[tweaktown] AMD cuts 290x by $150

[ShintaiDK]

These price drops are still not low enough, R9 290 should be $200 and 290X $250.

Will be interesting to see how the 960 stacks up against the R9 290.

Thats too much I say. The 290X can still sell at 299$, specially with a good game bundle. And the 290 may just be a 249-269$ card. But the 290 sits in a very awkward space.

On another note, the 2GB R9 285 is still 249-259$. I wonder if AMD is going to wait a month to reduce that one.

 

[Fastx]

Thats too much I say. The 290X can still sell at 299$, specially with a good game bundle. And the 290 may just be a 249-269$ card. But the 290 sits in a very awkward space.

This looks like the perfect pricing imo.

 

[f1sherman]

To everyone saying they need to drop further, I highly doubt that they can. They're going to need to ride it out until Spring, for better or worse. No point in selling it at a loss. If the rumors about the 380X beating the 980 end up being true though, that will be an exciting time.

Sure they can. I bet they could sell 290 at $200 and still earn some money <-- a pure guesstimate

I wonder if AMD's late and only somewhat adequate price cut is

• Aimed at Nvidia running itself into supply/out-of-stock problems
• Matter of pride(desktop graphics results won't make or brake AMD), and aimed at avoiding bad press and brand erosion
• They are willing to trade market share. The question is - in exchange for what?

I am not going to argue the possibility of AMD being confident in their current product stack, because that's not a serious proposition
(just look at their soon... and stand by twits, it's downright embarrassing)
and retailers are already exploiting this by raising 970 price.
Although this is partially caused by NV GM204 supply issues, but again - this is only the consequence of 970 phenomenal $329 MSRP.

If there was a chance for Q1 R9 300 they would soft-launch in 2014 like Tahiti.
I mean who the hell misses Xmas season? So no I don't think Q1 R9 300 is a possibility.
Much about this business is about timing and again it's NV who's lucky(?) enough to get it right most of the times.

 

[Headfoot]

Price drop on new 290s puts further pressure on used 290s, which were already selling for around $225. We'll see $200 used 290s soon. ~$420 for used 290 CF will be basically unbeatable in terms of perf/dollar if you have the PSU for it

 

[Fastx]

Sure they can. .

Yes they dropped 7950 which I think was like $449.00 on release to $189.00. I think at this point if they drop AIB 290 to about $249.00 and the AIB 290X to $299.00 they will sell well and at the very least I think the AIB 290 will imo.

 

[Fastx]

Price drop on new 290s puts further pressure on used 290s, which were already selling for around $225. We'll see $200 used 290s soon. ~$420 for used 290 CF will be basically unbeatable in terms of perf/dollar if you have the PSU for it

I agree and I am thinking in the next month around $150.00 -$175.00 for AIB 290's on e-bay and was pricing some PS's today. But I want to try to wait for the 980Ti and 390 just to see pricing/performance at this point and I wouldn't need a PS.

Tri-X 290 sold $200.00 starting
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sapphire-Tr...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

EVGA G2 1000W $139.00 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817438010

Rosewill Bronze 1000w $89.00 on sale AR on the lower end of the price range does have quite a few decent reviews for a lower end PS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182188

 

[Abwx]

First of all I would like you to show me the DX11.2 part. After that you can document the 11.3 part.

http://sites.amd.com/us/microsoft/windows-8/Pages/radeon-windows-8.aspx

 

[Techhog]

Thats too much I say. The 290X can still sell at 299$, specially with a good game bundle. And the 290 may just be a 249-269$ card. But the 290 sits in a very awkward space.

On another note, the 2GB R9 285 is still 249-259$. I wonder if AMD is going to wait a month to reduce that one.

Based on this logic, the 760 should be $150, the 285 $170, and the 280X $200.

So... $100 for the 750 Ti and 265X?

