The Rat Race, Continued
The words "Limited Edition" stick in our minds, so when looking back, we must wonder how many GeForce 7800 GTX 512 cards has NVIDIA really shipped? When asked the question in a press briefing, we got the answer, "several thousands to tens of thousands." Those were the exact words from NVIDIA, and the "tens of thousands" didn't sound too confident. Can someone in accounting please give me a number? One system integrator said the little guys out there are feeling the effects. They went on to say that they (the system builders) were not running out of stock, because card makers knew they could sell $750 graphics cards easily and therefore they were prioritized to receive stock. Not a bad strategy for moving cards, but what happens if you want to buy your own cards?
NVIDIA's final comment on availability was that super fast GPUs and memory modules are not as readily available, and stated that NewEgg and other online volume sellers were receiving as many as they could produce. As a note, NewEgg is generally out of stock from the two vendors from which they are receiving 512 cards, ASUS and BFG. One vendor's website took me by surprise; I won't comment as the picture speaks for itself.
Here is a screenshot from Tiger Direct showing something ironic. NVIDIA made sure we knew that ATI X1800 cards were not available; it seems at this point that the tables have turned on them.
To their credit, most online vendors post their expected delivery dates. Now you can know exactly when to start clicking the "add to cart button", like two ladies fighting in a department store in the after Thanksgiving Day sales. Black Friday for sellers, Black and Blue Friday for patrons!
"We're very excited to have a new All-In-Wonder and have it available for purchase on the day of launch," said John Swinimer, Public Relations Manager at ATI. We contacted sources trying to identify the availability of the entire product line. After returning from one of their warehouses, a source at Newegg.com emphatically stated, "It is here! We have it."
To prove the point, later that day we received this picture showing boxes of ATI X1900 cards inside the warehouse.
We just had to be sure, because the first time it's "shame on you"; the second time it is "shame on me". There will not be a third time in this high paced arena of promises. In our opinion, the race to say "I am the greatest" has gotten out of hand. However, the new products have helped significantly drive "older" hardware down to price levels that mean the mainstream can afford the heavy-weight champion from just a month or two ago. This leads us to today, so without further ado, let's discuss ATI's launch of the entire X1900 series, including Crossfire.
