Do you have a strategy for upgrading every generation without breaking the bank?

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loki7

Limp Gawd
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Jul 16, 2008
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It's hard not to notice signatures around here sporting SLI and CrossFire configurations of the latest hardware, 480 GTXs, etc. along with latest gen of other hardware. I find many of these same people are ready to purchase the next gen video cards (or have) soon as they debut, such as the 580 GTX. My face at the thought of keeping up with the Joneses of technology: :eek:

Other than the obvious that many of these folks may simply be wealthy, have people found a successful pattern to fiscally upgrade every generation? Perhaps buying only from manufacturers that provide buy back programs; trading in the last generation card for the new generation and pay the difference (if these still exist)? Or maybe streamlining selling old generations through Craigslist/Ebay?

Just curious really. I know using Ebay isn't rocket science, I've just always found myself handing last gen hardware to family and never selling it for my next upgrade. :p

What's your strategy? (other than just saving money or being rich :D)
(of course this applies to hardware in general not just video cards, but GPUs tend to be what people upgrade most frequently)
 
Tick-tock cycle with my GF's machine. Every gen that comes out, one of the boxes gets the new cards. Then the other gets the respins. We game on both, but predominantly try out new stuff on the more up-to-date one. Right now she's got a 280 (used to have SLI but my dad's PC blew an old 8800GT and he needs it for business so we helped him out and just donated it). I was then going to go for the 4xx's but was unimpressed so I'm targeting 2x 580s. Dating a girl who gets wet over the next big GPU development is fucking surreal...
 
Always buy the single best card you can afford and, as Smoove says, resell it while it has value. I buy mid-high models end expect them to lose 25% resale value after the first year, and 25% after the second. The resale value drop-off wanes as the asking price reaches the ~$150 range, as people are willing to barter in and around that number.
 
The strategy is simple - be an early adopter and you'll enjoy the latest and greatest hardware sooner and longer than others. Before the 'next great' thing drops, or just as it drops, sell off your hardware to fund the new stuff. I think that the enjoyment you gained in between generations of video cards more than offsets the costs of being an early adopter.

For example let's say latest gen video card costs $499. You buy it on April 2010. Then the next gen of that video card releases on January of 2011 at $499.
You can sell off the previous gen card for $349. That means that for $150 you had the best hardware from April-January. That means you paid $150 for 8 months of the best hardware.
And now you have upgraded to the newest, fastest card. And the cycle will repeat again.

Is ~$20 per month worth the price of admission? I think so.
That's just my opinion of course. I'm aware others may be more budget constrained.
It's the initial investment that's the biggest to make, but once you're on an upgrade cycle, I think $20 a month is well worth it.
 
So some of you sell off your best card before the new generation comes and idle around without a card? Or you sell it after the next generation debuts despite the fact that its value has dropped? (I'm guessing this as like badcaps said the best cards don't depreciate by that much)

I was more curious if there were secret manufacturer buy back programs but Ebay always works. :p
 
loki7 said:
So some of you sell off your best card before the new generation comes and idle around without a card? Or you sell it after the next generation debuts despite the fact that its value has dropped? (I'm guessing this as like badcaps said the best cards don't depreciate by that much)

I was more curious if there were secret manufacturer buy back programs but Ebay always works. :p
Click to expand...

Yeah I'd either resell it on ebay or right here on the sale/trade forums.
I managed to resell my 5970 for $599 on ebay when it was still going for $700 in the stores and I used the money to help fund my GTX 480s.

Once the GTX 580 comes out, I'm going to get that too if its worth it performance-wise. I'd like to see the actual numbers first. It's really a judgment choice, if you sell it before the new card releases you get a little bit more back on your investment. But then you have the inconvenience of waiting for the new card to drop in the meantime unless you have a decent backup card.
 
I get a new videocard when there's a game I want to play that my card won't run.
 
It's mostly with video cards though since that industry moves so fast. All the other stuff (cpu/mem/mobo/psu etc) aren't often upgraded.

Anyway I usually buy the 2nd fastest in a generation, and only once did I buy the top card in a generation (GTX295). I bought that card for $550 the week it came out in Jan 2009. In Feb 2010 I wanted the fastest single gpu card + DX11 so I bought a 5870 for $400 after I managed to sell the 295 for $430 shipped. At that time it was still NV's fastest card so it had good resale value and I enjoyed a full year of gaming on that card. It was bliss.

When the GTX460 came out and it being a great overclocking chip (with people reaching stock 5870 speeds) and myself generally preferring NV cards I tried to sell my 5870 for $350 but no one bit on it. I ended up locally trading it for a GTX460 + $100 CASH. At the time the 460 was retailing for $240 so if you add 100 it's like I sold it for $340.

You can say I downgraded but at the time I needed money and the only game I was seriously playing was Starcraft 2 which the OC'd 460 runs extremely well even at 25x16. You could also say I was bored with the 5870 and also just wanted something new to play with.

I fold as well. I live in Quebec where Winters are really cold, and where I live the landlord controls the heating (I don't pay for it) but they don't usually turn it up so it's sometimes a little cold in the house so I end up folding (both GPU/CPU) to warm up my room and it works very well. Electricity is cheap here anyway (I'm paying around 7 cents).

----

TL;DR: Buy high end and resell for next generation high end. High initial investment cost however.
 
I hang onto my video cards so long it becomes more of a hassle for me to sell it than just throw it in the closet with the other hardware that's piled up over the years. Who knows, I might need it again someday.

Usually I skip a generation, but try to buy a better-than-average card so it lasts. Point in fact, I went from a X1950 XT to a HD3850 and then my current card. The 5xxx series didn't seem like much of an upgrade for the games I was playing at the time, but recently Fallout: New Vegas has been taxing it. So now I'm looking at HD6950 or maybe even the HD6970 which should last me until the 8xxx series comes out.
 
Smoove910 said:
sell you old shit while it still has value...

Simple in my book.
Click to expand...

this. Also heavy on rebates and combo discounts, and forums buys, though everything on my machine is new at the moment. Too much bullshit on the FS/FT. I wish people had to adhere to some at least reasonable price rules. too many idiots spaming now
 
loki7 said:
So some of you sell off your best card before the new generation comes and idle around without a card? Or you sell it after the next generation debuts despite the fact that its value has dropped? (I'm guessing this as like badcaps said the best cards don't depreciate by that much)

I was more curious if there were secret manufacturer buy back programs but Ebay always works. :p
Click to expand...

I tried this and ended up selling my two cards 8 months before Fermi finally launched. At least it was at a profit from the 2008 33% bing cashback, which fully covered a launch $600 XFX 5970.
 
Right now video cards are way ahead of the games. Until the nextgen consoles come out, I really don't see it necessary to upgrade even if you have a gtx260 / 5770 or equivalent card. If you can without losing money in the process why not. But usually you would have to sell at a loss eventually. Like those 5970s for example will be practically worthless once a single gpu card matches it in performance.
 
I used to upgrade every 3 months
then it was every 6 months
then it was every year
now every 3 years....
older we get more bills we got
it is life
 
I was thinking about going Tri-Fire with 5850's however if the 6970 is any good I might sell them for that, or a 6990. I'm also considering going back to water and cooling the gpu too this time around. We'll see, I haven't quite figured out how to water cool all in internally in the Raven RV02 case yet. :eek:
 
Smoove910 said:
sell you old shit while it still has value...

Simple in my book.
Click to expand...

This ^

Buy the new stuff right when it comes out then turn around and sell your old stuff.

Or wait for prices to fall a bit, then buy, then sell your old stuff for less.

Either way it levels out to the same. Upgrade incrementally a couple parts here and there at a time on a continuing bases. Then you always have something new to play with and you're not forking out a whole bunch all at once.
 
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One thing I do to soften the blow is I only upgrade part of my system at a time. One year I might get a new cpu/mobo/ram, the next a new videocard/hard drive. The downside to this method is I'm never going to have the absolute fastest system, but on the other hand it allows me to get pretty good life out of my hardware.

It's all about what you can afford though of course. When my card starts to get a bit choppy in games, I figure out what the best upgrade I can afford at the time is, and get that. More often than not it's a video card, but every few years I do a core system rebuild (mobo/CPU/memory if needed).
 
umcpgrad said:
I used to upgrade every 3 months
then it was every 6 months
then it was every year
now every 3 years....
older we get more bills we got
it is life
Click to expand...

Yep, for me 2 kids will do that. This time I gave my wife a few months warning, I'm upgrading to 6870 and Sandy Bridge when it's released. I'll probably skip a generation from here on out.
 
About 6 months after a product launch the major price cuts have usually happened which makes owning the best pretty affordable. In terms of video cards, I tend to hold on to them for a year before selling. At that point the value hasn't declined a whole lot and craigslist buyers will still go for them.
 
I have an Amazon.com Visa and I literally put everything I buy on it and pay it off each month. One point for regular purchases and three points for Amazon purchases (buy almost everything except groceries and gas from them). 2500 = $25 gift certificate for Amazon. I just let them keep piling up and it usually helps me either defray the cost of or outright pay for my next card (even though Amazon's selection and prices aren't close to Newegg's).
 
One approach, if you're mainly looking at high end products, is to be a relatively early adoptor of products offering 'significant' advantages over the previous generation and deliberately skip any products that merely offer incremental benefits whether they are advertised as new generation, a refresh, or just a name change. And avoid being loyal to any brand unless they really are equivalent at the same time. What's significant is a bit subjective (e.g. I tend to look at power and power efficiency/noise) but some examples are the 8800GTX, Core 2 Duo's, Intel X-25 SSD's, i7's etc. Saying that, I've had my share of frivolous purchases where I've wasted money on incremental upgrades, but I did realize that at the time.

Some people suggest waiting until prices for high end products go down significantly, but I don't think this works out well because by that time it often makes more sense to buy the refresh equivalent.

In fact, if you're a bit more cost concious and don't mind waiting 9+ months or so, then consistantly and deliberately aiming for the refresh equivalent of breakthrough products is another money saving approach; meaning always go for i5's over i7's, 8800GT (or 9 series) over 8800GTX, 6xxx over 5xxx etc...
 
I do full system upgrades about every 3-4 years. I spec the parts for longevity. I built my current system in march with Crossfire 5870's and I only game at 1920x1080.

The most of the old parts get reused as my HTPC.
 
Easy. I skip at least every other generation, and wait until retail is saturated.

8800GTX > 4870 > 6970 (maybe...)

I have typically been able to sell my old card, or give it away to a really needy cause, as well. I typically rack up between 20-30$ in gift cards for the stores I purchase from every 12 months, which subtracts a serious chunk of change from the purchase. Additionally, I make other sacrifices (like eating a boring lunch every day for a month) and put every dollar I save away to make a purchase down the line.

Basically, my philsophy: Buy late, don't buy too often, and use money you would have wasted on other things anyways... And feel great giving your girlfriend, friend or little cousin, a great performance upgrade :)

Although, recently I will admit my money is going towards more important things, like gym memberships, medication and rent :) (can't make rent).
 
Live with a woman with a decent job to help out with bills.

That's the best advice I would give anyone wanting gadgets and tech. ;)
 
Sell old parts immediately to offset the upgrade, I've done that a good few times over the years, unfortunately when I moved from 2 4870s in crossfire to my 5970 I gave 1 card to my brother as a pressie and my 2nd card remains unsold. It's lucky I got an amazing deal on the 5970 on launch day due to a reseller not cranking up the price in time...still I was hoping to get ~£120 to offset the £440 upgrade, never happened :/
 
Buy the mid-high end part but look for a really good deal. Two years ago, I got a 260 for $135 after rebates and bing CB. I'm hoping for a similar holiday bargain this year (though no more bing CB :( ).
 
ZodaEX said:
I get a new videocard when there's a game I want to play that my card won't run.
Click to expand...
+2
Though I'd usually just go and play other games until I run into tons that I can't play well anymore, and by then doubling my peformance would cost maybe $100 :p
 
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