GTX 970 price drop?

[hfiggs]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone had an estimate on the price of the 970 once the new Pascal GPUs drop this spring.

Thanks

 

[10tacle]

Well if history is any indicator, not by much. They are in fact dropping right now. For example my EVGA SSC Gaming ACX 2.0+ cards were $360(US) when introduced in Spring 2015. They are now down $20-$30 depending on vendor.

But I don't see the 970s dropping to the mid-$200s killer deal for example. The 680s didn't drop much in price when the faster Kepler refresh 770 came out. Same with the 770s when the 970s came out. Retailers just let their stock run down of previous cards, and in some cases actually jacked the prices up, which really put people wanting to go SLI for the previous generation in a conundrum (I was one of them wanting to get a second 680 for SLI when the 770s were released).

 

[Eximo]

They don't actually jack the prices up usually, those were the prices in the first place. Being expensive they just didn't sell and become all that is left.

A lot of the lower prices come from rebates and instant coupons to attract customers, so there is always a little price fluctuation.

But generally, the MSRP is set and roughly adhered to during the lifetime of a product. Occasionally a huge performance/price gap will open up and the prices must be adjusted to compete. AMD does this a lot more often the Nvidia.

 

[10tacle]

They don't actually jack the prices up usually, those were the prices in the first place. Being expensive they just didn't sell and become all that is left....Occasionally a huge performance/price gap will open up and the prices must be adjusted to compete. AMD does this a lot more often the Nvidia.

True, but it also depends on the retailer/e-tailer. You can look for my model EVGA 970s right now (04G-P4-3975-KR) and see them selling for $310 on NewEgg, $330 at Best Buy, and $360 at Fry's....no rebate prices.

But regarding general price shifting, I can remember many years ago buying a new previous generation card as an upgrade when skipping a couple of generations because it was such a good deal. Those days appear to be gone for Nvidia cards like you said.

 

[hfiggs]

Well if history is any indicator, not by much. They are in fact dropping right now. For example my EVGA SSC Gaming ACX 2.0+ cards were $360(US) when introduced in Spring 2015. They are now down $20-$30 depending on vendor.

But I don't see the 970s dropping to the mid-$200s killer deal for example. The 680s didn't drop much in price when the faster Kepler refresh 770 came out. Same with the 770s when the 970s came out. Retailers just let their stock run down of previous cards, and in some cases actually jacked the prices up, which really put people wanting to go SLI for the previous generation in a conundrum (I was one of them wanting to get a second 680 for SLI when the 770s were released).

Not even sub $300? like maybe $280 or $285?

 

[Gam3r01]

I do not see a 970 falling below 300 dollars.
The prices now are about as low as (historically) you should expect. Nvidia dosent need to lower prices. The new cards come out and they sit on what little stock is left (remember cards go EOL before the new gen launches) meaning prices tend to go back up rather than down.

 

[10tacle]

Not even sub $300? like maybe $280 or $285?

After rebates you can get close to those net prices right now. Like this reference PNY one for $290 after rebate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133620

But you likely will never see the cards drop to a face value purchase price below $299. The 970 is still a hot seller and the retailers (and Nvidia) know it. And that leads me to a question. I've always been curious when Nvidia (and AMD) starts the process of ramping down production of a GPU and starts making fab changes for the production of the replacement generation.

 

[Gam3r01]

Well the 970 launched Sept 18th, 2014. I cant find an exact date for the EOL of the 770 (They dont make an announcement), but it was a few weeks ahead of the 970 I believe. This is when we started to see a market shift, prices started to drop when the 285 came out, then increased closer to launch.
Who knows when they actually stopped production.

 

[Snookslayer]

I've been following 970 prices starting way back in December 2014. Like many folks I didn't feel like dumping $325+. So being in no rush I figured I'd hold off until the R9 300 series was released in mid-2015, assuming the competition would help lower the price. And it turns out - it had absolutely no effect whatsoever. So then I decided since I'd already waited that long, might as well wait until Black Friday and then get a 970 for cheap. So there I was - the day after Thanksgiving sitting at my computer when I logged onto Newegg.com and ..... no discount. Cyber Monday... no discount. Exact same price they've always been. Here we are in late Feb 2016 and the prices haven't really changed since that first day I looked way back in December 2014. I guess I should have bought it then. At this point, I'm just gonna wait til Pascal. (I'm as patient as I am cheap : )

I've noticed the prices fluctuate modestly $10-$30, small rebates come and go, and some days Newegg charges shipping, while other days they don't. Bottom line, it's become blatantly obvious to me that these gpu prices really don't change much. They generally stay the same until one day they just quit making them.

The only real price changes are found on the used market. Although I won't buy a previously overclocked/used card with no warranty.

 

[Epicness937]

really the only way to get an old gpu for a cheaper price (aside from ebay/craigslist) is a local pc store may have old gpus for a good price but being a local store a 970 may have been jacked up to 400$ in the first place and has now dropped to 350 but i still would check