X1950Pro reviews somewhat misleading?

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dderidex

Supreme [H]ardness
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Anandtech
The release of another part at the $200 price point after ATI's recent price drops and re-badging would otherwise seem redundant...The new Radeon X1950 Pro is a pretty heavy hitter at $200, bringing slightly faster than the current X1900 GT performance to a slightly lower price point...This will certainly help strengthen ATI's ability to compete with the 7900 GS at the $200 price point
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HardOCP
The ATI Radeon X1950 Pro sits at the $199 USD price level...However, the pixel shader processors have been reduced to meet the $199 price point
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FiringSquad
In order to really compete with NVIDIA at the mainstream price point of $200, ATI needed a more economical solution, and they needed one in a hurry. This is where the Radeon X1950 Pro comes in…
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Tech Report
the Radeon X1950 Pro is a strong new contender at the value-oriented $199 price point, and it's based on a brand-new mid-range GPU
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Yet, according to ATi's site, the MSRP of the Radeon® X1950 PRO 256MB PCIE is $299!

Yikes!
 
From ATI's press release

MARKHAM, ONTARIO, Oct 17, 2006 (CCNMatthews via COMTEX News Network) -- ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX:ATY)(NASDAQ:ATYT) today announced that it is introducing new levels of performance at a mid-range price point with the new Radeon® X1950 Pro graphics card. Available and shipping today with an estimated street price of US$199 or EUR199 (VAT included), the Radeon X1950 Pro bests competing offerings at the same price in both single-card and dual-card configurations.(1)
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you can order a Sapphire x1950pro in germany for 180 € so when the cards show up on newegg they will probably be under $200
 
Wtf? I thought they were launching at 199? Well, I guess it's a x1950xtx for me.
 
It's not hard to find X1950 Pros at the $199 price point. Price gouging is the rule, not the exception when new computer hardware is introduced. Everyone knows that. There is no reason for this thread to exist. :rolleyes:
 
tisb0b said:
Join the club of x1950xtx owners :cool:
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I'm seriously thinking about it, but if there are pro's that will be selling at 199 I'm not so sure. I still haven't seen whether two pro's or one xtx are faster at 1920x1200, so I'm stuck. :(
 
yeah, after reading the review here, and checking out a couple others around, i became interested in a x1950Pro as I am not certain if the next gen GPU's will be something i need for quite a while. my GS6800 is being RMA'd to MSI, and @ $199 the x1950Pro seemed to be what i was looking for, However i have yet to find one close to that price. they are all $299+ :confused:

was there a screw up in the MSRP a typo or what? i mean there are HIS X1900XT for aroundor just under $300 (5-10 bux more) and some X1900 w/512 for a little more than that. Guess i will wait and see what happens with the price, but unless it comes down to the 200 or less mark, i will look for another choice in that range maybe a 79xx series, i dunno.

not the price point i am interested in, and unless they actually do show up @ $200 or less, i will be using my GS6800 for quite a while longer :rolleyes:
 
FWIW, the X1900GT is pretty much the same performance (almost dead-on identical, actually) - and those can be had for $199 easily.
 
dderidex said:
FWIW, the X1900GT is pretty much the same performance (almost dead-on identical, actually) - and those can be had for $199 easily.
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No internal crossfire= not really interested.
 
X1900GT had internal Crossfire. Actually, it was one of the very FIRST cards that didn't need an external dongle. However, it was done over the PCI-E bus instead of via connectors, so it's not quite as fast as the other options.
 
dderidex said:
X1900GT had internal Crossfire. Actually, it was one of the very FIRST cards that didn't need an external dongle. However, it was done over the PCI-E bus instead of via connectors, so it's not quite as fast as the other options.
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The only reason I'm really interested is because I wanted to see how two pro's stack up against a single xtx, since I'm gonna buy one or the other. The gt is slower than both the xtx and the dual pro's, so it's not really an option.

Edit: I don't mean to sound rude or anything, it's just that the gt doesn't really fit my needs.
 
Rabid Badger said:
It's not hard to find X1950 Pros at the $199 price point.
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Include a couple links.
Price gouging is the rule, not the exception when new computer hardware is introduced.
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For high end cards with no competition, maybe. You can find several cards under $300 that are better.

