When you look at the transistor count, it's kind of amazing that the GPUs aren't more expensive.
The 7970 has more than 3 times the transistors that Bulldozer has. When you add the rest of what's on a video card - DDR5 memory, a cooling solution, of course the board itself, and connectors, whatever other goodies the manufacturer throws in (cables and connectors), paying $550-$600 for the 7970 doesn't seem like so much.
(Of course, I remember when you could pay a grand for a single-GPU card. $600 doesn't seem like so much in that light.
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I think it would be silly for Nvidia to hold off and try to time Kepler's release with Ivy Bridge. What's the point in making potential customers wait longer? Many of us are chomping at the proverbial bit already. I think this is probably a silly rumor, really.