Buyers Guide to Used GPUs

With everyone focusing on the new RTX 4000 series I want to take a look at the Used Market. Is it Okay to buy a used GPU? in this video we answer that question and give you some tips and tricks of what to do and look out for when buying used Graphics Cards. Featured today is a ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 2070 Super. I hope you found this video entertaining or useful if you did don't forget to subscribe.

Big Love
-Cable

[CablesTech]

I just want to say thank you everyone for watching and sharing your experiences with used parts for everyone to learn from. Used parts can be a great way to get the performance you want at a lower price or get a faster part than you previously could for the same price. If you have experiences with used graphics cards feel free to share them on this comment. Next weeks video is going to be about buying used systems. If you want to see that video or more like it consider subscribing to the channel.

Big Love
-Cable

[Dexion]

You absolutely do not have to replace the whole card if a fan fails. You buy the fan, open up the sucker, grab your Philips head screwdriver and replace that fan.

[namecannotbeblank]

Got a RX 6800 that mined for 3 years a couple days ago, dude was super chill, he let me benchmark it in his kitchen for an hour and a half while he was doing laundry lmao. It's doing fine so far, knock on wood, nothing more than a slight coil whine from time to time.

[Thor]

NOTICE: Please note... If the fans die, as long as the rest of the GPU is fine and didn't kill the card, it is actually easy to change the fans on most GPUs. The only super annoying GPUs to change the fans on in the past several years are the Nvidia Founders Editions. Those usually force you to dismantle the entire thing while cards like the TUFF series usually let you take off the shroud and fans without having to also take the cooler off as well.

[perckmalice]

Memory chips can also get burned out. It’s pretty surprising not many people talk about this. Sometimes it does really well in benchmarks and or mining but then behaves erratically in games by causing stutters etc- from an ex miner.

[Roidstack]

You can always remove the plastic part and leave the heatsink exposed, ziptie 2x 120mm fans and it'll work just fine, and also if u dont want to do that you can either buy replacement fans or but a liquid block on the gpu.

[MacCheetah]

A fair take on the topic, and you did mention an important sign/symptom of damage: display artifacts -- which brings me to my note. Especially with the newest generations (e.g., RTX 30 series), VRAM failure is high-risk. 1) Crypto mining is greatly reliant on the VRAM, which also means miners often push the frequency like XOCers 2) GDDR6(X) runs very hot with almost every workload 3) apparently, Nvidia's (not the VRAM manufacturer) spec, default VBIOS behavior allows GDDR6X to sit steady at upwards of 110C before any significant throttling. Additionally, like enthusiasts, plenty of crypto miners re-paste/re-pad cards, and can do notable amount of physical damage during (dis)assembly -- I've seen at least a couple of demo videos where during the heatsink/shroud removal the fan/LED wires or even the connector has been torn apart/out, for example.

[aleksazunjic]

Theoretically all of this is fine, but if you are buying online you cannot physically inspect the card and few sellers would be willing to dissemble it for your convenience. Therefore, if you are buying mining card do not pay much for it, one third of the cost for new with similar specs is fine.

[darianbarber]

As someone who has cleaned a 4-5YO GPU, You can totally replace the fans if you know how to use YouTube and amazon correctly

[pierinocolombo]

I recently bought a mined RTX 3070. It has worked perfectly until now and my really happy with it, I only paid 200€ (USD 220). I will also suggest to look who the seller is because that can tell you a lot about how was the system treated. I bought mine from a guy that just join the tendency of mining and he didn't know much about PCs in general, what it make me realise that BIOS was never modified, the GPU was maintained regularly and he was keeping it running with aircond on. Just be careful to who are you buying and you will be find :)

[ARCbirdman]

I've replaced fans on my GPU....didn't have to replace the whole card. Don't know where you got that

[privacyisdead]

hi....why some used graphic cards died after weeks or no display....can it be fixed?

[landonsnightmare]

Just purchased a PNY 3090 off ebay for $650 that was previously mined on hopefully the guy took good care of it

[Rogan.Insight]

I bought 2 RTX 3080 TI ROG STRIX 12GB OC for 500$ (250$ Each including taxes and shipping) which was really good deal for its price

[albertwesker]

Nah bro, fans are the least problem, u can replace them with noctuas or different... You didnt mention the most important part - core discolorization due to long high load, for example during mining... If the core is discolorized then this gpu wont last long

[giveawayymexs]

I had a rx 550 2gb that went out on me so I just ordered I used 980 4gb I use to run GTA on normal and get 59 fps and under now I can play it on ultra with close to 70 I could not even think about running new games it hasn't got here yet 1 more week

[welshinu]

most cards are looked after but i have seen miners that don't really look after them or clean them ( till they go to sell them ) i would not touch a 3070ti and up .

[pcdemos]

"If that fan fails, you can't just replace it. You have to replace the whole card"? What???

Not sure how you have come to that statement
But in case you didn't know, there are many GPU Fan replacements + GPU Fan replacement guide videos available currently.

[Binmar]

Hi, Cable. I want to buy 3080 from a person in my city. In your opinion, what is the appropriate price for this card? Is $550 good for THIS, especially since the card was not used for mining, according to the seller’s words, only FOR play and study the AOUROS version WITH WARRANTY tape APPERANCE ON

[DemonSliime]

This is propaganda for the crypto miners. The fans are quite literally the least of your worries. This video was made by crypto dicks to convince the average person that a card absolutely destroyed by mining is fine to buy as long as the fans spin. Pay the extra money to get it brand new. I would even suggest getting a lesser card for the same price if you have to choose between new and used.