Are the refurbished/open box video cards on newegg.com worth buying?

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chiefchris23

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Jun 7, 2012
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Ok so I made a post not to long regarding an issue with unrecognized graphics. I unfortunately decided to just face it and dubbed the card a dead card and almost have the money together to buy a new video card. I've been doing a lot of research on video cards for the last week or so, looking up what would be the best card for the price. The card I get will mainly be to play games like starcraft 2, diablo 3, dragon age 2 and possibly some oblivion and world of warcraft.

I know that some of these games require a halfway decent card to play and that I'll need to be careful about what I get. But I feel I've broken it down to a pretty strong list of cards. Only problem is all of them except one are refurbished or open box. Just wanted to find out if refurbished/open cards are even worth putting money on.

NOTE: My mobo has a PCIe 1.0x16 slot on it and here that some 2.1 will work but some won't. Anyway here's the list so hopefully someone knows what will be a good choice.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150594 -Refurbished Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128Bit DDR2 PCIe 2.0x16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500251 -Refurbished GeForce GT 430 1GB 128Bit DDR3 PCIe 2.0x16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131462R -Open Box Radeon HD 6570 2GB 128Bit DDR3 PCIe 2.1x16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131441R -Open Box Radeon HD 6570 1GB 128Bit DDR3 PCIe 2.1x16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125428 -New GeForce GT 610 1GB 64Bit DDR3 PCIe 2.0x16

So basically I have no more than 50 bucks to buy a card. Saw what they had and picked these out to be the most ideal choices for my price range. Just unsure if it's a good idea to go for a refubed card or not.

Below is the PC I'm using. Difference is mine is currently only using 2 gigs of ram (same ram modules) with windows xp professional SP3 on it. So whoever helps me has something to reference when recommending a card. TYVM for all the help I've gotten thus far.

http://bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c01154825&lang=en&cc=us&taskId=101&prodSeriesId=3548186&prodTypeId=12454
 
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Any particular reason to favor a GT 520 over a GT 610? Wouldn't I rather just get a GT 610 for the new Kepler architecture even though it is just a rehashed GT 520?
 
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I wouldnt touch any vid card with under GDDR3 and thats at a minmum. Look for cards with GDDR5. Ive bought a bunch of vid cards off open box, a 590, 2 7970s, and 2 430 GTs for HTPCs I build. Most are for resale but ive used them in my builds as well. I have a 6570 2 gb GDDR3 im waiting to put in my next NES HTPC build, but it has relatively the same performance as the 430 GT.
 
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I unfortunately don't have the luxury of a GDDR5 card, unless i somehow missed it in the 50 dollar section. But I did spot a GT 430 in the 50 dollar section. that I might actually buy. It's new as well and might actually be the best 50 dollar card there. Just surprised I didn't spot it sooner.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-130-656&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=1#scrollFullInfo
 
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Dont expect it to be a world beater, but it depends on what the rest of your specs are. Can do D3 pretty easily on High at 720p medium on 1080p. As a 720p gamer it wont be horrible, but 1080p unless you wanna run stuff on low settings, will be tough.
 
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Instead of Newegg, check Ebay. You can get a WAY better deal on a pre-owned card that is still under warranty and will stretch your dollar further.

The Geforce 610 and 520 are worthless for gaming.

Purchase from someone that has good feedback and you'll be just fine.
 
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if you have power supply to power them other option might me to get used old expensive card like ATI 5850 or even 4850 those would beat any budget starter cards on market now
i got ATI 5850 off ebay few weeks ago for $25 for my friend
 
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Wow lots of replies, tyvm. Yes I know that already, thought it might be a good idea for a 610 since I hear Kepler is supposed to be a pretty high performer vs the old Fermi arch.

I didn't think to much about ebay, I think I'll take a look over there and see what they currently got.

Also I know that the GT 430 won't be a "world beater". But compared to everything else for that price, I see that as a steal. It won't run everything I have at max settings, but at least it's not this crappy onboard graphics. Let me tell you right now, I wouldn't be upset if I did decide to get a GT 520 or 610 just because of how bad the onboard is on my PC. Just check my first post for my full PC spec in that last link there. YOu'll understand right away lol.

I won't be doing 1080p because my monitor only allows 1280x720 to 1280x1024 at the highest. Not the most ideal I know but don't have any plans for a new monitor.
 
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All the 520s ive seen are 64 bit GDDR3 thats some slowass VRAM. Stick with the 128 bit GDDR3. If there is a 128 bit version of it then yeah get it. But I havent seen one in that price range. I have a 6570 2gb GDDR3 as I stated, with a good CPU (I use predominantly E-350s with my HTPCs) it might turn out decent. Also with an integrated APU as the E-350 is, you can do a hybrid xfire with the onboard and discrete vid card for extra performance.
 
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Yeah I understand 128 bit would be a much better choice. Unfortunately the next card up that's basically the same as that GT 430 I picked out that has 128 bit cuts into my budget. Only reason I can afford the one I picked out is because of the free shipping that comes with it. If it wasn't for free shipping i wouldn't be getting it.

Also checked out a few eBay cards. Very surprised, They have just about every card ever made on there. Wouldn't have ever thought that. Not to sure which one I'd go for though. I mean obviously 25 to 40 bucks or less. I just hate the fact that I'm gonna have to outbid someone in order to get a card off of there.
 
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Yeah, $50 budget = ebay. Just look for someone who will do a 10day warrenty or something so you can make sure it works. Any low end card will not have been overclocked anyways. Should be a safe bet.
 
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Just so you know, when they said the 610 is just a re-badged 520, they mean literally that. It is not a Kepler card, it is still the same Fermi 520, with a different name on it.
 
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Oh I dont know.

I seen refurbs could mean the guy who bought the item did not know what to do with it so he sent it back for a refund. The vendor cannot sell it new because the box was open so you are forced to sell it for a loss.

Refurbs are hit and miss.
 
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Thats a bold statement Ive overclocked every low end card Ive ever had....

This vidoe card for 50 bucks will not game well at all... I know if tats all you have then that all you have but I might save up a bit more in th 100 range you have allot of quite good options from both sides.

Thent
 
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OOHHh! lol. I didn't think they meant literally. I thought they meant it was a re-badged card with the newer arch. on it. Had no idea they meant it was the EXACT same card lol. THanks for the info.
 
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