This is finally changing my mind about ATI. I have been an Nvidia guy for.... well almost ever (since I got rid of my 3dfx Voodo anyway...). And all I can say is that to me... well I would finally consider an ATI. I have actually been using an ATI/ AMD graphics card in my cheapo laptop and it works fine. I haven't had any driver issues, which were always the "warning". So yeah I would buy this card if I were buying a new card right now (gonna wait 1 more generation though so Nvidia still has a chance of keeping my loyalty).
Honestly, I've been a little let down by Nvidia and its focus on ARM processors.
I'm not sure why this card is the card to change your mind. The 9700pro never gave me any driver issues in 3 different computers, 1900xt never really did ( had to run driver cleaner for Crysis) and this 5870 has not.
And each of those cards were a much bigger improvement over the last generation then this card is. Even compared to a card that is 1.5 generations behind it ( 5870) its only about 50% faster for almost a 60% increase in price from what the 5870 was !2! years ago. This generation isn't showing great value at all and I cannot justify spending 600$ to get a 50% increase even though my card is 2 years old.
I agree with Southernsharky. I'm in the same boat, but from the perspective that this is the first $300+ card I might actually purchase. I've always been the $150-$275 buyer. This card is a very well-rounded edition, meaning it has everything from performance to versatility in non-graphics computations all in a sexy power envelope.
It's so well-rounded that if I purchase this card tonight, I can see myself not replacing it for a whopping 3 years! That's an eternity!
I'm gonna pull the trigger on this on the second/third round of shipments...
That will ALWAYS be the case with flagship cards, where the price is very high, and you don't get the performance increase compared to the cards that are just a few notches down. The Radeon 7950 will end up being quite a bit more affordable because it is not the "flagship" card.
In addition to that, right now, NVIDIA does not have a single-GPU card that can compete, so there is no competition to drive prices down. It should be interesting to see how long it will take NVIDIA to come up with a competing card, since if they go five months, AMD may be able to really take advantage of their lead and come out with the refresh part that will be even faster without a major redesign, and the Radeon 8000 will be that much closer to release.
I'm not talking about cards that are just a few notches down. I'm talking about a card that is 2 generations removed, The 5870 is around 160$ and more then 2 years old and was 2X! as fast as the other cards for 380$.
Only the Sapphire and the HIS are still available. With prices dropping on older generations, I don't think it's the Bitcoin miners who are behind this like the 6990 launch last spring.
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wingless - Sunday, January 8, 2012 - link
Maybe now we can actually use an AMD card for F@H! Hooray!Southernsharky - Sunday, January 8, 2012 - link
This is finally changing my mind about ATI. I have been an Nvidia guy for.... well almost ever (since I got rid of my 3dfx Voodo anyway...). And all I can say is that to me... well I would finally consider an ATI. I have actually been using an ATI/ AMD graphics card in my cheapo laptop and it works fine. I haven't had any driver issues, which were always the "warning". So yeah I would buy this card if I were buying a new card right now (gonna wait 1 more generation though so Nvidia still has a chance of keeping my loyalty).Honestly, I've been a little let down by Nvidia and its focus on ARM processors.
SlyNine - Sunday, January 8, 2012 - link
I'm not sure why this card is the card to change your mind. The 9700pro never gave me any driver issues in 3 different computers, 1900xt never really did ( had to run driver cleaner for Crysis) and this 5870 has not.And each of those cards were a much bigger improvement over the last generation then this card is. Even compared to a card that is 1.5 generations behind it ( 5870) its only about 50% faster for almost a 60% increase in price from what the 5870 was !2! years ago. This generation isn't showing great value at all and I cannot justify spending 600$ to get a 50% increase even though my card is 2 years old.
Iketh - Sunday, January 8, 2012 - link
I agree with Southernsharky. I'm in the same boat, but from the perspective that this is the first $300+ card I might actually purchase. I've always been the $150-$275 buyer. This card is a very well-rounded edition, meaning it has everything from performance to versatility in non-graphics computations all in a sexy power envelope.It's so well-rounded that if I purchase this card tonight, I can see myself not replacing it for a whopping 3 years! That's an eternity!
I'm gonna pull the trigger on this on the second/third round of shipments...
Targon - Monday, January 9, 2012 - link
That will ALWAYS be the case with flagship cards, where the price is very high, and you don't get the performance increase compared to the cards that are just a few notches down. The Radeon 7950 will end up being quite a bit more affordable because it is not the "flagship" card.In addition to that, right now, NVIDIA does not have a single-GPU card that can compete, so there is no competition to drive prices down. It should be interesting to see how long it will take NVIDIA to come up with a competing card, since if they go five months, AMD may be able to really take advantage of their lead and come out with the refresh part that will be even faster without a major redesign, and the Radeon 8000 will be that much closer to release.
SlyNine - Monday, January 9, 2012 - link
Wasn't the case with the 5870, 4870, 3870, 1900XT, 9700pro. So dont tell me it will aways be the case.People keep on repeating this and I'm not sure why, are you ignoring the facts??
SlyNine - Monday, January 9, 2012 - link
I'm not talking about cards that are just a few notches down. I'm talking about a card that is 2 generations removed, The 5870 is around 160$ and more then 2 years old and was 2X! as fast as the other cards for 380$.So try again.
etamin - Sunday, January 8, 2012 - link
10:20 PM EST:Only the Sapphire and the HIS are still available. With prices dropping on older generations, I don't think it's the Bitcoin miners who are behind this like the 6990 launch last spring.
DanNeely - Sunday, January 8, 2012 - link
11Pm EST. In addition to those two, Powecooler and XFX cards are showing as in stock.dustinlenguyen - Sunday, January 8, 2012 - link
I missed the first shipment for the ASUS/XFX Black Edition... Anyone know if these will be available from other places like Amazon tomorrow?SBTech86 - Monday, January 9, 2012 - link
how well does 6870 crossfire go against this ? 549 is steeeepAnanke - Monday, January 9, 2012 - link
6870 xfire very well....7970 is probably a great card, just it is not worth $600 to me.