As it turns out, Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 470 and 480 graphics cards pose no great threat to AMD’s Radeon HD 5800 series. AMD might be reticent to enact price cuts as a result, but according to Fudzilla, the company’s card-selling partners may take care of that on their own.

Fudzilla claims to have it on good authority that "key people at AMD" are waiting to gauge the GeForce GTX 400 family’s success before making any moves. Although price-slashing card partners wouldn’t receive backing from AMD, some of them "might slightly adjust their 5800 series pricing, and get the prices slightly down," the site adds. Such cuts would come directly out of those partners’ profit margins.

For those who haven’t been keeping track, Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 470 and 480 will become available next week at prices of around $349 and $499, respectively. The Radeon HD 5850 and 5870 currently start at $299.99 and $414.99, respectively, at Newegg, so AMD already has an advantage. Further cuts would likely push Nvidia to follow suit. Considering the size of the GF100 graphics processor and recent reports of poor yields, any kind of price war probably won’t help Nvidia make a profit on these products.