If you are a person who deals with the computer hardware or anything related to computer or you are a gamer, then you most definitely have heard about the mining. Starting with what mining is for those readers who have not heard about it, mining involves compiling recent transactions into blocks and trying to solve a computationally difficult puzzle.
The participant who first solves the puzzle gets to place the next block on the blockchain and claim the rewards. It is an intricate process that requires complex algorithms to run which specifically requires GPUs because of the distributed chip design, that is why only GPUs are used to mine the cryptocurrencies especially the mining of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Every year since 2011 we observe that whenever the cryptocurrency exchange rate reaches the peak, the prices of the Graphics cards become 2 to 3 folds of their original price.
Now you know that the graphics card is used in mining and you probably want to buy a graphics card, the reason being gaming or content creating, whatever it is; this article will provide the necessary details whether you should buy the graphics card that has been used in mining or wait for the price to go down.
Debunking the myth
Wehear that the miners usually run their rig overclocked during almost all their mining venture that usually is around 9-12 months, that is not correct. The whole process of mining is a business, the sole aim of which is earning as much profit as they possibly can. The overclocking of the GPUs requires more power, and the miners usually have more than 10 GPUs working at the same time overclocking them would require a lot of power that would increase the cost of the process and hence their profit will be a lot lower, consequently the whole effort of mining will be a lost cause for them.
The miners usually run their GPUs underclocked that is by providing lesser power so that their cost is kept minimum,and they can earn more profit. While the overclocking deteriorates the hardware, underclocking keeps it intact since the hardware can run faster than the current performance and it is in its “comfort zone.”
RELATED: The Best Graphics Card to Buy in 2018
Price
Starting the guide with the price that will be the most important reason why you are in the used GPU market, if you happen to find a person who is willing to sell you the GPU that he used in mining, the first thing to notice should be the price that he is demanding.
Nowadays the prices of the GPUs are going down but they are still way above than their MSRPs, if you find that the price at which that person is selling is around its MSRP than this is not going to be deal you should look for, if the asking price is about 25% percent less than the MSRP, this should be the deal provided you have checked the hardware components, and there must be a refund option since it might crash because of the hefty use.
Components
The other most important thing must be taken into mind, is a slight knowledge of the components of the GPU so that the seller might not be able to trick you, in most cases,some components are missing such as the capacitors, the VRAM and sometimes the PCB is damaged. You should have at least some knowledge of the components of the PCBif you see there is some wear and tear even a slight scratch might drown your money.
The most important component other than the processor is the VRAM that is the most affected part of the GPU due to mining, in most cases the VRAM is broken there is no way you can tell just by looking at the hardware that the VRAM is fine, it must be tested before buying that’s why the refund part of the deal is the most crucial one.
Other than the components of the PCB the fans are the most viable part that can be affected by mining, since the mining rig constantly works over the weeks due to this the fans have to run constantly too so that the system remains cool, it is not much of an issue because many vendors sell the casings of the PCB separately too that comes with the fans, if you know how to play with screws and a screwdriver then you are good to go.
Performance
You might want to know about the performance of the graphics card that you bought from a miner, how is that going to compare from a graphics card that has not been mined yet. The answer is there should be no change in performance, but that is not the case due to the VRAM problem, due to mining the VRAM is most affected because of the heavy bottle necking but it does not affect the quality of the GPU that much that you cannot even run the game properly, you can play whatever you want depending on your card it will work perfectly alright with a slight drop in the texture rendering that is so negligible that it might not seem obvious. So, if you are buying the GPU there is not much to ask for, it depends on your preference how you would want to play.
Verdict
To conclude, let me reiterate the question should you buy the graphics card that has been used in mining? The answer is “yes”, If you are getting a deal of a lifetime than you should buy it with the option of refund, it will not work for too long but it will work if you are into content-creationspecifically, but if you are a gamer and you don’t have a hefty budget to afford the overpriced graphics card then you should wait, the mined graphics card will work perfectly, but it will not work for a longer period provided your budget constraint and the overclocking habit.
The good news is the pricing of the graphics cards is going down rapidly,and the next generation of graphics card is around the corner too, so waiting should be the only viable option unless you are getting the price less than the 50% MSRP of the current gen graphics card.