** ATI RADEON 7950 OVERCLOCKING & HEAVEN RESULTS!! **

[straxusii]

With the 7970 holding The Fastest Graphics Card Eva™ title and flying off the shelves @£420-500 if I were AMD I'd keep the details of the monster clocking little brother that's £100 cheaper* and still faster than a GTX580 close to my chest

*may not be true

I wouldn't say they are flying off the shelves, I can't remember the last die shrink new GPU release where there has been constant stock in almost all retailers since launch like the 7970.

 

[Biffa]

The ones that sold for the correct price flew off the shelves, thats why there aren't any of them left. The overpriced rebadged silly stuff is still there and selling but slower. Certainly there seemed to be a much better stock availability of the product for a launch, normally Gibbo has some sort of crazy exclusivity deal going where he gets more than anyone else, but that didn't seem to be the case this time which hints at much better availablility at launch than many previous products

 

[ALXAndy]

I wouldn't say they are flying off the shelves, I can't remember the last die shrink new GPU release where there has been constant stock in almost all retailers since launch like the 7970.

Look elsewhere.

It's only the models that have been priced extortionately that are still in stock.

I've seen the Gigabyte cards selling for around £460 min.
I've seen XFX cards selling for £439 (and I bought mine at that price)
I've seen MSIs selling for £499

The problem is that firstly AMD's RRP was £440 (to match the price of the 580 3GB) yet OEMs have decided to take pricing into their own hands.

However, I agree with Biffa. Cards priced at the RRP have flown out. Within three hours of buying mine stock on the card I bought was gone. And this isn't exactly one of the "Big Hitter" retailers.

Popular retailers were sold out within moments on the cards that were correctly priced. OCUK had some too.

This isn't really down to OCUK. When you run a business there is a method of pricing goods. You multiply what you paid for it by a certain % and that's how you come up with your sale price. So it just goes to show who is being greedy and who isn't IMO.

 

[Angst]

i'm limited to a 9.5" card in my case.

 

[MissChief]

Still interested in a 7950 but I really don't need a 3gb card, even if I do replace my monitor with a 1080p one. Are all the first run cards 3gb models? Has anyone let slip a price or is taking pre-orders?

Also should add, has anyone moved from green to red recently? Would rather not reinstall windows if I can get away with it and are the historically poor amd/ati driver issues a thing of the past? I'm also tempted to save myself £150 and just get a 2gb 6950.

 

[TheRealDeal]

Still interested in a 7950 but I really don't need a 3gb card, even if I do replace my monitor with a 1080p one. Are all the first run cards 3gb models? Has anyone let slip a price or is taking pre-orders?

Also should add, has anyone moved from green to red recently? Would rather not reinstall windows if I can get away with it and are the historically poor amd/ati driver issues a thing of the past? I'm also tempted to save myself £150 and just get a 2gb 6950.

On the ati/amd driver front, i have been using amd since the 9800pro and i cant really fault the drivers. I think a lot of amd driver problems are on the multi gpu side. Sli users also have more problems than those using single cards. I think the amd partners are doing a 1.5gb version of the 7950 but i dont know anything about its release date.

 

[Menty]

are the historically poor amd/ati driver issues a thing of the past?

I bitched about AMD drivers for 8/9 months when I was having bsod's etc in BC2.
As soon as I changed from a 775 to 1155 platform last summer my troubles stopped.
Perhaps my problem was hardware related not the drivers as I'm playing BF3 without any major problem either.
I'm no longer anti AMD

 

[straxusii]

Look elsewhere.

It's only the models that have been priced extortionately that are still in stock.

No mate, I've been following it on multiple retailers since launch and sub £460 has been largely in stock everywhere, sad I know.

We can argue about which bands of price are in stock and which aren't but the fact remains it hasn't sold out unlike every other die shrink new flagship gpu.

 

[dave_beast]

No mate, I've been following it on multiple retailers since launch and sub £460 has been largely in stock everywhere, sad I know.

We can argue about which bands of price are in stock and which aren't but the fact remains it hasn't sold out unlike every other die shrink new flagship gpu.

As stock gets lower, prices rise, simple business supply/demand logic.

 

[555BUK]

At launch Gibbo said that he had sourced enough 7970 stock to last for a week or so. Maybe he sourced more new stock soon afterwards, but I haven't noticed OcUK or any other retailer running out since launch.

My guess is that most people believe these cards are overpriced, and do not wish to jump on the first 28nm boat before seeing the opposition. I also believe that early adopters of 7970's will get burnt by large price drops that will surely take place once GK104 arrives (assuming that $299 or thereabouts is the list price). GK104 could well match 7970 performance for less than 7950 prices, so I personally am holding fire until GK104 arrives.

 

[Gibbo]

At launch Gibbo said that he had sourced enough 7970 stock to last for a week or so. Maybe he sourced more new stock soon afterwards, but I haven't noticed OcUK or any other retailer running out since launch.

My guess is that most people believe these cards are overpriced, and do not wish to jump on the first 28nm boat, before seeing the opposition. I also believe that early adopters of 7970's will get burnt by large price drops that will surely take place once GK104 arrives (assuming that $299 ore thereabouts is the list price). GK104 could well match 7970 performance for less than 7950 prices, so I personally am holding fire until GK104 arrives.

