nVidia 655Ti rushed out to battle 7790

In life, people walk in a lot of different directions. It's often said that a leader without followers is just a bloke taking a walk. You know you're leading when you look over your shoulder and find that the next person is right behind you – taking the same steps/turns you're taking. KitGuru enters the world of the Radeon 7790 (Bonaire) and GTX 655Ti.

Running a successful retail business means carrying just the right amount of stock at all times.

Understocked and you have nothing to sell customers – but at least you have cash and can buy new products for your store.

Overstocked and your shelves are full of product that no one wants – and you have no cash to buy alternatives.

OK, so that's retail 101 taken care of.

The worst situation you can face is being overstocked when a new product launches – with a better specification at a lower price. This is something that AMD partners experienced just before Xmas 2012 when products like the VTX3D 7870 Black (Tahiti LE) launched more than £70 cheaper than the 7950 – but with similar performance.

Now, it seems, it's nVidia's go. And this overstock will happen close to the significant £100 mark.

Why £100?

Well the vast majority of graphic cards sold in the world exist just under this price point. It actually might be slightly higher than £100 – but not by much. Push the price to £150 or £200 and the sales figures drop rapidly.

Around 26th March 2013, nVidia retail partners will be able to get their paws on a GeForce GTX 655Ti for $179 (approx £120). This has been designed to go head-2-head with AMD's upcoming Radeon HD 7790. Having seen advanced specs on teh new Radeon, nVidia has been forced to move and move quickly.

Sounds good, so what's the problem?

Well for customers (i.e. you, dear reader), the problems are minimal. But for the channel, it will be fun. Here's a specification – we'll explain the ‘twist':-

• nVidia 6 Series GPU
• 2GB GDDR5
• 192-bit Memory Interface
• 6GHz Memory Clock
• Core Clock around 980MHz
• 4 Head Output

If that sounds familiar, it's because that is the current offer from MSI and others on the GTX 660 – which sells around the £170 mark.

It's actually the proposed specification for the new GTX 655 Ti – which could be closer to £120.

Expected performance on the new card is rumoured to be around 3,000 in 3D Mark Fire Strike. Almost exactly the same as the Radeon HD 7790 is expected to score.

We're expecting the Radeon HD 7790 to be £10-20 cheaper than the new GTX655 Ti.

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KitGuru says: On the 26th March, we would not want to be the store with 100 of the older, more expensive cards when the new ones arrive – and we certainly would not want to be a distributor with thousands in the warehouse. the added challenge comes from the increasing value of the dollar – which will make price promotions on the old stock very difficult. Well worth hanging on 2 weeks if you're thinking about spending £100 or so on an nVidia card – a £50 ‘discount' is about to land in your lap.

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