What makes a b grade gpu b grade ?

PersonWasHere · 26 Jan 2023 at 19:56

Is it just lower quality silicon so it wouldn't be good for overclocking? or is it something different.
Also if it is just a lower quality silicon does it reduce the life expectancy or ?

SkodaMart · 26 Jan 2023 at 20:03

No original box or packaging, accessories missing, marks possibly even a bit of physical damage.
Should work as well as a new one though.
Things like this usually come with a short warranty. In my experience if something works for 3 months it will usually last 3 years+ with electronic equipment.
If it’s faulty it’s usually immediately obvious from day one.

My 10 year old motherboard was OCUK B grade and it’s still going strong.

PersonWasHere · 26 Jan 2023 at 20:07

SkodaMart said:
No original box or packaging, accessories missing, marks possibly even a bit of physical damage.
Should work as well as a new one though.
Things like this usually come with a short warranty. In my experience if something works for 3 months it will usually last 3 years+ with electronic equipment.
If it’s faulty it’s usually immediately obvious from day one.

Ok thanks I was just looking at the 7900xtx series is all and was wondering since they are new and all

Tetras · 26 Jan 2023 at 20:13

PersonWasHere said:
Ok thanks I was just looking at the 7900xtx series is all and was wondering since they are new and all

I would assume you are buying used or open box. You might get something that has been opened with no noticeable use at all, it could be just a slightly damaged box, or you could find it has been repackaged and comes with nothing whatsoever. The manufacturer warranty may or may not be applicable. I wouldn't touch a b-grade reference 7900 xtx with a ten foot bargepole (link), but then, I wouldn't be buying anything for £1000 without a VERY solid long-term warranty.

throwaway4372 · 26 Jan 2023 at 20:16

I'd assume it's the working gpus with annoying coil whine, but that's just a guess, it would put me off getting one tho.

Grimley Fiendish · 26 Jan 2023 at 23:12

Could just be returns where people have changed their minds after buying. I always check b-grade first when I'm upgrading, current setup Lian li case, gigabyte 690 mobo and ram all b-grade, all boxed with nothing missing.

tamzzy · 27 Jan 2023 at 10:56

Except for my mobo and PSU - both bought on very good (misprice) deals, every other part of my current setup has been bought b-grade or used lol
5800x3d, ram, 3080, 2x nvme SSD, cooler, case, monitors X 3, and kB/mouse :cry:

Minibiker · 27 Jan 2023 at 11:25

I've bought plenty from the B Grade section on OCUK... never had any issues at all, just from time to time you don't get original boxes BUT you do get Haribo

Blackjack Davy · 27 Jan 2023 at 12:42

Might have been returned for coil whine overheating etc you simply don't know. Its a lottery had a gfx card that died and was just within the 3 month warranty which frankly isn't a lot had to RMA it with gigabyte which was a nightmare. Later bought an Arctic cpu cooler which was open box but had all the gubbins missing i.e. no screws fixings backplate or anything else. It was otherwise new though (I had an old 240 arctic lying around so pulled the bits off that or would have had to source from the manufacturer otherwise). So yeah a bit of a lottery.