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When the Gpu's prices will go down ?

Associate
Joined
29 Jun 2016
Posts
528
Buying a mining GPU is an interesting one. There are several conflicting aspects to the aging of a GPU:
  1. The time in use ages electrolytic capacitors, roughly halving the lifespan for every 5C:
    1. Even the worst hybrids caps are generally rated to 10k hours @ 105C
    2. Polymer caps (SP-CAP) are generally rated to 2k hours @ 105C unless you got for high-spec types, which is doubful
  2. The time in use ages silicon, where I don't know the lifespan impact vs. temperature for the Samsung 8Nm node, but temperature has a large impact that interacts with voltage.
  3. The number of power cycles has an effect on lifespan
  4. The number of thermal cycles has an effect on lifespan
  5. Time in use ages moving mechanical components, fans - big surprise right
In my professional (anecdotal & data driven) experience, power cycles and thermal cycles are the real killers, particularly if decent operating temperatures are maintained. A decent mining setup will run the cards are minimal power & temperatures to acheive greatest profit.

So IMHO, a mining card is likely a good buy IF the miner had half a brain and was running the card at low power limits. Likely less degredation than a intermittently used card by a gamer, EXCEPT for mechanical parts, but those are trivial to replace.

I'll probably grab an ex 3090 close to release of the 40 series. *shrug* It's definitely a gamble though.
 
Soldato
Joined
15 Oct 2019
Posts
11,656
Location
Uk
Buying a mining GPU is an interesting one. There are several conflicting aspects to the aging of a GPU:
  1. The time in use ages electrolytic capacitors, roughly halving the lifespan for every 5C:
    1. Even the worst hybrids caps are generally rated to 10k hours @ 105C
    2. Polymer caps (SP-CAP) are generally rated to 2k hours @ 105C unless you got for high-spec types, which is doubful
  2. The time in use ages silicon, where I don't know the lifespan impact vs. temperature, but temperature has an impact.
  3. The number of power cycles has an effect on lifespan
  4. The number of thermal cycles has an effect on lifespan
  5. Time in use ages moving mechanical components, fans - big surprise right
In my professional (anecdotal & data driven) experience, power cycles and thermal cycles are the real killers, particularly if decent operating temperatures are maintained. A decent mining setup will run the cards are minimal power & temperatures to acheive greatest profit.

So IMHO, a mining card is likely a good buy IF the miner had half a brain and was running the card at low power limits. Likely less degredation than a intermittently used card by a gamer, EXCEPT for mechanical parts, but those are trivial to replace.

I'll probably grab an ex 3090 close to release of the 40 series. *shrug* It's definitely a gamble though.
The cards were designed to pull most the power through the core and not the VRAM though, my old 3080 Ventus when mining would pull 160w+ for the memory and this was going through just 4 of the phases
 
Caporegime
Joined
22 Nov 2005
Posts
45,167
I've got a 980ti thats got over 4 years of usage actual usage because thats the amount of hours my monitor has been powered on for according to it's service menu.
I doubt a second hand card is going to just die because it did a bit of mining.


I've done atleast 2 years worth of actual gaming hours on my card, probably closer to 3 which is probably as intense as someones mining.

I'd be more worried about the ram on the card than the capacitors or the core.
doesnt mining hammer the memory?
 
Associate
Joined
21 Apr 2007
Posts
2,483
GDDR6X memory has reportedly a tight temp threshold, not an issue if looked after but left to toast its going to suffer long term.

tbh I'd consider a mining GPU (not that I need one) only if it has some warranty, even if its 6months. There is no way I'd cough up £700+ to an eBay seller without some come back, there is risk and there is blind faith and I'm not a religious person by nature.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
5 Dec 2003
Posts
20,997
Location
Just to the left of my PC
I wouldn't mind buying a mining GPU if they were honest and admitted it because then I'd believe them if they said it's been very well looked after and kept at 60°C.

However, if an advert is dishonest and says it's only been used for gaming then what else are they lying about? I'd never buy from someone who wasn't honest about it.

How can you tell the difference between a dishonest claim that it's only been used for gaming and an honest claim that it's only been used for gaming? The only way I can think of is to trawl through any publically available "social" media the seller has to see if they've made any mention of mining, but even that's not 100% certain.

I wouldn't mind buying a 2nd hand graphics card now if it was much cheaper than a new one and probably one from these forums (on the basis that most people on these forums would probably at least know how to get the best longevity out of a graphics card). But I'd be aware that it was a significantly higher risk than the normal risk of buying a 2nd hand graphics card, which is why I'd only do it if the card was much cheaper than a new one.

Not that I'd buy one at this time anyway. A couple of months before the release of two(*) new generations of cards isn't a good time to be buying a card IMO. Right afterwards, maybe. Especially from these forums because there will be some people here with acute upgraditis buying the new generation and selling their quite lightly used cards as a result.




* Regretfully, I'm not counting Intel Arc. It's shaping up to be too late and not good enough.
 
Associate
Joined
22 Mar 2015
Posts
413
Location
Kent, UK; Brooklyn, NYC, NY
There are plenty of sealed boxed gpu on the Bay, I got a sealed evga 3090 ti one month old.
And there are also plenty of services that reseal boxes to make them look new.

I'd reiterate what I've stated before: use your common sense and, if you can't lose the money on a used card, don't buy one. Also, a few simple questions to the seller can be immediately illuminating as to of they are being honest.

