Refurbished GTX 1070 vs New GTX 1060

Sep 26, 2018
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Hello, I was wondering if I should buy a new GTX 1060 6GB on amazon for $280 or a refurbished founder's edition GTX 1070 on ebay for $260. The 1070 is seller refurbished. I am new to buying used PC parts. Is it worth the risk of the 1070 end up failing on me some time soon? I play on a 1920x1200 monitor w/60hz refresh rate and I know that the 1070 would be overkill for my current resolution, but I plan on upgrading to a 144hz monitor at some time in the future. I also don't want to upgrade my graphics card for at least 2 years, but still be able to play most games at 60 fps at 1080p on high-max settings. Any answers will be appreciated, thanks!
 
Solution
If there is any kind of a seller offered warranty or money back guarantee, I'd say go with the 1070. You can even get a warranty through ebay on these kinds of things if you can pay a little more. The 1070 is quite a bit more powerful than the 1060, so even if you got a buyers protection plan or something that cost $20 more, you'd still be coming out ahead.

If you can't get any of that, the 1060 6GB is still a great card, and there are fewer risks associated with buying new.

If nothing else, see if you can contact the seller and see where the 1070 came from. If it was a mining card, hard pass. If it was from just a regular gamer, it would be worth getting.
If there is any kind of a seller offered warranty or money back guarantee, I'd say go with the 1070. You can even get a warranty through ebay on these kinds of things if you can pay a little more. The 1070 is quite a bit more powerful than the 1060, so even if you got a buyers protection plan or something that cost $20 more, you'd still be coming out ahead.

If you can't get any of that, the 1060 6GB is still a great card, and there are fewer risks associated with buying new.

If nothing else, see if you can contact the seller and see where the 1070 came from. If it was a mining card, hard pass. If it was from just a regular gamer, it would be worth getting.
 
Solution
Sep 26, 2018
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The seller does not state any money back guarantees or warranties. He also does not state where the cards have been, but he does accept free 30 day returns. Would it still be worth it? Thanks for replying, this is the first time I have tried using used parts for my PC.

 


If there is a return window, try it out. There are plenty of ways to stress test a card and see if there are problems with it. If there are no problems then you have nothing to worry about. The 1000 series as a whole is pretty efficient and doesn't get very hot. I'm just wondering how long and how hard the card was run, as either factor can decrease lifespans on cards. That said, buying some kind of protection plan through ebay on a card you plan to use for a couple years wouldn't be a bad plan and would offer some protection should something go wrong down the line.

So, I'd say to go for it on the 1070. It is a really good card and ebay has a good system in place to protect buyers.
 

nobspls

Reputable
Mar 14, 2018
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I would not buy any used or refurbished video cards right now. There are too many that have been abused by crypto miners that are being dumped on the market. You are likely getting the ones that are failing in their rigs after they have been abused.