X1950 Price Gouging: An Oh-So-Familiar Reminder Of ATI's Soft Launches

[perkam]

ATI back to its old ways...and as you can read from the title, I'm not amused.

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=x1950&btnG=Search+Froogle&lmode=online&scoring=p&price1=400&price2=&btnP=Go&sa=N&start=0 (There are 3 pages)

Perkam

[Nanometer]

They can't be serious can they?

[afireinside]

30 dollars over msrp when they're not supposed to be out yet? Not that bad... Look at E6600s. Supposed to be 316 yet they're 350-380.

[Kunaak]

never a surprise, when it comes to ATI and thier soft launchs....

I got reamed when I preorderd a 9800XT.
I got reamed when I preorderd the X800XT.

I have since stopped buying ATI hardware, anywhere near launch.
cause with ATI... Launch, does not seem to mean, actually being able to buy something...

if nasa was run by ATI... the ship would lauch today... but leave the ground next summer, haha...

[Afterburner]

if nasa was run by ATI... the ship would lauch today... but leave the ground next summer, haha...
:bounces:

[n00b 0f l337]

I thought 9/14/06 was On-shelf date...

[b0bd0le]

how long did it take nvidia to release the GX2 series? and whatever happened to the 512MB 7800GTX Ultra?

[BlackX]

First 399$, then 449$, now 470$, what next?... :stick:

[metro.cl]

how long did it take nvidia to release the GX2 series? and whatever happened to the 512MB 7800GTX Ultra?

:slap:

it is not about ati/nvidia is about us been ripped

[DilTech]

30 dollars over msrp when they're not supposed to be out yet? Not that bad... Look at E6600s. Supposed to be 316 yet they're 350-380.

Notice something man...those are all pre-orders.

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=190055&AFFIL=FRG&NR=1

September 25th for monarch, and they blatantly warn that the price will probably increase before launch.

The point is this...places are listing MSRP at $499.
http://www.sparco.com/cgi-bin/wfind2?spn=A97H512
http://www.costcentral.com/proddetail/ATI_RADEON_X1950_XTX/100435843/H79214/froogle/

As I said before, I'm willing to bet their problem is a lack of ram... It almost always happens to the first card to use a new memory.(6800Ultra/x800xtpe, 7800GTX 512mb ring any bells?) In this case, it's not just ATi trying to get the ram either, it's NVidia going for the same chips for the G80 as well. :fact:

[Starscream]

30 dollars over msrp when they're not supposed to be out yet? Not that bad... Look at E6600s. Supposed to be 316 yet they're 350-380.

those are prices atm, at some point theyl actualy be available. If that availability is bad i bet the prices will get even higher.
(with bad availability i mean when the X1800 first got available and newegg got like 20 cards orso for the entire US and didnt get new ones for a week or 2, if that happens again i bet the prices will rise even more)

:rolleyes: in one thread i said that you cant compaire MSRPs atlaunch as often u are not paying MSRP but more.
if this availability thing takes to long and if mass availability also takes ot long i guess some people will go and wait that week extra (orso) for a geforce 7950GT.

[Dynasty]

Most if not all price gouging happens with greedy e-tailers looking to cash in
quickly...I for one think the extra 150 points in 05 is too small to wait on
an X1950 XTX....good 3D tweaking can easily makeup for the lost 150 points
anyday of the week with an less expensive 1900XTX.
save the money and get an X1900 XTX or just wait for
the true monster 8800 to arrive...

then the X1950 series will be a thing of the past... :D

[cantankerous]

I totally agree with a well tweaked and overclocked X1900 at least matching the performance of an X1950. What I am hoping for however is later driver releases really showing the true performance of GDDR4 memory as well as better, more stable and less restricting overclocking software to become available to again show what these cards can really do. I hope the performance gained on the X1950 from all that will outweigh what an average user can do with an air cooled overclock on an X1900.

[Hicks]

Here in UK i can pre-order one for £310, which is a pretty decent price, most new GPU's go for closer to 400.

[aMp]

The problem isn't the price, it's ATI's over-promising. If they'd said three weeks ago that MSRP was $499, nobody would've blinked (except to point to the 7950), that being a fairly standard amount for a top-end card; and right now we'd be talking about how great it was that the launch prices were beating MSRP.

Somebody really needs to lock ATI's production and marketing teams into a room until they get on the same page.

[gOJDO]

In this case, it's not just ATi trying to get the ram either, it's NVidia going for the same chips for the G80 as well. :fact:
NVidia were parthners with SAMSUNG in the GDDR4 development, they have the benefit to have more of those chips.

[cantankerous]

At first it was said the cards would be 399, then upon NDA being lifted its suddenly 449 and now close to 500 at some places and that is before shipping and taxes. Totally not worth it for 2-4fps increase. To top that off that is USD, I can only imagine what it will be in canadian for me. $600+.

[perkam]

Here in UK i can pre-order one for £310, which is a pretty decent price, most new GPU's go for closer to 400.280 UK Pounds to be exact: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X1950_Series.html

Perkam

[Cobalt]

Why is this Ati gouging? It happened with nV cards as well and this card isn't even out yet. Some people seem to think that "NDA lifted" means "launch". Sure there will be price gouging but thats the retailers not Ati. And as someone else pointed out: $30 over msrp isn't exactly major gouging (it'll still go up though :().

