AMD is expected to release its new Radeon HD 6970 and 6950 GPUs in the third week of December, Digitimes.com reported today citing sources from graphics card makers.

The cards are expected to compete with Nvidia's latest GeForce GTX 570 and the GTX 580 GPUs, which are currently available for about $350 and $500, respectively. However, initial shipment volumes of the Radeon HD 6970 and 6950 GPUs are expected to be limited, the sources noted.

According to early testing figures, the GeForce GTX 580 performs better than AMD's new Radeon HD 6970. Therefore, AMD is expected to price the GPU US$50-70 less than the GTX 580 in an effort to attract more byers and cover the disadvantage.