7970 worth $225??

[TechiGamer]

Hi!

Someone has been offering me a 7970 Ghz edition for $225 that has never been really used... I think just tested. Is that a good deal?
Also, is a manufacturer refurbished from sapphire a new card? Is this a good deal?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sapphire-R9-280X-/231264651076?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item35d8728744

Edit * I have a gigabyte 7970 with boost to 1050 mhz that I want to crossfire one of them with.

 

[wavetrex]

How do you know it hasn't been used ?

Maybe it was used for crypto-mining for a full year with sticker still on it and is now a lemon...

 

[Onus]

A refurbished card is not new. It is probably a return that had some minor problem (e.g. a noisy fan), was fixed, tested, and is being resold.
A lightly-used HD7970 for $225 is an excellent deal.

 

[TechiGamer]

How do you know it hasn't been used ?

Maybe it was used for crypto-mining for a full year with sticker still on it and is now a lemon...

I know because he is an honest guy. BTW what is all of this crypto mining and litcoin mining. What is that? I always here about it but never actually know what it is.

 

[TechiGamer]

A refurbished card is not new. It is probably a return that had some minor problem (e.g. a noisy fan), was fixed, tested, and is being resold.
A lightly-used HD7970 for $225 is an excellent deal.

So you think both the sapphire manufacturer replacement and the 7970 ghz would be good to go with?

 

[wavetrex]

What it is you can find on the net, not going into details here, not the subject of this thread.

How it's done however... that's the problem. Miners used their graphics cards 24/7 at max utilization (100% GPU use, all day long).
Sometimes even overclocked like crazy, for the extra little income... as you can imagine, those cards may suffer from heavy electromigration and begin showing artifacts, crashes, all kinds of problems.
These days one must be very careful when buying an used Tahiti or Hawaii card...

 

[TechiGamer]

What it is you can find on the net, not going into details here, not the subject of this thread.

How it's done however... that's the problem. Miners used their graphics cards 24/7 at max utilization (100% GPU use, all day long).
Sometimes even overclocked like crazy, for the extra little income... as you can imagine, those cards may suffer from heavy electromigration and begin showing artifacts, crashes, all kinds of problems.
These days one must be very careful when buying an used Tahiti or Hawaii card...

Wait.... so you can MAKE money with your gpu?

 

[Onus]

Not any more, which is why they're showing up in the used market.

 

[TechiGamer]

Not any more, which is why they're showing up in the used market.

here is this 7970 seems like a legit seller and says its new. Now I'm scared to buy anything. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gigabyte-Radeon-HD-7970-GHz-Edition-OC-1-1GHZ-3GB-Video-Card-75186-/310993716667?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item4868ab85bb

 

[Onus]

A moment ago you said "he is an honest guy." Either you know him or you don't.

 

[TechiGamer]

A moment ago you said "he is an honest guy." Either you know him or you don't.

True I did say he is an honest guy and he is ,but still I hope he doesn't want to sell some junk to me. idk. I need to find out for sure. I'm glad you guys mentioned this mining stuff because I wasn't aware of this.

 

[Onus]

Mining doesn't necessarily destroy cards. I mined with two of mine, a HD7970 and a HD7870. They were run 24/7 for 6-9 months, but were only mildly overclocked (both 1130MHz iirc). Neither has shown any sign of issues, and it's been almost a year since I did any mining.

 

[TechiGamer]

Mining doesn't necessarily destroy cards. I mined with two of mine, a HD7970 and a HD7870. They were run 24/7 for 6-9 months, but were only mildly overclocked (both 1130MHz iirc). Neither has shown any sign of issues, and it's been almost a year since I did any mining.

And so with this mining you actually make money? Like real money?

 

[Onus]

Formerly, yes. You'll have to read up on "crypto-currency" for more details, but essentially it is virtual digital money (that can be, and is, traded on various exchanges for "real" money, or can be spent directly at a growing number of vendors, including Tiger Direct) that is "mined" based on solving complex hashing algorithms. While highly speculative, it has certain distinct advantages over the bogus fiat currency that 99%+ of the world currently uses.

 

[TechiGamer]

Formerly, yes. You'll have to read up on "crypto-currency" for more details, but essentially it is virtual digital money (that can be, and is, traded on various exchanges for "real" money, or can be spent directly at a growing number of vendors, including Tiger Direct) that is "mined" based on solving complex hashing algorithms. While highly speculative, it has certain distinct advantages over the bogus fiat currency that 99%+ of the world currently uses.

I see.

Do you think its fine to purchase an open box gpu from NCIX?

 

[Onus]

An open-box card is typically one that was returned. Perhaps it didn't fit, didn't meet the buyer's needs, or the original buyer didn't have enough power to run it. It may be missing the driver CD and other "goodies," such as case sticker, game code(s), door hanger, adapters (e.g. VGA or HDMI) that normally come in the retail box. The driver CD is unimportant. Other pieces possibly missing are one reason the price is lower; you may or may not need them. If you don't, I'd say it's a safe buy.