Newegg Launches Official & Unofficial AMD Radeon R9 Game Bundles
by Ryan Smith on May 14, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
- AMD
- Radeon
- Newegg
- Game Bundles
Kudos to the PC Perspective crew for tracking this one down. It looks like Newegg is running a very unusual set of video game bundles with AMD’s higher-end Radeon cards.
Having apparently launched in parts over the last couple of weeks, Newegg is now bundling multiple video games with many of the Radeon R9 cards the e-tailer carries. A “base” offer involves the recently launched DIRT Rally, Codemasters’ latest off-road rally driving game, which is being offered with most of the R9 cards. Meanwhile the also recently launched Grand Theft Auto V is also being offered as a bundled game in a more limited fashion, being included with many of the R9 290 and 290X cards.
What makes this bundle so unusual however is its simultaneous official and unofficial nature. Officially AMD is running a DIRT Rally bundle – though having never released an announcement about it – and according to the terms & conditions this bundle has been going on as recently as April 27th, DIRT Rally’s launch day. Meanwhile Grand Theft Auto just recently begun showing up at Newegg, and unlike the DIRT bundle, AMD is disavowing all knowledge of this, stating that they are not involved in the GTA bundle.
| Newegg Radeon R9 Game Bundles | |
| Video Card | Bundle |
| Radeon R9 295X2 | DIRT Rally |
| Radeon R9 290 Series | DIRT Rally + Grand Theft Auto V |
| Radeon R9 285 Radeon R9 280 Series Radeon R9 270 Series |
DIRT Rally |
As a result the cards covered by these various bundles are a bit more inconsistent than in official AMD bundles. 7 of the 9 R9 290 cards include DIRT, and only 5 of those 7 include GTA V. For the R9 290X, 15 of the 17 cards include DIRT, and 10 of those 17 cards include GTA V. Consequently while we typically always say to double-check cards for bundles before purchasing, this time we really mean it, as more cards than usual are being excluded.
Overall, although retailer-specific offers are not unprecedented, these days it’s very rare to have retailers run their own video game bundle promotions. Typically such promotions are backed by the manufacturer, if only to take advantage of the buying power of such a large order. So for Newegg to offer their own GTA V bundle is quite a surprise, and if it were not for the fact that Newegg is the only retailer doing this it would be hard to believe, especially given the high-profile nature of GTA V. Meanwhile the availability of the DIRT bundle is similarly odd; along with Newegg it’s available at NCIX, but surprisingly not Amazon or Best Buy. For the moment at least, it looks like it’s just Newegg that gets all the goods.
In any case, given the unofficial nature of these bundles, there isn’t a published end date for either bundle. The AMD DIRT Rally codes are valid until the end of 2015, however we would expect the promotion to end much sooner than that. Consequently very little of this makes any sense, but for prospective Radeon R9 buyers, enjoy it while it lasts.
Update - 5/15/2015: Well that didn't last for very long. As of this morning all of the GTA V bundles are gone, and now only a handful of cards quality for the DIRT bundle; 2 of the R9 290s and 5 of the R9 290Xs. The entire situation gets curiouser and curiouser, and for the time being it looks like the bundles have tapered off almost as quickly as they appeared.
Source: PC Perspective
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nathanddrews - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
$240 for OC 290s with 2 games?? It's almost sweet enough to strike! I doubt there's a better performance/dollar ratio anywhere else.chizow - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
Nope probably not, you're big on AMD, you SHOULD strike. Chances are prices are only going to go up with AMD's Rebadgeon 300 series line-up. Same thing happened with 7950B and 7970GE, prices actually went up when they were rebadged to R9 280/X.Crunchy005 - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
Rebadgeon lol. AMD rebadged their OEM line, thats done by both AMD and Nvidia like crazy. Nvidia also rebadges their cards especially their current 950m, 960m. Lets wait for those consumer cards to come out before we judge. At least AMD customers aren't GeForced into a highly proprietary system with software that gets turned off if something nvidia doesn't like is detected.chizow - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
Yeah it completely makes more sense to Always Settle for less features by going with the Open, unsupported option that leaves you as the end-user with nothing but slide decks full of hopes and dreams and self-support options. :)Both sides rebadge when it makes sense, sure, but in this case its almost the entire full stack that has already been rebadged numerous times before, on the eve of a new desktop stack. It just doesn't bode well for the desktop line, because if the desktop line is significantly different, it will really hurt the perception and sales of the OEM parts they just launched.
Crunchy005 - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
http://anandtech.com/show/9077/nvidia-launches-gtx...talk about an entire product stack rebadged. The only ones in the mobile lineup not rebadged are the 970m, 980m. AMD rebranded less than that and that was OEM. We don't even know what the consumer line is yet and your spouting shit about rebranding. Nvidia did that same shit if not worse and you fail to mention it every time.
Crunchy005 - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
It just doesn't bode well for the Nvidia desktop line, because if the desktop line is significantly different, it will really hurt the perception and sales of the OEM parts they just launched.chizow - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
Except it doesn't deviate for Nvidia's desktop line, which is why there is no harm in the few rebrands they did. Desktop is still significantly faster than laptop/mobile, and oh, OEM is the same as desktop (Reference 970 and 980 match desktop, exactly).chizow - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
LMAO, truly retarded as usual, you link but don't even bother to read. All but one of the chips is on their most relevant, newest architecture Maxwell and yes, they introduced two completely new SKUs at the top based on GM204.The concerns about rebranding are just based on common sense. *IF* you think the desktop line is imminent, as most do believe, then any major departure from that OEM nomenclature is going to cause a lot of market confusion at best, or a lot of harm to your OEM line at worst. Who is going to buy an OEM desktop with an R9 380 for example when AMD has just launched an R9 480? No one. That's the whole point of OEM rebrands to begin with, they need to keep the product designations in-step with the desktop line-up. So do you honestly think AMD is going to rebrand again as OEM R9 400 series if AMD departs from OEM 300 series with the desktop parts? Of course not!
Crunchy005 - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
They aren't using R9 400 in any way, that is something you made up. Talk about retarded, you are making shit up and then trying to pass it off as fact. If they were going to use 400 for consumer and 300 for OEM ya that would be stupid but that is not the case. Stop making things up to try and make yourself look good.Alexvrb - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
Actually they could use 300 for OEM and 400 for the new retail lineup. I wouldn't really mind either way. They did it with the 8000 series vs 200 series. No big deal. Just ignore the OEM parts, it's silly to bring them up. They're OEM. They don't affect real nerds. :P