UK availability
AMD and NVIDIA have both launched high-end graphics cards on the same day, at the exact same time. Sounds like a belated April Fool's joke, but the cards - AMD's Radeon HD 4890 and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 275 - are here, and have been put through their paces in our in-depth HEXUS review.
As forward-looking derivatives of existing designs, both products are manufactured to compete in the £200/$250+ space. With both AMD and NVIDIA going head to head, a battle to be first to market has been brewing. Fortunately for the consumer, both GPU giants are looking to offer better value propositions than one another and prices are consequently falling.
So, if you're looking to spend in the region of £200 - £225 and you've chosen to go the AMD route, let's have a look at launch-day availability and pricing of the Radeon HD 4890 from some of the big-name etailers. Here's our summary:
UK Market |  |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| etailer | Product | Availability | Price (inc. VAT) |
| SCAN.co.uk | HIS Radeon HD 4890 | In stock | £220.13 |
| PowerColor Radeon HD 4890 | In stock | £225.39 | |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 | In stock | £224.83 | |
| XFX Radeon HD 4890 | In stock | £240.35 | |
| ASUS Radeon HD 4890 | Pre-order | £212.41 | |
| HIS Radeon HD 4890 OC | Pre-order | £253.54 | |
| XFX Radeon HD 4890 XXX | Pre-order | £254.87 | |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 OC | Pre-order | £236.90 | |
| As always, UK-based HEXUS.community discussion forum members will benefit from the SCAN2HEXUS Free Shipping initiative, which will save you a further few pounds plus also top-notch, priority customer service and technical support backed up by the SCANcare@HEXUS forum. | |||
| ebuyer.com | XFX Radeon HD 4890 | In stock | £219.99 |
| ASUS Radeon HD 4890 | Pre-order | £224.99 | |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 | Pre-order | £226.93 | |
| GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4890 | Pre-order | £212.98 | |
| PowerColor Radeon HD 4890 | Pre-order | £209.98 | |
| novatech.co.uk | PowerColor Radeon HD 4890 | In stock | £209.99 |
| HIS Radeon HD 4890 | In stock | £213.89 | |
| XFX Radeon HD 4890 | In stock | £224.24 | |
| ASUS Radeon HD 4890 | In stock | £224.24 | |
| HIS Radeon HD 4890 OC | Pre-order | £241.49 | |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 | Pre-order | £224.24 | |
This, then, is what we'd call a hard launch. AMD's Radeon HD 4890 is readily available on launch day with a number of etailers already listing the card as in stock.
From the etailers listed, the average cost of an in-stock Radeon HD 4890 equates to roughly £223. Shop around, of course, and you'll be able to shave a few additional pounds off that amount.
Moving on, how about pricing in the rest of Europe and the US? Head on over to page two for an up-to-date comparison.
