It had been assumed that you would be able to buy the new Nvidia Fermi-based GPUs, GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470, on their release dates in North America (March 26th) and Europe (March 27th), before the retail date was confirmed to be March 29th. However, new information suggests that the two graphics cards have been delayed on their way to the shelves, and will only be up for sale on April 6th.
However, this does not change the fact the NDA of the cards will expire on March 26th, and the products will still be officially unveiled during PAX East 2010 in Boston, in the event ‘Nvidia Unveils the Next Generation of PC Gaming’. This gives potential buyers plenty of time to see the cards being benchmarked and tested before they can buy them. It also seems that Nvidia will be following an unusual course of action by sending out samples to be reviewed directly, not through their partners. This might be to maintain the highest possible secrecy before the March 26th launch, not trusting its partners to not leak information/hardware. We also hope that the company offers the latest drivers on the same day as its release, so that the GTX 480 and 470 can be benchmarked accurately.
Last known ‘suggested retail prices’ were $450 for the GTX 480, and $350 for the GTX 470.