The BFG GTX295 H2OC...should I keep it?

[HeXploiT]

Yesterday a friend of mine out of the blue offered to sell me his BFG GTX295 H2OC for $200!

He purchased it not realizing that it has a waterblock and he doesn't do liquid cooling. Of course I jumped on the deal as this is a $500+card(he paid $600).
Now this is an amazing card, right up there with the 5870(or better). However, as powerful as this card is, it doesn't support DX11.

So my question is, should I just sell this card and jump on the 5870 or stick with this card?

 

[jvroig]

Keep it. It's not like you can just get a 5870 at a whim. It's sold out and a little hard to grab, and the prices have increased.

Keep that card for now, be very happy with your luck, then a few months later, when the prices have stabilized, you can evaluate your options again. If DX11 becomes a big deal by then (not likely), you can sell that thing for $300 bucks and hopefully get that 5870 you want for practically free.

 

[MrK6]

Keep it. It's not like you can just get a 5870 at a whim. It's sold out and a little hard to grab, and the prices have increased.

Keep that card for now, be very happy with your luck, then a few months later, when the prices have stabilized, you can evaluate your options again. If DX11 becomes a big deal by then (not likely), you can sell that thing for $300 bucks and hopefully get that 5870 you want for practically free.

+1 That GTX295 will keep it's value for awhile yet, you'll definitely get your $200 back. Enjoy the performance now and make the jump to DX11 when you want/need to.

 

[edplayer]

did he buy the card used?

 

[error8]

It's still a fast as hell card, so there is no reason to sell it now and get a 5870. Besides, there is no dx11 game out today and even when DIRT2 will be released, I have a feeling that you'll not going to miss a lot on a dx10 card.

 

[exar333]

For $200? Buy that card and enjoy the performance until DX11 is relevant.

 

[jvroig]

did he buy the card used?

I don't think so. The original owner paid $600 for it, so I assume it is brand new, not used.

 

[nOOky]

If it were me I'd sell it while I could for a premium, make a little money on the deal. Those cards are power-hungry, and you also need to add in the cost of the cooling and adding that to your case etc. Just my 2 cents.

 

[GrumpyMan]

If it were me I'd sell it while I could for a premium, make a little money on the deal. Those cards are power-hungry, and you also need to add in the cost of the cooling and adding that to your case etc. Just my 2 cents.

Also very good valid points. Or you could just send me the card for free and feel really good about yourself, that feeling is just priceless. :sneaky:

 

[HeXploiT]

Yeah he bought it new from newegg. If I keep it I will be spending perhaps $120 more on the cooling equipment(Pump, radiator, hoses & liquid).

 

[KIAman]

I'd say keep it. Man... I need friends like that

 

[jvroig]

Yeah he bought it new from newegg. If I keep it I will be spending perhaps $120 more on the cooling equipment(Pump, radiator, hoses & liquid).

You spent $200, then will spend $120 more. That's just $320. That's still a good deal less than the $500-600 price tag of that card.

If like your friend you don't like watercooling as well, then you should just go ahead and sell that thing for a profit. Otherwise, keep the card.

 

[Zap]

So my question is, should I just sell this card

Yes, I'll pay $200 for it.

 

[HeXploiT]

You spent $200, then will spend $120 more. That's just $320. That's still a good deal less than the $500-600 price tag of that card.

If like your friend you don't like watercooling as well, then you should just go ahead and sell that thing for a profit. Otherwise, keep the card.

No I love watercooling. The only issue for me is the lack of DX11 support.

 

[jvroig]

No I love watercooling. The only issue for me is the lack of DX11 support.

DX11 is not an issue right now. With a blazing fast card like the 295, you won't miss anything. 2011 is probably the earliest that DX11 will become a must have (unless some crazy popular game decides to be DX11 only, but that's not going to happen because no publisher will choose to lose 60-80% or more of their target audience).

By then, AMD's 6xxx series should be out, and Fermi long before that. I doubt even then that the 295 will be greatly eclipsed by anything, and I doubt DX11 will become a must-have.

 

[T2k]

Aside of the crazy nonsenses about DX11 coming in 2011 etc - like if there weren't already DX11 games on the market - there's another PoV: the resale value.

As 5870 becomes more available your 395 will drop more and more - if you can sell it around $500 then sell it immediately and buy a 5970 for almost the same price (extra ~$100 or less.) If you don't have the extra for a 5970 then hunt down a 5870 and pocket the extra $100 or spend it on something else.

 

[Wreckage]

No I love watercooling. The only issue for me is the lack of DX11 support.

DX11 is too new to worry about. Besides there are far more PhysX titles already on the market that you can enjoy with this card. Not to mention that it's faster than a 5870 (that's not even including some sort of insane water cooled overclock).

Plus you could get into a lot of the CUDA stuff like Folding@home, video transcoding, etc.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Aside of the crazy nonsenses about DX11 coming in 2011 etc - like if there weren't already DX11 games on the market - there's another PoV: the resale value.

You misunderstand what jvroig meant. What he means is that DX11 is probably a must have in 2011, since 2010 will have a mixture of DX11/DX10.1/DX10 games where Im guessing the last two will be more abundant. This all depends on how fast DX11 is picked up by devs of course. Could be another DX9 to DX10 transition.

Because a GTX295 is faster than the HD5870 i think its a good buy especially for 200 bones for this GTX295 anyway. DX11 isnt something of a requirement atm.

 

[T2k]

You misunderstand what jvroig meant. What he means is that DX11 is probably a must have in 2011, since 2010 will have a mixture of DX11/DX10.1/DX10 games where Im guessing the last two will be more abundant. This all depends on how fast DX11 is picked up by devs of course. Could be another DX9 to DX10 transition.

That's an even more insane claim - do you rally thinbk by 2011 games won't have any other renderpath than DX11?
Even bigger nonsense.

Again, we have DX11 games already out there and DIRT 2 demo was just posted today.

Because a GTX295 is faster than the HD5870

It is not.

i think its a good buy especially for 200 bones for this GTX295 anyway. DX11 isnt something of a requirement atm.

That's my point: for $200 it's great but very soon its price will dive so he should sell it ASAP for as much as he can get for it and buy into either a long-term, much faster and DX11 card (5970) or a mid-term, equivalent but DX11 card (5870) or just pocket the money. ()

 

[v8envy]

Let me give you some advice as a previous owner of an X850XT. When I bought it early in 2005 the exact same arguments were brought out when comparing it to the 6800 series. My card did not have support for pixel shader 3.0, but was the fastest around. In games of the day.

Fast forward a few months into 2006. Yes, it was still blazing fast for 2006 games, but I could no longer crank up eye candy. I could see HDR or AA, but not both. The 6800 and 7800 users could, and still can to this very day.

My point? On a budget card DX11 doesn't matter. But on a high end card you'll not be very happy when the guys with $100 DX11 GPUs can see detail you can't 2 months from now. Sell it while people still believe DX11 doesn't matter. If you're going to get a high end GPU make sure it has DX11.

 

[shangshang]

I'd would sell it on Ebay now while it still has high resale value. Once Fermi is released, and 5870 becomes more available, you can kiss high resale value goodbye.

Also, because your card requires another $120 in a liquid cooling kit, it will make your resell value lower (because now you have to factor in the money spent on the cooling kit). Furthermore, when it comes to selling old cards (on Ebay), most buyers actually prefer the standard, air cooled, cards. They don't like used liquid cooling stuff because they know the user prolly overclocked it and possibly tweak its bios.

So sell it now when its resale value is still high, and guys are in a spending mood for the holidays

 

[Cookie Monster]

That's an even more insane claim - do you rally thinbk by 2011 games won't have any other renderpath than DX11?
Even bigger nonsense.

Thats not what I was getting at. By the time its 2011, we are going to see abundant number of DX11 titles compared to DX10.1/DX10 titles. Because the majority of the games is DX11, it sure makes sense that DX11 becomes one of the buying factors when purchasing video cards. However at the moment, it doesn't make sense since DX10.1/DX10/DX9 games are still the majority in the gaming market.

