NVidia Graphics Cards Pricing Thoughts (1 month from now)

[TheQue]

I have been reading a lot about the GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 as I am sure many of you have been doing. The most recent tests on the GTX 1070 seems to put it pretty even with the GTX 980Ti.

As of right now, there are not real discounts on the GTX 980 or GTX 980Ti, at least none that make them worth it at the moment. So I was thinking of where the prices may be in 3-4 weeks (assuming partner cards come out by then)...

GTX 1080 Founders Edition................................$699
GTX 1080 Partner Cards (OC).............................$650+
GTX 1080 Partner Cards (Reference)....................$599
GTX 980Ti........................................................$400 - $450
GTX 1070 Founders Edition.................................$449
GTX 1070 Partner Cards (OC)..............................$400+
GTX 1070 Partner Cards (Reference)....................$379
GTX 980...........................................................$280 - $330

I was thinking about the GTX 980Ti specifically. At first I thought there would be a massive drop (what I have is pretty big by the way), but I do not think it will go for less than $400 except from a few vendors who may panic to be the first on the street to drop the price to clear inventory. The reality is, there is a real value proposition for the GTX 980Ti even if the GTX 1070 edges it out just barely. The fact is, if you already own a GTX-980Ti, it is in your best interest to purchase a second to SLI. As you cannot SLI cross generational GPU's, and SLI'd GTX 980Ti's will beat a single GTX 1080. So if you already own a GTX 980Ti, there is still a good reason to spend the money upgrading to a second card.

However, if the prices for the GTX 980Ti remain at or above $500, the value proposition starts to go the other way. With a retail price of $500+, you will easily be able to fetch $300+ for your used GTX 980Ti. Meaning a partner OC GTX 1080 may only end up costing you ~$300; and you gain the VR benefits. Assuming you are willing to wait for the GTX 1080Ti, that ~$300+ you made on the GTX 980Ti would put you in very good shape for getting a GTX 1080Ti for about the same out of pocket expense of a standard GTX 1080 partner (OC) card.

What do you think the prices will do over the next 4 weeks? Think I am way off, or do you agree?

-Ray

 

[aztec_scribe]

I agree with you but I think the real price drops (or not) won't happen until we all get to see what the competitor is working on. Once AMD get their new card benchmarked we'll get either a drop or even a possible raise (not from NVIDIA but form vendors).

I've not bought into VR yet (I will though) and my screen is still 1080p so I'm in no rush.

 

[TheQue]

I am waiting to see what the partners come up with on the GTX 1080. I have my computer hooked up to my 70" 4K TV and do a lot of video editing on it lately. Moving to the i7-5820 @ 4.5 GHz (OC) has done wonders for my 4K video rendering times, but with an old GTX 760, I am not able to watch my edits in real time after 1 or 2 effects are applied. If I am keying a green-screen, it is completely unwatchable and I just have to hope for the best after rendering.

On top of that, rendering a 20 min 4K video @ 40 Mbps takes about 3 hours. My friend has the exact same setup as me (but with a GTX 980Ti) and he can render the same in about 2 hours. The latest Premiere Pro uses CUDA cores to assist in rendering.

I am hoping the 1080 is everything it is hyped up to be as I am suffering though my GTX 760 until the partner release. The only benefit is I can see some of the reviews first.

-Ray

 

[aztec_scribe]

That's a real use case scenario you have there!

With that need I'm surprised you've held out at all, but, if you've already held out this long then I would suggest you hold out till there is a real competitor on the market. regardless of the fact that you only need GTX (for the CUDA cores) the presence of a competitor will bring the price down (especially as AMD often undercut NVIDIA).

 

[TheQue]

I just started doing 4K work about a month ago. Before that it was all 1080p and what I had was working well enough to allow me to wait on the anticipated 1000 series. The problem came when I started rendering and working in 4K. I did not realize how much more intensive it was over 1080p.

About 2 weeks ago I almost purchased a GTX 980Ti, but someone told me the 1000 series was literally a few weeks out and I stepped back. I am not going to purchase a "Founders Edition," and I agree that competition will bring down the price slightly. But it is my understanding any real completion is several months out. I think I am willing to accept $50 - $60 extra to get a partner card in a few weeks.

I just do not see the GTX 980Ti coming down in price enough to justify going down that road. Technology is a bi%&*, and if I keep waiting for the next best thing, I'll be waiting forever and watching hours upon hours of unnecessary rendering time.

-Ray

 

[aztec_scribe]

Bear in mind that all the reviews are saying the 1080 is quite a bit faster than the Titan and the Titan is faster than the 980ti. Unless you are really hurting for money I would not suggest going for the 980ti. The 1080 is not an incremental evolution of the same old tech we've had for 5 years, it is an architectural redesign on a smaller manufacturing process, it runs cooler and faster not to mention the fact that it has new GDDRX5 RAM which is also faster.

You already OC your CPU so you should know that that smaller manufacturing process leads to more headroom to OC in the future, te 980tis already near its max.

In other words, yeah, don't buy the 980ti, go for the 1080 instead

p.s sorry I realise I'm off topic a little. I doubt there will be a large price drop in the next month, like you said 40 to 50 dollars once the partners start selling their models. For me that is the moment to buy.

 

[aztec_scribe]

So I just read this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-polaris-10-mainstream-gpu,31879.html

And this:
http://www.polygon.com/2016/5/27/11801122/asus-rolls-out-a-cooler-more-colorful-overclocked-gtx-1080-card

So it looks like you had the right idea in waiting but it might not be worth waiting much longer.