[Starscream]

280 UK Pounds to be exact: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X1950_Series.html

Perkam

280 without VAT. with VAT its 328 pounds wich si the price ul pay.

[Eastcoasthandle]

You guys...can't you see this is another X1800xt (then 3 mos later) x1900xtx all over again. Honestly I don't care for DX10 but the R600 is rumored to be do out in a few mos (again looking at 3 mos) and it's going to blow the X1950 out the water. the X2000 will rule just wait...be patient and wait for it.

[Starscream]

You guys...can't you see this is another X1800xt (then 3 mos later) x1900xtx all over again. Honestly I don't care for DX10 but the R600 is rumored to be do out in a few mos (again looking at 3 mos) and it's going to blow the X1950 out the water. the X2000 will rule just wait...be patient and wait for it.

sorry but ur stating the obvious.
ofc the r600 will be way faster then the X1950.
cause if it isnt ATI has a problem.

If it will indeed take 3 months till they can mass deliver this card alot of people will jump to the G80 wich ATI doesnt want.
ANd i guess that even when the R600 comes the X1950 will stil be around.
cause when R600 comes theyl need cards to fill the 50 to 300 euro market wich will be the x1650 and X1950 (and of course other end of life models) unril ATI is able to launch X2xxx low end and mid end models.

[mr_knowitall15]

and whatever happened to the 512MB 7800GTX Ultra?
uhhhh... 7900GTX completely replacing it at a more reasonable price?:slap:

[cMw]

im sry but ill choose to wait for DX10 before i upgrade :o


and ill definitely sticking with nVidia ~

[b0bd0le]

uhhhh... 7900GTX completely replacing it at a more reasonable price?:slap:

after how many months?

[Sparky]

I don't care either way cuz I have no money to upgrade :p:

Actually this is the first time that I have a card that is of the latest series that I bought not long after launch. I've never done that before because of money but I was able to pull it off this once and it probably won't happen again for a long time (if ever).

Besides, I'm used to buying something then falling behind for awhile, I used a 9800 pro for a long time up until a year and a half ago, then had a vanilla 6800 between last July and this April. Glad I went back to ATI, but that is another story (yes the 6800 was faster than my 9800 pro was but there were things I didn't like about it).

[Makubex_GB]

Big deal, it happens with pretty much every launch of every video card, CPU, motherboard, etc.

[lookmomnobrains]

thare about 425 Euro (544 dollar) in holland (pre-order) for some days now..:(

[EZClock]

Agreeing with Makubex_GB. It's not a big deal at all.

[Deathspawner]

if nasa was run by ATI... the ship would lauch today... but leave the ground next summer, haha...

Seriously laughed out loud on that one. :toast:

[Revv23]

i dunno the card still isnt out yet i dont think this shows much about availability.

But i will agree that the x1900 is pretty much the only good launch ati has had in years.

[Nanometer]

i dunno the card still isnt out yet i dont think this shows much about availability.

But i will agree that the x1900 is pretty much the only good launch ati has had in years.

Ever since the 9800 if you ask me. Everything else was mistake after mistake.

[chas0039]

I know I am inviting it, but it is, after all, Manufacturer's Suggested Retail.
We never get angry when they are lower, why should we be when they are over? If no one buys, the price will go down. If people do buy, then the price is right. It's just the free market system at work.

[DilTech]

No, what the biggest thing about this is the fact that the msrp is MORE than what ATi has promised it...

Originally we were told it'd be $399, then $449(on ATi's official slides no less), now according to retailers MSRP is $499!

See the problem?

[Revv23]

i think the retailrs are lying to customers, another issue entirley....

find me an official ati $500 MSRP, and i might consider buying a nice new nvidia card. ;)

[turtle]

I agree.

I think the price to resellers is more along the lines of $400...You can usually tell approx how much they are paying once the market is flooded and some resellers sell their products at a lower margin to move more product.

As this has not yet happpened, of course there will be gouging. It happens with all products available before the official launch date.

Give it a week or so past the launch date (end of September) and i'm sure you'll see these much closer to the $400 mark.

You'll notice amongst these sellers there is no ZZF or newegg. I've noticed you usually see lower prices from smaller companies trying to compete with the afore-mentioned once they have them in stock (which is usually at MSRP).

[cantankerous]

same thing is going on here in Canada too.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=11247F&vpn=100-435843&manufacture=ATI%20TECHNOLOGIES

NCIX has the card on preorder for ~$578. A couple days ago the same card was $549.

PcCanada also has it on preorder:

http://www.pccanada.com/viewitem.asp?id=5042

It is now $595 although earlier this week it too was a lower price. There is no way $449USD equals close to $600 Canadian, not with the American dollar doing as poorly as it is as of late.

[Canibuz]

You were right.

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/9706/rapeiu5.jpg

I feel bad for all the sodomy victims that buy this at its current price. :slapass:

[Hicks]

280 UK Pounds to be exact: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X1950_Series.html

Perkam

No.

328, from OCUK, it's quite clear.

£304 from here:
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=324909

OCUK suck.