After the announcement of Nvidia Super, AMD has significantly lowered the prices of Radeon Navi GPUs. This could have been planned from the beginning.
Why competition is so important
AMD and Nvidia are providing a prime example of why competition between companies is so important to customers. With the Turing generation, Nvidia had the upper hand without any problems for almost a year. With raytracing, the RTX graphics cards mastered a new feature that AMD didn’t have, and from the RTX 2070 on, they were also faster than the fastest Radeon graphics card at the time, the RX Vega 64. Even the Radeon VII, which was positioned between the RTX 2070 and RTX 2080, did not upset Nvidia. This probably has something to do with the new prices that the company was able to dictate due to the lack of competition. The top model RTX 2080 Ti started at over $1,200, for the RTX 2080 prices beyond $800 had to be paid. Meanwhile the situation has improved somewhat. Nevertheless, the aftertaste remains that Nvidia actually only sells the same performance as in the Pascal series at the same price.
The history of Nvidia Super and Radeon Navi now shows that things can be different. With the Radeon Navi graphics cards RX 5700 XT and RX 5700, AMD introduced two opponents for the RTX 2070 and RTX 2060 at the E3 2019. The fact that the graphics cards are coming onto the market has been known for a long time. Apparently Nvidia took this as an opportunity to publish a trailer with the note “Something super is coming…” shortly before Computex. Immediately the speculation started whether these could be new graphics cards as a counter to Navi. Since July 2nd we have certainty: exactly that was the plan of Nvidia. The company is relying on a combination of faster graphics cards and consistently low prices. With this, the company messed things up for AMD. Without competition we would probably continue to pay high prices and now be without Nvidia Super GPUs.
AMD surprisingly lowers prices for Radeon Navi
But AMD also has some tactics. A few days after the release of the Super GPUs, the first information about lower prices for the Navi GPUs came up. AMD promptly confirmed this one day before the launch via several social media channels. The RX 5700 XT costs at the start $399 instead of $449, the RX 5700 $349 instead of $379. The RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary Edition is also $50 cheaper and costs only $449 instead of $499. In Europe AMD charges 369 and 419 Euros including tax for the RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT.
Were lower prices planned for the RX 5700 XT and RX 5700?
This price change before the launch of the Navi GPUs has now again caught Nvidia. However, the original prices could also have been a long planned feint of AMD. This is indicated, for example, by the company’s statement on price discounts.
AMD is focused on providing gamers with amazing experiences and access to the very best gaming technology at attractive price points. As you have seen, competition is heating up in the GPU market.
AMD Statement
Already with the announcement of the Radeon Navi GPUs there was the resonance that AMD now also orientates itself at the high prices of Nvidia. In the statement, however, the company contradicts this very clearly and even emphasizes attractive prices as an important point in AMD’s strategy. Scott Herkelman, Vice President and General Manager of the Radeon Business Unit, made a more obvious statement on Twitter on July 4th.
It’s just the word “Jebaited”, a recently popular term for “tricked”. Until the announcement of the price cut, the posting simply made no sense. But now it fits all into the picture that AMD probably wanted to fool Nvidia here. Herkelman also used the word in relation to Nvidia in a Reddit thread. The announcement of the higher prices did not cause Nvidia to set even lower prices. Due to the price change right before the launch, AMD is probably the winner in the end.
How will Nvidia Super vs. Radeon Navi continue?
The launch showed how powerful the Radeon Navi GPUs are. Considering the price, AMD is now in a very good position. But Nvidia won’t put up with that either. A first measure is apparently the price reduction of the current Turing graphics cards. The RTX 2070 and RTX 2080 will not be available for long, as they will be replaced by the RTX 2070 Super and RTX 2080 Super. Price reductions for the now outdated models are definitely to be expected.
Also AMD will probably not be finished yet. Imaginable here are however rather actions such as game bundles, or actions and discounts with the purchase of several AMD components. The fight Nvidia Super against Radeon Navi will bring big advantages especially for the customers in the sense of cheaper prices with higher performance. AMD has once again proven how important its position as an underdog is.
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