Buying 2nd Hand GPU

[DilonCSK]

I've been looking at 2nd hand GPUs on eBay and was wondering if I should ask the buyers to show me any benchmarks or things along that line.
Any help would be appreciated.

[Beowulff83]

I doubt you will get anyone to benchmark the cards off of ebay.  I would stick with basic questions.  Has this card been mined with, overclocked bios altered etc.

[Thready]

1 hour ago, Beowulff83 said:

I doubt you will get anyone to benchmark the cards off of ebay.  I would stick with basic questions.  Has this card been mined with, overclocked bios altered etc.

I agree with all this. Benchmarks you can get from anywhere, but some people really mess with their cards and those are more important questions to ask. Ask if and how they modified it. If the person altered the bios (or really did anything with the bios that's out of the norm) then stay away from it.

 

Also ask if it was used to mine. GPUs weren't made to run at 100% for extended periods of time, which is what mining essentially does. 

 

Also ask if the thermal paste was replaced. I'm not against doing it, but I wouldn't buy a card from someone on eBay if they took the card apart unless the person had a very solid reputation when selling.

 

And keep in mind where it's coming from. Some people ship from China. That's a big no no. Don't buy anything that ships from China or Industry City California.

 

I've bought parts from eBay and I've never been burned because I was smart. The vast majority of people selling on eBay are just looking to get rid of parts they don't need anymore. But some people are looking to take you for a ride. But eBay has buyer protection so when you get your card in the mail, before opening the box, take pictures of the box and note any damage you might see. Then when you open the box take some pictures of the card. Take pictures of the fans and all the plugs. I bought a GPU that had a broken fan plug but I just super glued the pins down and it worked.

 

Then try it out. If the card doesn't work, then you have pictures as evidence if you need to make a claim.

[Thready]

I don't mean to scare you but when you buy used parts, these are the things you have to keep in mind. Buying used parts, for the most part, is ok and you can save a lot of money. It's worth trying. You'll be fine.

[DilonCSK]

12 hours ago, Thready said:

I don't mean to scare you but when you buy used parts, these are the things you have to keep in mind. Buying used parts, for the most part, is ok and you can save a lot of money. It's worth trying. You'll be fine.

Thanks a lot 

 

[Thready]

57 minutes ago, DilonCSK said:

Thanks a lot 

 

Yeah man, no problem. Have fun with this

[Crunchy Dragon]

13 hours ago, Thready said:

I don't mean to scare you but when you buy used parts, these are the things you have to keep in mind. Buying used parts, for the most part, is ok and you can save a lot of money. It's worth trying. You'll be fine.

Agreed.

 

I managed to snag my 1070 off the used market for a very nice price. No complaints with it so far.

[Tristerin]

I used to be against used GPU's till I bought a few through Ebay.  Between Ebay buy protection and PayPal protection - worth doing imho