Different video card life expectancies?

[wolfsSpirit]

i have the MSI R9 270x gaming 4gb and it runs everything and i mean everything on good fps.
i have not yet overclocked it because there's no reason for , since it all works awesome anyway.
If you plan to replace it in 3 or 4 years , this is a great buy , you don't need to OC it and after 3 years when it gets a bit slower with next-gen games , you still can OC it and use it for another 2-3 years

[flearider]

well just retired my 5870 after 5ish yrs into my son's system his 4870 went to a friend ..
the 5870 just started to lose it's edge so I picked up a r9 290 .. and yes in another 5 yrs i'll upgrade again if needed ..
so yes buy more than you need a £400 card over 5 yrs pays for itself

[new boy]

I just sold my hd7850 to a freind for £65. I've picked up a 2nd hand 7950 for £100. Sure I'm taking a risk buying 2nd hand, but it sure as hell would have cost me more than an extra £35 to get the 7950 at the time I got my 7850 (over 2 years ago). I dont think I've missed out much in the last 2 years either if I'm honest. I've not been making the most of my 120hz monitor, but thats not mega important.

I think I'm going to try and keep doing this now. Try and sense when to bail and sell and upgrade. I think its possibly even more cost effective than waiting untill your pc is completly obsolete, then upgrading, if not, then its deffinatly more fun lol.