Question Should i buy a mining GPU from a miner?

Status
Not open for further replies.

HardcoreGamer27

Distinguished
Apr 23, 2016
70
7
18,535
So my question is should i buy GPU used for mining from a miner who says that he regulary changed the thermal pads, the GPU that i want to buy from him is RTX 3080 Ti and he is selling it to me for 550$.So what is your advice and do you have any expirience with mined GPUS bought from a miner.And also what could be the reason he is selling his gpu is it because it is failing is it because of the current crypto crash of the Bitcoin and the Ethereum let me know in the comments.
 
Im really in temptation of buying that GPU that GPU is 1400$ brand new in my country so used for 550$ seems like a deal lol.Someone please stop me
Who in their right mind would take a 850 dollar loss on something they are selling? What could they possibly gain? If you had a 1400 dollar graphics card, would YOU sell it for 550?
There is a reason they are trying to offload that card cheap, dont fall for it.
 

punkncat

Champion
Ambassador
A couple of things I would mention here....

First off, ideally I agree with much of the above, and particularly the part about not rewarding the miner with a subsidy on (their) loss. But, putting the emotional kick on hold, let us discuss it a bit.

Is this person near enough to you to be able to meet, see it working in a system, and run some tests on it?
Basically, I would not purchase if the above cannot be dealt with. This card could well have a VBIOS flash that would have made it run better for mining. In this case you would want the "regular" VBIOS to be reinstalled.
After that, I would want to put it into a rig and run a couple of HARD video benchmarks on it. In addition to that, I would also want to install Afterburner and see how much overhead it has left for an OC on both the GPU and memory. As this is going on, check temps on the card as it relates to your ambient.

Mining is rough on a card and very likely that its lifetime is shortened as a result. Hard core gaming (can) do the same. One never really knows how long a graphics card will last. I have had some go seriously long times, but of course mining wasn't a "thing".

I would give this serious thought based on the above circumstances being possible. Make sure to visually inspect the card as well. Stripped screws? Dirty heat sink, and so on...

If it actually works and lasts even a couple of years at 80-90% of its capability I would still call it a deal. Do I recommend doing so? No.

Edit- one other factor here is the PSU requirement and space. If you don't already have that covered I would put that a strike in the no column as well.
 

Eximo

Titan
Ambassador
Mining is hardest on the memory if I understand correctly, and 3080/3080Ti/3090 were known to have high memory temperatures.

Him saying that he has replaced the thermal pads multiple times implies to me that he was having memory temperature issues during his ownership. Enough that he took the card apart more than once.
 

HardcoreGamer27

Distinguished
Apr 23, 2016
70
7
18,535
Ok here is my full story 2 years ago i left my job and promised my parents that i will study programing and web desing and start working from my computer and will never ever under any conditions will play games ever again( i am passionate about video games by te way) untill i start serious buisniss with programing and web design online and i started great i finished web design lessons online and finished 50% of java programing language on online courses and also 20% of python programing language meanwhile i also learned photoshop and adobe premiere and started doing animations but still havent started to work and as time passed i started to lose my work habit and also started to lose interest in studying and got into gaming even more than before.To make the story shorter i wanted to buy PS5 for around 500$ but that would open the gates of hell in my house and my parents will kick me out of the house knowing that i was lying to them this whole time except i was not i started good,so the only solution is buyng a GPU i will put the GPU inside the case and no one will be able to see it my old GPU is out of date the reason i want to upgrade and that's the story of my life.
 
  • Like
Reactions: randyh121

HardcoreGamer27

Distinguished
Apr 23, 2016
70
7
18,535
I don't know what i am doing with my life at this point i am still gaming althoug i should not i made a promise someone please shoot me and be precise.I know that this is not a therapy session but still i had to say this somewhere
 
  • Like
Reactions: randyh121
Status
Not open for further replies.