I find it hard to accept that a card that has never had a release date announced by the manufacturer can be delayed.
Well to be honest, it's not that big of a release. Not to mention this is just to get rid of excess stock.. What I'm wondering is: If the BIOS and shaders are lasered..if not...there could be potential flashing fun, I mean it loses quite a few shaders, and I really doubt that all of the shaders are dead.
I kinda disagree in terms of the release. £220 is still a push for a lot of people in terms of a single upgrade - considering that would allow me to go from my Q9450 to a i3, P55 and DDR3 in a drop of a hat. A £170-£180 card would be a lot more tempting
If it's meant to fit in the slot still occupied by the 4890 then price/performance needs to be circa £150.
If the 5830 is the 4890 of the 5xxx range then all it needs to do at that price point is delivery 4890 performance plus DX11. Why would Ati expend time, effort and cost doing any more? Put this way, I've got an xfx 4890 + accelero cooler. Meaty looking card that has had no probs delivering all my games with all the effects on max at 1680x1050. If I were looking to replace it I doubt I would go for a 5830 spec card because I expect it to be an essentially side ways move. Come the moment which barring card malfunction wont be for 12/18 months I'll be going for a 5850 or even 5870 or Nvidias Fermi equivalent or even go for the next generation of card after that... 18 months could see us on the cusp of that ...Good grief!
The bad news is that this is approximately the price the HD5850 was introduced at. You know, back when you couldn't actually BUY it for the life of you.
Have managed to find it at quite a few places, Overclockers and eBuyer seem to have lots in stock. Will wait til March and see what the 5830 will be price-wise and just pary for a nice low price (circa £175)
