If I bought a video card that is used, it would save a lot of money....but is ok to buy a used card? It'll be a newer card.
if you know whether or not it has been overclocked (overclocking voids warrenty) i would find that out first, if its worth it to YOU go for it
if it works, and there is still warranty on it...sure why not...
Nothing wrong with buying used assuming it works and wasn't fucked around with.
Thats not really a question that can be easily answered. If you can be sure that it has manufacturer's warranty then of course get it. Otherwise it may be a card that someone broke (like overclocked too much) and now is trying to sell off.
It depends. I bought a Radeon HD 4870 last year because it was only $50 and it can play any game. I didn't care about the best graphics, I just wanted something cheap, but effective, but I was being paranoid about the heat of the card and maxed out the fan speed in afterburnner and murdered my fan and I ended up buying an aftermarket cooler and tied a case fan to it with wire ties from garbage bags and while I was writting this reply, my niece wanted to play Saint's Row the 3rd and it runs well at high DX9 settings.
Lesson: Don't make your fan go at max speeds or you'll kill your fan.
Also, at this point, I would recommmend getting a 460 instead of 4870, better bang for the buck.
Some companies have transferable warrantys. XFX and EVGA do I believe (dont quote me on that). If its one of those kinda cards, cant really go wrong.
Also, consider the following:
Drivers for older Video Cards mature in time, so if you buy an older card based on release date tests and benchmarks, your peformance might be up to 10%-20% better. You know, It might run Crysis at 60FPS when it was new and when newer drivers come, it might be between 66-72FPS. Just something to consider.