Would you buy a used mining card?

[HankB]

I'm looking at this

https://www.reddit.com/r/hardwareswap/comments/d5q13i

If he gets more cards to sell, it seems like a decent deal. Here's my situation:

• Currently using Nvidia GTX-460. Nvidia is no longer supporting this card with new drivers.
• I'm running Linux on a dual monitor setup, one monitor rotated to portrait.
• I'm seeing occasional video artifacts, suspecting drivers. Maybe Wayland.
• Linux is presently transitioning from X.org to Wayland. It would to be useful to have the most recent drivers.
• Nvidia is not supporting Wayland (AFAIK) They have recently (finally!) released specs for some of their chips but I don't think it includes older families and those probably won't get much attention anyway.
• I'm not a gamer so bleeding edge performance is not required.
• I could conceivably add a new monitor at some time and it would probably be 4K or at least 1440.

I'm wondering what the risks of buying a card that has been used for mining are. Do they tend to fail under this use? IOW is the seller getting rid of them because they are starting to fail. Would that be a concern for me if I'm essentially understressing it in my typical usage scenario. (Unless I decide to fold on it. )

Maybe I should post something in the classifieds first.

Thanks!

 

[EarthDog]

It simply depends...mining cards were run hard and hot for that lifespan... some will last others will not. It's still a crapshoot...

(Not sure what the classies have to do with this...lol... I would think you get this information and then put a wanted thread or w/e up)

 

[Robert17]

Just for grins, I bought a used mining card, R9 290x, and Folded with it for several years, still have it in my missus' PC. I have an AIO mounted on it, never had any issue except couldn't get the drivers for it to run on Linux.

 

[don256us]

I bought a lot of used cards for Folding @ Home. It really was a crap shoot. Some are still running, some didn't last long at all. Some were fixed with new fans others just couldn't be revived.

 

[MaddMutt]

Just for grins, I bought a used mining card, R9 290x, and Folded with it for several years, still have it in my missus' PC. I have an AIO mounted on it, never had any issue except couldn't get the drivers for it to run on Linux.

Way back when the 280x's and then the 290x's where dumped on the market I grabbed many. I ran the 280x's & 290x's in F@H and then retired them to benching. Be ADVISED that the fans on the cards are an unknown, they may last 3 days/3 months/3 years. Also there is no warranty from the factory on these.
But yes they look like a good deal

 

[trents]

I bought a RX580 last year that I'm pretty sure had been a mining card. When I asked the ebay seller about that, his reply was, "You won't be disappointed," so he seems to have tacitly affirmed my suspicion. Anyway, it's run like a champ and the computer it's installed in runs 24/7. But it's a pig in a poke. Some mining cards may have been used for several years and others several months before the seller either got out or upgraded.

 

[wingman99]

I don't like to take a chance on a mining card without it still having a good warranty.

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

For parts, to save another I would........

 

[maxfly]

a 580 for a bill is a haaard one to pass up. mined on or not. in my experience you either find that its messed up right off the git or it lasts for years and starts artifacting. i would give it a try if that cat is as legit as he lets on.

 

[ronss]

not me....they run 24hrs a day, and probably very warm.....better spend ur money on something eles

 

[HankB]

Thanks all. Following ED's suggestion I posted a WTB and m not rocking an AMD 570 card.

 

[Tír na nÓg]

Sure I would if the price is alright.

Usuall guys mine undervolted, to make them last long.

 

[thenewcrash]

It obviously depends, but I've been into computers for 25+ years, and pretty much from the beginning all of my hardware has been run hard, be it gaming, overclocking, benches, folding, and now mining. I have never had a card or CPU fail because of it, even if sometimes the cards were running in very warm conditions.
Now that is not to say that all mining cards will have the same history as I do occasionally clean out my cards so they don't overheat, but I think that will be the case for anybody, even a large scale miner, nobody is making money when a card is down or dead, so what's a little preventative maintenance.