Refurb FireGL 8800 at Compgeeks $99

[batmanuel]

Not sure why these are refurb'd, but if I get a properly working card it is a decent deal considering that new retail version of this card are still in excess of $200 still. I figured what the heck and ordered one.

Sure, it is based off of the old Radeon 8500 core, and it probably sucks for gaming, but for someone like me that is spending a lot of time learning modeling and animation, it seems like a good investment.

I also found a 10% off coupon online that drops down the price a bit more. If anything, it'll lessen the sting of the return shipping if it doesn't work right.

Linky

 

[batmanuel]

Update (if anyone cares):

Got the card. It looked like new, worked like new. Not bad for a card that is hard to find in retail packaging for below $200. Not sure if it will make a huge improvement over my old card in Maya and 3ds MAX, but for $100 shipped (after 10% off coupon) it is worth a try.

 

[isis]

Try running some benchmarks on it and post your results.

 

[batmanuel]

It wasn't a screamer, and it certainly isn't going to give even a Radeon 9600 Pro a run for its money. 3DMark2001 came in around 9800 3D Marks. Don't really have anyway to bench the OpenGL performance under 3ds MAX and Maya, but it is a bit snappier (since most professional OGL cards can anti-alias wireframes in hardware rather than software, they handle having multiple modeling viewports better and usually support more hardware accelrated lights than a gaming board). Also, since the drivers are written with achieving the best OGL performance out of the card, Direct X is implemented pretty poorly in the drivers (you can't even enable AF, just AA). For what I'm using the card for, though I can use the extra features.

Like I said, it is basically a glorified Radeon 8500, but with some features enabled that make 3D modeling better. I've read mixed reviews on the FireGL series performance (especially in Maya), but I figured the price was low enough to give it a try.