
Originally Posted by
tviceman
hopefully a Geforce-based GK110 can get that 50-60% performance improvement and stay <= 250 watts. I think it's possible.
Still though, $900 is outrageous under any circumstance,
Ya, I agree with your entire post. Even though people bring comparison of high-end headphones, and other hobbies, etc. GPUs are totally different because they have a limited shelf-life. If you drop $1-2K on high-end headphones or an amp, they don't go "obsolete" in 3 years. They will still sound stellar every single day for 10 years. You can now get an HD7850 for $150-160 that with a 10 min overclock will get you GTX580 level of performance. GTX580 was $500 just 2 years ago. Comparing the Titan to GTX690 misses the point because GTX690's level of performance should be more affordable now. Using this logic, GTX680 could have cost 35% more than GTX580 because it offered 35% more performance. If NV keeps doing this, soon they'll condition PC enthusiasts to believe that a high-end GPU's normal price is $900-1000. Even cards like GTX590/HD6990 were $700-750.
If we expect HD8970 to be 15-20% faster than HD7970GE, GK114 (GTX780) shouldn't be far behind. I think NV locked voltage control on GK104 so that GTX780's 20% increase looks good. Also, I expect GTX780's voltage control to be locked because then NV could charge a large premium for the Titan and 780 won't be able to touch it. Delaying GTX780 to June or later would allow NV to sell Titan at the highest prices to excited PC enthusiasts who are ready to spend $900-$1,000 on flagship GPUs after NV conditioned them with $1,000 GTX690 in 2012. I must say I am very impressed with NV's marketing. Rumors of GTX700 being postponed but Titan still on track would allow the Titan to look much faster than it is since it'll be compared to the 680 not 780. Interesting marketing game NV is playing. It's like a copy of Apple's handbook 101. The best part is NV managed to disguise it all by somehow making us gamers think it was AMD that raised prices. All AMD did is bring HD7970 back to ATI's historical levels. That was a steep price increase from HD4870/4890/5870/6970 days but not unexpected given AMD's dire financial situation, struggling to maintain
15% gross margins. What NV is doing is shifting price levels entirely into stratosphere, rumoured to be selling a 550mm2 die for $900, while reporting > 50% gross margin on its earnings calls. Essentially they are asking us to absorb higher 28nm wafer costs. No thanks. GPU tech is also supposed to get cheaper for a given level of performance or faster at a similar price level. Titan at $900 does not deliver on either, which sounds like it's overpriced on the general price/performance tech curve. I guess I am sitting still until 20nm Maxwell / HD9000 series gives Titan's performance for $499. :biggrin:
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