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Alienware's GTX 980Ti Overpriced? No. Debuts Wearing a Friendly $
- They Live -
edit July 23: 980Ti touches down on the US Area-51 Sales-Menu --> Estimated Cost?
$800 / $1600 / $2300
- Proof of Price Uniformity -
Tier One: Radeon 370 standard (estimated $100 of the base price / 'included in price'):
- pay $100 for the 370 - drop it - now option 'up':
- solo-Ti: add $700 = $800
- dual-Ti: add $1500 = $1600
- tri-Ti: add $2200 = $2300
Tier Two: GTX 980 standard (estimated $650 of the base price):
- solo-Ti: add $150 = $800
- dual-Ti: add $950 = $1600
- tri-Ti: add $1650 = $2300
Tier Three: dual-970's standard (estimated $750 of the base price):
- dual-Ti: add $850 = $1600
- tri-Ti: add $1550 = $2300
Tier Four: triple-980's standard (estimated $1850 of the base price):
- tri-Ti: add $450 = $2300
- Canadian AlienTi Debut at One Million Dolla Each -
{UK? ... brace 4 impact ... yours are lookin' like two millions each}
7/24: Canada's prices are sorted-out
Value the included Radeon 370 built into the Canadian Tier One starting price ... call it $150:
- solo-Ti add $900 = $1050 / dual-Ti add $1900 = $2050 / tri-Ti add $2800 = $2950
MSRP of Ti (Ca) looks like they start around $850 - even though my ii's & my mind object to the $ - the exchange-rate 'tween the US/CA dolla suggests it's not a hateful / hostile $, perhaps call it friendly ...
Personnel at the MotherShip responsible for grfx-card costs have listed Ti at an admirable ticket-price for admission. If you're in the US market for Area-51, in light of today's prices you may find you've done well for yourself by ordering one or more Ti's direct from Alienware (words I never thought I'd see myself type); the prices are competitive versus buying / installing yourself.
The Aliens are offering entry-level cards or 'Reference Designs'. Note that after-market cards from Asus / MSI / Giga / EVGA etc can be tweaked over & above a reference-card or may have added cooling/fan enhancements; of note are EVGA super-clocked & Classified models, both of which come at $700 each & under; therefore the after-market's an eqwally compelling consideration as a source for your high-performance grfx cards if you intend to buy / install / maintain yourself, for a little bit less.
Yesterday I observed (in my other post in this thread, below) that if there was a formula at work on how they priced standard GTX 980 - a $550 MSRP priced at $650 - then for the formula to carry-over to Ti, proportionally these cards math-out as a $650 MSRP priced at $768; therefore the new $800 price-tag is reasonable, nearly spot-on & qwite a relief for their buyers:
- Alien-TitanX off-planet prices however still have no basis in reality, not to me anyway
Unless you need 12Gb of memory per-card, until their prices drop I'd recommend passing TX over in favor of Ti, regardless from where Ti's are purchased. Note that online reviews are saying that solo & dual-TX is a solid performance champion, but notice that triple-TX is said to be a losing proposition & succumbs to the Law of Diminishing Returns; a 3rd TX has been deemed un-necessary, perhaps a waste of $ & you should probably avoid buying tri-TX for your Area-51 at all or any cost. See reviews for more details & take note of any 2way/3way Titan/Ti reviews for a more informed opinion.
I've said it b4: lower, more competitive Aware prices are a catalyst w/the necessary potential to encourage consumption of their products. The Aliens are innocent of price-gouging on this card:
- GeForce GTX 980Ti makes a proud debut in Area-51 -
Qwestions & doubts over after-market cards (cards not bought direct from the Aliens) still linger:
- was the R2 motherboard purposely revised recently in order to run multiple TitanX
- the concern is significant since Ti architecture is based-off of TX
- can multiple after-market cards work in R2 -
A report came from AlienTechSupport the mthrbrd was revised & days later from Tech that it wasn't; we're still waiting on confirmation from past & present Area-51 buyers that multiple Titans &Ti's do in fact work in their systems when buying aftermarket cards from the likes of NVidia / EVGA / Newegg / MicroCenter, the do-it-yourself cards. TX is notorious for not working. 'How' Alienware got their Titans (& Ti's) to work is a bit of a mystery. Solo-cards definitely work --> in the meantime, until the picture gets clearer, I'll continue to advise as I've been doing here to install your own Titan/Ti in SLI knowing that there's no assurance coming from Alienware or forum members yet that they work without issue:
-
Virtua4 has Ti's coming; we're waiting on his R2 update hopefully this weekend; the same person who in frustration returned his non-working Titans
When in doubt, make a post here or on Arena, or call/chat-in to Dell-Alienware & ask for their opinion.
