Sapphire scuppering NVIDIA's new products with revised high-end pricing?

The ever-zealous NVIDIA has had a triumphant start to 2009. Its ultra high-end GeForce GTX 295 has been deemed the fastest single-card graphics solution in the world, and it was promptly followed a week later by the GeForce GTX 285 - the fastest single-GPU solution in the world.

On paper, it should be a killer combination, but in reality, the aforementioned cards are just a dream for most users thanks to their asking price of £300 - £400. Silly money for a GPU, perhaps?

With AMD providing no immediate answer to NVIDIA's performance dominance, the red team seems to have found another way to counteract the green team's new monsters, and it's called the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2.

This particular card launched back in November with a silly-money asking price of around £320. Today, perhaps in an effort to scupper NVIDIA's new performance-leading parts, the card's retail price has been drastically slashed to under £250. Still borderline-silly for the average consumer, but its sheer performance is such that competing parts priced up to £100 more offer little-to-no additional benefit.

Sapphire can't be making much of a profit on this particular part - in fact, it may even be making a loss - but it might be a small price to pay when NVIDIA's latest greatest are made to look hugely overpriced.

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I wouldn't be trendously sure they're making a loss - the chips themselves are cheap enough, it's just the packaging and R&D that's pricey. But then again didn't AMD commision the dual-chip design from Sapphiretech in the first place? So that was maybe already done and paid for.

Great price indeed. I expect these to be flying off the shelves.

kalniel
I wouldn't be trendously sure they're making a loss - the chips themselves are cheap enough, it's just the packaging and R&D that's pricey. But then again didn't AMD commision the dual-chip design from Sapphiretech in the first place? So that was maybe already done and paid for.

not really, sticking two 4850's on one card increases the cost compared to two disrete cards. I can't remember how many layers a single and a x2 board uses but you can guarentee the x2 uses a thicker pcb with more layers a lot more traces in a small space and more shielding of the signals being required, it increases the cost, increases the time the pcb spends in the plant making them, increases the time taken for each card to be made etc, etc, etc.

But as you say I still wouldn't remotely think these are making a loss. While Nvidia are certainly making losses on all the excess 280's being sold off stupidly cheap, and probably lots of their cards since the 280/260's, I'd hazard a guess the 4850/4870's were making a decent profit from the get go and still are and have a decent margin for reduction in costs.

This is just what AMD had in reserve price wise the whole time while waiting for nvidia's 55nm and their own x2 part. They could have done this 5 months ago when the nvidia 55nm stuff was due but basically had no need to at all.

In all honesty, theres very very VERY little either X2 can't handle, you'd have to be monumentally stupid to pay £400-450 for a 295gtx considering you wouldn't tell the difference in anything but deadspace to a £330 4870x2, maybe even the £250 4850x2. You'd have to be even more stupid to buy a 285gtx, hell the 295gtx is virtually the bargain of the century compared to it. Double the performance or near enough, for 30% more.

I would love to replace my 4850 for a 4850 x2. It might be a little overkill for 1680*1050 but it should mean I wont have to upgrade for a little while yet.

drunkenmaster
I can't remember how many layers a single and a x2 board uses but you can guarentee the x2 uses a thicker pcb with more layers a lot more traces in a small space and more shielding of the signals being required, it increases the cost, increases the time the pcb spends in the plant making them, increases the time taken for each card to be made etc, etc, etc.

That's why I said the packaging costs are higher :p

Sapphire scuppering NVIDIA's new products with revised high-end pricing?

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