Over the past three weeks since AMD released the world’s fastest 40nm DirectX 11 graphics processor, we have been on an incredibly intent pursuit to locate any available stock within the US market and inform the enthusiast community within reasonable time thereafter. Unfortunately, the task has been anything but satisfying, as every new shipment of the infamous Radeon HD 5970 sells out on an average of 14.5 minutes, according to the latest analytic data we’ve received. It comes as no surprise that Newegg is the leading US shipment provider of the card and carries the largest assortment of AIB partner models for prospective consumers to choose.

The latest stock tracking alert data on the internet reveals that the world’s second largest etailer has carried stock of the Radeon HD 5970 for three consecutive days in a row now, beginning with the HIS H597F2GDG on Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 9:12pm EST and currently ending with the ASUS EAH5970/G/2DIS/2GD5 on December 8, 2009 at 2:12pm EST. As we mentioned two days after the card launched, Newegg officially began listing Radeon HD 5970 cards from PowerColor, HIS, Diamond, Gigabyte and Sapphire. However, only the Sapphire model (10020OCSR) was available at the time and it currently displays an ETA of December 15, 2009.





Nevertheless, Sapphire isn’t the only ATI vendor in existence and there are more than plenty of equal competitors to choose from. It would be unwise for us to recommend any preferred brand over another as the final result in every circumstance will be a brand new, 40nm DirectX 11-capable graphics powerhouse sitting on your desk waiting to be unwrapped. We should also make it clear to the silent crowd of superficial spenders that vendor-designed logos and their artful calamities can always be removed and unpeeled from the heatsink shroud should they be undesired. Therefore, we recommend the strategy of any diehard enthusiast consumer to always be centered primarily around pricing and availability over minuscule branding decisions that are unconcerned with GPU performance.

For the most part, Newegg stock has been a rollercoaster joyride, sporadic and unwelcoming to the casual consumer who remains unaware of the various scripting tools required for successful internet shopping tactics. The full history of Radeon HD 5970 stock data reveals that Newegg has thus far received a cumulative total of nine new batches of the card, far more than any other e-tail or retail vendor. However, it is important to realize that the shipment times are completely randomized despite the listed ETAs, and the actual quantities likely amount to less than 10 cards sold within an average of 14.5 minutes. The data also reveals that the most popularly restocked cards include the HIS H597F2GDG and Sapphire 10020OCSR, followed in third by the Diamond 5970PE52G which has individually seen more retail store availability than its competition.





We spoke with a customer sales representative from Fry’s Electronics yesterday afternoon, who was able to confirm that the only Radeon HD 5970 model currently being sold in its retail locations is the Diamond 5970PE52G. At the time of this writing, it is completely sold out in Northern California and Southern California territories respectively with unknown ETA availability in many stores. Micro Center currently lists the card in its online warehouse, but it unfortunately comes at a heavy price premium of $699.99 and has an estimating shipping time of 7 – 21 days. We commend those who are mature enough to pass this offer and who truly understand the competitive market aspects of supply and demand. Micro Center’s offer may seem appealing at first, but the total price after tax and shipping unfortunately reflects the offers available on eBay, and we are disinclined to recommend this purchasing route.





Patience is an incredible virtue when November’s annual shopping season rolls around and our major wish list items happen to be extremely limited, or in some cases, delayed until further notice. For the bold, daring and audacious enthusiasts still out there waiting to purchase a Radeon HD 5970 in time for the holidays, we strongly salute you for persisting through the first three weeks. This is certainly not the first time the silicon manufacturing industry has screwed over its entire high-end consumer base. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Nvidia, AMD and even Intel all share equivalent blame in this respect for a variety of untimely corporate decisions and capital expenditure related strategies in the year 2009. Nevertheless, the situation can be considered directly analogous to what occurred three years ago with the launch of the seventh generation gaming consoles. On November 17, 2006, Sony’s supercomputing powerhouse, the PlayStation 3, was released with an expected shipment quantity of 1,000,000 units in the US on its launch day. However, the actual availability number was incredibly overshot and more along the lines of 200,000 units for the entire country.  We found ourselves camping by tradition outside with friends and other adamant hardcore enthusiasts, waiting in what seemed an endless three-day line at BestBuy and ensuing a violent riot of hundreds of people shoving, punching and even knifing to obtain one of the highly coveted 36 spots in line for the extremely limited amount of consoles available.

Likewise, the experience of waiting for a Radeon HD 5970 three years later can be viewed in a similar regard. In contrast, the traditional long line of tents and chairs occupied by cold, starving campers in the forsaken, outside world are replaced by internet e-campers assumed to possess thick fat fingers and inclined to fap away at the F5 refresh key until something on the product page changes. We are well aware of the emotional overjoy that lights up any room when the mind of a patient enthusiast bursts into rapid exclamation points and smiley faces. Regardless of the exhausted availability at hand, regardless of the countless hours of sleep spent sacrificed, and regardless of the unfortunate very-last-minute delays of Nvidia Fermi-based GF100 products until several months from now, the experience of having a coveted 40nm high-end card for the warm holiday season is definitely worth any diehard’s persistence and endurance.





Update: On December 10, 2009 at approximately 1:57pm PST, the Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 (10020OCSR) went in stock at Newegg and we were able to secure two of them in our cart and successfully complete the order. Interestingly enough, they may have been the only two in stock because when we finalized the order at 2:00pm PST, the card immediately went out of stock and reverted back to "Auto Notify" status. Apologies to anyone else who was competing for purchase at the same time, but when AMD's add-in board partners aren't even able to allocate review samples to IT journalists who provide GPU hardware analysis like Fudzilla, it becomes clearly evident that there is a major problem in the market. As we wrote the other day, Radeon HD 5970 availability is increasing at a very slow and gradual rate, and it still may be possible to get some cards delivered in time before UPS and Fedex are overwhelmed with shipments right before Christmas. To all those committed enthusiasts out there with solid motivation ethics, keep up the great fight!