There is no reason for this thread to exist. :rolleyes:
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Seems you are in the minority.
 
i can't remember a single instance when a BBA video card has been for sale at less than or equal to the suggested MSRP.

lowest price, via pricewatch.com, $284.50. so here in ontario, that translates into... unavailable for purchase until around christmas time and ~$450. what a complete rip off and hollow promise for those looking at midrange solutions.

for shame. when's $199.99 actually gonna translate into a card anyone can afford to impulse buy. @ that price, a 3 or 4 month crossfire upgrade path is a decent way to go about things... but as it stands, purchasing a 7600GS is looking more gooder on the wallet.


edit: i stand corrected, i can purchase an HIS x1950pro for $284.99CDN @ ncix.com... i can hardly control my paypal account :rolleyes:
 
Majestic12 said:
zipzoomfly
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"Out of stock" at launch point? (I did see that page when it arrived, and it popped up 'out of stock'. It was likely a pricing error, and they never had any in stock at that price. Certainly nobody else has.)
 
dderidex said:
"Out of stock" at launch point? (I did see that page when it arrived, and it popped up 'out of stock'. It was likely a pricing error, and they never had any in stock at that price. Certainly nobody else has.)
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Is ATI's manufacturing process that slow compared to Nvidia? Comparing this "hard launch" to the 7900GS, plenty of video cards were available around the net for $199 while the X1950 Pro is like sold out everywhere. Or does this have to do with the companies themselves. I really want to go ATI this time around but the Nvidia companies just offer better packages/warranties from what I've seen.
 
this is confusing to me after seeing the benches X1900XT 256 @ 260$ > X1950 Pro @ 299$ ??!?!
 
everyone comparing the 1900xt vs the 1950pro via performance/price are missing something.

1900xt is for raw power for a steal of price. However there are lots of drawbacks that im hesitant to go for it.
1) power consumption
2)heat
3)noise
4)no hdcp / dx10 support

This is an example of a great card for Todays games/gear

1950 is looking ahead
1)less power on 80nm tech
2)less heat with better heatsink
3)low noise fan
4)hdcp compliant
This is the perfect second rig/placeholder card till one you really want for the price you want.

Once this is goes to the MRSP im prolly gonna get the 1950pro and keep it for 1-2 years. I plan to use this on a second rig which is my main ATM. Gonna use it as my htpc run it 24/7 in my room where it needs to be quiet at night and drive a 17in 12x10 monitor. My main rig will have a higher power GPU and bigger WS monitor to play the latest games.
 
I'd have to say the reason the only X1950 Pros you can buy are $75+ over MSRP is the tons of X1900GTs still on the shelves. Nobody is going to buy an X1900GT when it is sitting right next to an X1950 Pro at the same price.

Neither ATI nor the retailers are interested in eating all those cards, so they're pricing the Pros in the next bracket until the GTs are gone. I'm sure no retailers will be upset if a few people are willing to pay a premium to have the Pro now.

As for all the people who are up in arms about ATI charging $299 for the Pro, scroll down that list a bit and you'll see they're charging the same for the GT. :eek:
 
Rabid Badger said:
I'd have to say the reason the only X1950 Pros you can buy are $75+ over MSRP is the tons of X1900GTs still on the shelves. Nobody is going to buy an X1900GT when it is sitting right next to an X1950 Pro at the same price.

Neither ATI nor the retailers are interested in eating all those cards, so they're pricing the Pros in the next bracket until the GTs are gone. I'm sure no retailers will be upset if a few people are willing to pay a premium to have the Pro now.

As for all the people who are up in arms about ATI charging $299 for the Pro, scroll down that list a bit and you'll see they're charging the same for the GT. :eek:
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if thats the case, they are gonna lose out 7950gts. If they are gonna do that i say let sit on em longer and let them know who runs this sh!t (we the consumers). Especially with DX10 nv cards coming out, they better hope NV doesnt come out with a G80 GS series to go mop up all the segments before ATI can get a foot in the door.
 
Rabid Badger said:
As for all the people who are up in arms about ATI charging $299 for the Pro, scroll down that list a bit and you'll see they're charging the same for the GT. :eek:
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Thank you for making my point.

Yeah, that's the MSRP. The X1900GT is several months old, now, and nobody was saying at launch "Hey, this is a $199 card!"

I mean, it's $199 now, obviously. But it was launched as a $299 card, and reviews (at launch) referred to it as a $299 card, not "soon to have a street price of $199".

All I'm saying is that, this time, ATI seems to have pushed some SERIOUSLY misleading marketing at the reviewers. I'm as big an ATI fan as the next guy (bigger, probably), but this stunt is just downright misleading.
 
