What would you recomend

[mattjax12]

Hello i am building a new gaming pc and was wondering whether you guys think it would be better to get a used gtx 980 or used 980 ti and what I should be looking for 

[Crunchy Dragon]

Depends on your budget and what deals are available. I would take a 980Ti more or less any day, unless I found a better deal. The 980Ti is more or less equal to a 1070 in performance, whereas the 980 is more similar to the 1060 6Gb.

[ItsTheDuckAgain]

Well the simple answer is: the best one you can afford with your given budget. I would go with a TI since it got more oooompfh.

Also try to not get one that had been used for mining.... So every offer explicitly stating that the card has not been used for mining should be avoided, since people are evil and lie to you. Always. True story.

[Crunchy Dragon]

2 minutes ago, ItsTheDuckAgain said:

Also try to not get one that had been used for mining

Is this really a concern? For gaming, used mining cards are actually really decent.

 

Most miners will also undervolt their cards to decrease power consumption and heat output, which helps the card last longer.

[Zyndo]

1 hour ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Is this really a concern? For gaming, used mining cards are actually really decent.

No it's not a concern... unless the card has been used for years on end, which is almost never the case since miners are so concerned with performance:watt and will be swapping out cards every single generation.

 

 

1 hour ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Most miners will also undervolt their cards to decrease power consumption and heat output, which helps the card last longer.

in theory, sure... .but heat is the big killer of components, and they usually have rooms full of cards running nearly 24/7.... so even though it's undervolted it's still under a heat strain for a prolonged period of time, which most cards will never encounter, thus severely reducing the lifespan of the card. That being said, they almost always last a couple more years even if you buy a thoroughly abused mining card... and any issues you do encounter (such as artifacting) can often be offset by a minor frequency or voltage tweak. Not a bad deal especially if you can get a card on a good discount after it takes a mining load.