a pretty clear warning on the dangers of buying GPUs which have previously been run ragged in a big mining farm, and that it’s not just the workloads they’ve been subjected to, but also the ravages of the environment (and even storage post-farming life, before the cards are actually sold off).
In short, buy an ex-mining graphics card at your peril, because there are definite and clear risks associated with these GPUs. The trouble is that sellers often don’t reveal that a second-hand card is ex-mining stock, because they know that’s off-putting to many folks. So you’re left in a situation where you have to trust the reputation of the seller, and their integrity in being truthful about the past life of the graphics card.
All these dangers are very much amplified in a time where crypto falls off a cliff, as happened last year, and mining operations give up, and obviously look to sell off their stock as a final cash grab. In times like these, the used GPU market can become a bit of a minefield, so
tread particularly carefully when buying second-hand.
www.techspot.com
