What would you pay now for a 3850/3870/8800/9600?

[colmo]

I'm snooping around for a deal on a video card - I'm not a heavy enough gamer to justify paying £120 for a 4850 (bargain that it is), so I'm watching for cheap last generation cards appearing on the market (eBay etc.) as folks upgrade.

I've checked the benchmarks for games at 1600x1200 (my native resolution) for games that have been out a little while (PC games depreciate fast, and I'm a patient man), and the 4850 is around 30-50% better than the 3870/8800 GT/9600GT, and approaching 100% v the 3850.

Other considerations are warranty (could you feasibly get one on a used product?), power consumption and noise.

Lastly, would I be better served waiting for a 4650 or 4670?

On a pure performance basis and buying new, I'd estimate their real value at:
£90 - 8800 GT 512mb
£80 - HD 3870 or 9600 GT
£65 - HD 3850 512Mb
£60 - HD 3850 256Mb

Completed listings (inc. P&P) on eBay suggest:
£70-£80 - 8800 GT 512Mb
£60-ish - HD 3870
<£50 HD - 3850

My feeling is if I got something on eBay going for below those completed listings prices (esp. the 3870), I'd be doing well. I'm interested to hear some opinions, though.

[sleepyhead]

..or listed at £21 at the moment...

8800 GTX

Personally, I'd either wait for the 9800GTX+ to hit market (as in people have stock and selling) and see what price the 4850 drops to OR dig around and wait on ebay for a fanstatic steal on high end card about to go out of fashion, for example 9800GX2.

Ebay is good for buying cheap stuff that you don't mind gambling some money on. For high end stuff, unless I really really want it, I'd stick to a retailer so I can RMA it if it either goes wrong or fails after a period within the warranty.

[wzix]

Yeah I agree with the post above,

I once bought a 6800GT from ebay didn't last that long until it died, I guess its a gamble whether you get a good one or not. As long as you buy from a decent seller ( not one who seems to have an endless supply of cards) some one who is upgrading you should be fine

If new http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/...roductId=31344 that seems ok at £75

[Zak33]

In asnwer to your Thread Question:

I'd pay &#163;78.73 for a 9600 GT
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=772608

[colmo]

In asnwer to your Thread Question:

I'd pay £78.73 for a 9600 GT
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=772608

Shame it's on Scan, their delivery surcharges to N. Ireland rule them out for me. Cheapest 9600 GTs I can find are around £85 delivered.

[Noxvayl]

I'd wait for variations of the ATI and nVidia new cards... I honestly can't recommend purchasing the old technology when the new tech is far better and is so well priced.

The HD4670/HD4650 looks like a promising budget choice if your willing to wait, I'd get that rather than a 8800GT/9600GT. Not sure what nvidia have coming for similar price range but I'd guess they will bring it out for a good price as well to compete with ATI's brilliant pricing.

[colmo]

It'd be easier if the graphics card market settled down a bit, but that's only really happened once that I can remember (when the 8800 was king for a year or two, before AMD started making HD38xx cards).

I think I'll wait on the HD46xx series, while keeping an eye on eBay.

[staffsMike]

I want to pay about &#163;55 for an 3850, &#163;70 for a 3870 (&#163;80 for a sapphire ultimate), &#163;70 for an 8800GT, &#163;55 for a 9600GT.

But so rarely do you get what you want

[Pob255]

Actually now is a good time to buy if you hunt around, the new cards will drop a little in a couple of months but not by a great deal and at the same time a lot of places will be flogging off there stock of the cards the new stuff is replaceing at a discount.

eg Scan currently selling a 9800gtx for &#163;117

it's happened before, the price of 8800gts 320mb & 640mb droped when the 8800gt and 88000gts 512mb came out, now there are only a few of these old card for sale in shops and the prices are back to what they were before.
Ebay is slightly differnt as 2nd hand cards go for less, but there are still a lot of people chargeing high amounts because they know that there are people who will not read up and pay high prices for older cards without knowing they can get better cards new for the same price.

Back to the question at hand, forget anything with 256mb memory for 1600x1200 it's not going to cut it.
personally 8800gt 512mb is the best card out of the bunch
3870 next
9600gt & 3850 fighting it out for bottom place.

If watching ebay also keep an eye out on 8800gts 640mb, it's around the same level as the 8800gt 512mb (but don't pay silly amounts for it)

While the newer cards are faster, these cards are none too shabby and all of them should be able to produce reasonable and playable performance on 1600x1200

[colmo]

While the newer cards are faster, these cards are none too shabby and all of them should be able to produce reasonable and playable performance on 1600x1200

Absolutely - I'm interested in 'good enough' (DX10 isn't a consideration either - I'd buy a console before Vista). I'm not really keen to pay more than &#163;60, because I'd feel compelled to use it more often.

[colmo]

More on the 4650:

http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-57...n-HD-4650.html

From what I can tell, it'll have comparable performance to the 38xx series, and is slated for a launch price of $129-149, which translates to a price of &#163;75-&#163;90 (1Gb on the upper price limit, I believe). It'll be out in September.

Advantages of the 4650 over the 38xx series are that it'll be smaller than the 3870, and possibly more power efficient. Disadvantages are that it won't be out for a while, with a further price-settling period, and will likely cost more than the 38xx series does now.

[Zhaoman]

Sapphire HD3650 for &#163;40 on scan. Not great for 1600x1200 but it's so cheap you might wanna check it out

[colmo]

Sapphire HD3650 for £40 on scan. Not great for 1600x1200 but it's so cheap you might wanna check it out

Sadly, the 3650 isn't quick enough, and would cost around £55-60 from Scan (outrageous surcharges for delivery to N. Ireland). Elsewhere, it would cost just over £40 delivered, and I've been watching used 8800 GTS cards going for slightly more than that on eBay.