The prices of the AMD 7950/7970 dropped like crazy this past few weeks in Canada as well.
I purchased a MSI GTX 760 (Gaming Edition) for $260 (They are like $300+ on Newegg Canada for some reason now?) because the 7950 cheapest was $329.99 and 7970 around $399.99.
Few weeks later I'm seeing Sapphire 7950 at $249.99 and Sapphire 7970 for $329.99. Bit of buyers remorse. I would have shelled out the extra $60 for a 7970.
I'm really curious about the price points the 99xx/98xx series and performance. If they are only going to be 20-30% higher performance and say 399.99/499.99, you're still better off buying one of those cheap 7970/7950 as it would be a better price/performance ratio.
I could see them re-badging the 7950 as the 9850 and 7970 as the 9870, then using a new GPU/Arcitecure for the 9950/9970. Unless they will release the 9970/50 at first then in a few months release the 98xx cards.
Edit: See a XFX 7950 Core Edition on NCIX for 219.99 (after 30$ MIR) Great price, but I'd never buy XFX tbh.