Hi there

To answer your questions most board partners manage to ship another batch before Chinese New Year.

At present we have over 200 cards in stock, so were all good, no shortages for us, we even have lots of the elusive Asus cards in stock, which sells surprisingly well even though it is one of the most expensive, but it does have the best BIOS.

 

[dave_beast]

My guess is that most people believe these cards are overpriced, and do not wish to jump on the first 28nm boat, before seeing the opposition. I also believe that early adopters of 7970's will get burnt by large price drops that will surely take place once GK104 arrives (assuming that $299 ore thereabouts is the list price). GK104 could well match 7970 performance for less than 7950 prices, so I personally am holding fire until GK104 arrives.

When I bought my 7970 (for £416 ) I would have preferred to see what NVidia were bringing out, but now, over 3 weeks later and there's still no official info. Even if the price on the 7970 dropped by £100 in 3 months, at least i've been having the experience of it. If high end Kepler blows Tahiti out of the water i'll sell my 7970 and get one of those.

 

[TheRealDeal]

At launch Gibbo said that he had sourced enough 7970 stock to last for a week or so. Maybe he sourced more new stock soon afterwards, but I haven't noticed OcUK or any other retailer running out since launch.

My guess is that most people believe these cards are overpriced, and do not wish to jump on the first 28nm boat, before seeing the opposition. I also believe that early adopters of 7970's will get burnt by large price drops that will surely take place once GK104 arrives (assuming that $299 ore thereabouts is the list price). GK104 could well match 7970 performance for less than 7950 prices, so I personally am holding fire until GK104 arrives.

With keplar not coming until april at the earliest those with the money to buy 7970's are not going to be bothered as they are using the fastest gpu available atm. If gk104 is not as fast as some seem to think, then buying a 7970 now is a decent investment if you love gaming.

 

[555BUK]

There are recent rumblings that GK104 will ship towards the end of February. Even it does take longer, I prefer to own a card that I know is good value, rather than hope will hold it's value. GK104 may turn out to be as fast as the 7970 for ~£260, or it could be slower and more expennsive than expected. Either way, I prefer to have a choice before I make my choice. Real competition always drives prices down.

 

[Biffa]

No mate, I've been following it on multiple retailers since launch and sub £460 has been largely in stock everywhere, sad I know.

We can argue about which bands of price are in stock and which aren't but the fact remains it hasn't sold out unlike every other die shrink new flagship gpu.

Thats the wrong price, the right price is sub £420, which sold out fast and hasn't been available since. I also maintain that for the first time in a very long while we had a launch product that had sufficient quantities of stock available through multiple retailers that it didnt immediately go out of stock within a few days.

 

[Gerard]

Funny how the ocuk branded cards still aren't in stock yet have jumped £20. Always amazes me how on launches the cheaper iterations of cards "dont make it in time". Only when demand starts do slow do they ever show up, funny that.

 

[MAK360]

I think price conscious people looking for bang for pound may do well holding off (like myself) but most sites including Charlie has said performance wise; HD7970 is you're best bet for at-least few months before anything challenges it from the green team including the HD7990.

GK104 may be cheap and may compete on value but i doubt a middle end card coming anywhere close to the high end (miracle`s or no miracle`s) especially the tech now being where it is, everything squeezed to full potential from both sides isn't going to bring something well above the norms.

 

[ALXAndy]

I think price conscious people looking for bang for pound may do well holding off (like myself) but most sites including Charlie has said performance wise; HD7970 is you're best bet for at-least few months before anything challenges it from the green team including the HD7990.

GK104 may be cheap and may compete on value but i doubt a middle end card coming anywhere close to the high end (miracle`s or no miracle`s) especially the tech now being where it is, everything squeezed to full potential from both sides isn't going to bring something well above the norms.

If people were buying the 7970 for the right reasons then it's cheap. It costs less (if you look hard enough) than a 580 3GB.

And that, really, is the only card you can compare it to as every step of the way it's "like for like" only better at everything.

Which if you think about it makes it cheap.

I wasn't in the market for one as I had already bought a 6970 (I found that suitable for my needs). Sadly the 6970 didn't work out and I was looking at being without a PC at all for weeks. Had a bit of money, bought a 7970. I doubt I'll ever use a fraction of what makes it worth what it is, but at least I'm honest

 

[Freddie1980]

Thats the wrong price, the right price is sub £420, which sold out fast and hasn't been available since. I also maintain that for the first time in a very long while we had a launch product that had sufficient quantities of stock available through multiple retailers that it didnt immediately go out of stock within a few days.

If they sell out in "a few days" all that means is the price was set to low and AMD and it's partners have missed out on a opportunity to make a better return just like when AMD dropped the ball with the 5870 pricing.

 

[Gibbo]

Funny how the ocuk branded cards still aren't in stock yet have jumped £20. Always amazes me how on launches the cheaper iterations of cards "dont make it in time". Only when demand starts do slow do they ever show up, funny that.

Thats because it was a gamble played by ourselves.

Fact is the best price we have seen will not allow us to sustain £419.99 inc. VAT.

As such stock is due tomorrow, the 40 or so backorders at £419.99 shall be honored and shipped tomorrow and now the price has gone up simply reflecting the cost price.

Its still our best price 7970 and we have them arriving tomorrow.