Can’t find graphics card stock? Avoid buying second-hand, warns GPU maker

Tin't find graphics card stock? Avoid ownership 2d-hand, warns GPU maker

(Image credit: Palit)

With the recent surge in second-mitt Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPUs, anyone waiting for the ongoing graphics card stock shortage to terminate might be tempted to check out the used market instead. However, Palit — a leading partner card manufacturer — reckons this could atomic number 82 to bigger problems than sold-out signs and artificially inflated prices.

Speaking to Criterion.pl (as spotted past our sister site PC Gamer), Palit reps noted that the source of almost second-hand, electric current-gen GPUs tend to come up from cryptocurrency mining rigs. As such, the clothing and tear they've suffered could damage their cadre gaming performance.

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Palit, of grade, has its own reasons for wanting prospective buyers to stay away from the used market: it gets aught out of second-mitt sales. But such concerns about the long-term health of erstwhile mining cards are justified; whereas the boilerplate gaming PC might simply run a GPU ragged for a couple of hours a twenty-four hour period, mining rigs are designed to run entire racks of graphics cards 24/7. That's a lot more than wear and tear, even taking into business relationship that some minder may undervolt and optimize their graphics cards so they aren't running at full ability all the time.

Palit pointed towards independent studies that suggest mining with a graphics card could see it lose 10% of its original performance every year. That may vary from model to model. But it makes logical and technological sense that an ex-mining card will have been put through the ringer more than second-mitt cards that accept only been used for gaming.

The power to grab an Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series or AMD Radeon RX 6000 series GPU at its MSRP, or even lower, volition be undoubtedly tempting to many. But even as well the added hazard of ending up with a graphics card that's already endured several lifetimes' expected usage, in that location's no guarantee that sellers will be forthcoming about an individual GPU'south past. Online listings may requite the impression of an everyday PC possessor merely selling on his old bill of fare, when in fact information technology's an overworked ex-miner.

Our advice? Since near non-mining cards on sites like eBay are still selling at vastly inflated prices, if you do spot ane that'south reasonably priced, approach it with circumspection. It'southward more likely to be a crypto miner trying to compensate their losses than a genuine private seller (or a repentant scalper).

Yes, that's more of an instruction to have ridiculous prices as the norm than help on finding a good bargain. But given the circumstances of the wider GPU market, at least y'all might avoid a dissimilar kind of rip-off.

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James joined Tom'due south Guide in 2020, bringing years of experience in consumer tech and production testing. As Sound Editor, James covers headphones, speakers, soundbars and anything else that intentionally makes noise. A PC enthusiast, he also covers the occasional spot of calculating and gaming news, normally relating to how hard it is to find graphics carte stock.