295W power usage @ 73C ==> 100% Hybrid WC system. Finally! I've been waiting for GPU makers to offer Hybrid AIO CLC as standard for years! WOW, that means 600W exhausted out of the case and cool and quiet CF setup.
Perf/watt won't match Maxwell but relative to the 295X2, it's a massive improvement given how close the performance is.
34% more gaming performance over the 980 and 51% over the 290X. Sounds like it will be a close fight between this card and the GM200. If GM200 can overclock 20% or more and has 6GB of VRAM, I think GM200 will be the winner unless NV prices it out into the stratosphere.
380X's performance is more than double that of a 280X which means 4096 SPs @ 1Ghz and > 500GB/sec of memory bandwidth are almost a shoe-in. Exciting times ahead. I think 980 owners need to think twice about keeping their card as its resale value will plummet like a rock soon. Feels good to be right about GM204 980 being a mid-range 960Ti priced at $550-600. Really pumped to see how close in performance the R9 380 non-X is and what it's price will be relative to the 380X.
Lol you seem to be trying too hard. I aim to be platform agnostic, but I also look at the business side of matters with the practical side of realism.
I don't argue that the 980 is a "mid-ramge" in that it is not the big chip, but are you honestly blaming Nvidia for this? As a gamer and fan of tech, I WANT this to work in our favor, but a market simply cannot work like that. Like... ever. Once in awhile, but not as a business M.O..
Now, moving on, yes, big chip GM200 should be the flagship, and hopefully when all is said and done, it is priced appropriately. But if the competition's big chip from a generation a year old is barely trading punches with your mid-size chip you are just now releasing, what are you honestly going to do? You price it competitively, and when the comp. drops the price, you let it go if the market accepts your price. So, yes, you are correct that the market should acknowledge this, but it is also a play by Nvidia, forcing AMDs hand. Those prices are hurting AMD, and Nvidia is trying to spur the next-gen development and make AMD compete with their product. Is this fair and good for gamers? Depends when you ask. Nvidia wants to dominate, but those very practices also spur competition, driving AMD to make a move.
AMD wants higher prices, as recognized by their launch prices for the 290 series. They got butchered aiming that high with the chip they developed. It was good timing and they got money from it, but Nvidia answered with ease.
I have a feeling AMD will set the lasting price for the 300-series era. Regardless if Nvidia or AMD is first out of the gates, AMD's chip and price is going to set the stage. If Nvidia is first with the 990/980Ti they set the first price; AMD can answer with a cheaper and stronger card and force Nvidia to meet their price.
AMD, simply needs to step up and meet the engineering of Nvidia. I wish I didn't have to type that, but let's be honest: Nvidia gets a way with the things they do because AMD can't go punch for punch, so we have to weight for AMD before we ever have a gamer-friendlu market. Don't forget: if AMD out competes just as well as Nvidia has, Nvidia would be dropping prices and undercutting where they can.
I mean, let's be real: is AMD seriously going to release a flagship single-GPU card that has a reference/mandatory hybrid/AIO cooling solution? That should not be happening, plain and simple.
I didn't realize reference measurements on the 290X were at 90+°C. That's simply wrong. If they are continuing that, they haven't made any significant improvements to the architecture, so perhaps Nvidia can match with GM200 derivatives and stay to the 900 series. If it works that way, I wouldn't expect great prices for the 300 series unless Nvidia forces AMD to drop prices. In the end, it might not be until the AMD 400 and Nvidia 1000 series that prices are favorable and they truly compete in both performance and efficiency.