I've noticed that a lot of big review sites have stopped updating their Big Navi articles. Does that mean we're in a nondisclosure window with reviews to follow shortly?
The latest and greatest from the AMD GPU department: https://www.techpowerup.com/271562/amd-rolls-out-radeon-rx-5300-1408-sp-3gb-gddr6 Yeah, ok that was just me sh*tposting. But seriously, just a quick refresher on what they messed up recently with their GPU launches and why no one cares anymore: -Vega (hyped for years, arrived late, hot and expensive) -Radeon VII (completely botched reference cooler, AIBs banned from fixing it, extremely limited availability and ~£200 too much) -RX5700 / RX5700XT (widespread reports of driver issues and high failure rates) -RX5600XT (The whole bios / memory catastrof*ck)
The cynic in my just had a though: Maybe they purposely underfund it becuase they have more selling power as the underdog image than actually trying to compete with Nvidia for the amount of investment they put in...
The declining market share, even with nvidia actively taking the piss with prices, leads me to believe 'supporting the underdog' is falling flat.
The thing with underdogs is that they are only worth supporting if they provide 90% of the experience for 60% of the price. Like the original OnePlus smartphone for example. If they provide an exercise in frustration then most of those who dip their toes will feel let down and less willing to risk the experience again.
I religiously buy amd cards, I don't think I've had a non amd/ATI card since a 2mb matrix back in the day, but yeah. Amd are dropping so many GPU balls that I don't see them ever realistically catching up without Nvidia doing an Intel - which they don't seem to be doing. Big Navi will, I expect, review averagely at best.
Which is a damned shame. I want them to do what they did to Intel - Produce a competitive, good value product that forces Nvidia to roll back the price gouging.
The issue is Intel focussed elsewhere for a decade. Nvidia has been reinvesting hard for a decade, so the amount of R&D to catch up with Intel was far less than to catch up with Nvidia. Plus Nvidia have that nice thing called CUDA which helpfully locks people on to their hardware...
I'd quite like them to level the playing field too - but I don't see it happening at a price point that changes a thing.
If they could do a 3080 competitor for cheaper i'd be all over it. So long as the vbios works. And the drivers. And it doesn't need a powerstation to run it. I'm never going to pick up a $1400 3090 card, i'm just not - out of principle more than anything. * * And i'm tight
Dunno about Navi, but isn't the new Nvidia about to require your own personal dyson sphere? If AMD can beat that they should be doing ok.
Having to rob Fort Knox to pay for your own Hinkley Point is merely the proverbial mole hill when it is beyond any shadow of a doubt the fastest gaming GPU on the planet. But when it struggles to compete against several years old GPUs? Then it becomes a literal mountain.
I get it. AMD got a mountain to ascend. But Nvidia requiring you replace ya PSU or GTFO is going to have an affect. A small one I'll wager. But still. Me? I'm rockin a 970 Strix.. awww yea. I'm waiting for the 3000 series to drop so I can buy a 2070 Super without selling my soul. Pretty sure Cyberpunk 2077 is gonna need that for a minimum. DX 12 aint even needed yet, and RTX is like "im so pretty, look at me". Bitch I'll look at you when you get over yourself and actually do something.
The problem is that even if big navi comes close to to 3080, so will it's price. Amd aren't going to upset a market that's got used to lubing up to buy a new gpu.
Ol' Beve Sturke was saying recently that the connector change wasn't likely to cause an issue - apparently third party board folk can still use 8+6 or 8+6 or whatever instead. Plus apparently there was some noise about an adapter. I think the 3080's Achilles heel is going to be price more than anything power related. But I'm a nobody with no industry insight whatsoever.
Well MAYBE I used the 3090 to have a moan, but come on. Its pretty mad. Ya think the 3080 wont BE a 3090 in a few months with the Super/TI moniker? I ain't moaning at you though. I like a moan.. Besides. I'd trust you more than some "industry insider" any day.