Thank You AMD and NVIDIA For Rejuvenating Your Fan Base
Has 2017 been a great time to build a new PC or what? Intel launched a new platform along with 7th Generation Core series ‘Kaby Lake‘ processors in January and tomorrow we have AMD launching what could very well be their best processor ever with Ryzen and new AM4 boards. We haven’t had an AMD versus Intel CPU battle in nearly a decade, so to see both companies competitive once again is great to see. After Ryzen launches all eyes will move back over to Intel who is expected to launch their new high-end X299 boards with Skylake-X processors this summer. If Ryzen processors put enough pressure on Intel, we might see some aggressive moves by Intel with that launch to secure market share and keep gamers happy. The AMD Ryzen 7 1700 processor with 8-cores and 16-threads for $329 could be a sleeper! We have AMD to thank for putting Intel under pressure!
Not to be outdone NVIDIA launched the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB graphics card last night that turns out being 35% faster than the original GeForce GTX 1080 for the same MSRP ($699) and then slashes the price of the original GeForce GTX 1080 down to $499 AND gives it faster memory?!
Are the days of minimal generational IPC gains, stagnant price/performance and limited overclocking support finally be over? After seeing NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang and AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su speak in person over over the past week it really does feel like the spark is back. Last night when NVIDIA announced the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti was announced it felt like that was the first move in a chess game between AMD and NVIDIA.
AMD is preparing to come out with its Vega graphics architecture very soon and NVIDIA just set the performance bar really high and at a price point that no one expected. While waiting in line to get into the launch event for the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti there were dozens of the leading tech sites discussing price and not one got it right. No one was expecting the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB graphics card to be priced at $699 and that it would perform faster than even the mighty Titan X (Pascal). Most were expecting lower performance and a $799 to $899 price point. NVIDIA just threw the first pitch in the 2017 GPU war and it will be interesting to see how AMD responds with Vega. All we know is it better be good as NVIDIA clearly isn’t planning on giving up any market share.
2017, year of the Rooster, is looking great for the PC gamers and we you share the same sentiment!