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Are used graphics cards risky?
- Thread starter Ady2009
- Start date
I've bought plenty of used cards over the years, and the only ones I've ever had an issue with arrived with said issue (like an R9 280X that artifacted). I've never had a used card fail later under my care. Obviously that doesn't mean it can't happen, but it's not something I'm remotely concerned about. I have cards from the 90s that still work just fine, along with a bunch more from across the 2000s.
Comparing a 7 year old 2nd/3rd hand card to a new one released last week and complaining about the cost difference
I’ve had plenty of used cards cards over the years and never had any issues, most GPU failures will be from new and either arrive DOA or fail in the first month or two, cards that have been running fine for a few years normally just keep on going.
For your use case OP I’d be looking at a used GTX 1070/ti. For new then a RX6600, Nvidia cards are not worth buying new anymore especially at the low end.
For your use case OP I’d be looking at a used GTX 1070/ti. For new then a RX6600, Nvidia cards are not worth buying new anymore especially at the low end.
Don
- Joined
- 20 Oct 2002
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- 34,693
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- Oxfordshire / Bucks
I bought a 3090 FE a couple of months ago second hand
It's been faultless so far, and I think it will last a long time
Yes there's risk, with everything you buy
It's been faultless so far, and I think it will last a long time
Yes there's risk, with everything you buy
Associate
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- 18 Oct 2002
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- Eltham
Well I think you were the one making a comparison when you brought up a 4060ti in a thread the op has said they're considering a 1060 but OK sure the 40xx is more efficient than 30xx.Comparing a 7 year old 2nd/3rd hand card to a new one released last week and complaining about the cost difference
Is it really that relevant to someone considering a cheap used card for a cheap used system though?
ahhh c'mon, for a cheap card there's no big issue. Hell, for a more expensive one it's not even that bad if it has warranty. if it arrives in a good state it's likely to stay that way. I've never had a graphics card fail and I've not bought new since the Voodoo5 5500 in 2000!
I know it isn't a popular website, but what I usually do is google: userbenchmark <motherboard model> and if you scroll down on the page, it has profiles of everyone who run the benchmarks, which includes the graphics card, the manufacturer and the motherboard BIOS version.
Soldato
- Joined
- 31 Jan 2022
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- UK
I don't know.
I think with graphics cards you should look for reasons why they are selling and the original invoice. At least that way you can be reasonably assured they aren't selling because it's collapsing, and they not only can prove the age, but people who keep invoices probably care more than those who don't. It also means it's second hand rather than fourth or fifth hand, or you can check it wasn't sold to a company.
As for how long they last, really there is no way to tell. One that has been hammered for three years may last longer than one that's almost new.
I think with graphics cards you should look for reasons why they are selling and the original invoice. At least that way you can be reasonably assured they aren't selling because it's collapsing, and they not only can prove the age, but people who keep invoices probably care more than those who don't. It also means it's second hand rather than fourth or fifth hand, or you can check it wasn't sold to a company.
As for how long they last, really there is no way to tell. One that has been hammered for three years may last longer than one that's almost new.
I have graphics cards that work from back in the late 80's and 90's.. Also all the ones I have ever purchased 2nd hand or new myself still work as they did day one. It all comes down to storing them correctly and keeping them clean and no excessive overclocking or things like mining that can damage them under some conditions.
I think a lot of myths flying around about gpus dying quickly... Also only thing that may go bad in time on a GPU or any other electronics hardware is the capacitors can dry out or leak and that is more to do with poor storage or poor components used at the time or just good old old age.. But again can be fixed easily by recapping the card if needed and this will not need doing in 3 years for sure as I have cards all way back to late 80's with no capacitor issues to this day.
I think a lot of myths flying around about gpus dying quickly... Also only thing that may go bad in time on a GPU or any other electronics hardware is the capacitors can dry out or leak and that is more to do with poor storage or poor components used at the time or just good old old age.. But again can be fixed easily by recapping the card if needed and this will not need doing in 3 years for sure as I have cards all way back to late 80's with no capacitor issues to this day.
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When did this become a thing? I'm running a 3060 Ti on a PCIe 2.0 Asus P6T Deluxe motherboard (circa 2008) and it works flawlessly. So long as your motherboard supports 64-bit CPUs and Windows 10+ it should run even the latest GPUs*.
*Intel's ARC excepted because of their reliance on Rebar.
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Don
- Joined
- 20 Oct 2002
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- 34,693
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- Oxfordshire / Bucks
what motherboard have you got ?
have you checked to see the latest bios for it ? and checked for "compatibility" ?
have you checked to see the latest bios for it ? and checked for "compatibility" ?
That will be down to motherboard BIOS not having the right updates on it for UEFI BIOS or the GPU VBIOS not having a legacy feature in the VBIOS for motherboards that don't support UEFI correctly or even not having the ability to recognise the new hardware is a graphics card as the hardware ID is not in the motherboards BIOS too.
Sometimes GPU makers have a legacy VBIOS for such motherboards that have no BIOS update to recognise the new GPU. You have to normally email them for it or contact their support and in some cases contacting the motherboard maker may also make them release a Beta BIOS to support new hardware.
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That sounds more like user error than GPU incompatibility to me. In all my years of building/upgrading PCs using both AMD and Nvidia cards I've never encountered this.
And so far as the OP's PC goes, that's a CPU that debuted in 2012 with support ending in 2019 - with a PCIe 3.0 mb - I'd be amazed if it was unable to run a modern GPU (other than Intel's ARC).
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Trouble is on this forum you have to believe what they tell you
Well I'm not saying that incompatibilities can't happen (you've only got to look at Asus' recent shenanigans with AM5 to know that software/hardware screwups happen all the time) but given that PCIe is a backwards-compatible standard, it should be extremely unlikely. Guess I've just been lucky...Trouble is on this forum you have to believe what they tell you