why NOT to buy gpu used for mining?

[iLostMyXbox21]

i always see people say “don’t get if it was used for mining” or “ask if it was mined with” but why? does it like, make the car weaker or something?

[lmeneses]

It reduces the lifetime of the card 

[LukeSavenije]

becouse it has been used 100% use 100% of the time it just has a shorter lifetime

[Smeltie]

when mining a gpu gets put at 100% load and 100% fan speed.
as long as they are mining they run very hot.
gpu fans aren't built to spin at 100% for long.
so the lifetime of the gpu will be significantly reduced.
i have seen cards used for mining die within 2 weeks after purchase.

[emosun]

just yesterday i got done telling someone that their card was toast after they had bought it from a mining situation.

card's gpus don't have to overheat to burn out a card

every other component on the card can get hot and will not have any form of temperature sensor on it , so the damage can manifest in every component on the pcb

[emosun]

1 minute ago, Martijn Klerks said:

gpu fans aren't built to spin at 100% for long

actually they are , electrical fans , much like lightbulbs , are designed to run at 100% speed indefinitely. it affects the life of the fan zero.

the only way to shorten the life of an electric fan specifically is to run it out of spec (higher voltages) or run them at a speed which is so slow that dust accumulates rather than passes through the fan.

[AskTJ]

Most mining cards are treated very well as they are kept at a stable load, unlike gaming which gives you fluctuating loads.

 

They are also undervolted and kept under safe temperatures so they are more efficient.

 

Remember, efficiency is key when mining. So saving every watt of electricity is important.

 

(Unless they are using free electricity. Lucky bastards)

[Radium_Angel]

Just now, AskTJ said:

Most mining cards are treated very well as they are kept at a stable load, unlike gaming which gives you fluctuating loads.

 

They are also undervolted and kept under safe temperatures so they are more efficient.

This assumes the guy mining with them knows what he is doing....which can be an expensive assumption to make.

[iLostMyXbox21]

ah i see

[suchamoneypit]

I wrote two posts here that will be a good read to give you more insight on your question: 

 

@emosun read those

[suchamoneypit]

8 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

This assumes the guy mining with them knows what he is doing....which can be an expensive assumption to make.

Usually the knowledge required to set up a decent sized GPU mining rig would weed the idiots.

[emosun]

2 minutes ago, suchamoneypit said:

@emosun read those

I bought one and it was junk

I sit here every day answering help requests for people trying to get their burned out mining cards to just work for a few minutes

your luck story , interests me zero

yours works? good for you , watch me care

[suchamoneypit]

16 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

becouse it has been used 100% use 100% of the time it just has a shorter lifetime

 

14 minutes ago, Martijn Klerks said:

when mining a gpu gets put at 100% load and 100% fan speed.
as long as they are mining they run very hot.
gpu fans aren't built to spin at 100% for long.
so the lifetime of the gpu will be significantly reduced.
i have seen cards used for mining die within 2 weeks after purchase.

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/945128-buying-a-4-months-mined-gpu-for-gaming/?tab=comments#comment-11511026

[suchamoneypit]

On 10/3/2018 at 7:57 AM, emosun said:

I bought one and it was junk

I sit here every day answering help requests for people trying to get their burned out mining cards to just work for a few minutes

your luck story , interests me zero

yours works? good for you , watch me care

You seem to have not read my posts before replying immaturely. If you read it, you'll see I did not purchase one GPU. I purchased like 8-10 of them, and they were ALL fine. Even with overclocking every single one of them afterwards. You have 4,400 posts here. I'm contributing to the discussion with facts and first hand experience, and your response is that? Be a positive member of the community.

Edited October 12, 2018 by SansVarnic

[BuckGup]

As long as it was kept at decent temps and the VRMs at adequate cooling the most you would sacrifice is maximum OCing but Pascal sorta ruined that anyways

[emosun]

9 minutes ago, suchamoneypit said:

You seem to have not read my posts

is there a reason why YOUR cards have something to do with this random person buying a random card from an unknown miner?

oh i'm sorry, maybe i didn't read the ethical code of the noble miner

who's goal is to ensure only the most ethical practices in gpu care and conservation and of course donating to the local animal shelters

perhaps I've misjudged these men of pure honer for a bunch of ego stroking dead currency collectors , how silly of me

[suchamoneypit]

On 10/3/2018 at 8:09 AM, emosun said:

is there a reason why YOUR cards have something to do with this random person buying a random card from an unknown miner?

oh i'm sorry, maybe i didn't read the ethical code of the noble miner

who's goal is to ensure only the most ethical practices in gpu care and conservation and of course donating to the local animal shelters

perhaps I've misjudged these men of pure honer for a bunch of ego stroking dead currency collectors , how silly of me

Sounds like you still didn't read my posts I linked where I went over cases of something like buying a random card blindly. You've instead chosen to be even more toxic and contribute nothing to the conversation and without even reading what I had to say.

 

We're all here to help each other out and learn. Why do you have to be so rude and mean?

Edited October 12, 2018 by SansVarnic

[TheRandomness]

42 minutes ago, lmeneses said:

It reduces the lifetime of the card 

41 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

becouse it has been used 100% use 100% of the time it just has a shorter lifetime

40 minutes ago, Martijn Klerks said:

when mining a gpu gets put at 100% load and 100% fan speed.
as long as they are mining they run very hot.
gpu fans aren't built to spin at 100% for long.
so the lifetime of the gpu will be significantly reduced.
i have seen cards used for mining die within 2 weeks after purchase.

