anyone buy a high end gpu from a mining rig? got screwed, or was happy?

[freeagent]

I don't recall seeing very many happy people that bough an ex mining GPU. A lot of them come here looking for help to fix them. Many new members come asking about how to flash all the time, or deal with some other problem. If I were to guess, I would say it seems like those who bough ex Nvidia miners are probably happier than the AMD purchasers.

Basing just what I have seen here on this forum.. as I have not seen many questions being asked about Nvidia miners..

 

[eidairaman1]

I don't recall seeing very many happy people that bough an ex mining GPU. A lot of them come here looking for help to fix them. Many new members come asking about how to flash all the time, or deal with some other problem. If I were to guess, I would say it seems like those who bough ex Nvidia miners are probably happier than the AMD purchasers.

Basing just what I have seen here on this forum.. as I have not seen many questions being asked about Nvidia miners..

Because of price scalping, and the rx580 was the last of the mohecans that could be bios modded unlike vega, navi etc, so it is rare to see a chartreuse green miner over a mint green miner

 

[igormp]

My two 3090s are from ex-miners (different sellers). At the time I was looking into buying them, they were pretty upfront that the GPUs were used for mining, told me the configs they were run at and the environment they were in.
I also bought both with some leftover warranty still. One of them has been running for almost a year, and the other for a couple years already, and no issues so far, specially considering that I drive them harder than most gamers out there (90%+ of the time they're used for ML stuff).

 

[eidairaman1]

My two 3090s are from ex-miners (different sellers). At the time I was looking into buying them, they were pretty upfront that the GPUs were used for mining, told me the configs they were run at and the environment they were in.
I also bought both with some leftover warranty still. One of them has been running for almost a year, and the other for a couple years already, and no issues so far, specially considering that I drive them harder than most gamers out there (90%+ of the time they're used for ML stuff).

Still a gamble because most miners dont give a damn to take care of gpus

 

[inquisitor1]

I don't recall seeing very many happy people that bough an ex mining GPU. A lot of them come here looking for help to fix them. Many new members come asking about how to flash all the time, or deal with some other problem. If I were to guess, I would say it seems like those who bough ex Nvidia miners are probably happier than the AMD purchasers.

Basing just what I have seen here on this forum.. as I have not seen many questions being asked about Nvidia miners..

the thing is, one doesnt know how many who actually bought and are very happy. you only can see the ones complaining here, but people who are happy dont come here and say "hey I bought a mining gpu and im super happy"
but EVERYONE who isnt happy WILL post on forums so it SEEMS theres tons who complain but the vast majority dont post so one doesnt know.
like a forum I know for a specific bike. tons of posts on KNOWN issues so all you see are issues with the bike. but in reality its just a very small amount vs those who are happy. so I would not take the massive amount of posts for help as a proper sign.

I think the issues with miner cards is it all depends. depends how they took care of it. if you can do a stress test and check specs match original I will take it.

My two 3090s are from ex-miners (different sellers). At the time I was looking into buying them, they were pretty upfront that the GPUs were used for mining, told me the configs they were run at and the environment they were in.
I also bought both with some leftover warranty still. One of them has been running for almost a year, and the other for a couple years already, and no issues so far, specially considering that I drive them harder than most gamers out there (90%+ of the time they're used for ML stuff).

I think its definitely possible to find one thats still in ok condition and has life left in it. i also think the higher end card are built well. im not aiming to just buying from a miner, but if the classifieds shows something where the person is honest and not sketchy then better chances. Id love to find a 3080. it would hold me off for at least 8-10 years, but electrical bills would have me pay that card over 3 times in that time HAHA

 

[igormp]

Still a gamble because most miners dont give a damn to take care of gpus

I guess it depends? Lots of miners wanted to have a good ROI, so that'd mean undervolting their GPUs and making them running cool.
Nonetheless, your point applies to any used product, no matter if from a miner or a gamer. In fact, most gamers don't take care of their components either.

but electrical bills would have me pay that card over 3 times in that time HAHA

Yeah, that kills me, but considering they're used for work and studies, it's more akin to an investment anyway. Since I don't game, I just lock them to 275W each and save quite a bit on power while loosing just a tiny bit of performance.

 

[eidairaman1]

I guess it depends? Lots of miners wanted to have a good ROI, so that'd mean undervolting their GPUs and making them running cool.
Nonetheless, your point applies to any used product, no matter if from a miner or a gamer. In fact, most gamers don't take care of their components either.


Yeah, that kills me, but considering they're used for work and studies, it's more akin to an investment anyway. Since I don't game, I just lock them to 275W each and save quite a bit on power while loosing just a tiny bit of performance.

I highly doubt gamers would have a rig in a shed, garage, attic exposed to moisture/dirt and uncontrolled temperatures.

