Madshrimps Forum Madness - Paper Launches and NVIDIA

NVIDIA has finally launched the much anticipated G70, or GeForce 7800 GTX, to the masses. While there’s a standard performance boost with this card, there is one thing that has me impressed with the launch: the availability. As we had pointed out earlier in our reports titled, "No More Paper Launches from ATI and NVIDIA" and "NVIDIA G70 Launch and Shipping Dates Confirmed" it’s refreshing to see that NVIDIA didn’t intend to do another paper launch. Due to the heat both NVIDIA and ATI had received with their 6800, X800 and X850 series, NVIDIA has thankfully listened to its customers and learned its lesson.

What really had me excited was actual links to retail 7800 GTX cards at major online retailers in the reviews as they hit the web. It’s impossible to figure out the number of retail cards that were actually sold today, but I think this strategy on NVIDIA’s part really gave them an edge this time around. In addition to that, the 7800 series wasn’t as hyped as the company’s previous product lines, so NVIDIA wasn’t risking much in terms of meeting expectations. Given this launch, the company certainly planned out well this time around.

Now that the launch has occurred and most of us are over the initial excitement, I would certainly like for NVIDIA to keep availability in mind when it adds more cards to the 7800 series product line. Not only would users welcome it, but it would also help in improving NVIDIA’s public image, which was certainly tarnished with previous paper launches. While I am on a roll with my suggestions, I would also like for NVIDIA to continue this pattern with upcoming products as well. Needless to say, if the competition fails to deliver retail products around the intended launch date, this would surely put NVIDIA in a positive spotlight. ATI would have a troubling time coming up with believable excuses, as the well-used "poor yields" is too predictable and tiresome.

Since I touched on ATI, we might as well discuss their upcoming launch. ATI will need to be ready with its retail products around the same time frame as the actual launch date, if not on the launch date itself to save face. NVIDIA has really put ATI in a tight spot, and since ATI will be at a slight performance advantage given it’s later launch date and will have time to tweak its hardware and drivers to compete against 7800 GTX’s performance, availability will be a must. Imagine the flow of comments from users if ATI has a superior card, yet no retail offerings. ATI will have to make sure that paper launches with little or no product availability do not occur again. I feel that ATI sales would suffer greatly, given NVIDIA’s proven product availability and the popularity of SLI on the NF4 chipsets for both AMD and Intel.

Just a note to all the players here, why not end paper launches altogether? They are annoying, and they waste our time waiting for unavailable products. They lead to speculation about your company’s well being and financial resources. On top of all that, we have the make believe excuses. Give us a break, please! Most of all, I am sure it puts a psychological and financial strain on your companies as well. Given the pressure you are under, why actually load the gun you already have to your heads?

Now that I am over with the suggestions and what not, I will let you head on to the reviews to take a look at the performance numbers the 7800 GTX is capable of reproducing.

http://www.cooltechzone.com/index.ph...k=view&id=1459