Bitcoin Forum

I can get ahold of 20, but they don't come cheap sadly (I live in EU, awful sales taxes).

What's the highest offer for any number of XFX Radeon 5850s?

I don't currently own these, but I can get them within 1 working day for the right offer. Don't offer anything below 14 BTC per.

Not really, in the USA I can pick one up used for $150 or less. There are plenty available.

Can't say the same for dual-core 5970s or 6990s though... are their rarity & price increases related to the growing popularity of bitcoins ???

Where?  I can't seem to find any for sale less than $180 or so.

I've bought two 5850s, both for $150 shipped from the OCN FS forum: http://www.overclock.net/video/

You could also try eBay.

Edit: here's a deal for a new 5850 for $150 shipped as well, but it's currently out of stock. http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-100282XTREME/dp/B004W75ATI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1307342440&sr=1-1

Out of stock doesn't count, because they're not coming back in stock for most places.

And I wasn't really considering buying used, but I suppose that's a possibility for some folks.  Just makes me nervous I'll be stuck with a non-working piece of hardware that cost me $150, and have no recourse or way to get a replacement.

Yeah I can't really compete with used 5850s lol.

There's really nothing wrong with buying used hardware. Most of us computer geeks love and cherish our hardware and it is difficult to let it depart from our own hands. So there's a pretty low chance of an honset trader selling you malfunctioning hardware.

Also, if you are concerned about warranty buy a used XFX card. They have double lifetime warranty. Or buy any card whose warranty is based on the serial number, like Asus (and Sapphire I think).

I'm always worried with used hardware, because I always assume buying a gamer card used means it's probably been thrashed, overclocked and messed about with.

Warranty is great if all you care about is ensuring the long term future of the card, but I'd rather spend the extra $50 than have the week of downtime on a card right now.

This.  There's usually not enough of a discount on used cards to warrant not just buying a new one in the first place.  Especially for mining, where lack of downtime is key.

However, I'd probably snap up a 5850 @ $150 if I saw one for sale.

I snagged one off of ebay for $175 and picked it up locally... then sold the shogun code that came with it for 2btc

Guys, it's not a big deal buying used hardware. So what if it's overclocked? I've bought two used 5850s, both of which are fine.

And what do you mean by "messed around with"?

But that's alright--you guys can continue being OCD about buying graphics cards used by someone else, while I buy them on the cheap and make the same amount of money as the rest of you guys do.

:)

I don't mind buying overclocked, the problem is a lot of gamers clock their cards beyond where they should and poorly cool them (either open case or bad fans or terribly implemented water cooling). The reason they do this is because they expect a card to last maybe 6-8 months, until they replace it.

For you to take that card, thrashed for 6-8 months, and then thrash it yourself even with proper cooling is just asking for downtime to happen. Let's say you're making about $30 per day off a card right now, even one day of downtime on your card offsets the benefit you made from buying it second hand. Seven days (average XFX warranty turnaround) is $210 lost.

I'd rather just buy new, it's safer and more certain. Obviously, I can't make anyone buy new, but I don't think it's OCD to take the more certain option.

I have a feeling that you're assuming all hardware enthusiasts are idiots.
Go to overclock.net and read the forums. Yes, there are idiots but not as many as you think.

I think you're being overly paranoid.  I don't like buying used because of the lack of warranty, not because someone else might have brought the card closer to death.  I'd be more concerned about killing the card just from normal usage than from someone "abusing" it beforehand (which, by the way, is very difficult to do without outright killing the card).

I think you're assuming most gamers are hardware enthusiasts. A lot of them know very little about overclocking, other than that it makes their computer faster.

Alright, well here I have personal proof that they are not idiots. I bought two 5850s used for $150 shipped each, and they are sitting on my desk right here and mining at full power. You can go ahead and buy new hardware, while I get them cheaper, save money, and make the same BTC as you do.

still selling them? updated prices?

I have to say, I've got 3 different machines running and the open case one runs the coolest at 65C. Not the greatest temp but by far, not bad.

About 11 BTC each would cover my costs at current rate, plus shipping.