Which of these two GPUs would you get and why?

[EngineerFred]

From newegg:

Open box PowerColor TurboDuo Radeon R9 285:
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131595R for 150$

Refurbished Sapphire Radeon 7950: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202169&cm_re=7950-_-14-202-169-_-Product for 140$

The 285 is a slightly better card, but it's a worse manufacturer with worse reviews. The 7950 is refurbished though, not open box, and performs worse...

are there any other similar performance GPUs you would recommend for someone with a 150-170$ budget for a GPU?

Thanks, Larry

 

[George Phillips]

Among these two, I recommend R9 285 since it's just open box and not used too much or may not have been used at all. The refurbished 7950 could have been used longer and is also a return since it came out much earlier.

For an alternative, I'd recommend GeForce GTX960 if you could find one at that range, or simply increase the budget to $300 and get GeForce GTX970 instead because this card performs nearly at the high-end level but at much lower price.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I'd probably go with a new R7-370/GTX 950.

Slightly less performance than the R9-285, but it's new and you've got the full warranty.

-Wolf sends

 

[BadActor]

Maybe slightly higher performance, but it's new:

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AS-S3802GM&c=CJ

 

[EngineerFred]

A GTX970 is the "right" card to get for an i5 4690k build right now...

Open box is much better than refurbished, and the 285 is better than the 7950... but that particular 7950 when I look in other places on the web has good user reviews, while that particular 285 has terrible reviews since it causes a lot of crashes and electrical problems... meaning that a bunch of just barely used 285 were returned, and if I had to guess, were promptly resold as "open box" products... hard for me to decide.

 

[HEXiT]

regardless of performance i wouldnt touch powercolor. i had 1 of there cards and needed to return it. the re-seller refused to take it as they said powercolor handle there own returns.
so i got in touch with them directly, who emailed me details of there RMA specialist. who promptly emailed me back saying he had no idea what they were on about. every email after was ignored.

reason for rma. the blower unit spindle sheered.

also as its a $150 budget, why not look at used cards. you will get more bang for your buck, sometimes quite a lot more bang.

 

[George Phillips]

Buying a used cards from good sellers eBay could be a good idea. I have sold and purchased new and used cards on eBay all from good sellers and there have been few issues. If there are issues, eBay will enforce the refund and return process.

 

[EngineerFred]

Ebay is an interesting option. What would good prices be for a used 970? 290? 390? 280? 960?

 

[George Phillips]

For some reference, I sold a ASUS Strix Geforce 970 at about $305 few weeks ago, and got a reference GTX 980 at $365. But usually GTX 980s are sold at $400 and higher. I have also seen some 970s at $250-275.

The key to get a cheap one is to use "follow" function to track new listing and prices on eBay on your eBay app on iPhone. You could get them at these prices.
960 would be aboud $175 and 390 would be at about $275. I am not sure about 280.

 

[EngineerFred]

So the 290s I saw for 200$ earlier were a steal? Oh well, they're gone now.

 

[George Phillips]

At $200, R9 290 is a really good deal for performance per dollar. It's actually the best among all.

 

[EngineerFred]

At $200, R9 290 is a really good deal for performance per dollar. It's actually the best among all.

This is what I ended up doing.