Last on the list: AMD Radeon Fury & R9300 Series
... will their latest offerings get an admirable or a hateful price? ... stay tuned ...
a pair of these kick their overpriced Titan's u know what. available everywhere.
Note: u must provide your own sli-bridge w/60mm spacing required; 2-way 'long' from evgaor 3-way from Dell (GYN70); price your bridge b4 buying your cards & of course make sure it's available
edit June 16: AMD launches
AMD R9-300 Series: Fury ($549 / air-kooled) & FuryX ($649 / liqwid) have lift-off:
- note that Radeon 295x2 liqwid was not offered in Area-51, perhaps no room for the radiator
- we may not see liqwid-kooled FuryX even offered for this same reason
"$329 R9 390 / $429 R9 390x pack 8GB of RAM ... for a better gaming experience @ 4K resolution":
- the MSRP's are set & from there we can divine Alienware's prices good bad or ugly.
With that said, I'll track the price of 'out-dated' Radeon 290x, for the obvious reason that its price is no longer relevant to the new line-up. Today's prices, Area-51 sales page. Radeon 370 standard = $100 (estimated) of the Tier1 base price ($1699):
- pay for then drop the $100 370
- add $350 more for 290x = $450 each
- add $750 more for dual 290x = $850 (425 each)
I'll bank on Alienware's inability to let go of the past, watch if they keep these prices constant in the face of new products in their attempt to take money right out of your wallet on old products (like GTX980) for no justifiable reason other than 'because we can':
- expect the same for out-dated 290x
- I predict 290x's price to remain the same even as it competes against the new 300 line-up
- good for aliens, not good for human beings
- we'd do well to watch how long it takes til 390x materializes on the sales-menu as aliens try to dump old 290x's off ... at full price of course
edit: today's now 7/25, all they have to show for the new line-up are base 370's?
If & when Alienware's grfx-card prices lose all touch with reality? Again, my advice to R2 buyers: opt for the base card in your tier & upgrade to one or more cards (like TitanX) directly from nVidia.com / AMD or elsewhere so the aliens don't beat you. Don't feed their lust, reward it or encourage it, lest everyone overpay on everything always. Rage Against The Machine.
... spoil the right Alien, not the wrong one ...
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Remember Everything You Know.
Virtua4
69 Posts
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July 5th, 2015 14:00
Interesting read....and a road that I am travelling. Having returned my titan x's Im waiting for 980ti's.....
Virtua4
69 Posts
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July 7th, 2015 10:00
I've made contact with dell - the L3 engineers tested Titan x sli on the original motherboard - some cards worked, some didn't (even though they worked individually).
They don't know anything about a revised board.
They will be testing the 980ti in sli soon. So let's see.
slingshot80
21 Posts
1
July 15th, 2015 11:00
I cannot figure out how to respond to first posting only. Anyway although the Area 51 competitors are generally more expensive, they are not marking up the components as much as Dell, so they may be a better deal depending on what you are buying. Definitely want a 980 Ti not the 980 and as noted all of the competitors which are much smaller companies and more nimble and responsive are now offering this.
I would consider two 980s with SLI but I read the extra Ram in the 980 Ti (six vs. four) makes a big difference in running 4K which I plan to do. Have to do more research on this.
Also interestingly some of Dell's dealers like Newegg have had better deals on the Area 51 then Dell does.
dellacct
13 Posts
1
July 19th, 2015 12:00
Been waiting for over a month now for them to ship Area 51 with GTX 980ti. If what the op is saying is true then this is very sad. Not sure how such a big corp can have 0 market adaptability...
Jonas200
97 Posts
1
July 20th, 2015 03:00
That's what I recommend...I think you get an absolute fantastic deal from doing this and the exorbitant pricing for the higher priced upgrades simply suggests to me Dell have no interest in going there unless you are willing to pay an arm and a leg.
I don't really blame them since they've been burned really really hard with being forced to replace defective expensive NVIDIA GPUs in so many laptops (remember the XPS 1730?). It's a huge business liability because high end GPUs come greater risks, it's not as if other major computer company is willing touch this market. Basically if you are paying Dell to install the 980Ti, they are asking you to pay for insurance in the likely event you need replacement or a warranty claim.
