Refurb GTX 970's at Microcenter for $190. Worth it?

[severus]

Looks like their either nVidia models or EVGA. Worthy upgrade from my HD7970 ghz edition?
http://www.microcenter.com/product/453500/GeForce_GTX_970_(Refurbished)_4GB_PCIe_Video_Card
http://www.microcenter.com/product/453500/GeForce_GTX_970_(Refurbished)_4GB_PCIe_Video_Card
980's are roughly $100 more. 1060 6gb territory.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/469212/GeForce_GTX_980_(Factory-Refurbished)_4GB_GDDR5_Video_Card

 

[happy medium]

I was thinking about grabbing a used 970 for about $170.
I think if you overclock its well worth it.
I'm sure if you overclock a gtx970 its performance is on par with a gtx980, 1060 and rx480's.
I game @ 1080p with high settings, to me, ultra settings are not much better, so the 3.5 gb of usable memory should be fine till next years video card refresh.

If you get a good warranty with it, I think its a good choice.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

That seems way too expensive for a refurb with a crap 90 day warranty when you can get a GTX 1060 6GB with a three year warranty for $250. Or a GTX 1060 3GB with a 3 year warranty for $200. Either is better than a 970.

 

[Sadist]

Why not just get a new 1060 3GB for a similar price, and avoid the problems associated with second-hand hardware?

 

[zinfamous]

refurb EOL architecture that performs poorly on new and newer games compared to todays cards and, quite frankly, your 7970 in several cases. Just get a new 6gb 1060 or 480/470 8gb for between $220-280.

Jet.com seems to have a lot of good deals for those 16/14nm cards out now.

 

[Snarf Snarf]

Jet.com seems to have a lot of good deals for those 16/14nm cards out now.

This. If you've never bought from Jet.com before and can use the 15-20% promo code and stack it on a credit card that has a promotion running like $20 off $200 you can get a 6GB 1060 for around $215. The deals pop up about once a month pretty regularly if you keep an eye or set a deal alert on slickdeals.net.

 

[Magee_MC]

Newegg has this PowerColor Red Devil Rx 480 8GB for $229 AR including Battlefield 1. and it looks like you can also use the Master Pass $25 off of $200 which gets you to $205 or so.

 

[Snarf Snarf]

Newegg has this PowerColor Red Devil Rx 480 8GB for $229 AR including Battlefield 1. and it looks like you can also use the Master Pass $25 off of $200 which gets you to $205 or so.

Good catch man, OP this is the best deal you'll find at ~$205. Pull the trigger!!

 

[daxzy]

Newegg has this PowerColor Red Devil Rx 480 8GB for $229 AR including Battlefield 1. and it looks like you can also use the Master Pass $25 off of $200 which gets you to $205 or so.

I thought it doesn't include the full game? It's either $20 off or free upgrade from regular to premium?

 

[zinfamous]

Newegg has this PowerColor Red Devil Rx 480 8GB for $229 AR including Battlefield 1. and it looks like you can also use the Master Pass $25 off of $200 which gets you to $205 or so.

holy crap, that's probably the best deal for any 480/1060 class card right now.

fair warning--that's a really long card, though.

 

[zinfamous]

I thought it doesn't include the full game? It's either $20 off or free upgrade from regular to premium?

yeah, that is strange. it's a $20 value code, so it can't be the full game. That is a weird, and disappointing, bundle promo. Still, the price for the card alone is awesome.

 

[golem]

Newegg has this PowerColor Red Devil Rx 480 8GB for $229 AR including Battlefield 1. and it looks like you can also use the Master Pass $25 off of $200 which gets you to $205 or so.

Think the bundled Battlefield 1, which is itself a coupon code, prevents you from using the Master Pass $25 off code. And I think the Battlefield bundle code can't be removed so you're stuck at 229 AR. Which is still a good price.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Wow that sucks getting a coupon for a $20 discount on an $80 game instead of an actual game code with your gpu.

