Linus Tech Tips
2 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2021–2022
10:58 · 3.7M views · Aug 19, 2021
Linus Tech Tips looks at whether buying a used GPU that was previously used for crypto mining is a good idea, as miners prepare to sell off cards. The video discusses how mining affects wear on cards and what to watch for.
HN cites it as evidence that mining does not meaningfully degrade GPUs, so used mining cards are generally fine buys.
6 comments from Hacker News
There's a nice Linus Tech Tips video about this: this video The tl;dw is that used cards don't perform worse than new cards - your card either works, or it doesn't. But like any electronics, they have an "expiration date", and if it's been used for 2 years, it's 2 years closer to dying. It's up to you to decide if the discount of a used card might be worth it.
LTT goes over it pretty well (IMO): this video tldr: Cards (like any piece of other electronics) do have a lifespan, but mining doesn't affect that. Cards that are kept clean and in better working conditions will run faster.
A few different people have done tests to verify whether GPUs used for eth mining took any damage from doing so, and haven't managed to find any evidence that it damages the card more than regular use. Running cards under severe load nonstop for years could potentially shorten their lifespan by a tiny bit due to electromigration or wear out the fans, but that's about it. Of course, any used GPU could be defective, so you need to be careful buying one no matter what. this video [LINK]
This is but one test, but Linus Media Group did some testing and found that mining GPUs worked just fine. Fan time and thermal pad degradation are about the only real detractors from buying a used GPU. this video Of course, if a card's running at thermal throttle for long periods of time, that has a chance to damage the card, but given that most cards are running underclocked, the likelihood that you'll run into that problem is low.
Linus tech tips had an episode on it, and largely found that the performance degradation was insignificant: this video He did however note that the cards that he tested had been used in a relatively clean and dust-free environment. The biggest risk to buying a card that has been running 24/7 for years is that the cooling system is busted due to build-up of dust.