| Sunday, December 7 2008 |
A common feature with shopping seasons, namely summer and Christmas, is that consumer graphics giants, AMD and NVIDIA announce new products that push up the pure performance and performance per dollar envelopes. With this Christmas season however, nothing notably new is going to come out of their stables, making their existing products slog it out. This resulted in both companies resorting to some serious price-cutting with their existing mid-thru-high-end products.
In the wake of massive price-cuts by NVIDIA for the GeForce GTX 260, AMD has decided to prepare its own price-cuts for the one card that goes neck and neck with the GTX 260, Radeon HD 4870. Originally seated in the $299~$399 bracket, the GeForce GTX 260 and Radeon HD 4870 have become some of the key SKUs for both companies. These are the products we have seen going neck and neck, resulting in both companies refreshing them, and later resorting to price-cuts. NVIDIA refreshed GeForce GTX 260 with a 216 stream processor version that came with added shader compute power, while AMD responded with the 1 GB variant of the Radeon HD 4870. As on today, the company pricing for the Radeon HD 4870 has been set around US $199 for the 512 MB and $239 for the 1 GB variants. This roughly catches up with the pricing for GeForce GTX 260, with roughly $199~$219 for the 192 stream processor and $239~$249 for the 216 stream processor variant.
Source: X-bit Labs
In the wake of massive price-cuts by NVIDIA for the GeForce GTX 260, AMD has decided to prepare its own price-cuts for the one card that goes neck and neck with the GTX 260, Radeon HD 4870. Originally seated in the $299~$399 bracket, the GeForce GTX 260 and Radeon HD 4870 have become some of the key SKUs for both companies. These are the products we have seen going neck and neck, resulting in both companies refreshing them, and later resorting to price-cuts. NVIDIA refreshed GeForce GTX 260 with a 216 stream processor version that came with added shader compute power, while AMD responded with the 1 GB variant of the Radeon HD 4870. As on today, the company pricing for the Radeon HD 4870 has been set around US $199 for the 512 MB and $239 for the 1 GB variants. This roughly catches up with the pricing for GeForce GTX 260, with roughly $199~$219 for the 192 stream processor and $239~$249 for the 216 stream processor variant.
Source: X-bit Labs
User comments
this should really make everyone happy because now they will be able to see 2 4870s/2 GTX 260s under their Xmas Trees This year.
Buy two HD 4870 cards instead of a HD 4870 X2, which is still beyond the $500 mark.
If they lower the price of the 4870, that tells me the price of the 4850 1GB is going to have to drop.
ATi Radeon HD 4870 512MB for $189.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Description=4870%20512MB&bop=And&Order=PRICE
ATi Radeon HD 4870 1GB for $224.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Description=4870%201GB&bop=And&Order=PRICE
early xmas present from ati :D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Description=4870%20512MB&bop=And&Order=PRICE
ATi Radeon HD 4870 1GB for $224.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Description=4870%201GB&bop=And&Order=PRICE
early xmas present from ati :D
by: btarunr;1094023You forget
Buy two HD 4870 cards instead of a HD 4870 X2, which is still beyond the $500 mark.
8800GTX and 8800 Ultra costed 500-600 USD at the starting Price and Up Until G92 the Prices remained there.
by: eidairaman1;1094028There's no indication of my forgetting that, from my previous post. What I said was we'd rather buy two HD 4870s instead of a HD 4870 X2 (if the motherboard/system permits).
You forget
8800GTX and 8800 Ultra costed 500-600 USD at the starting Price and Up Until G92 the Prices remained there.
boooooom , best chose now is 2x 4870
by: btarunr;1094029Ya i guess if you intend on running a Single card the 4870X2 would be top choice, if multiple cards without breaking bank, 4870. I think AMD wont sit around with the 260GTX+ around, but whats funny is 280 GTX still probably be more worth it than 2 260GTX+ in SLI:roll:
There's no indication of my forgetting that, from my previous post. What I said was we'd rather buy two HD 4870s instead of a HD 4870 X2 (if the motherboard/system permits).
Bugger, at that price I have no excuse not to go crossfire....My bank manager hates me!
by: mikek75;1094069will not make much difference in the uk me thinks
Bugger, at that price I have no excuse not to go crossfire....My bank manager hates me!
by: chaotic_uk;1094081
will not make much difference in the uk me thinks
OOhhh, you cynic you.....lol! Don't forget the 2.5% cut in VAT....
by: mikek75;1094094wow 2.5p in the pound , massive saving's not :p
OOhhh, you cynic you.....lol! Don't forget the 2.5% cut in VAT....
Aye. but thats a tenner on £200. If you don't want it I can give you my PayPal address.....
Its on... ATI>:nutkick:
What!! only 4870. This sux
by: mikek75;1094102No it's not, it's a fiver!
Aye. but thats a tenner on £200. If you don't want it I can give you my PayPal address.....
And don't forget that many things increased when VAT decreased, duty for one.
I hope we too see these cuts, now that i have a crossfire board on the way i wouldn't mind getting a couple of cards.
I hope we too see these cuts, now that i have a crossfire board on the way i wouldn't mind getting a couple of cards.
this is indeed good news!!!
