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Buying Used Mining Gpu?

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poorsod

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Sep 14, 2020
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Would you guys get a gtx 1070 that was used for mining for 200 usd? The retail price for a gtx 1660 is about 250usd in my country. The gtx 1070 seller has good reviews.
 
I am not sure I would. 1070 is around 3 years old now and for mining these cards runs 24/7. So it probably has a lot of running hours on it. You pay the price by getting a card where it's lifespan potentially already has dropped significantly and you have no warranty to backup. If the card fails, unless it's a card with longer warranty throw manufacturer and registrated throw the manufacturer homepage for extended warranty period.

200 usd is also a bit high, specially for mining card that has been running for a long time. I would spend the ekstra 50 usd for a new card with warranty and you know how it has been used.
 
Tomgang said:
I am not sure I would. 1070 is around 3 years old now and for mining these cards runs 24/7. So it probably has a lot of running hours on it. You pay the price by getting a card where it's lifespan potentially already has dropped significantly and you have no warranty to backup. If the card fails, unless it's a card with longer warranty throw manufacturer and registrated throw the manufacturer homepage for extended warranty period.

200 usd is also a bit high, specially for mining card that has been running for a long time. I would spend the ekstra 50 usd for a new card with warranty and you know how it has been used.
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That's what i thought too. But if we ignore the price of new cards, are used mining gpu ok? Because i've been through a lot of reading. It seems to be divided. One side saying that gpus lifespan isnt based on how long it's been used but rather the cycles where it cools down and heats up repeatedly while the other half is saying what you're saying.
 
It all depends on how well the miner took care of their gear, and random chance. I've had 2 1070s mining since it blew up back in 2017, and they're still going strong. Taking a quick look at prices, $200 doesn't look bad for a 1070... but as we don't know the exact condition of the card, it's kind of a gamble... but it's also one of the best deals you'll be able to find in the current market.
 
The biggest risk on cards running 24/7 isn't the gpu itself but the fans. Be prepared to swap them because they will fail after running near 100% for so long.
 
I was a miner with 100+ gpu's at one time, from 1060 3gb to 1080ti and AMD rx470 to RX580. A good miner will keep his cards undervolted depending on the coin he/her is mining. A card that favors ETH will be better mined with AMD cards but with a modded bios. Nvidia cards couldnt really mod the bios so you're good with that.

Since power is the highest cost for any miner they will keep the card under-clocked to get the best efficiency vs mining speed. That means that a proper miner will underclock the core or memory or overclock the core or memory if it speeds up the hashing power but not increase power draw too much.

Since the 1070 is around 3 years old, it wont have any warranty, I dont think any warranty on a gpu is longer than 3 years unless its some kind of limited edition card. I've personally never have heard of any gpu with warranty longer than 3 years.
I dont know what country you live in but in the US, 1070s are selling for $180-230usd. I quick search on ebay auction prices was my results.
Personally, I wouldn't buy an ex-mining 1070 for $200, maybe at 140-150.

Supercrit said:
The biggest risk on cards running 24/7 isn't the gpu itself but the fans. Be prepared to swap them because they will fail after running near 100% for so long.
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yea, this is the truth, fans where my biggest headache, esp. on AMD rx470 cards from XFX.
 
i have no problem with x mining cards, thay are mostly looked after very well but there is allways a chance you could get a dud but i think you could do better prob snag a 1080 if you look about a bit.
 
tricky one, sometimes a card used by an enthusiast gamer (increased voltage, heat ..) will suffer more than an undervolted miner card but then again how do you know it has been taken care of ... I would only buy a used card if it still has warranty.

Go maybe with an RTX 2060S ?
 
poorsod said:
Would you guys get a gtx 1070 that was used for mining for 200 usd? The retail price for a gtx 1660 is about 250usd in my country. The gtx 1070 seller has good reviews.
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That is freaking bad deal... if 1070 would go for 100 euro ok, but not for 200 without waranty and mined.
 
ixi said:
That is freaking bad deal... if 1070 would go for 100 euro ok, but not for 200 without waranty and mined.
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200 euro and 200usd are different price, OP said in usd.
 
ixi said:
It is around 168 euro = 200 usd. Still no :D. If that gpu would go for 120 usd (100 euro) then it is a good snatch.
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I wrote on my post I would pass on 200usd.
 
So most of you said that it's a bad deal at 200usd and i think that's mainly to the prices of gpu in my country. Even a rx 580 8gb goes for 200usd here lol for refurbished. Cheapest card so far is gtx 1650 non super brand new for 170usd. Thanks for the feedback, I'll tell the buyer about all these and the risks.
 
EVGA fans seem to be fairly durable. Same for Sapphire. I avoid cards with one fan in favor of dual fan models.
 
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