Should I sell my 4890's before its too late?

[AndroidVageta]

I have always upgraded my video card my means of selling the old to help support the purchase of new. Do you think now would be a good time to sell my 4890's? Im thinking that if do I would get a 5850/5870...I know that my 4890's are faster but moving to a single 5XXX series card gives me the chance to upgrade later!

Its just that on the verge of Fermi and the new 5 series from ATi Im just getting that itch that I need to sell before my 4890s become $50 pieces of out dated old tech.

However, given their speed Im thinking that they will last awhile and not need upgrading...especially with 99% of the better PC games being console ports...never going to see real hardcore PC pushing games for a couple of years Im thinking...

 

[Quiksilver]

I personally think you should just keep them unless you running 1920X1200 or higher....

Most places are putting Fermi not to be out until March or longer and 4890's aren't going to be worth $50 for a while still, so why not just wait and see what plays out...

 

[VirtualLarry]

Sell them to me, cheap.

 

[Stefan Payne]

Well, if you have sold it, what would you do then?!
The HD5870 isn't that good available and therefore more expansive...

So you'll better stick with the 4890...

 

[Winterpool]

That's the problem: you could probably get a decent price now on the Radeon HD 4890 -- but that's because of the poor 40nm yields and crappy availability of the HD 5000s. Once the HD 5850 becomes readily available, the going rate for the HD 4890 will likely plunge. But if you sell the HD 4890 now, you should wait a little while to get a decent price on the HD 5850 / 5870. But what card will you use in the meantime?

If you didn't much care what price you got for your HD 4890, I'd advise you to hold on to it until DirectX 11 games become popular (AD 2011?). If I were forced to buy an 'enthusiast' card today, I'd likely buy a Radeon HD 4890 and hold on to it till then, and that's what I've been advising current system builders, especially when they can find 4890s for a decent amount below $200.

 

[Makaveli]

Update!

The 5000 series radeon availability issues were gone for awhile now depending on your region. I've seen them in stock at my local stores two weeks before xmas.

I was kinda in the same boat and I went from a 3870 to a 4890 and decided to skip the first Gen DX11 cards. Why I'm only on a 22in monitor and play at 1680x1050 so the 4890 has more than enough power for that.

Depending on what res you play at you might be better off waiting for the refresh products in the spring or alteast till nivida's plays there Dx 11 hand. Which should see price drops for the 5000 series.

 

[nOOky]

Maybe just sell one of them and stash the cash for later?

 

[Elvis2]

That's the problem: you could probably get a decent price now on the Radeon HD 4890 -- but that's because of the poor 40nm yields and crappy availability of the HD 5000s. Once the HD 5850 becomes readily available, the going rate for the HD 4890 will likely plunge. But if you sell the HD 4890 now, you should wait a little while to get a decent price on the HD 5850 / 5870. But what card will you use in the meantime?

And there lies the crux of the issue. When do you upgrade? There's a very narrow window of opportunity when you can sell the old that will pay for the new (you'll maybe have to toss in a few bux). But if your present rig runs fine...why upgrade?
I was caught in that trap for years. I always had to have the latetest stuff. Upgraded every six months and gained about 5 fps in my games and a few extra points in benchmarking. So what. When I was running "bleeding edge" tech and had issues, there was noone at tech support (lol and crying at the same time) that could help me so I did my best to figure it out on my own and was pretty successful at it. Then came the emails and pm's on how to fix this or do that. We're all just free beta testers. F' that.
After four years, I finally built a new rig for myself but it's third or fourth gen. removed. However, it does play Crysis quite well and at a third of the cost of the "latest thing".
I say as long as it works for you?
Keep it.

Keep on rockin'

 

[RaistlinZ]

And there lies the crux of the issue. When do you upgrade? There's a very narrow window of opportunity when you can sell the old that will pay for the new (you'll maybe have to toss in a few bux). But if your present rig runs fine...why upgrade?
I was caught in that trap for years. I always had to have the latetest stuff. Upgraded every six months and gained about 5 fps in my games and a few extra points in benchmarking. So what. When I was running "bleeding edge" tech and had issues, there was noone at tech support (lol and crying at the same time) that could help me so I did my best to figure it out on my own and was pretty successful at it. Then came the emails and pm's on how to fix this or do that. We're all just free beta testers. F' that.
After four years, I finally built a new rig for myself but it's third or fourth gen. removed. However, it does play Crysis quite well and at a third of the cost of the "latest thing".
I say as long as it works for you?
Keep it.

Keep on rockin'

You're not any worse off by waiting. If you sell now you get more for your 4890, but are still overpaying for the 5870. If you wait, you'll get less for your 4890 but will pay less for the 5870. The two cancel each other out.

So unless your gaming needs change (you say you're limited to 16x10 resolution anyway) you're better off holding onto your 4890 as long as you can. The only way I'd suggest an upgrade now is if you find a STUPIDLY rediculous deal on a 5850/5870.

 

[happy medium]

Sell your 4890's and buy a 5850.
You won't be able to tell the difference unless you benchmark.
Buy another 5850 when prices drop.

 

[Rezident]

I went with eBay the 4890 - I went back to my old 8800 GTX and it plays TF2, LFD, Modern Warfare 2, Batman, all the games I play now anyway.

Do you have another card to tide you over? If not, you could keep those 4890s and I'd say they'll play most games fine for a while yet. Wait 'til 5xxx prices come down.

 

[exar333]

Similar situation for me...I sold my GTX 285 and got a 5870 for $50 more. If the 5850s were still at the launch price of $259, I definitely would have grabbed one instead. $309.00 seems a little steep for the 5850 performance IMHO; I can see these price-reduced in the next couple months back to the original MSRP.

 

[luv2increase]

I would sell the 4890 before it isn't worth anything.

 

[ZoNtO]

Sell your 4890's what?

 

[soccerballtux]

Sell your 4890's what?

Lol, gotta love the internet.