AMD's RX 64 Launch pricing was only for "early sales"

Is AMD's RX Vega 64's MSRP of Ã?Â£449.99 a lie?

| Source: Overclockers UK Author: Mark Campbell

AMD's RX 64 Launch pricing was only for "early sales"

When AMD first revealed their RX Vega 64 reference design, many were pleased with AMD's listed MSRP of $499 (£449 in the UK), placing AMD's GPU in line with some of the cheapest Nvidia GTX 1080 offerings today.

Yesterday when AMD's RX Vega 64 GPU launched, this pricing didn't hold for any reasonable length of time, with prices increasing within an hour of Vega's retail release. Many, including ourselves, assumed that this was due to demand but now it has been revealed that this was an intentional price increase, not from retailers but from AMD themselves.

Below is a quote from Overclockers UK's Gibbo, who reported that AMD's £449.99 price tag for their RX Vega 64 was "launch only" pricing. This price only applied to the retailer's initial allotment of RX Vega 64 Black standalone GPUs, with AMD giving gamers a £100 discount as some form of an "early adopter" discount.



Now the good and bad news, the good news is AMD are rebating early launch sales to allow us to hit £449.99 on the stand alone black card which has no games. This is a launch only price which AMD at present are saying will be withdrawn in the near future, when if it happens is unknown, but remember do not be shocked if the price jumps nearly £100 in a few days.



This time round there is no early adopter tax, quite the opposite on the stand alone black card, so do be quick.



We've also made some bundles as well, these bundles feature NO DISCOUNT, what you get is two AAA titles known as Prey and yet to be released Wolfenstein II PC games, worth a solid £50 between them. Well I lie, they include the Black Card which has £100 discount up front, so by buying the bundles you get the black card at the launch discounted price, but also score the two free games. This is also same case for the Samsung & VEGA monitor bundle, it includes the black pre-discounted card, but also scores you the two free games.







AMD's "discounted" RX Vega GPUs sold out within minutes, which means that AMD's RX Vega 64 now has an effective MSRP of £549.99, which is a price increase of over 20%. While gamers will now get copies of Wolfenstein II and Prey for free with their GPU, this by no means makes up for the GPU's £100 price increase.

What is more startling is that OC3D was never told that AMD's standalone RX Vega 64 Black (Reference) GPU would only be priced at £449.99 temporarily, a factor that would no doubt affect the conclusion of any RX Vega review. So far most reviews list AMD's RX Vega 64 as being priced at AMD's original MSRP of $499 and £449, which is no longer true.

We have contacted AMD to ask them whether or not their RX Vega 64 will be available in its "standalone" form in the future, but so far we have gotten no response. To say the least, this price increase will have a huge effect on Vega's perception, with this price increase within an hour of the GPUs launch making AMD's listed MSRP seem like a review manipulation tactic.



OC3D was never told that AMD's £449.99 "standalone" price was temporary, which is a huge deal. Hopefully, AMD will deliver an official response to this soon, as right now it seems like reviewers were unable to base their conclusions on the end price of AMD's RX Vega 64. Reviews for AMD's RX Vega 64 would no doubt have had different conclusions if the price of AMD's standard RX Vega 64 is considered, instead of AMD introductory pricing.

Right now the only way to by AMD's Radeon RX Vega 64 t its launch £449.99 price is with one of AMD's Radeon bundles, which are avaiablel with CPUs, FreeSync displays and other hardware. To put it simply, the GPU is not avaialble at this price when bought on its own.



In effect, those that are interested in AMD's RX Vega 64 today will not be greeted with AMD's previously advertised MSRP of £449.99, but instead see pricing of around £549. Yes, gamers will also be getting two free games at this new price, but the value of those games is not as high as the RX Vega 64's increase in price. Even after accounting for the games, the RX Vega 64 has received a price increase of around £40 in the UK.

Standalone RX Vega 64 products will not be available anymore unless AMD permits it. Overclockers UK has contacted AMD and has requested that they make standalone Vega products a permanent part of their GPU lineup.



AMD has being told by me, stand alone cards, need to be £449 for VEGA 64 and £349 for VEGA 56, permanently, not just for launch or restricted to a certain volume but permanent. They are worried about miners but we can alleviate that with 1pc per customer, hell I'd even set up voucher codes if AMD wanted it off the radar so loyal customers and forum members could bag 1pc at the LAUNCH pricing. I will keep pushing, because at £449 VEGA 64 is a fantastic bit of kit and VEGA 56 at £349 bargain of the century.I will push AMD very hard to make this happen, but for it to happen AMD need to support it, because without their support we would make a horrific loss and well if we lose money, then we'd be better off not selling it, FULL STOP! Won't stop pushing because at such prices they will fly, but then on the flip side AMD need to be able to give me like 10,000 units minimum to keep the product in stock and keep with demand.



But we won't stop pushing, I think to be frank AMD are a little shocked with how fast our stock went, I think they themselves have under-estimated how many gamers there still is on HD 5xxx, 6xxx, 7xxx and 290/390 series who wanted and do still want to upgrade to a card from AMD either because they are loyal, like AMD or have a FREESYNC monitor or are planning a FREESYNC monitor purchase.









We have contacted AMD and asked them if pricing will ever return to the £449.99 RX Vega 64 "standalone" pricing, though so far we have received no official response. On the retail side, there seems to be no indication that "standalone" RX Vega 64 models will ever become available again, which completely changes how Vega should be viewed from a value for money standpoint.

The long and short of it is that Vega's price increase is not due to high demand, miners or retail price gouging, it is from AMD themselves. This raises a lot of questions, which hopefully be answered by AMD in time.

Our hope is that this is a short term misunderstanding and that pricing for the RX Vega 64 will return to £449.99 in time with the release of additional "standalone" Vega products, as this is where the RX Vega 64 is most competitive and offers the best value for PC gamers.

You can join the discussion on AMD's RX Vega pricing changes on the OC3D Forums.

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