Everyone complaining about the company charging $1200 makes me wonder if anyone even lived through Cryptocovid. Nvidia and AMD BOTH released 8-series cards in the $6-700 range. They were GONE on day 1, more like hour 1. Want one? That'll be $1000-1500, and to a scalper, no less. Demand went through the roof, and both companies missed out on a ton of potential profits.
Also not sure how the 5080 will reach 4090 performance with specs closer to the 4080, but time will tell. If it does this, it will once again fly off the shelves at $1200 as people are currently paying $1600+. If it's drawing 400W and higher efficiency, it should deliver. If it matches the 4090 Jensen will, and should, aim higher. $1400 is $200 off the 4090, same thing they did with the 4080 Super. 5090 will be $1999.
Sad that AMD 8-series will be delayed. I just want a decent upgrade for my 6800 XT, now valued at about $350 new. I'd have to go to the 7900 XTX for $900 just to get a decent performance bump. Not worth it. 6800 XT such a perfect sweet spot. Still getting 80's regularly in FF16 with FSR3/Quality 4K. A $600 RX 8800 that performs between the 7900XT and XTX (and outperforming the 4070 Supers) would be awesome and needed to keep AMD relevant and Nvidia in check.
Tbf they weren't the same at all.
Getting into 2021 and after the initial storm of interest (and panic) for both the lines were drawn that extend to now, maybe tomorrow too?
My 6800XT, best of stack Sapphire Nitro+ SE cost £1200 in May 2021, and was immediately available. Such price and stock had been so for months by then and continued so.
Against that, any 3080 (with that wtf 10Gb cap) was £1800-2400 and stock TBA, lucky if you get anything at all nm your choice of model that side of Christmas. To wit: You pay more for a card you can't have or use yet, which by the time you get it (if not before) trades blows in raster vs the other and has an edge in RT that requires DLSS to back up and isn't sustainable anyway over or past that period with such a low VRAM cap. I'd say the choice there was effectively made for me, if it wasn't a no brainer and if Nvidia didn't play their own pivotal part in prices and stock reaching that level... which they went on to double down on despite the issues stated (by them) as reason for that continuing into Ada. Btw I've put prices here in my currency but it was the same in USD and most others too.
Btw on top of the above the 3070 at that same time cost £1400 and up, more than the 6800XT. The 6900XT was around £1600 tops, the 3090 3-4 grand. Yet Nvidia and partners say they had absolutely zero control over where their products ended up other than in the hands of the long term loyal fanbase that made them so wealthy and popular. They could've done better, starting with maybe not taking bulk consumer cards out of circulation to sell direct to crypto farms...
Aaand then it happened again this last gen, long after crypto and scalping went away. 4080's traded blows with 7900XTX's plus a slight edge in RT... up to twice the price. Same for the 4090, 20%/30 fps overhead at 4K... but did it match the 7900XTX's £8-10 per fps before whatever might be a fair added cost for RT? Try 2.5-3x the price. Two grand could get you a premium 4080/4090, that's it. Or a premium 7900XTX and the rest of the PC build you need to make it do stuff to much the same standard. Hell, there's plenty of 4080/4090 users that won't use RT cos it's still too costly. On a flagship card. At the better part of 3 grand. Several gens after RT became the big deal for Nvidia. I'd even say the worst part hasn't been only the top end price raise but the price range for a single tier. For example, 4080's went from £1350-2100 last year, the difference being that between a reference card, basic shroud, little or no extras... and a premium all bells and whistles card. That range used to far more closely cover the pricing from xx60 to xx80ti, premiums included, only a couple of gens back.
Inflation? Nothing such... and excuse for a planned strategy, sure. Just like talking about MSRP is a waste of time, that kind of measure is dead now.
Nvidia are laughing here. They've literally all but declared the gaming market is no great shakes to them but the money they can make from entrenchment, hype and outright lies supported and told vs their competition (on the forum level, which is a good part of AMD's loss and current strategy) but ppl still pay whatever's asked... and Nvidia continue to do so with a minimum of effort just rolling on what's already laid down. How much do they need to offend before ppl have second thoughts?
