I know AMD holds a lot less of the market share, does that equate to less of a sh*t show at launches?
AMD is always finding ever increasingly creative methods to outdo themselves with how to screw up with every Product Launch.
With Navi 1st Gen (RX 5000-Series)., not only did they allow Apple to slide in right before Product Ramp and acquire all of the N7 Production Capacity that they needed to produce a Full Stack... leading to them only being capable of producing a Single Discreet (Desktop) and Embedded (OEM) Variant of the GPU., but they chose not to wait until the Drivers were mature enough; and as compensation for not having any High-End ("Big Navi") Products chose to push Navi to the Redline resulting in effectively showing NVIDIA their hand for this Generation.
Now at present, this launch does look much more promising in many respects.
The RX 6000-Series has been Ready To Launch (from a Hardware perspective) since Late July., which ordinarily would've been their "Paper Launch" Window.
Instead AMD chose deliberately to wait.
This was so that they could
a) See what NVIDIA were bringing to the Market
b) Ensure that Drivers were Stable for Launch
c) If chances / tweaks needed to be made to the Architecture (at a Hardware Level)., that they had time to do that and Ramp without the need to push back the Launch
On top of this., they also made the decision to keep "Radio Silence" in regards to the Specifications (which again are entirely subject to change until it begin to ship to Retailers) but also omit providing them to AIB Partners who in the past are the main source for leaked Benchmarks and Information to both the Public and NVIDIA.
And keep in mind a lot of this is in the face of the RTX 30-Series (at least by the Tech Press) being praised as if it's some sort of "Game Changer" that is untouchable.
I personally see it quite differently... as while it's certainly impressive (for NVIDIA)., it also showcases that NVIDIA is deeply rattled by Navi; much more so than how the RX 5000-Series was received by the Public and Tech Press.
And with VERY good reason.
Of course despite this being an Epic End-Zone Rush... with them looking quite untouchable., as if typically the case for AMD; I think we're all waiting to see what their 10-Yard Fumble is going to be.
Do bots & resellers buy out AMD inventory on mass like they do Nvidia?
No., we usually have to deal with Crypto-Currency Miners buying up all of our Cards.
When you also consider that generally speaking AMD Cards don't tend to "Re-Sale" particularly well... as even their excellent products don't really generate the same "Must Have" reaction from their Core Consumers (like myself).
AMD also typically produce enough of their Mainstream Hardware for it not to be an issue.
Unlike NVIDIA., who everyone is still quite sceptical that they do even have limited supply and they aren't just deliberately with-holding Stock in order to drive up prices (and their profit margins).
^If yes, will AMD take steps to mitigate this - preferably learning from Nvidia's mistakes?
There isn't much they can do... but as noted., AMD Hardware (esp. GPUs) don't exactly have great Re-Sale Value.
It isn't because they're bad products; it's because of the Core Consumer behaviour.
We're not going to pay over the odds for Products., we'll just wait until it's available or being resold for a cheaper price.
This is especially true when you consider that we're in a Recessive Period due to the Pandemic this year.
Not that this will actually be a bad thing for AMD... it will mean a few more months to improve Drivers further., they will see Record Sales., Fewer RMA., and when such lunacy does finally die down; a market flooded with even better value hardware for the Consumers who they intended to get them (of whom will have been willing to wait for said prices to crash back to MSRP).
I mean look at Polaris for template of what I mean. AMD just carried on "As Usual" and unlike NVIDIA never ended up with a massive excess of stock that they then couldn't shift... their Market finally did get Polaris Cards., and at some pretty deep discounts at Re-Sale., even while MSRP was very slowly returning to normal.
How soon after the Oct 28 announcement can I expect to get my hands on a card?
Day One.
October 28th isn't a Paper Launch., but keep in mind that AIB Partner Cards will not be available until Nov - Dec.
The RX 6000-Series has effectively been "Ready to Launch" since Late July., and AMD won't break their promise that we will be able to get the Cards before the Next-Gen Console Launch (which we KNOW the Xbox Series is launching November 10th, with PlayStation 5 also sometime in November... although no word on the exact day yet).
When travelling at a subsonic speed during the last one hour of hyper-sleep, which vector of the Romulan nebula will suffer the wrath of the impenetrable quickening?
Not my area of expertise.