 

[igormp]

I highly doubt gamers would have a rig in a shed, garage, attic exposed to moisture/dirt and uncontrolled temperatures.

The 2 I bought were from controlled environments, like most miners I've seen.

I highly doubt most miners are running their rigs out of a shed.
But you do you, absolutely no one is forcing you to buy anything used to begin with.

 

[Rabit]

2 years ago I get myself entire box of GRPO X080 * RX 6700 mining edition at barging price $65 per unit downside do not have monitor outputs but on MSI AM5 board I only need toggle Hybrid GPU mode in bios and work flawless.

 

[eidairaman1]

2 years ago I get myself entire box of GRPO X080 * RX 6700 mining edition at barging price $65 per unit downside do not have monitor outputs but on MSI AM5 board I only need toggle Hybrid GPU mode in bios and work flawless.

Good work around, i know some mining edition cards would leave caps missing so the card only detects at 1x and not 16x.

 

[evernessince]

Purchased plenty of mining cards, mostly for customer builds where they had to meet a budget that otherwise wouldn't have been possible. Obviously I tell them the potential caveats of getting a card so cheap. Mind you, I do always fully test the PC capabilities including making sure bench scores, voltages, temps, ect are correct. I have only had a single mining card start exhibiting issues after 3 years of deployment in the field and that customer was happy given the card only cost them $85 for a very good level of performance over that time.

People like to trash on mining cards because of it's influence on pricing but mining was way better for the gaming market than AI because eventually those mining cards would hit the used gaming GPU market and you'd get a crazy deal. Cards that cost $320 could be had for <$100. Nowadays you can't even get a card of the same class for less than $500.

 

[Synthwave]

Bought them, more than once, was happy.

If it's from a proper mining guy, the card can easily be in better shape than it would be from a random person's computer, since they are monitored constantly on relatively fixated temps, and they get repasted from time to time.

 

[eidairaman1]

Bought them, more than once, was happy.

If it's from a proper mining guy, the card can easily be in better shape than it would be from a random person's computer, since they are monitored constantly on relatively fixated temps, and they get repasted from time to time.

Yeah and sad to say not all of them are like that though, very deceptive many are.

 

[izy]

It just depends how good cooling was when they were used for mining , for how long and a bit of luck, if its very cheap and you want to gamble you can go for it but its good if you knew how they were used (a pic with the mining rig).
I have a friend that mined with around 50 GPUs some years ago and he sold them after 2 years locally in my city for cheap and he didnt had any complains from the buyers but he had good ventilation in the mining room (some aircon). One of the GPUs went to a cousin of mine and he used it for a couple of years before upgrading and it worked perfectly fine but its still gamble to buy one from unknown sources.

 

[Kapone33]

I had some Mining cards and once things went south I gifted 2 of them to family and sold 3 systems with the others. What I did though was use Alphacool quick connect tubing to put them all under water. No special Vbios just go into AMD software and turn the GPU clock and power draw down.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Have never dealt with a card used from ebay that was a miner card.

But really a mining bios in most cases is a simple flash away from being a gaming card.

Most problems I see with this purchase is the card was baked to death for unmonitored amount of time, threw an error and right up for sale for poor kids that don't know any better to purchase one just to get a bad card.

A lot of issues seem like a user can't get the card to flash because of underlying problems with the card. Typically a burnt memory chip does that.

_____

Most cards, RX 580 is actually quite a slow card. A RX 6500 XT, even with its nuts cut, is still a faster card. It's more power effecient and costs about the same used. Or little bit more and get it new with warranty.

Or even better, save coin for another week or two and get a new 6600 XT can be seen for under 190$. New.

Understandably, there are a lot of people without a lot of choices. Well honestly, you have buyers protection, put that to use if you get a bad card right? It's a shame people scam with this garbage, but then shit happens. I've had brand new hardware show up DOA, who'd expect that from a used GPU right?! Lol.

 

[izy]

Have never dealt with a card used from ebay that was a miner card.

But really a mining bios in most cases is a simple flash away from being a gaming card.

Most problems I see with this purchase is the card was baked to death for unmonitored amount of time, threw an error and right up for sale for poor kids that don't know any better to purchase one just to get a bad card.

A lot of issues seem like a user can't get the card to flash because of underlying problems with the card. Typically a burnt memory chip does that.

_____

Most cards, RX 580 is actually quite a slow card. A RX 6500 XT, even with its nuts cut, is still a faster card. It's more power effecient and costs about the same used. Or little bit more and get it new with warranty.

Or even better, save coin for another week or two and get a new 6600 XT can be seen for under 190$. New.

Understandably, there are a lot of people without a lot of choices. Well honestly, you have buyers protection, put that to use if you get a bad card right? It's a shame people scam with this garbage, but then shit happens. I've had brand new hardware show up DOA, who'd expect that from a used GPU right?! Lol.

