(OOS) XFX 4890 (refurb) for $119.50 shipped after BCB and ebillme MIR!

[konakona]

haha I just had to wait one more day dammit... it's only $10 difference what the hell
how long did it take CB to show up on your bing account? my understanding is they won't list it until ebillme payment goes thru? been about 12 some hours and I am not seeing it on my account...

 

[kalrith]

I actually got the email from Bing about 10 minutes after I placed the order. I still haven't paid ebillme, but I'm going to do that in about 30 minutes.

Edit: You always have the option of not paying ebillme for your last order, placing another, and paying for that one.

 

[Lean L]

I actually got the email from Bing about 10 minutes after I placed the order. I still haven't paid ebillme, but I'm going to do that in about 30 minutes.

Edit: You always have the option of not paying ebillme for your last order, placing another, and paying for that one.

would that still qualify as the first order? are you sure?

 

[kalrith]

would that still qualify as the first order? are you sure?

I'm actually not sure, so do what I mentioned above at your own risk

 

[bdub951]

Deal is alive again! (sorry, konakona)

Edit: Also, could a mod or the OP please modify the title to the following:

XFX 4890 (refurb) for $119.50 shipped after BCB and ebillme MIR!
​

I don't want to start a new thread on this deal, but the above title would generate a lot more traffic and allow people to see what an awesome deal this is.

Done!

 

[kalrith]

Well, I paid ebillme at the walk-in location. They had no clue what I was talking about! They scrolled through all the options on their payment device, and lo and behold ebillme was on there.

There was a positive and negative to using the walk-in location. The positive was that I could pay with my cc that gets 2% CB at grocery stores. The negative was that ebillme charged a $4.95 fee. $4.95 - $3.50 CB means it only cost me $1.45 to use the walk-in location, whereas my online bill pay is more expensive than that.

Assuming I get the $25 MIR, the card should be $120.95 in the end. This will make a very nice birthday present for me

 

[soccerballtux]

hm I've already opened my 4850 that I just bought from newegg. Would it be worth it to return it (Can I? there's nothing wrong with it...) and buy this instead for $120? If I can return to newegg I am tempted...

 

[GiN]

I got my update from TD, mines is coming in tomorrow via UPS. Sadly the G.Skill ram I ordered from newegg won't be in til Fri/Sat at best. I'm dropping by Microcenter to pick up my mobo and processor when my ram comes in.

 

[kalrith]

hm I've already opened my 4850 that I just bought from newegg. Would it be worth it to return it (Can I? there's nothing wrong with it...) and buy this instead for $120? If I can return to newegg I am tempted...

As far as returning it to Newegg, your card (assuming it's this one) falls under that Standard VGA Return Policy. You can return it as long as it has everything it came with. You'll get hit with a 15% restocking fee and will probably have to pay to ship it back.

From this review the 4890 performs about 50-60% faster than the 4850, depending on resolution and the game. Assuming you got in on the $99 deal, you could stick with your 4850 for $89 AR or go with the 50%-faster 4890 for about $145 after rebates and restocking/shipping fees.

The choice probably depends on the rest of your system, what games you play, what resolution you use, and how long you plan to keep this card. If it's just a 9-month filler until there are hopefully some good Black Friday deals on the DX11 cards, then I'd stick with the 4850. If you're like me and only upgrade your video card every 2-3 years, then I'd definitely swap for the 4890.

Edit: GiN, it looks like you'll have a pretty nice upgrade on your hands! What cpu did you wind up going with?

 

[soccerballtux]

Yeah thats a good point, I don't upgrade cards frequently. I am going to pounce on this.
I will sell my new 4850 card on ebay or in the FS/FT forums.

 

[bdub951]

I am not happy.

I just received my package from Tigerdirect and it appears I was sent a non-reference design 4890 with the analog VRMs and the funky cooler.

In fact, it appears to be identical to the boards that many people have reportedly experienced performance and cooling problems under normal use. Scroll down a bit on page 3 of this discussion over at overclock.net and the pictures posted of the problematic boards Link

In case you dont want to use the link, here is the photo i am talking about (the cards in question are the lower right 2 cards):

Here are the pics of what I received:

Here is the photo TD has of the product which clearly appears to be a reference design and NOT the version I received:

Anybody else received one of these yet?

I am not sure if i even want to do benchmarking and testing on this to see how it performs. I am tempted to just contact TD and ask for a refund.

Thoughts?

 

[konakona]

uh oh

mine just shipped today
not getting my hopes up over this. I wonder what the return policy on refurbs at TD is like..


I am going thru that 31 page long thread in the link..
Have you put it in the system and try running vantage?

Add me to the list of those that have sworn not to buy xfx again :|
no ramsinks?
my impression on XFX as a quality vga manufacturer has gone to a shithole in a matter of few minutes reading that thread
looks like non oc'd versions of xfx 4890 are all very highly subject to these problems.
why would they wanna ruin their reputation like that? are other vga makers doing the same (e.g. using inferior parts/design on non-reference board)?
kinda hard to trust anyone these days

 

[bdub951]

It's not looking good. I see from updates to the overclock.net post that there are 2 others that just received their cards from TD and had the same version.

 

[beherith]

I received my card yesterday. 3DMark vantage GPU score is a mere 8200, where it should have been around 10000. Called circuitcity(tigerdirect) and they agreed to issue refund. This is a third XFX card I'm returning in a month after having major stability issues with 5770's. I don't think I'll buy XFX again.