As for the risk, it's low, if you get a working card. I've had ~3\150 card fail over the years, and two of those had issues that were immediately apparent i.e. within return period. My mate still has a 6800 (unmasked to a 6800 GT) from 2004 working in a machine I sold him :)
 
Soldato
Joined
21 Oct 2002
Posts
7,424
Location
Bexhill on sea
I posted in a thread a while back, (could even be this one) with a pic of what happens to a mining card when a fan failure goes undetected and its not very pretty, severe scarring and damage to the gpu chip surface, bone dry thermal paste and flaky, almost paper like thermal pads, a dreadful state for a card to be in. Even after I repasted and replaced all the thermal pads, the temps went awol to about 95c straight away, and the card throttled so bad it was running terribly.......but externally it was prestine. Anyone buying a mining card should be very wary at all times irrespective of what the seller says, and above all, its a gamble, not a big one as theres probably "honest" people out there flogging mining cards, but a buyer might just get a dishonest one, or an ignorant one that didn't set the card/s up properly (undervolt, good cooling, etc) you never know.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Dec 2010
Posts
12,019
I posted in a thread a while back, (could even be this one) with a pic of what happens to a mining card when a fan failure goes undetected and its not very pretty, severe scarring and damage to the gpu chip surface, bone dry thermal paste and flaky, almost paper like thermal pads, a dreadful state for a card to be in. Even after I repasted and replaced all the thermal pads, the temps went awol to about 95c straight away, and the card throttled so bad it was running terribly.......but externally it was prestine. Anyone buying a mining card should be very wary at all times irrespective of what the seller says, and above all, its a gamble, not a big one as theres probably "honest" people out there flogging mining cards, but a buyer might just get a dishonest one, or an ignorant one that didn't set the card/s up properly (undervolt, good cooling, etc) you never know.

The same could be said for any second hand GPU you buy. You just don't know what the previous owner has done with it. Doesn't matter if it's a mining or gaming GPU. You are taking a risk either way.
 
Associate
Joined
19 Jan 2003
Posts
2,495
Location
west sussex
Like anything, if you buy 2nd hand it comes with a risk, but even Ebay offers a return basis if your not happy, Avoid purchases sold as parts only due to scammers ect. if the seller is confident with what they are selling no need to sell under parts or not working label. when you get your new purchase check for condition and see if any security labels or seals have been broken.
then run it hard and see if it passes all the tests for 24hrs straight. If it does and doesn't crash of display artifacts then you have most likely grabbed your self a saving. and savings or higher upgrade path is really what the 2nd hand market is all about.

Like all things 2nd hand there is always risk, but some people do genuinely look after there hardware so not all 2nd hand sales are fraudulent intent. Some bargins to be had if your careful.
 
Associate
Joined
20 May 2022
Posts
31
Location
UK
There's a single ex-miner on ebay currently selling (some sold with feedback trickling in and I'm pretty some have been sold outside of ebay as the numbers have reduced since I last looked):

50 x MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X
38 x RTX 3080 Founders Edition
21 x MSI RTX 3080 Suprim X
17 x MSI RTX 3080 Ti Gaming X Trio
16 x EVGA R3080 FTW3 LHR
15 x RTX 3090 Founders Edition
12 x MSI RTX 3080 Gaming Z
10 x Gigabyte RTX 3080 Ti Gaming OC
8 x MSI RTX 3080 Suprim X LHR
6 x Inno3d RTX 3080 Ti
5 x MSI RTX 3080 Ti Ventus 3X OC
3 x Gigabyte RTX 3080 Gaming OC
3 x Gigabyte RTX 3080 Master Aorus
1 x EVGA RTX 3080 XC3 ULTRA LHR

On top of this they are selling 15 x complete mining rigs containing 6 x 3080 cards each.

I would never buy a GPU from someone like this. The amount of cards being sold is a red flag.

I'd only buy a used GPU, if they have one card listed.
I suspect a more sinister story about how these GPUs were bought up. Maybe they bought the stock internally? Before they were even open to the public.
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Aug 2009
Posts
10,712
Here it is. This is the real state of play today.

We have been hearing this flood nonsense since before xmas, now we have nudged along week by week the real driver of the markets has been insane electric prices stepping up and the stock markets doing the exact opposite. Yet we still are not drowning in all these surplus graphics cards as it was a bandwagon parroted by people who build computers and play video games! They have no clue about what crypto is and now we have cards in stock everywhere - nobody wants to buy them!

What has turned from a component shortage and expensive parts, is now the same product in abundance. The brands were playing you all and the retailers/partners milking it for what they could.

What is this logic.

Electricity prices go up, stock is no longer short and you skip over two things:

1) the companies have been looking to get more cards to cash in, even buying more future capacity at TSMC than seems wise today.
2) miners drastically lose profit through increased costs therefore they all ceased buying cards

Oh now there's stock is there? Must have been a scam and Nvidia isn't frantically trying to get rid of its booked capacity at TSMC.

You can buy enourmous quantities of mining gpus from miners packing it in. They are not rock bottom prices because they are selling just by being cheaper than new.
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Aug 2010
Posts
3,026
I would never buy a GPU from someone like this. The amount of cards being sold is a red flag.

I'd only buy a used GPU, if they have one card listed.
I suspect a more sinister story about how these GPUs were bought up. Maybe they bought the stock internally? Before they were even open to the public.
From the evidence I've seen miners that ended up with so many cards would just buy anything listed as long as they had the funds.

I mean we could see it happening live GPUs selling at insane prices on auction sites. It was miners like him that were buying them.
 
Soldato
Joined
8 Nov 2006
Posts
22,966
Location
London
I would never buy a GPU from someone like this. The amount of cards being sold is a red flag.

I'd only buy a used GPU, if they have one card listed.
I suspect a more sinister story about how these GPUs were bought up. Maybe they bought the stock internally? Before they were even open to the public.

Well they are selling. Even upped the prices on some cards which are nearly sold out.

The cards are way below current retail pricing, especially 3090 cards.
 
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