 

[amenx]

That's a good point...we may well be on the eve of AMD launching 28nm and they are intentionally drying up the 40nm inventory ahead of that to avoid massive write-downs.


^ 28nm is coming, Altera is already shipping.

Same thing happened with Nvidia 200 series in the run-up to 40mm fermi.

 

[Silverforce11]

On the 68xx release there was still so much left over 58xx stocks, that new 58xx models were released months after selling at a discount price.

AMD is being more careful to avoid that situation as its lost profit/margins if it happens again.