I think he wants to upgrade to the 3080 pheonix 10gb for $285 from ebay and its a good price but its also a gamble (seems too cheap), as far as i know most of the time the memory will fail on mining cards but they can be replaced if you have a good electronics technician around you.

 

[eidairaman1]

Have never dealt with a card used from ebay that was a miner card.

But really a mining bios in most cases is a simple flash away from being a gaming card.

Most problems I see with this purchase is the card was baked to death for unmonitored amount of time, threw an error and right up for sale for poor kids that don't know any better to purchase one just to get a bad card.

A lot of issues seem like a user can't get the card to flash because of underlying problems with the card. Typically a burnt memory chip does that.

_____

Most cards, RX 580 is actually quite a slow card. A RX 6500 XT, even with its nuts cut, is still a faster card. It's more power effecient and costs about the same used. Or little bit more and get it new with warranty.

Or even better, save coin for another week or two and get a new 6600 XT can be seen for under 190$. New.

Understandably, there are a lot of people without a lot of choices. Well honestly, you have buyers protection, put that to use if you get a bad card right? It's a shame people scam with this garbage, but then shit happens. I've had brand new hardware show up DOA, who'd expect that from a used GPU right?! Lol.

Oh i did update my flash guide with a work around

Have never dealt with a card used from ebay that was a miner card.

But really a mining bios in most cases is a simple flash away from being a gaming card.

Most problems I see with this purchase is the card was baked to death for unmonitored amount of time, threw an error and right up for sale for poor kids that don't know any better to purchase one just to get a bad card.

A lot of issues seem like a user can't get the card to flash because of underlying problems with the card. Typically a burnt memory chip does that.

_____

Most cards, RX 580 is actually quite a slow card. A RX 6500 XT, even with its nuts cut, is still a faster card. It's more power effecient and costs about the same used. Or little bit more and get it new with warranty.

Or even better, save coin for another week or two and get a new 6600 XT can be seen for under 190$. New.

Understandably, there are a lot of people without a lot of choices. Well honestly, you have buyers protection, put that to use if you get a bad card right? It's a shame people scam with this garbage, but then shit happens. I've had brand new hardware show up DOA, who'd expect that from a used GPU right?! Lol.

Then there are the fake 1060/1050/960s that are like 450/550s/700s...

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Oh i did update my flash guide with a work around


Then there are the fake 1060/1050/960s that are like 450/550s/700s...

Nice, flash guide is a must. Thanks for updating with the work around, that'll help a lot of people.
_
Luckily, most of those cards are pretty obsolete now, it just doesn't make sense to buy those if you can help it.

I think he wants to upgrade to the 3080 pheonix 10gb for $285 from ebay and its a good price but its also a gamble (seems too cheap), as far as i know most of the time the memory will fail on mining cards but they can be replaced if you have a good electronics technician around you.

Used is always a gamble, only 285 huh. Nope, I would not make that purchase. If your gut tells you, go with that right?! Never second guess your gut feeling.

Best bang for buck right now as we speak.

Best buy XFX RX 6800 16gb 393$ brand new.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/xfx-speedster-swft319-amd-radeon-rx-6800-16gb-gddr6-pci-express-4-0-gaming-graphics-card-black/6559272.p?skuId=6559272

That's what I'd do....

 

[eidairaman1]

I think he wants to upgrade to the 3080 pheonix 10gb for $285 from ebay and its a good price but its also a gamble (seems too cheap), as far as i know most of the time the memory will fail on mining cards but they can be replaced if you have a good electronics technician around you.

Needle in a haystack for someone who knows how to do that, good luck finding them for a decent price.

 

[grammar_phreak]

After the 2018 run I bought a few 1080ti's and they're still kicking, along with a few Polaris cards that I have mostly sold off.
Now, I did buy a non-LHR 3080 TUF a while back that I need to send in for repair. The card does not detect.

 

[masterdeejay]

Bought a few cards from mining rigs. If a miner cares about the cards it can be a good deal. (cleaning and good temps)
So there are dirty miners and clean miners, but there are clean and dirty gamers (bad oc, bad cooling ect). Total gamble.

no issues:
Gigabyte 1070
Asus Cerberus 1070ti
MSI and Asus P106
CMP-100-210 like brand new
Inno P104

minor issues:
Nvidia RTX3080 FE - 100+C hotspot but after new TIM it worked like a dream
Sappire RX480 modded to 580, noisy fans but it was very cheap.

major issues:
Inno P102-100, from ebay italian seller, it was very rusty and died after a half hour (i got refund)

 

[DR4G00N]

The RTX 3060 Laptop GPU mining abomination I got back in Dec. 2023 hasn't missed a beat, it was half the price of a normal used 3060 at the time and other than needing a good dusting it was just fine.
Seller said they mined on it for ~6 months but IDK about anything before that though.