used gpu prices

[45HardBall]

Hey folks,

I was just curious as to whether it was theoretically worth it to spend like 120-130 bucks on a r9 290x or 150 bucks on a gtx 980 today for a used card so you can get an affordable pc or is it better to just buy a newer gpu but the lower end model with a similar performance, sort of how the gtx 970 was as powerful as the gtx 780 and the 1060 probably as powerful as tge gtx 970

 

i was just curious what your opinions would be

[VeganJoy]

the 1060 is as powerful as a 980, with more vram. you can find 1060s for about 130 used, and 980s are usually 100-110. rx 580s are 130-140 and are another good used option. the comparable new cards are 1650 supers and 5500xts which cost a bit more for the same performance, but brand new with warranty and the 1650 super gets nice turing features. youll have to decide what fits your use case; a used 1060/580/1070/980ti hits about the best bang for your buck for used cards but a 1650 super or 1660 super will have warranty and stuff like the turing nvenc encoder, faster vram, etc.

[45HardBall]

5 minutes ago, VeganJoy said:

the 1060 is as powerful as a 980, with more vram. you can find 1060s for about 130 used, and 980s are usually 100-110. rx 580s are 130-140 and are another good used option. the comparable new cards are 1650 supers and 5500xts which cost a bit more for the same performance, but brand new with warranty and the 1650 super gets nice turing features. youll have to decide what fits your use case; a used 1060/580/1070/980ti hits about the best bang for your buck for used cards but a 1650 super or 1660 super will have warranty and stuff like the turing nvenc encoder, faster vram, etc.

thanks for the info, i already got a 1080 ti, but i might be replacing my current mobo, cpu and ram, so theoretically i could build another system with that. Unless you are using Resolution scale my 1080 ti is being bottlenecked by the i5 anyways in newer games

 

also 580 and 980 are totally good enough for 1440p 60hz if you are willing to use FXAA instead of TAA or MSAA

[Briggsy]

The extra money spent on a new graphic card buys you peace of mind. But there's also the efficiency factor, in that a high end card from a few years ago is going to run hotter and potentially louder, and require a better power supply. If its a choice between a high end used card from 2 or 3 generations ago vs. entry level from current generation, I'd go with the latter at this point in time. People who flip cards are going to disagree with what I just said, but that's to be expected.

[45HardBall]

1 minute ago, Briggsy said:

The extra money spent on a new graphic card buys you peace of mind. But there's also the efficiency factor, in that a high end card from a few years ago is going to run hotter and potentially louder, and require a better power supply. If its a choice between a high end used card from 2 or 3 generations ago vs. entry level from current generation, I'd go with the latter at this point in time. People who flip cards are going to disagree with what I just said, but that's to be expected.

nvidia cards always had a lower TDP than AMD cards, i dont see how a 500w 90+ psu wouldnt be able to power a 980 as long as enough power connectors are available (some of the PSUs give you two 6 pins while others give you a single 6+2 so you need to make sure that the card you buy is compatible

[VeganJoy]

3 minutes ago, 45HardBall said:

nvidia cards always had a lower TDP than AMD cards, i dont see how a 500w 90+ psu wouldnt be able to power a 980 as long as enough power connectors are available (some of the PSUs give you two 6 pins while others give you a single 6+2 so you need to make sure that the card you buy is compatible

aib 980s pull over 250w TBP, no? still easily ran on a 500w psu but its a lot of power. an rx580 or 1060 would be a lot more power efficient for the same or better performance, plus more vram. the older gens like that usually sell used for 15-25% cheaper than comparable modern cards for that reason, plus modern featuresets on newer cards. i bought this 980ti for 170 back when a 1070 was 230-250 bucks, so i didnt mind the power consumption. plus this xtreme is arguably the best and highest clocking 980ti aside from maybe the rog matrix. helped that it was DOA so i got my money back and was able to fix it, so i ended up paying 0 dollars and a bit of my time for it lol