Non-reference 7850 or 7870 at Launch?

[BecauseScience]

Is there any news about non-reference 7850 or 7870 cards at launch?

 

[sirmonkey1985]

doubt it, at least not for the first month or two.

 

[Darksword]

Aren't the mid-range cards usually all non-reference at launch? I think the 6870 and 6850's were all non-reference when they launched.

I'm really hoping for non-reference 7970's at launch though.

 

[Flyinfinni]

6850s were all non reference, but 6870s I think were all reference at launch.

 

[ddarko]

The article says the Gigabyte card will be available mid to late January. Not at launch but pretty soon afterwards. Card will be overclocked to 1Ghz:

http://pccomputerparts.net/2012/01/gigabyte-to-introduce-hd-7970-windforce-3x-clocked-to-1ghz/