Too bad the price drops are only for people in the us, newwegg.ca is still showing the same price as a few days ago.
by: rodneyhchef;1094139LOL, you got me there. Its Sunday and I've been out of school for 21 years....
No it's not, it's a fiver!
:)
Hoorah. That means I may be picking me one of these buggers up in the 1 GB flavor.
And no one believed me when I said just wait right before Xmas on these prices LOL
That's funny
That's funny
darn and i recently bought a HIS ICeQ4 4850 Turbo for $179.99. :/ well atleast it's quiet at 80% fan speed and very overclockable :P
by: method526;1094480yOU got SUCKered.
darn and i recently bought a HIS ICeQ4 4850 Turbo for $179.99. :/ well atleast it's quiet at 80% fan speed and very overclockable :P
Good think i waited, i wonder if i should wait for the 55nm
I have waited to get my second 4850 1Gb for this.
I'm still debating waiting for next gen cards
by: mikek75;1094266lol got you beat (or is it beet as i cant remeber lol) , this price drop will not mean much with the poor £ v's $ . saving my money for the phenom II then might get another 4870 (hopefully be cheaper then)
I've been out of school for 21 years....
LOL, thanks for that, its always nice to meet someone older round here....getting rarer by the day!
by: Skillz;10945084k series already is 55nm. Not sure about GTX200 series, though.
yOU got SUCKered.
Good think i waited, i wonder if i should wait for the 55nm
when are the revised 4870's being released ?
by: rodneyhchef;1094139It's actually less than that!
No it's not, it's a fiver!
Say it costs £100 which would already have the 17.5% VAT pre-applied to it, I can't do the maths lol but from what I remember from Have I Got News For You, it's ~2.1% off the final price. So if it originally cost £200 it would now cost £195.80..........
Pretty pathetic reduction.
by: method526;1094480Current Boards are Still Excellent.
darn and i recently bought a HIS ICeQ4 4850 Turbo for $179.99. :/ well atleast it's quiet at 80% fan speed and very overclockable :P
sweet, now it's time to buy a 4870
by: oli_ramsay;1094952Yeah it's a fiver saving on £235 but I figured it was close enough!
It's actually less than that!
Say it costs £100 which would already have the 17.5% VAT pre-applied to it, I can't do the maths lol but from what I remember from Have I Got News For You, it's ~2.1% off the final price. So if it originally cost £200 it would now cost £195.80..........
Pretty pathetic reduction.
by: DaMulta;1094391On black friday you could have obtained a HD4870 from $193 after rebate lol.
And no one believed me when I said just wait right before Xmas on these prices LOL
That's funny
But it was the PCS+ version from ASUS with the fan issues for some, but I got it and made it work just fine..for a friend :(
What will be the new 4830 prices?
by: InfDamarvel;1095892I wouldn't buy a 4870 for two reasons, mainly cause the red ugly color on the PCB they have been using for a decade now... yeh i'm racist like that when it comes on to Vid cards cause it got to look good in my window case, two; not enough support.
On black friday you could have obtained a HD4870 from $193 after rebate lol.
But it was the PCS+ version from ASUS with the fan issues for some, but I got it and made it work just fine..for a friend :(
by: Skillz;1095973Buy Sapphire Toxic. You get your blue/black theme. As for "not enough support", thanks for the laughs.
I wouldn't buy a 4870 for two reasons, mainly cause the red ugly color on the PCB they have been using for a decade now... yeh i'm racist like that when it comes on to Vid cards cause it got to look good in my window case, two; not enough support.
by: btarunr;1095982
Buy Sapphire Toxic. You get your blue/black theme. As for "not enough support", thanks for the laughs.
You can easily spot the corporate endorcers
by: [I.R.A]_FBi;1096043He he he so true, he he. :toast:
You can easily spot the corporate endorcers
by: btarunr;1095982I did a quick check and your little ugly Sapphire and it got owned in almost every test by the GTX 260 core 216 in every test, http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/sapphire_toxic_4870_review/page3.asp
Buy Sapphire Toxic. You get your blue/black theme. As for "not enough support", thanks for the laughs.
Dark Vader XFX GTX260 Black Edition is so black and beautiful it doesn't even come close pal:cool:.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150330
Free Farcry 2 plus 40 MIR and free shipping, that's 200 bucks final just for this beauty.
I was responding to your rather trivial reasons for not choosing Radeon (which was something other than performance/price/ratios), not how Sapphire Toxic cards perform.
Any idea what they're going to do about 4850 512mb prices in the UK? Or will we not be ripped off for once and the 4870's have a price much closer to the 4850?
Good to know. I'm glad ATI is still striving for #1.
by: crazy pyro;1096406What's really knackered 4850 prices is the 4830! I bought my Palit Non-reference 4850 in October(ish) before the 4830 came out. I paid £100 for it from scan. Now, the same card is £120!
Any idea what they're going to do about 4850 512mb prices in the UK? Or will we not be ripped off for once and the 4870's have a price much closer to the 4850?
Bollocks, if only I had ordered all my parts in september/ october I'd have got my build £50 cheaper.