In context: It is an argument that has been raging for years: is shopping for a second-hand graphics card well worth the threat when it may have been used extensively for cryptomining? Most likely probably the most well-known of all of the tech YouTube channels, Linus Tech Ideas, has lengthy stated that former mining playing cards do not robotically endure from efficiency points, and will even be a greater purchase than those who had been used solely for gaming. Now, Linus may need confirmed this declare.
Tech Ideas’ Linus Sebastian has lengthy been a passionate advocate for getting second-hand graphics playing cards. It is an particularly interesting prospect in an period when Nvidia is also known as the scalper. However fears that auction-site playing cards may need been used 24/7 for mining put many potential consumers off—there have been loads of stories of those playing cards being labored near demise. Producer Palit beforehand advised customers to keep away from them as its unbiased checks proved the GPU’s efficiency is decreased by about 10% after nearly a 12 months of mining use.
To attempt to verify what results mining has on playing cards, Linus purchased 19 second-hand fashions final 12 months that sooner or later had been fascinating for mining and arduous to search out for gaming; a mixture of AMD Radeon 5700s, and Nvidia RTX 3060s, 3070s, and 3080s. These had been examined towards lightly-used GPUs from the channel’s personal inventory.
Solely two of the 19 playing cards examined had any noticeable points: a Gigabyte Eagle RTX 3060 OC and a Sapphire Pulse RX 5700 XT. The Nvidia card’s clockspeeds had been decrease than regular as a consequence of it reaching temperatures over 100C and thermally throttling. The Sapphire Pulse did not expertise considerably decrease clock speeds on Kombustor, and each the temperatures—it was the good out of all of the 5700 fashions—and gaming efficiency had been unaffected, so the AMD card may have had a decreased energy goal solely seen in MSI’s program.
The gaming checks confirmed little variation between the playing cards, all performing as they need to. Apparently, the management GPU’s 1% lows had been decrease than the mining fashions. Linus notes that the heating and cooling cycles and the upper clockspeeds of gaming-only playing cards trigger extra injury to a GPU than what you’d see in playing cards used just for mining.
It was additionally found that the Eagle OC’s VRAM efficiency had deteriorated considerably, making this the one one of many 19 playing cards Linus suggests returning for a refund—or utilizing eBay’s purchaser safety coverage.
Linus does make some good factors, and the outcomes are fairly eye-opening. The one caveats to the checks are that 19 playing cards is not an enormous pattern, and whereas they’re greater than doubtless to have been used for mining sooner or later, this is not 100% sure.
Not all mining playing cards are going to be protected, in fact. Final 12 months introduced information of Vietnamese cryptocurrency miners making ready used graphics playing cards for resale by washing them with a high-powered jet nozzle. Extra lately, there was a narrative of miners attempting to deceive prospects by painting over the playing cards’ reminiscence earlier than resale, making their wear-and-tear seem much less intensive.
In the end, the video ought to give players extra confidence when shopping for a second-hand card. It appears these used repeatedly for gaming are simply as, if no more, more likely to have issues in comparison with these used for mining.
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