New GTX 480 for 310$ or used 5970 for 425$?

[builderbobftw]

I am lookign for a card, and my freind who works in wholesale offered me 2 cards. One is a brand new sealed Asus GTX 480 3 yr wrnty for 310$. The other is a used Asus 5970 with i assume, void warrenty.

What should i do?

My motherboard does not supports SLi, only 16x 16x x fire.

(My cpu is a Q9550 at 4.00ghz)

(My psu is a 1250w monster, 9.9/10 jhonny guru score)

 

[benski]

I would go for the 480, it's not that much slower and it's cheaper and has a warranty. the 5970 could end up being a $425 paper weight, that's a great deal on a 480 and you know you will have a working card for at least 3 years. Can you get me one too?

 

[builderbobftw]

TO be honest, he's oly giving me 20$ off ebay prices....
Ok theres one vote for the 480.

Btw: Games i Play: Crysis, Crysis warhead, Counter strike 1.6 ( 1% cpu use in game ftw!) , BC2, COD 4, Starcraft, Oblivion with HEAVY visual mods.

 

[builderbobftw]

EDIT: I meant 310$ ont he 480, not 210$!

DOes that change it for you?

 

[Mousemonkey]

I'd go for the new card and a warranty, plus the fact that I just don't like dual GPU cards regardless of who makes them.

 

[builderbobftw]

Right....

But I thought the main drawbacks of dual gpu were:

1. HEat
2. Power
3. Noise

But the 480 isnt lite on any of those 3.

Regardless, I will most likely get the warrentied 480, I'm to scared of a 425$ paperweight.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Right....

But I thought the main drawbacks of dual gpu were:

1. HEat
2. Power
3. Noise

But the 480 isnt lite on any of those 3.

Regardless, I will most likely get the warrentied 480, I'm to scared of a 425$ paperweight.

There is also problem of troubleshooting if a problem with SLi or CF crops up and it turns out to be one of the GPU's, with dual cards they can be tested individually and if one needs to be RMA'd then the system is still usable with one card.

 

[benski]

I saw 310 in the title, I assumed 210 was a type so my answer is the same. You're not going to get a $330 480 off of ebay with a 3 year warranty, it seems like the best deal of the 2 just because of the warranty. A $425 5970 could be a great deal but it depends how much Kenny Rogers you have in you

 

[builderbobftw]

You're not going to get a $330 480 off of ebay with a 3 year warranty, i

good point

Anyways, I'l be gettign the 480.

(I always liked Nvidia more that ATI to be honest, and you guys have re affirmed the course of action i was most liekly going to take)

DO i wait for a 485 luanch and get ti the
n for hopefully under 250$-300$ or do i get it now?

 

[Mousemonkey]

When is the 485 launch? Will there be a 485?

 

[spentshells]

good point

Anyways, I'l be gettign the 480.

(I always liked Nvidia more that ATI to be honest, and you guys have re affirmed the course of action i was most liekly going to take)

DO i wait for a 485 luanch and get ti the
n for hopefully under 250$-300$ or do i get it now?

just buy the 480 310 is a great price

 

[builderbobftw]

When is the 485 launch? Will there be a 485?

1. idk, but my guess is 3 months.

2. I'm like 75% sure there will be.