Bitcoin Forum

The prices for used 5970's are once again heading higher rapidly on Ebay.  The latest auctions I have seen closed above $400! 

This gives me pause, as all of my 5970's were purchased at approximately $300 or less when miners were committing mass suicide in the streets.  I could sell them for a quick 35% profit and replace them with 7970's, which would probably have longer useful lives and retain much better resale value.

thoughts?

I would go for it. 7970s are much more efficient. However, there is a shortage of those too, so good luck finding them

I dont think resale value of the 7970s will be much better. It is of course now, but expect those prices to implode once nvidia's Kepler hits the market in a few months. Better hang on to those 5970s IMO, far better MH/$ now and comparable (if not superior) MH/W depending how much you can undervolt either card.

Will Kepler continue Nvdia's stellar record of absolute dogshit for mining?  If so, I think the resale value of the 7970 will stay high due to the mining demand.  If Kepler kills it in both gaming and mining, then I could see resale value of the 7970 plummeting. 

I have no idea if it will be any good for mining; but mining is like 0.1% of the highend GPU market, if that, its not setting prices. If list prices of 7970s plummet to $299, its not gonna help your resale value for a used one :). And $299 in a few months is pretty much a given, at least if you believe semiaccurate, a site notorious for bashing nvidia and cheer leading ati, yet they claim Kepler will run circles around the 79x0 cards and launch at $299.
http://semiaccurate.com/2012/01/19/nvidia-kepler-vs-amd-gcn-has-a-clear-winner/

(price is mentioned elsewhere)

I think your analysis is flawed.  If mining is not helping to dictate prices on high end cards, why is the price of used 5970's rising? 

I will buy your 5970's.  :)  will give you what you paid for them

I might believe for used 5970s prices bitcoin mining is perhaps not entirely irrelevant, after all, this is a really niche product and really attractive for mining. I dont know how many AMD ever sold, but to put this in perspective, the entire bitcoin network represents only ~10.000 5970s. Considering AMD sold millions of cypress based cards, bitcoin really is not that important in setting prices. For 7970, Id be shocked if 1% was bought for mining.

Here, another datapoint:

In the very near future, as we overcome supply constraints, we will be increasing shipments of 5800 series graphics processors by roughly an order of magnitude, moving from thousands of units shipped per week to tens of thousands.  This should alleviate some of the pent-up demand.
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/news.php?newsid=322

So the entire bitcoin network represents roughly 1 week worth of AMD 58x0 sales.

Just saw two more 5970's go for 400+ on Ebay. 

It is getting tempting to sell a few of mine and trade up to 7970.  Same hashing with less power = win. 

Until I can get 770Mh/s from a 7900 series I'm a buy on 5970's. I'm not giving up a positive monthly cashflow for a one time capital gain. So if your selling, I have coins  :)

I am also figuring in life span.....5970's on average are well over 12 months old.  Running them full out 24 hours a day will inevitably lead to failure.  I am debating if the VERY small loss in hash rate is more than made up for the much longer (intuitively) lifespan. 

Would I rather have 770 MH for 6-9 months, or 700 for 2 years?    Obviously not a cut and dried equation.....many many unkowns.  But a valid debate to have. 

I will offer you a pair of 5970's for 155 BTC.  Includes shipping. 

^Not a great deal

Did I say it was? 

Thanks for the insight. 

It seems to be getting better by the min right now though.....

No shit!  What is going on?  Another flash crash on the way?

IDK, speculation board is hard to decipher.  If it hits $4 I'm taking you up on that offer  ;)

I reserve the right to adjust the amount of BTC!!