Sorry but uh, that's wrong.

 

Mining is actually safer for a card than gaming. Why? The constant load doesn't induce temperature fluctuations in the card, therefore the solder joints are less stressed over time from potential contractions and expansions, and therefore are less likely to break. Also, what a miner should be doing is trying to keep the card as cool as possible, allowing for longer lifespan overall, higher clocks, and faster mining speed. In addition to that, they'll try to undervolt the GPU as much as physically possible, further helping to increase the lifespan of the card.

 

Overall, mining cards tend to live longer than cards used for gaming because of the care miners put into the cards.

[DVA]

1 minute ago, TheRandomness said:

Sorry but uh, that's wrong.

 

Mining is actually safer for a card than gaming. Why? The constant load doesn't induce temperature fluctuations in the card, therefore the solder joints are less stressed over time from potential contractions and expansions, and therefore are less likely to break. Also, what a miner should be doing is trying to keep the card as cool as possible, allowing for longer lifespan overall, higher clocks, and faster mining speed. In addition to that, they'll try to undervolt the GPU as much as physically possible, further helping to increase the lifespan of the card.

 

Overall, mining cards tend to live longer than cards used for gaming because of the care miners put into the cards.

Well shoot you made me feel more comfortable about my purchase lol. 

I bought a 1080ti SC2 for $500 usd - (currently on Amazon for 1 grand)

 

I asked him to be honest if it was used for mining and he said yes. He said he kept it as a constant temp of 67-70c which seemed pretty cool to me. He sent me the card with all original packaging, pin cables in their bags, card in its anti-static bag, the CD, the stickers, everything! 

 

I know he could have lied but he seemed like a decent guy and I hope he kept the standard you are saying, cool temps, low voltage, etc etc.

[Smeltie]

3 minutes ago, TheRandomness said:

Sorry but uh, that's wrong.

 

Mining is actually safer for a card than gaming. Why? The constant load doesn't induce temperature fluctuations in the card, therefore the solder joints are less stressed over time from potential contractions and expansions, and therefore are less likely to break. Also, what a miner should be doing is trying to keep the card as cool as possible, allowing for longer lifespan overall, higher clocks, and faster mining speed. In addition to that, they'll try to undervolt the GPU as much as physically possible, further helping to increase the lifespan of the card.

 

Overall, mining cards tend to live longer than cards used for gaming because of the care miners put into the cards.

might be but all miner cards i have ever had have died within a few months of light use, so idk could be bad luck

[TheRandomness]

1 minute ago, Martijn Klerks said:

might be but all miner cards i have ever had have died within a few months of light use, so idk could be bad luck

Either bad luck or the BIOSes the previous miner uses. Usually (depends on the currency they were mining) the miner will flash a BIOS that will tighten memory timings significantly, leading to what looks like 'death' after a while, but what could just require a BIOS flash.

1 minute ago, DVA said:

Well shoot you made me feel more comfortable about my purchase lol. 

I bought a 1080ti SC2 for $500 usd - (currently on Amazon for 1 grand)

 

I asked him to be honest if it was used for mining and he said yes. He said he kept it as a constant temp of 67-70c which seemed pretty cool to me. He sent me the card with all original packaging, pin cables in their bags, card in its anti-static bag, the CD, the stickers, everything! 

 

I know he could have lied but he seemed like a decent guy and I hope he kept the standard you are saying, cool temps, low voltage, etc etc.

In theory the card will be fine for a long time. Honestly, I don't get why people go OMG MINING BAD AAAAAAAAAAA considering miners do realise that a graphics card will die faster (a few months faster) if run at 100% at 95C with no airflow at high voltages for its whole life.

[emosun]

6 minutes ago, TheRandomness said:

what a miner should be doing is trying to keep the card as cool as possible

the irony is so strong i can't even

[Smeltie]

1 minute ago, TheRandomness said:

Either bad luck or the BIOSes the previous miner uses. Usually (depends on the currency they were mining) the miner will flash a BIOS that will tighten memory timings significantly, leading to what looks like 'death' after a while, but what could just require a BIOS flash.

In theory the card will be fine for a long time. Honestly, I don't get why people go OMG MINING BAD AAAAAAAAAAA considering miners do realise that a graphics card will die faster (a few months faster) if run at 100% at 95C with no airflow at high voltages for its whole life.

well with dead i mean litterally dead, not even a signal, not recognized in bios or windows... even dual bios cards with the switch thingy

[Mick Naughty]

Nothing wrong with getting one. Use is use. If it failed it was going to anyway. 

 

If the miner actually cared and knows what they are doing, the card will last. Unless it’s one that’s crap, like a card with the horrid msi or Zotac coolers. 

 

I still have refebed cards that were mined with for over a year. Still used them today, overvolted, overpowered and over clocked. Won’t have any issues. Still has less use that my titans that have been treated the same way for way longer. 

 

If people are paranoid about buying a used card, quite being a broke pleb. 

[iLostMyXbox21]

10 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

if people are paranoid about buying a used card, quite being a broke pleb. 

lol