The headset prices aren't based on how many VR-ready PC's there are, but how many people actually buy VR systems. From numbers we've seen, there's still less than 200,000 Rifts/Vives out there. Out of 10,000,000+ VR-capable systems. So obviously the number of VR-ready systems is not the bottleneck to lower headset/setup prices.
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AMD Polaris architecture – GCN 4.0
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Soldato
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Actually $199 converts to £165 inc vat which is more than a hair under £200.
An easier way to gauge how prices compare here to the US is to go price the same GPU in both countries.
Sapphire R9 380 Nitro 4GB is ~$209 in the US. ~£179 here in UK.
Gigabyte Windforce 960 2X is ~$199 in the US. ~£169 here in the UK.
I can't see a mainstream card being price-gouged like we got with the 1080 because it is nowhere near a halo part.
Soldato
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Sony and Microsoft sold there Ps3 and Xbox360's at a loss as all the money is in software sales. If enough people will buy the headset then they could sell at a loss and make more through Software sales than they ever would through hardware. At this moment the market is not big enough for them to lose money on headset's. That's the way i see it anyway. At the current price VR will not take off. Prices will naturally come down as well once making the headsets become cheaper but if they are serious about VR they better get enough sold to make good money on Software.
Right.
I think as people are very eager to blame Nvidia for the UK pricing, we forget that it's actually the retailers setting their own margins on their pricing. Pretty easy to see this is the case when the 1080 cards were all over the place pricing-wise between sellers.
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I mentioned I liked it, not that they needed to.
Just to put it into perspective, the non FE 1080 retails for $599, which equates to £498 after VAT is added. If the 480 RX is looking popular, do you not think it will also be price gouged?
Those consoles were only sold at a loss in the beginning. The plan is to always regain profitability over time through economy of scale.
But yes, they ultimately rely more on the other aspects - the ecosystem as a whole. It isn't just software, it's accessories, subscriptions, even merchandise(usually franchise-related), but also software.
Problem is - VR doesn't even have a small fraction of the ecosystem userbase that console manufacturers rely on. You can take the console approach when you can be relatively confident of selling tens of millions units over a year or two, while having hundreds of titles available that you're taking a cut on, and also the accessory sales and now the common online subscription costs.
VR has none of that. NONE of it. So you're entirely right - at the moment, VR does not have the market to do the same sort of thing. Oculus are playing the long game and trying to build up to that. It may or may not work, though I do think that the cost of their headset probably includes some margin for R&D expenditures rather than just being 'at cost' for materials. The Vive has to be sold at a profit because HTC does not have a software ecosystem to make money off of. And Valve make money no matter what, because they dont have to spend any money on making or selling the headsets, they just hope people buy them and come to Steam to buy software. They'll be fine whether VR fails or not, though.
Anyways, point is - cutting $100-150 off the entry price of a VR-capable GPU is not going to initiate a giant surge of VR buyers. Those that are price conscious will mostly not find the idea of a $600-800+ VR setup appealing in the first place. Meaning that it's going to be hard for the costs of VR headsets to come down anytime soon, and sustaining the high price barrier to VR no matter how cheap GPU's get.
Soldato
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Yea pretty much. I think AMD believe that if they can grow the market by bringing cheap cards then the headset makers will lower the price as they will sell a lot more headsets thus making more money through numbers and all off the above that you mentioned. It certainly has the potential to grow but it could take awhile as it's pretty much starting from scratch on all fronts.
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The 1080 is the undisputed performance single GPU and as such price gouging is inevitable, especially in light of the fact it is not exactly a high volume part right now.
In contrast the RX 480 absolutely must be available in very large quantities for it to be a success. So price gouging by any retailer would simply put them in a position where they would be overpriced compared to competitors. It would be pointless for a retailer to price a ~£170-£250 at £200 - £280 because people would just go to a competitor.
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The 8GB was announced at $229 which is around $195 Inc VAT. But these direct conversations never work.
RX 480 is $199 = £138
£138+20% = £165.6
So not exactly a hair under £200.
The poster asked about the 8agab model.which is 229 which is around 192 quid with VAT but no additional shipping, duty or local market variations.
So under 200 quod for the 8GB is a reasonable figure. It might be more
Soldato
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they wont work.
USA varying tax amounts are added at checkout.
UK tax is already included in the price.
That $195 should read £195 GBP, I'm on a phone.
That is a direct conversion plus VAT
I would be surprised but very pleased if the 8GB drops under the £200 barrier
they did say under $500 for 2 of them which would suggest inc vat a price of just under £210 + "insert terrible exchange rate here" making it roughly 215 so I would guess at £219.99 which is a solid price anyway.
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