Question Buying Second Hand GPU's

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Slinkyguitar5745

Slinkyguitar5745

Jan 28, 2025
2
0
10
So if I buy a second hand gpu off of somewhere like ebay for example, and I stress test it and it seems to be working perfectly fine will it most likely then just not randomly die on me later down the line? Just because it would be very annoying if you bought a GPU and it worked fine until the end of the 30 day money back guarantee by ebay and then it just died
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
It's just a lottery, when you get on a plane, you know for sure that it might fall, but you don't expect it. I'm an old and stingy guy, I've had a lot of graphics cards in my life, 99% of them second hand. Not one of them died. My graphics card that I bought new in the store died and it died right after the warranty expired. Graphics cards can be repaired a lot, if you have a skilled HW technician in your area, you have nothing to fear.
 
  • Like
Reactions: williamjeremiah and Slinkyguitar5745
Upvote 0 Downvote
rene641 said:
It's just a lottery, when you get on a plane, you know for sure that it might fall, but you don't expect it. I'm an old and stingy guy, I've had a lot of graphics cards in my life, 99% of them second hand. Not one of them died. My graphics card that I bought new in the store died and it died right after the warranty expired. Graphics cards can be repaired a lot, if you have a skilled HW technician in your area, you have nothing to fear.
Click to expand...
Alright cheers
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
If you purchase second-hand GPU, you should always assume it might die. There are a lot fishy GPUs, that either were used for mining or "repaired". That it can pass a stress test does not mean much.

Of course, it might also be perfectly fine card that will chug on another 4 years easily. The point is - it's a gamble, you can't know.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
This is what the damaged RTX 4080 super looked like, which I bought second hand. The original owner painted the chip with his wife's black nail polish, then liquid metal, then installed an aftermarket cooler...
I repaired the card, bought an AIO Alphacool and it makes me happy to this day...


20240420_150602.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: williamjeremiah
Upvote 0 Downvote
Someone selling mass quantities of used graphic cards, and they're not a recycler, should be a huge red flag. There were a lot of mining farms being broken up when Ethereum stopped using proof of work, and there are still some sellers trying to liquidate those cards today. And include their past sales history in your research, not just what they're selling today. Polaris and Vega cards were popular miners, so I would stay away from those, entirely. The shortage of RTX 30 cards that we experienced a while back, due to miners buying them all up, also makes them suspect. The AMD cards from that time period weren't as popular with miners, as they were with gamers, so you might have a better chance of finding one that hasn't been mined to death.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A GPU received from ebay which works as listed is a legit sale/purchase. Whether it survives or not later is not on them.
I scored an RTX 3090 FE with an installed Bykski double sided waterblock from ebay for $664.14, shipped, November 2023 and it's still going strong.
oJGNDTi.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: rene641 and Flayed
Upvote 0 Downvote
Be careful, but I’ve had good luck with eBay. As someone who sells occasionally on there, your sellers have incentive to have good feedback. Just make sure you read the description and look at pictures very carefully.

Even if they say no returns, eBay has a money back guarantee which I think allows you to get a refund within 30 days if the item isn’t as described. If you order using eBay, install the card ASAP and run it to be sure it’s working well before that 30 days is up.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom