Absolute insanity!

[mazeroth]

I purchased my HIS 6850 almost 2 years ago for $169. Today, the cheapest 6850 on Newegg is $137 with shipping, AFTER a $20 rebate. My card had no rebate. Almost two years have passed and this card has only dropped $32. I know I have seen them go for $120 after rebate but my card also went on sale $10 cheaper a few days after I purchased mine. Has any other card, in history, held its price this long?

 

[RussianSensation]

Probably not. The sad part is for someone like you there isn't any viable upgrade path for $169 still. Even 7850 2GB is still above that for now, but it's getting very close. The 7850 would need a 20-30% OC to really feel worthwhile.

 

[Red Hawk]

^^Pretty much. The simple fact is that AMD has yet to release a product to match the 6800 series in price and performance. The 7700 series overturned the 5700/6700 series but didn't decisively outdo the 6800 series (and the 7700 series has actually seen more recent price cuts than the 6800 series). The 6800 series isn't going to drop in price until AMD drops the 7850 low enough to replace it. AMD may be comfortable enough with the 7770's performance to simply remove the 6800 series from the market without any further price drops (it's not like Nvidia has any threatening Kepler contenders in that price range).

 

[2is]

I purchased my HIS 6850 almost 2 years ago for $169. Today, the cheapest 6850 on Newegg is $137 with shipping, AFTER a $20 rebate. My card had no rebate. Almost two years have passed and this card has only dropped $32. I know I have seen them go for $120 after rebate but my card also went on sale $10 cheaper a few days after I purchased mine. Has any other card, in history, held its price this long?

5870 and 8800GTX

The 5870 actually INCREASED in value for a long period of time thanks to lack of competition from nVidia at the time and the fact that it was attractively priced to begin with and impossible for vendors to keep in stock. Then the bitcoin craze started and the 5870 was THE card to have for mining, which helped maintain it's value longer still for private sellers after they had already been phased out of the retail chain.

 

[RussianSensation]

HD5870 cost $370 on release and 1.5 years later it was on sale for $180. I even remember linking the Eyefinity edition of the card for $180-190 on SlickDeals about 18 months after release. So it didn't hold the % of its value anywhere near what the 6850 did. 8800GTX is not even a contender. It was $600 and barely more than 1.5 years later it was crushed by a $200 4850.

$599 8800GTX launched November 11, 2006
$199 4850 launched June 25, 2008 and completely owned the 8800GTX in performance, overclocking and power consumption.

 

[2is]

5870's were still selling for ~$300 even after you couldn't buy new ones anymore, i'm not sure what you're talking about there.

8800GTX had zero competition for 2 years and maintained it's price point for that period of time. 4850 at best traded blows with it, it was the 4870 that crushed it.

We'll just have to agree to disagree. I'd say a card that held a $500 price tag for nearly 2 years ranks above a card that started out at $170 and dropped to $140 in the same amount of time.

 

[Byte]

Yeah my last two cards were ridiculous cheap, 260GTX and 460GTX were only $130 (all within 3-4 months after release) and they were like 90% within the top dog cards. Not sure why everyone gets excited with $300 cards. (though i'm guilty as i have two 670s for both computers now )

 

[blastingcap]

At least we aren't as crazy as the liquid nitrogen CPU cooler guys.

 

[tulx]

I bought my XFX 5870 on launch for about 300€ and bought another one around two years later off Ebay for around 175€. The second buy was very lucky though, hardly anyone is wanting to sell those cards, it seems.

 

[Annisman*]

The mid range cards always hold their value MUCH longer than the very high end products. Remember the 8800GT ? I remember buying one a couple years ago, at the 'steal' price of 100 dollars. And that card is freaking ancient.

Also, I remember buying a 9800GX2 for like 450$ brand new and selling it less than a year later for like 190$ shipped. Made me sick. Part of the reason I started giving hardware away, I just can't deal with the insane depreciation of some hardware.

 

[Pneumothorax]

5870's were still selling for ~$300 even after you couldn't buy new ones anymore, i'm not sure what you're talking about there.

8800GTX had zero competition for 2 years and maintained it's price point for that period of time. 4850 at best traded blows with it, it was the 4870 that crushed it.

We'll just have to agree to disagree. I'd say a card that held a $500 price tag for nearly 2 years ranks above a card that started out at $170 and dropped to $140 in the same amount of time.

Yup, sold my 5870 at the peak of the bitcoin craze for $300. Not bad to only lose $70 in 14 months on a high end card. I then went ahead and paid $50 to upgrade to a 6970, lol! In contrast, the poor saps who bought a 7970 at launch for $550 would be extremely lucky to get $400 used after only 8-9 months after release.

 

[exar333]

I sold my 5870 for almost $250 just 3 months ago...

 

[sxegloxx]

I sold my 5870 for almost $250 just 3 months ago...

THIS CANNOT BE REAL LIFE!

I have a 5850xfx double life time warranty. Maybe I can get $175

 

[rickon66]

If I recall, I had to drop my XFX 5870 with game download to $140 shipped to sell it here on the forums, about six months ago. I should have went to eB*y.

