Question Second hand GPU queries

[barneyadi]

Hi

Looking to upgrade my system and had the Rx570/580/590 8gb mentioned and the GTX 1060/1070/1080 6gb suggested as play older games. As will be getting a second hand one I keep seeing something called mining on the RX cards, is that something I need to be careful of. And will the 6gb GTX cards be fine for most games.

Cheers

Dave

 

[stonecarver]

I'm starting to see GTX 1070's show up daily on offerup for $70.00 8Gb's GTX 1080's $120 and GTX 1080 Ti's for $120 +

If you can hold out for a GTX 1080 Ti it has 11 Gb's of memory and can still play latest games with medium setting.

But there is nothing wrong if you get a good deal on a 1070 if one shows up for $50.00.

Buyer beware I always have seller Prove to me that it works on there system before I buy. If seller can't or won't I move on.

 

[barneyadi]

I'm starting to see GTX 1070's show up daily on offerup for $70.00 8Gb's GTX 1080's $120 and GTX 1080 Ti's for $120 +

If you can hold out for a GTX 1080 Ti it has 11 Gb's of memory and can still play latest games with medium setting.

But there is nothing wrong if you get a good deal on a 1070 if one shows up for $50.00.

Buyer beware I always have seller Prove to me that it works on there system before I buy. If seller can't or won't I move on.

The UK prices are higher unfortunately, but not out of the question.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

keep seeing something called mining on the RX cards, is that something I need to be careful of.

it would usually mean that the card had been put through very heavy usage for an extended amount of time and more than likely degraded it's performance and/or it's life expectancy.

make sure the seller or the online store actually responds that any specific card has never been used for mining.

also make sure there are easy return/refund options available.

will the 6gb GTX cards be fine for most games.

not for most modern games with any decent settings in place.

but it really depends on the age and the complexity of any specific game.
check the recommended system requirements of the games you play most and compare that to what hardware you would be looking to get.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Hi

Looking to upgrade my system and had the Rx570/580/590 8gb mentioned and the GTX 1060/1070/1080 6gb suggested as play older games.

That should be pretty easy.

As will be getting a second hand one I keep seeing something called mining on the RX cards, is that something I need to be careful of.

There was actually a lot more mining done on GeForce RTX cards than on Radeon RX cards. The only reason that people are talking about those old Polaris cards is because they're being sold off for dirt-cheap on sites like AliExpress. Since the market is flooded with them, they get the fame.

For modern cards, the GeForce RTX cards were used far more for mining than Radeon RX cards simply because more of them were made.

And will the 6gb GTX cards be fine for most games.

Absolutely not. For 1080p gaming you want 8-10GB. For 1440p, you want 12-16GB and for 4K, you want 16-24GB. A 6GB card is just flushing money down the toilet at this point.

Since you asked about 6GB cards, my guess is that you're looking to spend as little as possible. Right now, I would say that the best value second-hand video card that excels at 1080p would be the Radeon RX 5700 XT. It has 8GB of VRAM and is more potent than the RX 6600, another card that would suit your purposes nicely if you can't find a used RX 5700 XT.

The YouTube channel called Scattervolt did a best-and-worst used GPU tier list on August 5th, 2023 and the RX 5700 XT is in the "S" tier (God-tier). The RX 5700 is considered even better than the 5700 XT so he made a special "SS" tier for it. The thing is, the RX 5700's extra value comes primarily from being able to flash the BIOS with a BIOS from a 5700 XT and getting almost the same performance. There is however risk involved with this tactic which is why I would still recommend the RX 5700 XT over the RX 5700. You just plug the 5700 XT in and go. Here's Scattervolt's tier list video (from a month ago):

A channel called Proceu Tech did a video talking about the great value preposition offered by the RX 5700 XT: