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GPU Miners : The cost of honesty

Associate
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11 Jun 2021
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How much of a reduction in price - per year lets say - would you expect from a second hand GPU that had been used for mining as oppose to gaming ? There are obviously nuances of what had been mined and who had been mining it / who was gaming with it. But generally, how much of a diffence .. if any ?

I've never been down the rabbit hole of mining and always bought cards retail but will likely buy be buying second hand during the hopefully oncoming flood, whether it be when etherium finally goes POS or when the next gen is released (if prices continue to inflate).

Is the voiding of warranty on a GPU because it's been mined on utter ******** ?
 
Caporegime
Joined
20 May 2007
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Surrey
Difficult to know whether mining is any worse on a GPU than constant gaming.

When you mine you generally run the GPU at about 60% power state (or even less) and at a low temperature with very little cold/warm cycles. Arguably a gpu that has only been mined on likely hasnt had as much wear as one that has been used by a keen gamer. The only thing might be the fans though, which will have been running for a very long time. Also, i believe the memory on 3080's can be prone to overheating when mining so that might be something to be aware of.

Also, i don't believe there is anyway for a manufacturer to tell if a GPU has been mined on (to void the warranty)
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Aug 2003
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Woburn Sand Dunes
Yeah it's really about what it's been doing and how much of it's life it's spent doing that. Then you have to consider generally lower stress on the gpu and board components at load when mining, but almost certainly a longer time spent mining vs a gpu used for gaming.

....in short, dunno. But a well used card is a well used card and before the great silicon shortage i'd have expected a well used card to be heavily discounted vs new but now it's 100% a seller's market.
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Dec 2010
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8,221
Location
Leeds
Difficult to know whether mining is any worse on a GPU than constant gaming.

When you mine you generally run the GPU at about 60% power state (or even less) and at a low temperature with very little cold/warm cycles. Arguably a gpu that has only been mined on likely hasnt had as much wear as one that has been used by a keen gamer. The only thing might be the fans though, which will have been running for a very long time. Also, i believe the memory on 3080's can be prone to overheating when mining so that might be something to be aware of.

Also, i don't believe there is anyway for a manufacturer to tell if a GPU has been mined on (to void the warranty)

Mining wears out the VRAM not the gpu. This is why GPU makers state in their warranty if you mine on it the warranty is void, but again they can't prove you mined on the card unless you tell them.

I personally wouldn't touch a mined on card no matter what anyone is telling me about the conditions it was kept in. Also this generations cards are expensive and I wouldn't want to end up with an expensive paper weight that the miner for sure will not be helping with warranty after if there is even a warranty still on the card as most miners are stripping the cards down and adding new thermal pads to reduce VRAM temps and new thermal paste, meaning they have broken the warranty void stickers on most cards. The FE cards don't have the stickers but we have seen the people modding their 3090s and 3080s with new thermal pads.

This is my opinion and my cards are used for work and the odd game. So it is important for me the GPUs are reliable and not been hammered 24/7 and causing the VRAM to degrade.. Why do you think so many miners want to lower the temps on their VRAM so much even when they were told 105c is fine under normal use, because mining is not normal use on the VRAM and the none stop read and writes does wear it out. Anyways there will be many here now screaming I know nothing and Linus proved an old card mined on and a new one was fine. ... A card with very different VRAM and a card that ran at very slow transfer/write rates. Also Linus is a miner and uses the systems he has in the office and mines on them when idle.

Check his new video where Antony is fixing his pc while he goes off on holiday. The system was mining and even Antony states that in video below and other videos I have seen him Linus state the editing rigs when idle are mining, so a miner is not going to say hey yes mining wears out cards, also he gets most of his cards for free as we know, so why would he care. Miners here in the forums are going to now come hammer this thread with why I'm wrong.. But not gonna reply past this post as this is the graphics section. To answer how much price reduction per year on a used mined card well ... how long is a piece of string ? To me a mined on card is worthless and would never buy one, unless they prove never opened up and comes with warranty remaining that I am happy with, if not ZERO is its value to me... Reality is the miners will try get back what they paid for them or what the market value is at the time, so if cards went up in price they will ask for more than what they paid for them..ROI..

 
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Associate
Joined
24 Sep 2008
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642
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London / Belfast
As long as mining is profitable on GPUs, do not expect any price reduction on them.

In fact , GPUs that are 5+ years old are still selling for more than their original msrp.

As for wear and tear, most serious miners tend to maintain their GPUs properly as it is a revenue generating asset at the end of day.

As far as I know, mining doesn't void their warranty. It would be quite difficult to prove that a GPU has been mined on (unless it was bios modded when it failed).
 
Soldato
Joined
26 May 2014
Posts
2,944
I wouldn't pay much for a GPU from a mining rig, but if they come down to the sort of level they were after the last bubble burst, it would be silly not to indulge. You could pick up RX 570s for around £50 in early 2020. There was a seller on Ebay unloading thousands of "refurbished" Sapphire Polaris cards (both the 400 and 500 series) that had obviously come from mining setups. I bought several and had mixed results. A couple worked fine. One was dead on arrival. Another died in short order. I ended up using one of the RX 570s I bought for around six months and had no problems with it before selling it on (right before the value of them skyrocketed).
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Nov 2018
Posts
2,710
I would be hesitant about buying a used graphics card from a seller who gave me his "word" that it's never been used for mining. It would be a gamble that they're telling the truth.

I'd rather buy from a miner who admits to it because they're being truthful and honest about it. I'd have more confidence in what they say about the card.
 
Soldato
Joined
31 Dec 2007
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13,616
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The TARDIS, Wakefield, UK
I bought 2 x 290x Blower type cards that had been used for mining, one the cooler was completely knackered and thick with black gunge, the other the cooler worked (albeit covered in black gunge again) but I removed it and replaced the cooler. Both cards worked fine one I sold on the other I kept for about a six months then sold on. Both worked fine. What would concern me more is mining rigs in all the pictures you see are open to the "elements" so the cooler and exterior of the card is open to all sorts of dust and particles. In this case it was some strange black gunge that looked like oil or tar and there was a lot of it. Thing is in the current climate when new stock is scarce and mining certain types suddenly became non-profitable even if there were "a flood of 2nd hand cards" they would either be priced really stupidly or would be bought up really quickly if they were priced sensibly as there is still a lot of people looking for a GPU.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Aug 2019
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SW Florida
Just a gut feeling, but I think there are enough GPU's in mining rigs to satisfy gamer demand and then some. (-If they were to all hit the used market at once.)

Demand is showing its limits with the most overpriced cards sitting on shelves now and the ethereum network hashpower is insane. (So a LOT of GPU's on the network)
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Elsewhere
I just sold a 3070 and the buyer didn’t even ask if it’d been mined on (it had, for around 13 months). However, in this case I said I was happy to help out with any warranty claims as it still has 23 months warranty remaining.
 
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
29,679
I just sold a 3070 and the buyer didn’t even ask if it’d been mined on (it had, for around 13 months). However, in this case I said I was happy to help out with any warranty claims as it still has 23 months warranty remaining.

Exactly. I personally wouldn't be bothered if it had been mined on if it was in full working order, the fact that you're willing to help with any future issues would be more valuable to me.

I would however sell it after 22 months ;) :D
 
Associate
Joined
4 Nov 2015
Posts
250
Buying a GPU that's been mined on is a bit like dating a girl who's ex was well hung. The problem is mostly in your head.

Just try not to think about it too much and you can still enjoy it.
There are few perfectly worded posts on this forum and I consider this one of them.

The real danger of buying an ex-mining card is no warranty. It doesn't matter how the card dies if you have no claim, it'll cost you the same to replace it. Basically, in this climate, buy new and get on with your gaming.
 
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