Nvidia will officially launch the GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card and already its arch-rival AMD has set up its defenses by lowering the price tag of the Radeon HD 6870 and allowing board partners to release 1GB Radeon HD 6950 models.
The promising performance numbers leaked to date suggest the GeForce GTX 560 Ti will be a very solid release and that has 'convinced' AMD to make adjustments to its mid-range and upper mid-range line-up. To be more specific, a stock Radeon HD 6870, which launched with a recommended price tag of $239, is going down to $219, while the new Radeon HD 6950 with 1GB of on-board memory (which should be the direct competitor for Nvidia's GTX 560) enters the market at $260.
The 2GB Radeon HD 6950 also got a little cheaper and will be found at $269 to $289, depending on frequencies. Upon launch, the HD 6950 was $299.
As if price cuts weren't enough, AMD is also promising 'free' performance boosts (up to 30%, depending on game and settings) for its Radeon HD 6000 series cards with the Catalyst 11.1a driver which is set to become available tomorrow, January 26. Overall, the battle in the $200 - $300 segment is really heating up, and customers are the ones at an advantage.
