Wait for new line of GPUs?

Hey guys,

I recently placed an order for a P150EM from XoticPC. I configured the system to have the 7970M GPU. The order was cleared for production on March 13th, but apparently there was a shortage of 7970M, so my order has been delayed for another 10 business days on top of the 16 business days I have waited. As a result, I am considering cancelling my order at this point. I assume that production does not happen until all of the parts are available.

I am wondering if I should cancel and wait for the new line of GPU's the 780M or the 8970M/8990M. I could also pay the difference and have the 7970M switched with a 680M. This should allow my order to enter production immediately. I am expecting that XoticPC will allow me to pay with credit card without removing my 2% cash discount for this case because the order has been so delayed.

What would you guys recommend? I am not in a particular rush to get my computer, but I don't like paying out nearly $1500 without receiving anything for over a month.

Thanks,
Josh

 

To be fair, the latest GPUs available should be capable of handling future games at ultra settings for some time to come. I know NVidia has announced Maxwell and Volta graphics chips, but there doesn't seem to be an official release date.

If you can hold off and are fine with paying the premium that will accompany the new architecture, then by all means. Just know that we don't seem to have a release date etched in stone yet.

 

For mobile cards, I always recommend a 680M over the 7970M IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT. nVidia just cares about the customers more (granted AMD's issues are mostly gone from what I hear) and you'll have little tidbits like PhysX and CUDA support if you ever need em. I would hate to have such a wait myself, but I don't honestly believe the new GPUs are going to be that fantastic from what I've been seeing lately. If anything they're gonna be slightly (15% if we're lucky) better and the flagships won't be out till long after the midrange cards are out. So you may be waiting a long time.

As for the credit card, they should only charge you the difference for the 680M since you already paid for your order. Ask them about keeping your cash discount because you've been waiting a LONG time. I don't even know where those 16 business days came from; when I did mine I did a bank wire transfer on Friday, they got the money on Monday of the next week, the laptop was at my door on Thursday of that same week. And I didn't do rush shipping or 3-day UPS or anything. Just tell them the situation and see if they can get you sorted out somehow.

I wouldn't be able to wait a whole month after I paid for my machine, good on you that you could though XD.

 

Thanks for the replies. I realized that if I change my order to the 680M, I might as well get the P150EM/NP9150 Special Edition (which comes with the 680M). The special is ~$25 more than adding the 680M to my current system, but I get 8GB more memory (16GB) on 2DIMMs, the Killer N Wireless, and IC Diamond paste. I'll have to ask Xotic about that tomorrow to see if this it is possible to make this change.I was told that the order may have been started at Sager, and they received a batch of bad GPUs, which caused the delay.

 

Be REALLY careful with that Killer network card. A LOT of people are having issues with them. It has a high rate of being a bard card it seems, so I suggest asking them if it could remain an intel one. It might save you a lot of headache. But otherwise, not a bad idea it seems. Good luck with your machine!

 

the latest and greatest techonlogy and the diminishing return value take a bite (i.e costly) (that what happen to me)

 

Thanks for the heads-up.

 

Don't know about nVidia new cards, but 8970m is slated to hit june/july at a price of around 550-600$. Aftermarket retailers claim up to 30% improvement over 7970m, more memory available, with AMD claiming up to 20% more efficiency (performance / consumption / heat).
8990m was claimed by rumours to hit at the same time as 8970m but recent rumors are pushing it into late august. If the 8970m hits 30% over the 7970m (and implicitly over the 680m - and i'm a red-team fanboy and I lol at the idea that physx and cuda are useful these days, over directcompute, openCL and Lara's hair), then the 8990m should be even more interesting.
That being said, that's still months away.

I'd suggest getting the 680m if you so desire, and when the new cards hit, selling it and upgrading.