 

[ShintaiDK]

http://sites.amd.com/us/microsoft/windows-8/Pages/radeon-windows-8.aspx

Yet when you run DXcapviewer it shows 11.1. Same as nVidias fake 11.1 for Kepler thats really 11.0. So no DX11.2 and no DX11.3 for that matter as well.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Based on this logic, the 760 should be $150, the 285 $170, and the 280X $200.

So... $100 for the 750 Ti and 265X?

760 gets replaced later this month it seems. So that one goes EOL.

Rebates for 750ti is already apeparing and putting it down to 120-130$.

We have to see what performance the 960 offers and at what price as well. Then the next level of cards will have to match that. Maybe there will be a 950 as well.

AMD should also be able to release more GCN 1.2 based GPUs. Like a 285X.

 

[krumme]

Yes they dropped 7950 which I think was like $449.00 on release to $189.00. I think at this point if they drop AIB 290 to about $249.00 and the AIB 290X to $299.00 they will sell well and at the very least I think the AIB 290 will imo.

As 7970 is aprox 370mm2 vs 420mm2 for the 290x i think its safe to say the 290 is far cheaper to make than the 7970 was for its time becuse process cost is probably less than half - meaning 290x could easily hit 250usd.
290x is a very effective design mm2 vs 280x and as nv 770 is walking all over 280x for low cost it means 280x is now stucked in a bad place imho. 290x will do fine as its already heavily depreciated and can take huge price custs. 770 to me seems by far the strongest card in nv lineup as its also heavily depreciated and can take whatever of the market is needed with good profit only limited by 290x pricing.

 

[Techhog]

760 gets replaced later this month it seems. So that one goes EOL.

Rebates for 750ti is already apeparing and putting it down to 120-130$.

We have to see what performance the 960 offers and at what price as well. Then the next level of cards will have to match that. Maybe there will be a 950 as well.

AMD should also be able to release more GCN 1.2 based GPUs. Like a 285X.

GCN 1.2 is a minor revision. They can't make a competitive product with it on 28nm.

 

[ShintaiDK]

GCN 1.2 is a minor revision. They can't make a competitive product with it on 28nm.

They cant on any node. They simply need a better uarch. The question is how far GCN 1.3 or 2.0 is in development. If not something entirely new. But with the recent release of GCN1.2, then it may be a little year away or so.

 

[Paul98]

They cant on any node. They simply need a better uarch. The question is how far GCN 1.3 or 2.0 is in development. If not something entirely new. But with the recent release of GCN1.2, then it may be a little year away or so.

lol you crack me up.

Expect to see 3xx series early next year.

 

[Techhog]

They cant on any node. They simply need a better uarch. The question is how far GCN 1.3 or 2.0 is in development. If not something entirely new. But with the recent release of GCN1.2, then it may be a little year away or so.

No, GCN would need to die. I don't see another GCN 1.2 chip being released. Why bother with this naming confusion otherwise? I don't think they actually have the money to compete. They'll probably just go bankrupt in 5 years.

 

[SimianR]

This looks like the perfect pricing imo.

$250 for the 290 is too cheap, though. When you consider they have the better gaming bundle, $279 for an R9 290 is perfect. Also consider that it's hard to find a decent 970 for $330 (most are $350+).

I think people are really underestimating the value of the R9 290 tri-x @ $289 as well. That is probably the best cooled 290 (besides maybe the vapor-x) with comparable performance to the GTX 970 for $40-80 cheaper (depending on the model).

 

[Fastx]

$250 for the 290 is too cheap, though. When you consider they have the better gaming bundle, $279 for an R9 290 is perfect. Also consider that it's hard to find a decent 970 for $330 (most are $350+).

S, just for the record I when I said I agree perfect pricing that was for his quote of $249-$269 pricing.

I could see the dual fan cards at $249.00 and the triple fan PCS+ & Tri -X's a little higher than $249.00 and at those prices would be harder decision for a GTX 970 or a AIB 290 for quite a few people at least it would be for me if looking to upgrade to one of these cards imo.

But of course everyone has their own opinion, the above is just mine.

