GPU Help

[MonoAccipiter]

Friends and acquaintances,

 

I haven't really been thinking about upgrading my computer lately, but just today I stumbled upon an ad for a (slightly) used Sapphire 390X NITRO at 3350,- kr (391.50 USD), which is 1100,- kr (128.55 USD) less than the price for a new card. As I haven't really paid any attention to any of the newer generation cards I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice on whether it's worth jumping on. I know (or assume from experience I guess) we have pretty steep prices, but it wouldn't be much cheaper to buy from abroad due to fairly strict tariffs, and it is a 24.7% decrease in price. As you can see by my signature I have a 7970 GHz Edition from ASUS (a binned model).

 

~Mono

[Spock]

If I were you, I wouldn't do it. The reason is you only upgrade by one generation. I'd definitely wait for the next generations of GPUs atm.

[TechAngel85]

I agree, unless you just really need it. I usually skip a generation or two before upgrading. For example, I currently have a GTX 760 and have no plans to upgrade to any of the 900 series (800 series is laptop exclusive). The 760, currently, handles everything I need it to do. We'll see about the next generation after that.

[Nozzer66]

As TechAngel. I'm currently rocking a 780Ti and there's just no need to update as the bang for buck factor wont be there. When the 1000 series pops with the rumoured 8GB DDR5 for the 1080, I may consider it.

[hishutup]

Its all relative to how much spending money one has.

If you have nothing to do but spend money then sure, get the latest thing but if you dont then try and buy second hand parts.

Im thinking about going from a 970 to a 980ti, now that not that bad as it could be since its a nice bump for single cards however if I wanted to save some cash I should look into getting another 2nd hand 970 but that isn't something I am going to do as of yet.

[MonoAccipiter]

Its all relative to how much spending money one has.

If you have nothing to do but spend money then sure, get the latest thing but if you dont then try and buy second hand parts.

Im thinking about going from a 970 to a 980ti, now that not that bad as it could be since its a nice bump for single cards however if I wanted to save some cash I should look into getting another 2nd hand 970 but that isn't something I am going to do as of yet.

I don't really want to spend that much money, and what I figured was that if I bought a new one now maybe I could sell the old one for around 1000,- kr (116.58 USD). However you do bring up a lot of good points, and there's not really any significantly taxing games I've set my eyes on for the coming year. Hence I think I'll wait this one out a bit longer. 

[Aiyen]

Considering the next generation should be out this year (Correct me if I am wrong) then it would not be worth it at this time. Even more so since it is a used produce, in which case warranty etc gets tricky. For that amount of money one might as well get a new one with proper warranty. 

 

The only reason I could see in getting a new card now, is if your old one fails and you need a new one right now, or if you somehow decide that you must play game X in a silly resolution, or create something that requires that sort of rendering power. 

[MonoAccipiter]

That's true. Warranty is so easy over here usually (if your product is meant to last significantly longer than 2 years you can file a complaint with the store you bought it from up until 5 years from the date of purchase, so you basically get a warranty for everything) that I completely forgot about that aspect of it.

[Aiyen]

By over here, and your tax and currency I assume you mean Scandinavia! In which case it is 2 years on most consumer electronics. The few that tend to be different is stuff such as power supply´s. (Which are 5-10 years depending on model and manufacturer)

The companies are only obligated to do 2 years, a few do more if you pay a bit more... I normally do that with EVGA and get 3 years of extended warranty... mainly because that is the estimated lifetime of a factory OC card anyhow, and I had enough bad memory chips to know it is a good deal. 

 

But yeah as long as you deal directly with the manufacturer warranty is normally really easy... albeit a bit annoying to have to send a package to Germany and wait for the return etc. Since most companies have their EU center there. 

[MonoAccipiter]

Norway in fact. Two years for products not meant to last significantly longer and five years for everything meant to last longer, as long as the seller is a business and the buyer a consumer. Don't know what it's like in the rest of Scandinavia, but here that's covered by forbrukerkjøpsloven (which translates to the Consumer Purchase Law). The thing is this warranty is required of the seller, not the manufacturer, otherwise there's a two year obligation like you described (if the purchase is a store buying from a manufacturer to sell for example).  ::

[z929669]

I always get the hardware that is at least one gen behind current, as the price drop is usually huge. Current gen prices are often 200-400% what they should be. I am using the radeon 7970, and it works great for all gaming on my system (see sig ... and consider adding your hardware specs to the wiki rather than cramming them all in your sigs, guys/gals! That is why we have this feature ;) )

[DoubleYou]

Advantage to that strategy is that the drivers are more "seasoned."

[z929669]

... like the owner :D