Again, we have DX11 games already out there and DIRT 2 demo was just posted today.

2~3 games (Not sure of the exact count) including a demo isn't something Id consider a major selling point for DX11.

It is not.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3643&p=27

AMD was shooting to beat the GTX 295 with the 5870, but in our benchmarks that’s not happening. The 295 and the 5870 are close, perhaps close enough that NVIDIA will need to reconsider their position, but it’s not enough to outright dethrone the GTX 295.

That's my point: for $200 it's great but very soon its price will dive so he should sell it ASAP for as much as he can get for it and buy into either a long-term, much faster and DX11 card (5970) or a mid-term, equivalent but DX11 card (5870) or just pocket the money. ()

The thing is I would do the same if one could actually buy a HD58x0 series. Prices are up from its original MSRP, not to mention the HD5970 being quite pricey and in very limited supply. People talk about future proofing, but by then new tech is already out with more options for the buyer. I use to think future proofing made sense, but Id rather buy something thats performing great now and think about upgrading then. The GTX295 for 200 dollars is a steal and its faster than the HD5870 in DX10 games (generally). Unless DX11 is a must, id enjoy this deal before the day comes where an upgrade is a must.

 

[MrK6]

Let me give you some advice as a previous owner of an X850XT. When I bought it early in 2005 the exact same arguments were brought out when comparing it to the 6800 series. My card did not have support for pixel shader 3.0, but was the fastest around. In games of the day.

Fast forward a few months into 2006. Yes, it was still blazing fast for 2006 games, but I could no longer crank up eye candy. I could see HDR or AA, but not both. The 6800 and 7800 users could, and still can to this very day.

My point? On a budget card DX11 doesn't matter. But on a high end card you'll not be very happy when the guys with $100 DX11 GPUs can see detail you can't 2 months from now. Sell it while people still believe DX11 doesn't matter. If you're going to get a high end GPU make sure it has DX11.

That's a very good point, especially from personal experience.

It might be better to sell sooner than later, but only if you can score a 58xx or 5970.

 

[jvroig]

DX11 looks to be more promising than DX10 or 10.1, but that's because DX10 was a complete disaster. Devs don't want to spend extra time developing for a platform that only a small part of their target market has. So they make and release titles that work on DX9 - because everybody can run DX9, but only a small percentage has DX11.

That's why it takes time for DX11 to become mainstream. I'm optimistic DX11 will be a lot more successful than DX10. But it won't happen fast in the next few months. Maybe in 2011, most publishers will be releasing DX11-only games, and then you'll really feel left out if you don't have a DX11 card. That's a big maybe. Publishers will do that only if they think gamers will upgrade their systems just to play their game (something as big as Diablo III perhaps?) or if they already know that a bigger percentage of the target market already has DX11 cards (perhaps after several several months of ATi and nVidia selling out all their DX11 cards).

Unless the market is saturated with DX11 cards, publishers will have no incentive to actually replace DX9 with DX11. That's the DX10 story, but hopefully it won't happen to DX11 since Windows 7 appears to be better than Vista, and manufacturers seem to be bent on avoiding another DX10 failure, what with releasing cards AND bundling them with games.

Either way, whether you consider DX11 to be "here" already courtesy of a few games, or you consider DX11 to be "here" only when it is mainstream and a must-have, it is hardly worth getting personally upset over.

 

[Painman]

Even though the sun is setting on XP, I don't thnk the DX9 codepath is necessarily going away any time soon. As long as most of the games we play are cross-platform with the 360, then any DX11 features are going to be mostly add-on... just like DiRT 2's.

Consider also the installed base of DX9/10 hardware. Forced obsolescence probably wouldn't be too smart. The never-ending hamster wheel ride of PC hardware upgrades has already pushed a lot of people over to consoles.

I think DX9.0c will die once the XBox 720 (or whatever) hits retail, but arbitrarily trying to kill it off before that point doesn't make much sense to me.