 

[IllogicalGlory]

That's a horrible bundle, yeah. How many sales could they possibly have lost by bundling the whole game with it anyway? Surely it would be almost completely insignificant compared to the total number of purchasers?

 

[severus]

Nothing from Newegg is a good deal for me. I have to pay sales tax since I live in New Jersey, and since their warehouse isn't in an "Urban Enterprise Zone," it's 7%.

 

[Leyawiin]

There are lots of clean, used GTX 970s for sale in hardware forums for less than that. Many are MSI or Gigabyte and will have their serial # based warranties available for the new owner if less than three years old (which all are).

 

[nathanddrews]

As a 970 owner, the only GPU I would consider upgrading to right now is the 1070 due to its leap in performance and its media and connectivity options. If you found a 980Ti under $300, then that would probably be a solid option as well... but still a lot of money for old tech.

The only reason that I haven't upgraded yet is that I am (still) waiting for DP 1.3/1.4 displays, OLED displays, and to see what Vega does for performance and pricing.

 

[Headfoot]

Pass. Refurb means it's on par or worse than used units out there (since it actually failed once before), and you can get better cards for the money or the same card for less money used on this forum

 

[happy medium]

Pass. Refurb means it's on par or worse than used units out there (since it actually failed once before), and you can get better cards for the money or the same card for less money used on this forum

I disagree, show me a card that will give you gtx980,1060,rx480 speed when overclocked @1080p, for about 150/160$. Please make it under 240 watts @ stock.nobody wants a virtual furnace in there case.

just buy a 970 used and transfer the warranty with serial numbers.

 

[Bacon1]

I disagree, show me a card that will give you gtx980,1060,rx480 speed when overclocked @1080p, for about 150/160$. Please make it under 240 watts @ stock.nobody wants a virtual furnace in there case.

just buy a 970 used and transfer the warranty with serial numbers.

What? The card he wants is $190 not $150/160. Also odd that you are considering performance while OC'd, yet power while stock.

 

[crisium]

$150/$160 is a lot different than the $190 of the OP.

Discount old generation cards can be viable, but you need to be careful when buying a discontinued architecture with less VRAM than contemporaries (well, except the 1060 Core 1152 3GB). GF110 vs Pitcairn is a good example. While the 570/580 cards were actually faster in 2012, they quickly became slower and not optimized for compared to 7850/7870, not to mention the looming VRAM bottlenecks.

$150 may be cheap enough since you can upgrade again if its starts to suffer the driver neglect, but otherwise if the prices are comparable you are better off paying a little more for a 1060 6GB or 480 8GB.

 

[Headfoot]

I disagree, show me a card that will give you gtx980,1060,rx480 speed when overclocked @1080p, for about 150/160$. Please make it under 240 watts @ stock.nobody wants a virtual furnace in there case.

just buy a 970 used and transfer the warranty with serial numbers.

LOL. Take your artificial "240 watts limitation" garbage and shove it up your [censored]. Aftermarket 290s are faster than 970s and you know it, which is why you try to play these games.

There are Tri-X/Vapor-X 290's in the FT/T forum right now for $160 that are faster than this 970. Refurbs only have a 30 day warranty so its no different than a used unit except for the initial refund period. I'd take a used unit that was well kept by people on this forum over a refurb which has already failed once every day of the week.

I maintain my point despite the desperate FUD to the contrary.

 

[happy medium]

I thought it was a given to buy a used card with a transferable warranty over a referb with a 30 or 90 day warranty?
Someone made that great suggestion already earlier in the thread.

I said used not referb. To me referb is used anyway.

I don't think a 290 will come close to a overclocked 970 performance wise. I sure wouldn't want a overclocked 290 pulling over 250 watts of heat in my case. Not for the performance it delivers anyway.

 

[nerp]

Agree with others. Get a 1060 3gb or a new AMD RX card or wait for the 1050

 

[guachi]

A $230 RX 480 8GB is a better deal than a used 970 for $190 is.