Question How Bad Is Buying Used OC GPU That's Been Used for Cryptomining?

mrsmile

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anyone has experience buying used graphics processor on ebay?

a seller listed an overclocked 8GB MSI Radeon RX 580 Armor that was used for crypto mining. he claims it's in excellent condition. what are the chances of that?

but then again it's not like the rest of used GPU on ebay that didn't mention them being used for mining, weren't actually used for mining, right?
do crypto miners usually overclock their GPU? which means I would have a less of a chance of buying a worn out GPU if I buy a non-overclocked GPU instead?

I've looked at the differences in visual output during gaming between overclocked vs non-overclocked GPU and it doesn't really impress me.

also what really made me hesistant to buy it is that the seller does not accept returns
 

Math Geek

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still asking these questions after all this time??

take your money, go to vegas and put it down on a single roll of the dice. 50/50 shot of losing it or winning. that is better odds than buying a used mining gpu.

might win, probably won't

do yourself a favor and forget about it. all the red flags are there already, all you have to do is simply listen to those flags and run away.

mining is about the most work in the shortest amount of time, EVERY card was pushed as hard as possible as long as possible no matter what anyone says. that's the whole point of mining. i 100% guarantee it was oc'ed, pushed 24/7, and not worth $5
 

Tac 25

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I've known people that have bought mining cards and ran them for years without issue. The problem is it's impossible to know in what environment the GPU was used, if it was in a well cooled rig and undervolted, that's obviously going to be better than one in a hot environment with an overclocked GPU core and VRAM.

May I ask how much the card is?
 

mrsmile

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I've known people that have bought mining cards and ran them for years without issue. The problem is it's impossible to know in what environment the GPU was used, if it was in a well cooled rig and undervolted, that's obviously going to be better than one in a hot environment with an overclocked GPU core and VRAM.

May I ask how much the card is?

it's US$88 for the overclocked GPU + US$15 shipping.

I bought used GPU before (no idea if used for mining) that lasted 8years and that seems like a good run.

my budget says I need to buy one used. & seeing as to how there's always a chance that sellers could neglect to mention their GPU was used for mining, I wonder if there's even a point to filter out mining GPUs in the pool of used GPUs.

is a non-OC GPU better, even if it's been used to mine? compared to an overclocked GPU. what even are the chances that miners dont overclock their mining GPU?

so i guess perhaps at the end it really comes down to whether I should filter out overclocked GPU? especially considering the visual performance does not look dramatically better to me, and I'm unfamiliar with what software changes I would have to make so current system is compatible with an OC GPU.
 
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mining is about the most work in the shortest amount of time, EVERY card was pushed as hard as possible as long as possible no matter what anyone says. that's the whole point of mining. i 100% guarantee it was oc'ed, pushed 24/7, and not worth $5
More than that it's about the most efficient ration of power consumption to hashrate. When I did some tests on my 1060, the most "optimal" setting for mining would've been to half it's TDP and up the memory clock.

Mining cards went through more and less stress at the same time. They went through way less heating cycles over their life, but they also were at constant load. So it really depends on how exactly the previous owner used them.
 
it's US$88 for the overclocked GPU + US$15 shipping.

I bought used GPU before (no idea if used for mining) that lasted 4years and that seems like a good run.

my budget says I need to buy one used. & seeing as to how there's always a chance that sellers could neglect to mention their GPU was used for mining, I wonder if there's even a point to filter out mining GPUs in the pool of used GPUs.

is a non-OC GPU better, even if it's been used to mine? compared to an overclocked GPU. what even are the chances that miners dont overclock their mining GPU?

so i guess perhaps at the end it really comes down to whether I should filter out overclocked GPU? especially considering the visual performance does not look dramatically better to me, and I'm unfamiliar with what software changes I would have to make so current system is compatible with an OC GPU.
A non OC GPU would be running at a lower temperature, that's why it's preferable. I don't think filtering will help because it relies on people being truthful. $88 is a good price though, if it was a complete disaster it's not the end of the world.
 

Phaaze88

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Mining stresses a gpu's memory controller.
The memory will be overclocked to maximize profit, but that is harder on the controller. The harder it's pushed, the worse off it's going to be.

Games stress a gpu's power delivery.
Overclocks here are harder on the power delivery. The core will have been downclocked and power limited on mined cards.

If either one goes, you're still out of a gpu.

Ebay takes the side of the buyer, don't they? The seller shouldn't be able to refute returns..?
Take a chance if you're feeling lucky.
 
I would say if you are buying a used card, buy through ebay since I think they've got a money back guarantee. In other words, if the seller describes the card as working, you should be safe. If you go that route I'd run the card hard for a week or so before you leave feedback. That's been my method the last 3 cards or so I've owned and I've been lucky thus far. Make sure the seller has good feedback as well. Sellers with great feedback will typically want to protect that feedback since it can take a long time to build up and might be more likely to work with you if there are any issues vs having to file a claim with eBay.
 
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Would you buy an ex Uber or ex Taxi car? Depends on the deal really. It's like gambling, you'd never know, but if price is say 30-40% cheaper than market price and we are allowed to test it, I'd be, why not?

Test here, runs timespy, timespy extreme a couple times, runs torture test like furmark for at least 20 minutes see how temp behave, launch Forza Horizon Demo, if no issue, GPU behaves at it should, and cheaper? Grab it.

In the end, buying a used item is just the same in general, especially electronics. You may be lucky, you may not, but like the comment above me, get one from reliable seller, I got 5 stars out of 5 on my FB marketplace, and I always scared if a buyer leave me a 4 stars review LOL.

KEY NOTE HERE; BUYER DO NOT ACCEPT RETURN

So there is a yellow flag.

Do they allow inspection? test? If not, RUN.
 

KyaraM

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Don't buy. As others said, even if the cores were downclocked and the power limited, the memory will have been overclocked to hell and back, and likely is done for. Don't rush a purchase, if it's too much today, save up a couple months more and get something decent.
 
Mining GPUs are usually fine except the memory may have degraded to the point of eventually having to be underclocked to avoid artifacts.

Given that Polaris is so memory bandwidth limited, any reduction in memory clock will directly impact performance. But $88 is pretty cheap for ~1650 Super level of performance (though so is 1060 6GB which is just a bit more).

It's just that MSRP was $229 5 years ago (and 1650 Super $159 new 3 years ago) but this is today. I do expect a glut of ex-mining cards to arrive on the market really soon though.
 
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Good morning, buddy.

It depends a lot, as stated above by others. A video card used for mining, even if it has its fans, thermopads and thermal paste replaced, can still end up showing failures in other components, which were used extensively.

The only hypothesis that would be acceptable in my opinion, would be if the seller was selling it for a very cheap price, which doesn't seem to be the case, from what I understand he is almost asking for the price of a GTX 1650.

Maybe you should wait a bit and get a new one with warranty.

Good luck!