They were selling the cards and making a nice profit. Isn't that what companies are supposed to do?
The new price is a result of competition and it's what companies are supposed to do.
Is that what they were doing to their customers up until today?
Was a 780 really worth $150 more yesterday than today?
So what? Far fewer people will find the 290X tempting since it no longer has the 100$ price advantage over the 780. That 100$ price advantage was the reason why it received such glowing reviews despite the terrible reference shroud used on it. In fact, if I were on the market for a new GPU i'd pretty much lean towards the 780OC if it sold for 510$.
I don't expect you to EVER admit it, but the 290X at 550$ is a harder sell now because of this. Some people will still buy it, sure, but the 780 sure does look really attractive now at 499$. AMD could offset that by matching the 499$ price, and pricing the 290 at 400$. That's what they should do given the terrible reference cooler used. AMD could have prevented any criticism about the cooler entirely. We wouldn't be even discussing this if AMD had gone all out with the 290X. But clearly they cut corners, and that makes the 290X less attractive as a result.
They were selling the cards and making a nice profit. Isn't that what companies are supposed to do?
The new price is a result of competition and it's what companies are supposed to do.
At the end of the PcPer post, Ryan said Titans were still flying off the shelf according to Nvidia so they werent lowering it - there really must be a big CUDA developer following on it -
"NVIDIA did NOT announce a GTX TITAN price drop which might surprise some people. I think the answer as to why will be addressed with the launch of the GTX 780 Ti next month but from what I was hearing over the last couple of weeks NVIDIA can't make the cards fast enough to satisfy demand so reducing margin there just didn't make sense. "
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130918
EVGA 780 GTX w the ACX Cooler is on newegg for $559 right now
I know that and that was not even my point. What I was getting at is that AMD should lower the 290X cost to 499$ to match the 780s cost now, being that the 780OC will likely be in that price range (510-520$, and 550$ for over-voltage capable cards). The 290X is less attractive as a result of the cheap crap cooler it uses and therefore it should be price cut. And it should have never settle.
Basically, I think a lot of folks will lean towards 780OC as opposed to 290X now precisely due to the horrible cooler that AMD is using. Because of this, a price cut on the 290X makes all too much sense to me. I don't expect Rhagu to admit this, though
Once the custom coolers come in the price will go up too, so $550 is now $560-580.
And if 780 Ti say slots at $600 just to keep pressure strong, what's the point of R9 290X @ $550?
499$ for 780 is great, I think for a lot of people it becomes the better choice now, considering temps/noise and all that
699$ for the Ti version is still retarded though... Its ridiculous how Nvidia keeps trying to push the price ceiling on high end cards with every generation
Nvidia is starting to feel like the Apple of video cards, ridiculous premium for no reason other than brand alone
If it werent for AMD keeping them in check, I have no doubt they would be asking 2500$ for 780 Ti about now
Getting forced into a price cut is not generally considered winning.
Think of how many times AMD has had to cut prices on their CPUs. Is this a sign they were winning against Intel? No, it's a sign that they had to cut prices (and therefore profit margins) in order to remain competitive.
Nvidia's situation isn't that bad, but trust me, they are not happy about making $150 less in profit on each GTX 780. Sure, they may sell more at the lower price, but if they thought that would make up for it, they would have already cut the price before now. It's not like they don't have people whose specific job it is to run these kind of analyses.
Of course, the one group that does clearly benefit from these price cuts is consumers. We get more and better choices for less money - what's not to like?
My take on the situation.
The price cuts are great and welcome. They feel better to a lot of people due to the gouging this generation, however the Titan / 780 ti is the 580 successor.
It appears that NV is taking notice and wants to sell cards even after the 290x and 290 are released so they are fitting the cards into the P/P lineup closer than they have in a while.
In the end the 290x offers a titan experience, not a gtx 780 experience.
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/10/23/amd_radeon_r9_290x_video_card_review/16
In the P/P ratio line, they are now sitting pretty well according to performance.
780 = $500 and up
290x = $550 and up (10-15%+ performance)
presumably with the following two additions very soon:
780 ti ~= titan + 5%?, $650+
290 ~= 780 performance, $400-450?
780 vs. 290x
I would either go custom 780 or custom 290x so it's not clear until they are released for the 290x. There's no way I'd buy today before seeing the 290x oc models, 290 and 780 ti. My suspicion is that NV is really preparing for the 290, as much as the 290x which clearly tromps on it. The 290 could be the new hot card still, and I hope these price cuts promote a $400 or less price tag, although it may not.
In the end the consumer is finally getting results, NV is forced to reduce the absurd gouging, AMD is forced to consider pricing carefully and hopefully notices the cooler criticism.
I thought the 480, 580 and 680 were all the same price?, and that Titan\780 changed the high end due to no competition.
The 290X performs outstanding. That isn't in dispute. As far as cooling goes, though, a custom water loop costs upwards of 500$ excluding the GPU depending on how fancy you get. A custom third party cooler such as an Accelero costs 70-100$. Can you not see the problem here? I see the problem, because AMD cut corners on the cooler - that puts the 290X in a weird position against overclocked 780 cards which will likely sell for around 510$. Who wants a 290X + accelero for 650$ when they could just get a 780 overclocked edition and call it a day for less money?
AMD stated that they were gunning for the 780 and not the Titan in terms of price and competition. So if AMD is gunning for the 780, they should GUN FOR THE 780. The 780 is 50$ cheaper now. 780 overclocked cards will be from 510$ to 550$ with whisper quiet aftermarket coolers - AMD needs to lower the 290X reference to 450-500$ IMHO. If they had not cut corners on the cooler, the 550$ price could be justified. But as things stand, it's easy to see that a lot of folks will opt for overclocked 780s instead since they will be cheaper than the 290X. As far as I see it, the 550$ price is no longer justified considering the lacking cooler and the lower price of OC'ed 780s.
Moonbogg was correct when he said that the 290X went from awesome to not so awesome in 5 minutes due to this price change. The 780 price reduction changes everything, and AMD should react accordingly.
Nvidia will be ridiculed if the Ti is anything less than a full GK110. I mean, there's no point to this card if it isn't really. That they're propping up the price by $50 instead of just replacing the 780's old price point suggests it's not a mere OC'd card.