If prices stay where they are rather than dropping down to where they ought to be shortly, then yes, ATI misled people. However, what could they possibly hope to accomplish by telling everyone that the card is going to cost $199 and then charge $275+ and try to make it compete with faster cards?

I really don't think the people running ATI would be dumb enough to set themselves up for that kind of failure. Therefore, the scenario in which ATI misinformed the press and intends to keep prices where they are is extremely unlikely.

Bottom line: You will be able to buy an X1950 Pro for $199 and you will be able to do it very soon.
 
x1950pro is not a 7800 512 hopefully. Looks like it will be a massed produced midrange card. If they play the 7800 512 way(pricing/availability), they are gonna have a lot of cards sitting around come dx10.
 
This is just retailers taking advantage of ATI's terrible naming scheme. Most people would assume that a 1950 Pro is faster than a 1900 XT simply because of the 50. Since the card is new, they can fool people and charge more. Since the card is in short supply, they only have to fool a small number of people to sell through their initial stock.

Seriously, ATI and NVidia have some of the worst naming schemes for their cards imaginable. It makes even the lousiest CPU naming schemes seem dreamlike by comparison.
 
strikeout said:
everyone comparing the 1900xt vs the 1950pro via performance/price are missing something.

1900xt is for raw power for a steal of price. However there are lots of drawbacks that im hesitant to go for it.
1) power consumption
2)heat
3)noise
4)no hdcp / dx10 support
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The Asus X1900XT 256mb has HDCP support. Don't know about other manufacturers.
 
Tytanium said:
Newegg is in a world of their own. ZZF launched at 199

Remember the $850 X2 5000+?
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As posted earlier - ZZF had *one* card listed at $199, and they never had a single one in stock at that price.

I'd bet it was a pricing error in their software...they created the page based on the (p)review pricing, and when they were actually delivered with MSRP of $299, they simply never populated any 'stock' counter values for the $199 listing.
 
I can almost guarantee the MSRP will not stay at $299 long. They're just trying to reel in a few suckers while they get supply up and clear out the X1900 GT's.
 
arthur_tuxedo said:
I can almost guarantee the MSRP will not stay at $299 long. They're just trying to reel in a few suckers while they get supply up and clear out the X1900 GT's.
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MSRP doesn't usually change.

On the same page, note the current MSRP for an X800XL PCI-E. $279! And the X1600 Pro - $199!!
 
the point is that ATI and in the [H] article/review it was clearly stated the MSRP was the $199.00 (<$200.00) price point, and a single online vendor with nothing in stock does not make for an honest, not to mention effective product launch.

retailers do sometimes have to eat a loss on a batch of components. that is a component sales fact. volume is the key, as long gone are the days when you could purchase a component in quantity and mark it up 20-30 or more percent. 5-12% is about normal now, but the fact that the cards are not showing up leads me to think it is just more smoke and mirrors (they are smoking something, and using mirrors on the handfull of X1950Pro's to make it appear there are plenty of them :rolleyes: ) if you squint, there are thousands of them!

just about every manufacturer has done this. and I for one was happy to see [H] stop playing the paper release game. now it seems the extrememly limited product launch is the next evolution in marketecture.

I am still waiting on a reply from ATI, as to why they x1950Pro's are 1) so hard to find and 2) being sold at a higher price point than what was announced.
 
MSRP is not gospel. Its a SUGGESTED price. You can't blame ATI because newegg or anybody else is selling the product at a price above MSRP. They can sell it for whatever amount they want to....
 
xappie said:
MSRP is not gospel. Its a SUGGESTED price. You can't blame ATI because newegg or anybody else is selling the product at a price above MSRP. They can sell it for whatever amount they want to....
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Never said it was. Now Mahalia Jackson...now that is some gospel :p

I simply feel the launch which included a $199.00 price point, and subsequent $275+ listings was misleading and disingenous.

and you are correct. Newegg and others can sell them for whatever they want....or judging by the posts here...not sell them (until the price is attractive anyway)

i think its a little dim thinking to ignore the MSRP and bump them $100.00 higher. Sure the market will sort out the problems eventually, but it does not encourage purchase for many enthusiasts, and who are these cards marketed to?

Some will buy, but i think most would wait for the price to become closer to the MSRP. I know i will, but by then the it may be time for a DX10 part if the games are there :eek:
 
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