 

[SimianR]

S, just for the record I when I said I agree perfect pricing that was for his quote of $249-$269 pricing.

I could see the dual fan cards at $249.00 and the triple fan PCS+ & Tri -X's a little higher than $249.00 and at those prices would be harder decision for a GTX 970 or a AIB 290 for quite a few people at least it would be for me if looking to upgrade to one of these cards imo.

But of course everyone has their own opinion, the above is just mine.

I don't necessarily disagree I do think the 290X is a bit much at $400.. but it was even when the 970/980 weren't around and it was $549. It was just never worth spending that much for essentially 5-10% performance.

 

[x3sphere]

$250 for the 290 is too cheap, though. When you consider they have the better gaming bundle, $279 for an R9 290 is perfect. Also consider that it's hard to find a decent 970 for $330 (most are $350+).

I think people are really underestimating the value of the R9 290 tri-x @ $289 as well. That is probably the best cooled 290 (besides maybe the vapor-x) with comparable performance to the GTX 970 for $40-80 cheaper (depending on the model).

For a $50 difference it just seems you are missing out on too much. Consider that Maxwell is a new architecture that hasn't been fully tapped out perf-wise compared to the R9s which are going on a year old now.


The TRi-X is a good card, I owned a pair of those previously, but unless you have extremely good cooling and low ambient temps it is nearly impossible to overclock them. With the 970/980s you can get a 20% OC easily because the TDP is significantly lower. Case in point... my 980s are OC'd by 20% on the core, and hitting 50-60% fan speed with no throttling. The Tri-X cards I had in the same configuration were hitting 80% fan speed at stock, so basically no headroom for overclocking.

If you just care about FPS/dollar, don't plan to OC and aren't factoring in additional features then the $279 R9 290 is a good buy. But I think most people consider the overall picture in video card purchases.

And yeah Maxwell cards are low on stock right now that is the case for all GPU launches usually. If you can wait a few more weeks there will probably be good supply coming in, and less gouging.

 

[Eric1987]

Not true about the overclocking. I overclock mine like a beast.

 

[guskline]

x3sphere: good points but I custom watercool so the 290s are great!

 

[x3sphere]

Not true about the overclocking. I overclock mine like a beast.

Well, that is my experience with the cards. I am not saying they don't OC well if you have the proper cooling. Also, I live in Arizona so my ambient temps here are quite high, which really made keeping the cards cool difficult in my case.

 

[Fastx]

X3sphere, on your Tri -X 290 CF when your cards hit 80% fan speed were you running a custom fan profile and if so what was your fan custom profile settings?
Also what is your case fan setup and GPU temps per above?

The reason I ask is I discovered something was surprising to me (in a positive way) on the Tri-X cooler.

 

[Abwx]

For a $50 difference it just seems you are missing out on too much. Consider that Maxwell is a new architecture that hasn't been fully tapped out perf-wise compared to the R9s which are going on a year old now.

That s about the same as their previous uarch, just that they crancked up the clocks, a 970 work at about 30% higher frequency than a regular 780 while the 980 get 23% over a 780ti, do the maths, that s the same as increasing the exe units by as much % but without the mm2 footprints.

 

[x3sphere]

X3sphere, on your Tri -X 290 CF when your cards hit 80% fan speed were you running a custom fan profile and if so what was your fan custom profile settings?
Also what is your case fan setup and GPU temps per above?

The reason I ask is I discovered something was surprising to me on the Tri-X cooler.

Just had the cards on the default auto setting, no fan profile. The top card was reaching 90C, bottom card was a little cooler, hovered around 80-83C.

I have a Corsair 650D, 2x Corsair SP120 Quiet fans (exhaust) at the top, another SP120 as a rear exhaust, and Bitfinex 200mm fan as intake at the front. So it's not like my airflow is bad or anything. As I said ambient temps here are high though, around 80 F right now... probably higher than most.

Pic of my case, now with the 980s: http://i.picpar.com/teeb.jpg