You know how they say: 'Innocent until proven guilty'? well it goes hand in hand with Nvidias latest (GTX 980) against whatever AMD may offer in the future. I knew that this was almost exactly gonna happen when the 750 ti came out, also when I personally tried it.
We all agree that the Titan-Z was an absurd move, in terms of pricing, and it makes sense that it wasn't meant for your ordinary guy to buy it. The 295 went even lower than $1000 for a limited time, but then again, I personally think that they were for two different markets, so I wouldn't really say something like a counter part....
Maxwell changed the game completely, without any doubt.