With graphics cards prices going off the charts buying used graphics cards might seem like the way to go but you need to be very cautious when buying used graphics cards as you have no idea how much or to what extent the graphics cards have been used. Buying online can be very tricky as you do not know who the seller is and what kind of applications he has been running on the graphics card.
Safe To Buy Used Graphics Cards That Have Been Mining 24/7?
Miners usually have graphics cards working around the clock and mining puts a lot of load on a graphics card, so you can imagine that the card will wear out over time. Unlike gaming when the card is not being used until you launch a game. Your PC might not even be on most of the day. Hence when you are using graphics cards for gaming, the graphics cards do not degrade as quickly and can be used for a longer time.
A miner looking to exit the mining world would sell graphics cards for cheap and that would seem like a great deal but you should be very cautious when dealing with graphics cards that have been used for mining. When buying a used graphics cards there is often a warranty from the seller and a duration in which you can return the card if it does not meet the mentioned standards, or there is something wrong with it.
A great way to check how well the graphics card is performing is to run benchmarks. You can loop a benchmark and compare the numbers to other sources of benchmarks for the same graphics card. Here you will be able to tell the difference. A pro tip is to test a couple of titles. A graphics card could be stable in 5 games and perform poorly in the 6th. This will give away any issues that the used graphics card might have.
If buying a used graphics card is too much of a risk and you want to buy new graphics cards on a budget then be sure to check out our list of graphics cards that you can buy. It seems that the price increase is not only due to miners. According to Nvidia:
All new cell phones coming out by Apple and Samsung (and others) last year started using the same memory as graphics cards. Apple and Samsung are willing to pay more for this memory to make sure they get it first and all of it that they need. This has created a shortage of memory for the much smaller companies like MSI, Gigabyte, Asus, and EVGA to make graphics cards
Let us know how you have been affected by the price inflation and whether or not you are interested in buying a used graphics card in order to save some money.
