The R9 290X
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| Remember, you can click the photo to enlarge. |
Specifically, this post is about the Asus R9 290X (2) that they have for sale on their store page. The price set for this card is outrageous, especially after my numerous attempts to contact the seller went ignored. I even made an offer to the seller to attract his/her attention, and my offer was rejected (LOL!), but they ignored my kind message advising them that the prices are way out of bounds.
So, let's see some comparisons that truly destroy this listing in all types of sense.
An R9 390
As shown here, on Amazon the Sapphire Nitro 390 currently sells for $324 USD, with a rebate that can reduce the cost a little further. Not only is the 390 (a newer and more efficient card) cheaper, but it's also from arguably one of the top brands: Sapphire and MSI. Sapphire is best known for its cooling configuration; a triple-fan configuration combined with an extended heat sink offers greater cooling compacity compared to other 2-fan coolers, like MSI.
The R9 390 is widely accepted to be a "successor" to the 290X, with minimal yet noteworthy improvements. The R9 390 also offers 8 GB of VRAM compared to the 290X's just 4. So, it's cheaper and offers more VRAM!
An R9 390X
Even if you somehow still had a doubt in a R9 390, this is literally the next generation by name compared to the 390X. Still cheaper, and still has twice the VRAM. And, unlike the Sapphire listing at the time of this post, you can actually order this item right now from Amazon and get it at your door in mere days. XFX are also regarded to be one of the top-tier board partners for AMD, and their coolers are pretty adequate as well. Asus does have a history of having shoddy cooling on AMD cards due to their lazy attempt to copy their NVIDIA designs over to AMD boards.
Buyers Beware
After the points I've made above, I think that these sellers should either adjust their prices or be removed from the market by eBay. It doesn't do anyone justice when folks are taken advantage of, especially on eBay, because one bad consumer experience with one seller can ruin that customer's experience with the entire site.
I have sent "The Electronic Surplus" a message about their outrageous pricing, even with a fair warning that I'd be making this post should they continue with their current pricing, and they haven't responded. Therefor, I have no sympathy from them. I don't care how long they might have owned an account there; they refuse to listen to the market and act as if people will buy their overpriced product anyways.
And, really? The Asus cards aren't even worth anything near that price anyways.
Whatever you do, don't buy from these folks. I wouldn't trust them, especially since reputation on eBay can be gamed.