AndrewSi
901 Posts
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July 20th, 2015 08:00
Gotta love those prices - That's a nice holiday or almost a house deposit or half a car!!!
Cass-Ole
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1.8K Posts
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July 20th, 2015 12:00
$7400 for a solo-Titan running off of the base 850w psu. ThunderStruck Down Under huh?
Alright Mick, whip-out the boom-a-rang, break-out the knife & wrestle with this:
2Gb 960 standard > add $394 for duals > solo-960? call it $195 or half of $394:
{no ty, I'd rather go on walk-about down to newegg, put my savings toward an ax1500i psu}
$530 install fee? I've seen worse, but it's steep.
the problem? the Shiela !!! the world's finest power supply hangs in the balance over the surcharge. yes it's a bit of a reprieve down under in how they don't tax the common-folk on the double-down as up in the UK (the double-decker, nay, like Jack the Ripper); probably 'cause they sc'urd a Ned Kelly, the Batman, Mad Max & Croc Dundee all comin' after 'em for it ...
let's hope the 'reprieve' price rolls-over on its belly too for Ti ... instead a doin' a death-roll.
when newegg prices are as attractive as Nicole Kidman, koala bears & peakock spiders? your alien wins. game victorious. when Alien prices are as sc'ury as the MasterBlaster, Tasmanian devils & a salty? you gotta know when to roast n' toast that loser on the barbie ... shame victorious ...
@Jonas200 (new member's post) --> ty for the support
Your angle, doorway into the debate (there are many doors & angles at work I suspect) is the potential for warranty liability, similar words you used in the 'TitanX Overpriced!' thread here in the forum. I can't say I disagree with that facet, which should include reimbursement to Dell from nVidia for every defective card lost through attrition inside the warranty period. That percentage of buyers who opt for the 1year basic also comes to mind as their certain plus; most grfx cards get a 3year warranty while Dell neatly slashes 2 full years of coverage clean off (and Jonas, you forgot to mention the $465 1500watt power supply which is worth $250 tops & helps illustrate Corporate History & serial-patterns of over-charging). Now marvel over Alienware.com/UK with me:
Pay for the base 960 (est £100), drop it, now add +£1,200:
1st Look: Dell AMD Radeon 390/x
we'll look at modded / upgraded cards here, not reference designs w/lower msrp's. a glimpse.
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A8435565
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A8435685
{390x: assume 1year basic, add, what, $50 more for 3years + tax = ~ $615 }
visiontek = $450 / 2years >< newegg = $490 / 3years = ~$125+ abducted from your wallet
msrp? $450 = over-priced = repeat offense = what, $600+ on the sales-menu? = dunno
aliens will be installing 390x reference cards direct from amd soon, that msrp's set at $429
{amd 390? hmph. add tax/extend warranty, petty-theft. crime = ~$100}
one card remains: amd fury. msrp $549. look for it on Dell.com for $650 = ~$775+ aware.com ...
AndrewSi
901 Posts
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July 20th, 2015 19:00
I really can't backup what I'm about to say, but I do know numerous high level people in Dell Australia who have told me that most (if not all) of the "refurbished" parts that are used to repair warranty claims are supplied to Dell for NOTHING, NADA, ZIP, ZERO $000.
I'm not talking about brand new spare parts, but the "refurbished" parts. According to the Dell people I know, Dell has contracts with their suppliers which includes "free" repair of returned components.
GPU's and Motherboards included......
Yeah, maybe it could be justified if they actually paid for it.
Jonas200
97 Posts
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July 21st, 2015 03:00
In total, Dell replaced 3 GPUs + motherboard in my system which was configured with high end NVIDIA GPUs SLI...I don't think Dell's suppliers will be happy or be in much of a position to supply so many refurbished parts for 'free'...they cost $1000 each, I'm sure someone had to incur the cost/loss and I don't think it's the supplier
AndrewSi
901 Posts
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July 21st, 2015 07:00
Made by Foxcon and other contractors on bare minimum wage in China.
Do you honestly think Dell pay $1000 each.
If they do pay (And I doubt it) it would be more like $10 each.
They more than likely have a supply contract with each other, with a certain amount of "refurbished" parts supplied as part of the contract from the contractor who made the brand new item initially.