Is buying a used video card on ebay a good idea??

[Garret123h]

So im gonna be upgrading my video card soon and i saw that on ebay they have alot of R9 290's that look good and work for like $150 to $250, and i always wanted that video card. so is it a good idea to do that or just save up a little more and buy a 280x

 

[Eduello]

Not a good idea, those cards have probably been used for mining, which takes a toll on the GPU.

 

[DeNachtwacht]

After the Bitcoin mining adventure from the last year, a lot of people are deciding to quit and try to sell their GPU's on eBay with excuses like "it was only used by my grandmother to visit google.com". Don't buy that!

Mining is really bad for the PC so don't buy these GPU's second hand. Particularly the 270x, 280, 280x and 290 were very good at mining and that's why you see a lot of those cards on eBay now. I'd recommend to buy new (I just did myself infact)

 

[Garret123h]

Alright. what is mining??

 

[bwrwgamer]

Mining is the process of solving problems in exchange for virtual currency such as bitcoins. GPU's are very good at this.

 

[Eduello]

Mining means running a program that earns you cryptocurrency:
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFj72hrUZt4"][/video]
It really stresses the GPU and shortens its lifetime.

 

[Garret123h]

Alright. i saw the R9 280. will this card run alot of games on ultra like BF4 and Arma 3. And is it a good card in general?

 

[Eduello]

It'll run most games at ultra @1080p with 60fps, but BF4 and Arma 3 would require high-ultra if you want to keep the fps constantly above 60.

 

[Garret123h]

alright. so what GPU would u suggest. my budget is $200 to $300

 

[Eduello]

This is what I'd get: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvr928xoc3gdrev2

 

[Garret123h]

Alright. thanks. i feel kind of stupid for thinking that i could get a 290 for $150

 

[Eduello]

Don't fell stupid, you were smart to ask about it before spending your money

 

[Sayjin]

hello, can you give a trusted videocard seller on ebay? thanks