Graphics card manufacturer VisionTek has been in the business for a long time now – nearly 25 years – and has been a long-time exclusive AMD board partner. The group just recently announced plans to sell off old AMD hardware for $1-$3, ranging from AGP units and Radeon 2000 cards up through relatively recent Radeon 5000 cards.
The company stated in a press release that the hardware includes unsold inventory, refurbished lab test components, refurbished RMA components, and similar leftover inventory. Radeon 4000 & 5000 video cards will be sold at the “high-end” for $3, with AGP devices shipping at just $1. If you've got an old P4 or Athlon X64 system that's still capable of basic tasks, it might be worth considering one of the $1 cards for a “shop computer” setup.
VisionTek notes that “quantities are extremely limited” and encourages interested buyers to buy early in the sale, which will last from 12/1 through 12/7 (or until inventory is exhausted).
Based on the press release, it appears that VisionTek is taking a “mystery box” approach to the sale. You're able to specify the interface (AGP, PCI-e) and the price ($1, $2, or $3), but beyond that, you won't know what's been shipped until it arrives. AGP cards cost $1, Radeon 2000-3000 cards are $2, and 4000-5000 cards are $3. We're unsure what exactly will be available, but we'd recommend looking into the 4000-5000 cards for secondary machines. The 4870 and 5850/5870 GPUs were solid mid-rangers for their day; actually, our site is just old enough to have recommended the 5870 in several of our oldest PC build guides.
The sales will go live at VisionTek's website on 12/1, found here: http://www.visiontek.com/
- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.