 

[2is]

THIS CANNOT BE REAL LIFE!

I have a 5850xfx double life time warranty. Maybe I can get $175

It is real life... Couple factors to consider.

1) 5850 is not a 5870 (yes I know it's close)
2) The whole bitcoin craze was kind of short lived. Initially everyone thought it was free money until they realized the ROI was usually in the negatives

To the post above... If you could only get $140 for it 6 months ago, someone got a great deal.

 

[DominionSeraph]

6850's have been down in the $120 range, with 6870's at $130.

Cheapest new 5850 on Amazon is $365. You really can't go by the instantaneous price of phased out tech.

 

[Anubis]

if you are looking for an upgrade i have a pair of 6870s ill let go at a very good price

 

[RussianSensation]

5870's were still selling for ~$300 even after you couldn't buy new ones anymore, i'm not sure what you're talking about there.

Not even close. I followed that generation closely. 5870s only started going up in price later when people started to bitcoin mine. I recommended countless deals on a $180-220 HD5870 for months. Also, while HD5870 launched for $369 late September 2009, by February 2011, you could already buy an HD6950 2GB that unlocked into the 6970 for $230 on Newegg. So once again, there were cheaper and faster cards less than 2 years after 5870 launched. The same cannot be said against the 6850 for now. It may change when GTX660 launched, but right now you can't buy anything much better than an HD6850 OC for $169.

8800GTX had zero competition for 2 years and maintained it's price point for that period of time. 4850 at best traded blows with it, it was the 4870 that crushed it.

Incorrect. HD4850 destroyed a 575mhz 8800GTX in performance and price/performance when it launched. The 8800GTX was a $600 card and barely more than 2 years later you could buy much faster performance for $199 in the 4850. Yes, that's destruction alright. It took NV a 738mhz 9800GTX+, up from 675mhz 9800GTX clocks to tie a 4850 1GB. HD4870 is equivalent in performance to a GTX260 216.

Also the claim being made is that the 6850 held its value the most in the last 2 years compared to any other card. That's definitely true. Both the 5870 and esp. 8800GTX lost way more value 2 years after they launched and you could buy a faster card for less. Neither of these points apply to the 6850 --> You can't buy a much faster card for $169, and it still is on sale for $130-140, which is just $30-40 less than when the OP bought it.

 

[2is]

Well we can keep going back and fourth, keep saying the same thing and not convincing each other all day.

8800GTX maintained it's premium price point the entire time until something better came along and it's a LOT more difficult to maintain a $5-600 price point than a $170 which the 6850 didn't even do.

5870 could be sold for $300 even after something better was out. It doesn't matter if it was because of bitcoining.

 

[RussianSensation]

8800GTX maintained it's premium price point the entire time until something better came along and it's a LOT more difficult to maintain a $5-600 price point than a $170 which the 6850 didn't even do.

That entire time wasn't that long. I am too lazy to look up camelegg prices for 8800GTX but I am pretty sure it lost $150-200 over time as well.

5870 could be sold for $300 even after something better was out. It doesn't matter if it was because of bitcoining.

Again, you are missing the point that before 5870s became hot again, they were going for firesale prices for $180-225 for months. Also, the 6950 provided cheaper and faster performance than the 5870 way before the 2 year mark from 5870's launch. Right now, the 6850 still hasn't been surpassed by any 28nm next gen card for $169, 2 years later. Another point you keep missing: 8800GTX $600 was bested by a $200 next gen card barely 2 years after. Sure, if a person timed the 5870's sale perfectly, then it can be said it held its value well, but in general all 6850s held their value well, not just in the used market but on Newegg. The same can't be said of 5870s, which dropped like a rock on Newegg way before the 2 year mark, and 6950 made that card irrelevant. What card makes the 6850 irrelevant right now on Newegg for $130? Nothing, 2 years later still unbeaten.

In fact, GTX480 was going for $175-225 on Newegg 2 years after the $369 5870 debuted. That undermines your point even more. I can't go out now and buy anything that's 40-50% cheaper than the 6850 and faster at the same time. And that's exactly what GTX480 did just 2 years after the 5870's launch.

Yup, sold my 5870 at the peak of the bitcoin craze for $300. Not bad to only lose $70 in 14 months on a high end card. I then went ahead and paid $50 to upgrade to a 6970, lol! In contrast, the poor saps who bought a 7970 at launch for $550 would be extremely lucky to get $400 used after only 8-9 months after release.

You can't look at it like that. The person who got a 7970 at release has paid for all of it through bitcoin mining if he took 10 min to set it up. People who were willing to take on more risk, paid for 2-3 7970s. Many enthusiast $550 adopters of the 7970 knew this perk existed and took full advantage of it when the mining difficulty was still low. :thumbsup:

 

[2is]

Well I'd venture to guess most who bought 7970s didn't do it for mining.

 

[rickon66]

It is real life...
To the post above... If you could only get $140 for it 6 months ago, someone got a great deal.

Had it on the For Sale board for a week @ $150 shipped with lifetime warranty and download of Alien v. Predator-No takers. Then took an offer of $140 on 4/4 and the rascal never even gave me heatware eval.