thoughts on buying used graphics cards

[Zanovar]

Nvidia

ahaha

 

[SlowSpyder]

Haha,did you agree with his post or disagree.*scratches head*

I'm disagreeing with his post. Nvidia has had a few widespread hardware issues that I can recall. I'm not saying Nvidia makes a bad part, but his FUD is just that, FUD.

 

[tulx]

Bitcoin miners ruined the videocard market for gamers

Come to the EU, where gaming gear is still used for gaming and government conspiracy-theorists are still the crazy ones!
Seriously, our prices were just around the RRP all the time or even below that. There's no mining craze here.

 

[Zanovar]

Bitcoin miners ruined the videocard market for gamers (well, except for the rich ones), so in my opinion they can take all those used cards stick them up their arse, I wouldn't buy one myself. Now get off my lawn!

Whew.....glad I got that out, I feel better now.....

hahah

 

[Sunburn74]

So you guys think aftermarket r9 290s is the way to go. How do you guys feel about paying 300-335 for a used aftermarket (ie custom cooled) r290? Is that too much? Should I just buy new at that price?

To be honest, when 7970s OC versions are selling for sub 200, why not just buy one and throw in a $30 aftermarket warranty from squaretrade or something?

 

[Attic]

Best option is the R9 290 Sapphire Tri-X or Vapor-X, closely followed by the PCS+ 290. A lot of guys will give the nod to the PCS+ 290 between the Tri-X and PCS+. I'd seek what you can find new for those cards and then evaluate the used market from there.

300-335 for used after market of the above sounds good to me, you can get the reference for sub 300. The reference models aren't bad, but they do run a LOT hotter than non reference. After using both reference and non reference I didn't think noise was an issue using a single card, but the temp difference was huge.

 

[Sunburn74]

I ended up buying a used XFX 280x black edition double dissipation card. The seller said he had not registered the card and only owned it for approx 4 months. I should be able to register the warranty no problem. Overall price $187. Can't complain I think. Of my gtx 570 goes for even 60 bucks I could end up paying just a bit over a hundred to double my GPU power.

 

[Rinaun]

I keep telling my clients "buy used components aside from fans and HDD/SSDs". It's only been a few months that I've had a few listen to me, and every time they've been much much happier not paying tax and getting the same product at the end of the day. I also avoid buying ancient cards like the 580 or lower series. This isn't even counting into the fact that I visually inspect the cards and most look better than a card in a clients computer for 2-3 months uncleaned. The bottom line is people sell graphics cards because they upgraded or need cash, and it's pretty rare for someone to sell you a broken card unless you're blind and have no idea what you are buying.

Tips: Check bolts for paint damage (being undone is an instant red flag), check pins to see how many times it was put in, check under the heatsink and look at the TIM pads; how much dust has built up? It's hard to clean that stuff so it helps tell you how old a card really is! And last, ALWAYS bench an open box product before buying. I've NEVER bought an out of box video card that looked even slightly used unless I saw it boot something in 3d.