PART 1: Let's talk estimated prices of the 5970 as soon as the 6990 drops into shops in the next few months. I'm looking to get one (5970) on the cheap but i might spring for the 6990 if it's really worth the full fat price (sure to be a hefty price tag so i doubt it). And perhaps what about the 4gb 5970 that was just ridiculously expensive, how will that change if at all? Is it even worth it? What's the general trend of price drops of newly replaced high end cards? PART 2: Assuming AMD continue the winning trend in performance, heat and hunger in their 5xxx series into the 6xxx series, would you think the performance of 6990 justifies paying more for the card than just getting a 5970 on the cheap (well cheaper than it is now). PART 3: What does/will nVidia have to offer? Because, forgive me, I am clueless with nVidia. **Disclaimer** I'm no tech buff so lay it on me
I would estimate around a 10% drop in price for the HD5970 upon the HD6990's release but nothing spectacular. Nvidia on the other hand will be lowering the prices of their cards I presume; for example the GTX 460 took a £20-£30 drop after the HD6870 release. Nvidia are due to release the GTX 580 to counter the release of the HD6990 so things may be get very very interesting.
Nobody knows about the fermi cards yet. After nvidia faked a card last year a pushed release dates like crazy, who can say for sure. The 5970 are probably going to be cheaper but you are still going to be paying similar $ per performance. Maybe second handed cards. Theres alwats crazy people replacing cards every 12 months.
Yeah i'm waiting to see what nVidia have as well. I wouldn't be surprised if they pull out all the stops in a bid to recover some of the market they lost to AMD over the last year buy one get one free? Looks like the 5970 is the way for me right now. Might have to give the 6990 a miss. If the price drops enough I might even be able to afford two in crossfire but that's just christmas-wishful thinking
I would expect big drops, dealers don't want to have stock sitting about any longer than necessary. I've got an XFX 9800 GX2, they were nearly £450 new, when the next big thing hit the market they dropped by nearly £100. The high end card always seem to suffer the most, which, if you're not to bothered about having the latest tech is a good thing. I've been down that road and then seen a massive drop 10 months down the line, now I'm quite happy to wait and be a few months behind every one, but better off in the pocket. Then I can buy more goodies.
I don't think there will be that much of a price drop purely due to a) The close performance between both Nvidia and AMD cards b) The fact that the new cards are not an entirely new architecture. For example when the main contender to the GTX460 was released (the HD6850/6870s, most probably the HD6850) the GTX460 dropped in price by around £20-£30. The same story occurred for the GTX470 at the same time.