 

[konakona]

I received my card yesterday. 3DMark vantage GPU score is a mere 8200, where it should have been around 10000. Called circuitcity(tigerdirect) and they agreed to issue refund. This is a third XFX card I'm returning in a month after having major stability issues with 5770's. I don't think I'll buy XFX again.

good to hear at least TD/CC is willing to deal with it. I expect them to get a lot more calls like yours, seeing how the card is already unavailable (sold out, most probably)

the problem with these cards from what I gathered - not just vantage but actually perform bad in certain games (fallout3, ouch! I love that game ) and don't OC much at all. oh, and the crappy cooler.

how much did it cost you to get the RMA beherith? did they charge you any restocking fee or anything like that?

 

[beherith]

how much did it cost you to get the RMA beherith? did they charge you any restocking fee or anything like that?

When I logged into my account it said that returns are not accepted and any issues are handled by XFX only. Funny, because all other recertified cards they carry have a 30 day, no hassle return guaranteed.

They wanted me to pay for shipping because according to them, since the card runs, it isn't really defective. I told the guy it's like paying for a sports car and getting a Yugo, that's when he put me on hold to get an exception from his supervisor and sent the UPS label.

 

[soccerballtux]

When I logged into my account it said that returns are not accepted and any issues are handled by XFX only. Funny, because all other recertified cards they carry have a 30 day, no hassle return guaranteed.

They wanted me to pay for shipping because according to them, since the card runs, it isn't really defective. I told the guy it's like paying for a sports car and getting a Yugo, that's when he put me on hold to get an exception from his supervisor and sent the UPS label.

Good thing I haven't paid with ebillme yet.
edit: I think I'll chance it, see what card I get. If it's suck then I'll either talk to XFX or make TD take it back.

 

[bdub951]

So I decided to try out the card and it turned into a colossal waste of time. I can't get it to boot into windows. I uninstall my nvidia drivers, boot into safe-mode to run driver sweeper to clear out all remnants of the nvidia driver, then proceed to boot normally to finish installing the ATI driver. All but one time (out of 10) my computer hung-up before windows made it to the desktop. I never even had the chance to install catalyst drivers before it locked up. The thing kicks out some serious heat just booting up so I'm thinking this card is toast. :thumbsdown:

Why it boots to safemode is beyond me. Then again i'm only in safemode long enough to run driver sweeper.:hmm:

On a positive note I have even greater respect for my nvidia 8800gt which overclocks like a champ and has never given me a problem. I think i will stick with it for now and contact TD for a refund.:\

 

[soccerballtux]

So I decided to try out the card and it turned into a colossal waste of time. I can't get it to boot into windows. I uninstall my nvidia drivers, boot into safe-mode to run driver sweeper to clear out all remnants of the nvidia driver, then proceed to boot normally to finish installing the ATI driver. All but one time (out of 10) my computer hung-up before windows made it to the desktop. I never even had the chance to install catalyst drivers before it locked up. The thing kicks out some serious heat just booting up so I'm thinking this card is toast. :thumbsdown:

Why it boots to safemode is beyond me. Then again i'm only in safemode long enough to run driver sweeper.:hmm:

On a positive note I have even greater respect for my nvidia 8800gt which overclocks like a champ and has never given me a problem. I think i will stick with it for now and contact TD for a refund.:\

IDK, I don't like my 9800gt (8800gt) at all. Can't OC it worth crap without super heat problems, dropped in my 4850 installed catalyst and it OC's to 690/1125. Vantage score is 8200, which is what the people in that thread are saying the bad 4890's get. 8000-9000. This really isn't related I'm just delaying working on my project.

 

[GiN]

Sigh, I guess it was too good to be true. I card will be arriving today, but I have no means to test it since my current PC doesn't even have a PCIe slot (yes it's that old). Gonna have to try it out on my friend's pc. I guess my new pc will have to wait a little more.

 

[kalrith]

I think that pic is all you need for a full refund. My order-confirmation email specifically states that the model is HD489AZDF and not the HD489AZDFC that you received. If that's what I receive, then it might be going back as well. I'll probably test it first though to see what kind of numbers it puts up.

 

[konakona]

beware though, some cards reportedly work ok in vantage but still give you low fps in games. besides, who buys 4890 not expecting some serious OC? that's what 4870s are for!

 

[kalrith]

I'd love to test mine with a Vantage, but I don't have a key (hint: keys have unlimited uses ). I know that Fallout 3 and Borderlands were mentioned as problematic games; however, I don't own them. The only "modern" games I own are Oblivion, COD4, and Titan Quest; all of which would probably run flawlessly even on a foobared 4890.

 

[beherith]

I'd love to test mine with a Vantage, but I don't have a key (hint: keys have unlimited uses ). I know that Fallout 3 and Borderlands were mentioned as problematic games; however, I don't own them. The only "modern" games I own are Oblivion, COD4, and Titan Quest; all of which would probably run flawlessly even on a foobared 4890.

Check your PM

 

[kalrith]

Check your PM

Thanks! My ebillme payment is supposed to post by the end of the day, so I probably won't get the card until next week. I'll post my scores once I get it installed.

bdub, I know this sounds like a no-brainer, but have you connected both PCI-e power connectors? You should also try uninstalling and reinstalling the card in the PCI-e slot (or try the other slot if you have 2). If you're using two monitors, try booting with just one, and try that one monitor in each DVI port. You could also boot into VGA mode. That will allow you to install your drivers but force it to 640x480 resolution in case the higher resolution is the problem. Once you install the drivers and reboot into normal mode, you might find that it works just find.

In other words your problems might be solved by normal troubleshooting and might not at all be related to the problems of this slow batch of XFX 4890s.

Edit: Well, who knows when (or if) I'll be receiving the card. My ebillme payment just posted, but the order status shows "All Backordered."