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Let the Summer GPU Wars Begin - AMD Ships Radeon 4850 Graphics Card

post #1 of 20
6/2/08 at 8:16am
Thread Starter 
The launch of the ATI HD 4850 marks the beginning of what most consider will be a brutal GPU war over the summer.

Quote:
Exclusive - Taipei (Taiwan) - AMD’s graphics team has put the finishing touches at its new GPU generation and actually has begun shipping the new 4850 card to OEM partners and retailers: The new Radeon series will sell for prices between $199 and $499.

According to information we came across in Taiwan, AMD/ATI is gunning for a sizeable launch of the new product generation, with Radeon 4850 512 MB boards leading the charge. However, the exact price has not been set yet, even if it is certain that the GDDR3 512 MB version (codenamed Makedon) will debut in a range between $179 and $219. If you ask us, we believe that the board be priced exactly at $199 (US, CAN) as well as 199 Euro.

We were told that AMD/ATI will decide on final pricing during the Computex tradeshow (which is scheduled to open on Monday) in order to have all the puzzle pieces for a June 18 in place. It certainly does not look like a paper launch at this time and the June 18 is an as-of-now date, since the company could revise is launch schedule to avoid a launch right on the heels of Nvidia’s new high-end parts.

The good news here is certainly that ATI is aiming for $199, sub-$299 and $499 price targets. However, the release dates of the faster SKUs may be problematic: Nvidia is working on new mainstream chips as well, which will debut in Q3 of this year, our sources indicate.

The Radeon 4870 512 MB is expected to ship in volume sometime this summer. This will be the first graphics card in the market to integrate GDDR5 memory. However, the 4870 X2, will face stiff competition from the GeForce GTX 260: Radeon 4870 X2 cards will sell for $499, while the GeForce GTX 260 is likely to debut at $449.

It is unclear whether ATI’s 480 and 960 shader units will be enough to capture market share in the targeted price ranges. All we know is that the game is on and the winner is yet to be decided. According to ATI partners, Nvidia still has a big advantage in its logistics division, both in sales and PR.
Source: TomsHardware
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post #2 of 20
6/2/08 at 9:21am
Thread Starter 
One point to add for clarification: The "war" I speak of will be in the price/performance segment. The all-out performance award appears to be going to the GTX 280 as the fastest single card/gpu.

More to come...
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post #3 of 20
6/2/08 at 10:33am
but the 280 is supposed to cost a lot more correct?
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post #4 of 20
6/2/08 at 11:14am
Thread Starter 
GTX 280 will be over $600. GTX 260 just a tad over $400 I believe. From what I've read so far, the 260 isn't much slower than the 280 or 4870x2 (rumored), making it a contender for "best bang for the buck" GPU. The 4870x2 is reportedly coming in at $499.

Again, everything is a rumor until we start seeing some RL benchies. There's a lot of made up crap floating around right now.
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post #5 of 20
6/2/08 at 11:17pm
I am going to get me two if those babies 4870x2 that is.

Woot
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post #6 of 20
6/3/08 at 12:53pm
Sorry to say that I'm sliding toward ATi right now, Nvidia recently seems to be letting price slip from them.
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post #7 of 20
6/3/08 at 1:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pdonket View Post
Sorry to say that I'm sliding toward ATi right now, Nvidia recently seems to be letting price slip from them.
Yeh this is very disappointing.
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post #8 of 20
6/3/08 at 4:28pm
The last ATI card i was was the 9800, then I went over to the dark side until now.

I have Seen The Light
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post #9 of 20
6/3/08 at 4:43pm
dark side??
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post #10 of 20
6/3/08 at 4:59pm
I've only had two ATi cards, an old rage 128, and a 9700 all-in-wonder. Everything else I've owned has been Nvidia.

I've got an X48 board, so it's either crossfire, or a single Nvidia card for me. Looks like I may be looking at the 4870 very closely... or maybe I'll wait for the next gen. The 8800gtx 768 I just got for $280 is really quite impressive.
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post #11 of 20
6/3/08 at 5:09pm
I've owned an X800 and currently use an X1800 in my 5750.
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post #12 of 20
6/3/08 at 9:54pm
Thread Starter 
Last 2 ATi cards here were the 9800 pro and x850xt. every system I've built/sold since then has had the green

I might go with the gtx260. my step-up expires at the end of the month...but benchmarks will be the determining factor.
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post #13 of 20
6/3/08 at 11:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve@NBF View Post
dark side??
lol


I was an ATI fan right from the days of CGA Cards.

The 7900 was the first NVidea card i ever bought
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post #14 of 20
6/4/08 at 12:04am
I have been, and always will be an NVIDIA fanboi... I had some not-so-great experiences with ATI cards a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. I gave them a fair chance, and even dealt with some more recent (9700, 9800, X800, X1900) cards, but, just not my style.

Thus the reason I was called GeForceTony...
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post #15 of 20
6/4/08 at 11:02am
If AMD/ATI had better driver support, I'd be more inclined to consider their products, but there's a world of difference between Nvidia and ATI drivers from everything I've read, and there are many 3rd parties that offer tweaked or optimized Nvidia drivers (such as NBF Mobile Force), but none that I know of for AMD/ATI drivers.
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post #16 of 20
6/4/08 at 4:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Djembe View Post
If AMD/ATI had better driver support, I'd be more inclined to consider their products, but there's a world of difference between Nvidia and ATI drivers from everything I've read, and there are many 3rd parties that offer tweaked or optimized Nvidia drivers (such as NBF Mobile Force), but none that I know of for AMD/ATI drivers.
I've been using ATI along side Nvidia cards for years now. ATI's windows drivers have improved greatly, and in my opinion have surpassed Nvidia's. Linux has been another story. ATI's drivers have been hell in linux for a long time and nvidia's have seemed to just work. Things are starting to change now though, both of them just work in linux with promise for ATI cards to be getting better.

As for 3rd party ATI drivers, Omega Drivers has offered great drivers for years now.
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post #17 of 20
6/11/08 at 11:42am
OK where are my HD-4870X2 Cards, I got everything else here ready to Build my new PC lol
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post #18 of 20
6/11/08 at 1:22pm
Thread Starter 
I don't think the X2s are gonna be out for at least a month or two. Do you have a cheap card to use in the interim?
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post #19 of 20
6/11/08 at 2:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Buck View Post
I don't think the X2s are gonna be out for at least a month or two. Do you have a cheap card to use in the interim?
I think if I were him I'd split up the 2 8800GT's and just use one in each of those gaming systems
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post #20 of 20
6/11/08 at 5:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pdonket View Post
I think if I were him I'd split up the 2 8800GT's and just use one in each of those gaming systems
Not enough Power
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NotebookForums.com › Forums › Off Topic › Desktop and Hardware Discussion › Let the Summer GPU Wars Begin - AMD Ships Radeon 4850 Graphics Card